After the change in the rules for the assignment of 800 Plus assistance in Poland, the number of payments for Ukrainian families has sharply decreased. Some people did not submit new applications, and tens of thousands of documents are still under review in the ZUS system. This is reported by inPoland.
New rules for receiving 800 Plus in Poland for Ukrainians
The new requirements came into effect in 2026 for Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection in Poland.
Now assistance can be received only by those parents who:
- are officially employed in Poland;
- pay taxes;
- send their children to Polish schools or kindergartens.
To continue receiving payments, Ukrainians needed to submit a new application to ZUS between February and May.
The number of payments to Ukrainians has sharply fallen
According to Polish media, the changes affect approximately 150 thousand Ukrainian families.
At the same time, after January 31, only 117,500 applications were submitted. From February to early May, only 50,500 payments were approved. This is more than 66% less than at the beginning of the year.
Another problem has been the slow processing of documents. Currently, over 54 thousand applications remain without a final decision.
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Why Ukrainians are waiting long for ZUS decisions
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy of Poland explained that ZUS employees are additionally verifying:
- official employment;
- legality of stay;
- compliance of personal data;
- entitlement to receive assistance.
This prolongs the procedure for a longer period. In total, 62,700 applications have already been processed, of which 12,500 were rejected.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the 800 Plus program has become one of the main social benefits for Ukrainian families in Poland. However, in 2026, the country's authorities tightened control over the recipients of assistance.
For Ukrainians in Poland, this means longer wait times for decisions and stricter requirements for receiving benefits for children.
Let’s recall that in Poland, there has been talk again about changing the payment rules for the 800 Plus program. One representative of the PiS party has suggested increasing assistance for each subsequent child in the family to stimulate birth rates and support large families.