Speech on digitization and system integration
Responses received from the Ministry of Digital Affairs and UdSC: their positions on data exchange and further digitalisation.
Speech on digitization and integration of systems, addressed to the Minister Digitization and the Head of the Office for Foreigners.
What we proposed
Our letter of 24 June 2026 concerns how digitalisation can reduce manual work and repeated requests for documents. We proposed four areas: data exchange between systems, automated register checks, AI tools to assist staff and digital verification of current residence status. We also requested the authorities’ positions and any planned action.
What UdSC said
The response bears reference BSZ.WKiN.052.5.2026/HT and the date 20 July 2026. It addresses the four areas in turn.
1. Data flow and a common service standard
Our proposal: information from electronic applications should flow into subsequent processing without manual re-entry, and MOS development should support a coherent case-handling process.
Response: UdSC considers this direction justified and supports reducing repeated submission of the same data. It points to the need for legal grounds, cooperation between institutions, sustained funding and staffing. Data exchange must ensure accuracy, security and oversight.
2. Automated register checks
Our proposal: make greater use of information already held by public authorities to reduce repeated submission of certificates by applicants.
Response: UdSC supports automated verification. Its scope and pace depend on legislation, the availability and quality of other institutions’ data and services, and their resources. No list of specific connections or launch dates is provided.
3. AI as an assistant to staff
Our proposal: assess a tool that prepares a working case summary, identifies missing or inconsistent information and suggests a processing route for staff approval. Decisions remain with people. We also requested an assessment of the tool under the AI Act.
Response: UdSC sees potential in AI but emphasises data quality, legal compliance and individual assessment of circumstances. AI must not replace the authority’s substantive assessment. The letter contains neither a decision to run a pilot nor a specific AI Act classification for the proposed tool.
4. Digital residence-status verification
Our proposal: allow authorised recipients to verify current status using existing data. Checking the authenticity of a previously issued certificate and checking current status are different tasks.
Response: UdSC allows for further analysis, but notes that a person’s situation cannot always be reduced to an unambiguous automated result. Legal, organisational and technical assessments and data safeguards would be needed. The letter makes no commitment to introduce the mechanism.
UdSC concludes that it will continue developing MOS and related systems. No specific timetable for our proposals is given: scope and pace depend on legal grounds, funding, priorities and staffing.
What the Ministry of Digital Affairs said
The ministry’s letter is dated 29 June 2026, reference BBKN.WN.055.548.2026. It assigns digitalisation of services for foreigners to MSWiA and UdSC and local application handling to voivodes. It describes its own role as integrating MOS with state electronic identification services for signing documents through login.gov.pl / Profil Zaufany.
The ministry describes the process as fully digitalised, referring to submission through MOS. Our letter also concerned what happens after submission: transferring data between systems, checks, document analysis and status verification. Referring to electronic submission alone does not answer these questions. The ministry did not provide a detailed position on the four proposals or the requested AI Act assessment, directing us to UdSC for further information.
What this means for our next steps
We have UdSC’s written support for the direction of data exchange and automated checks, and its position on the limitations of AI and digital status verification. This is a useful basis for discussing specific solutions, responsibilities and timelines. Support for a direction is distinct from a commitment to implement the entire package.
We will decide on specific next steps on digitalisation shortly and report on them. They will build on the responses and the issues that still lack a concrete resolution.
We are publishing both responses alongside our overall update on the initiative.
The letters contain inconsistent dates: UdSC dates its response 20 July but receipt of the request 24 July; the ministry gives the year of receipt as 2025 instead of 2026. The published copies retain the original dates.
UdSC response bearing the date 20 July 2026 (PDF) Ministry of Digital Affairs response dated 29 June 2026 (PDF)Documents
Status as of 27 September 2026. Summaries checked against the letters; letter dates are not receipt dates. Implementation of the measures described by the authorities has not been independently verified.