Andrzej Duda signed the legislation into effect after it was voted through by parliament, state news agency PAP reported.
The president said: "I decided today that the so-called asylum law will come into force. I signed it because I believe it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders."
He added: "I encourage the prime minister to take active steps to ensure Poland's security. The most important thing is to protect the Polish border and those who guard it."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on X that his government would "adopt a regulation suspending the right to submit asylum applications" by the end of the day.
"Just as I said, without a moment's delay," Tusk wrote.
The Polish government in October announced a new migration strategy that aims to reduce the number of migrants and tighten control over immigration processes.
The strategy also includes a temporary suspension of asylum applications in case of direct security threats.
The measure also allows the government to suspend the right to seek asylum for a period of up to 60 days along specific sections of the border.
Extensions beyond this period require parliamentary approval.
Exceptions can be made for vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, those who require special treatment due to their age or health, and anyone who can “unequivocally prove they are at risk of suffering serious harm” if returned to Belarus.
The legislation has been criticised by human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch (HRW), according to reports.
Lydia Gall, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, has said that Poland, which currently holds the EU presidency, "should lead by example and ensure that people fleeing war and persecution are given the opportunity to have their asylum claims individually assessed."
Gall also said that the controversial bill "flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations and should be voted down."
The measure "risks formalizing ongoing unlawful and abusive pushbacks" at Poland’s border with Belarus, according to the HRW.
"It would expose people to abuses and inhumane conditions in Belarus, in violation of the principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits returns to a country where people may face torture or inhumane or degrading treatment," the HRW said.
It noted, however, that Belarus in 2021 "began facilitating visas to third-country nationals and encouraging, even forcing, their onward travel to Poland."
The Polish government says the authority to suspend the right to asylum is necessary because of the instrumental use of migrants by Belarus and Russia.
Tusk last month reiterated his opposition to the European Union's migration pact, saying that his government would not implement any provisions requiring it to accept migrants identified in other European countries.
EU leaders in October expressed solidarity with Poland over migration challenges, saying that Russia and its ally Belarus cannot be allowed to exploit European values, including the right to asylum.
Tusk told reporters at the time that "more European leaders have come to realise that current approaches, including the migration package, are not the right response to the threat posed by mass illegal migration."
Tusk said in April last year that Poland would not agree to the EU's relocation mechanism for migrants, despite its approval by the European Parliament.
Poland and the EU have accused Belarus and Russia of deliberately sending migrants from the Middle East and Africa to the Polish border.
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Source: IAR, PAP