Three appeals are possible against a decision on international protection which is pronounced by the Head of the Office for Foreigners (UdSC). The first appeal is before a second instance administrative body (the Refugee Board), the second appeal is before a Voivodship (Regional) Administrative Court in Warsaw, and the third appeal or cassation appeal is before the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw.

A third-country national who appeals a decision of the Office for Foreigners must first send the appeal to the Office for Foreigners, which will consider it to see whether the decision should be changed. If the Office does not find any reason to change the decision, the appeal is referred to the Refugee Board and the entire original file is sent to the second instance authority.

The Refugee Board is a second instance administrative body, which examines only appeals in international protection cases. The case is analysed in full and ex nunc, in both fact and law. The Board may reverse the decision of the Office for Foreigners and declare that the application is to be further examined by the Office for Foreigners, confirm the decision of the Office for Foreigners or annul the decision in whole or in part and rule on the merits of the case, granting refugee status or subsidiary protection, or repeal the contested decision of the Head of the Office for Foreigners in its entirety and refer the case for reconsideration to the first instance body, the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Article 138(1) and (2) of the Code on Administrative Procedure).

The Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw analyses appeals lodged against decisions of the Refugee Board. The Supreme Administrative Court analyses cassation appeals lodged against decisions of Voivodship Administrative Courts. The Voivodship Administrative Courts and the Supreme Administrative Court are not specialised asylum courts. They are administrative courts that have sections or panels dedicated to cases related to international protection. In both these courts, the scope of the appeal is on legality aspects.

The relevant legal provision for appeals in asylum cases for status determination is Article 89p of the Act on the Protection of Foreigners.

Any possibility for a constitutional complaint would follow the generally applicable rules for constitutional complaints lodged before the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland (Article 79 Constitution).