The European Union is preparing to allow Ukrainians fleeing their country to work and stay in the EU for up to three years.
At least 400,000 Ukrainians have entered the bloc so far - and it's expected millions will follow - but even with the warm welcome awaiting them, the journey to safety is far from simple.
At the Poland-Ukraine border, it's bitterly cold but a safe location for the Ukrainians fleeing their country.
But the scramble to their new beginning has now reached its second stage where they have to rush for a seat on a bus as the doors open.
Once there, a hand reaches out, which is a lifeline for someone who grasps it and is hoisted in - plucked out of a pool of painfully desperate people.
But this fight is nothing compared to that which they have left behind.
"There was shelling on the roads, on the buildings, and then there is a bombing," one person says.
Some have walked the long road out and some have driven. Whatever the mode, the mood is the same - an overwhelming sense of relief.
They're now clutching newly-stamped passports from a welcoming neighbour as the other continues its attack.
"It was four days of go, go, go, go. There are too many cars, too many people," says Mariana, who made the trip across the border.
They are exhausted and have nerves that are fried from fear.
Mariana survived the trip from hell from her hometown.
"Fire everywhere, it's terrible," she says.
"Like a nightmare, like you see in a very scary film, a very scary movie."
But some families are reunited, making them the lucky ones.
Mothers everywhere are operating on a newfound level of instinct. In one pile of snow-covered donated goods, Natalie goes shopping for her children's survival and searches for clothes to keep her toddlers warm.
Natalie says her children are okay. As for her, she didn't sleep for three days and nights, but the family now has food and everything they need.
It took them three days to get to Poland from Ukraine and they ran out of food within hours.
Natalie is doing it all alone because her husband has joined the war.
"It does kind of [worry me], but I understand that the men are needed there more than here," she says.
Poland is welcoming everyone, no questions asked, but Ukraine won't let everyone go. Men of military age - 18 to 60 - must stay and defend their country.
It leaves wives without husbands and children without their dads.
"My father stays in Ukraine, they can't come here," one 11-year-old girl says.
She proudly offered to showcase her English skills, but what child should need to know two ways to say the word "war".
For others, the language barrier does remain and the conversation is brief. But there are no words in any language to describe this feeling anyway.
Those who reach Poland have found safety, but they need to find food, warmth, and beds now.
The buses come and go all day but they fill up in an instant, leaving behind the already frozen and desperate who have been waiting hours for a ride.
"We are going to a hostel to sleep … and then we'll just see what's going, we don't know anything right now," one person says.
Volunteers frantically list the items they need more of, including water, food, nappies, and blankets - which they're in desperate need of.
Meanwhile, Polish strangers wait to pick up anyone who needs the kindness, and the arrivals just keep on coming.
"It is something horrible, we can't believe it. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is crazy," one says.
One mother is praying her 19-year-old daughter will appear among the incoming arrivals soon after a long two-day wait.
She is distraught as she tries to describe how worried she is for her daughter.
Heartache is everywhere. The people, the country and its independence are all hurting, but the Ukrainian spirit is unwavering. They will not be beaten - they've come too far.
