Employed worker in Poland

The third-country national makes the application in person, no later than on the last day of his/her lawful residence on the territory of Poland to the governmental province authority (voivode) competent in respect of the third-country national’s place of residence. You should make an appointment early enough.  

While making the application, the third-country national is under the obligation to give his/her fingerprints.

More information on the temporary residence and work permit application.

Stamp duty PLN 440 (ap. 100 Euro).

Fee for issuing a residence card PLN 100 (ap. 23 Euro).

The procedure should end within 60 days from the day of making a complete application.

The third-country national who has obtained the temporary residence permit is issued with a residence card.

1. The completed form of the application for a temporary residence permit,
   Note: While submitting the application, the third-country national shall attach the Annex No 1, filled in by an entity entrusting the performance of a paid activity to the third-country national (by the third-country national ’s employer),
2. 4 up-to-date photographs,
3. a photocopy of a valid travel document (original available for inspection). In particularly justified cases, if the third-country national does not have a valid travel document and it is not possible to obtain such document, he/she may present another document which confirms his/her identity,
4. proof of payment of stamp duty (440 PLN; in the case of a third-country national performing a function in the management board of a legal person subject to entry in the register of entrepreneurs, whose shares or stocks the third-country national does not hold or in case of work as a proxy of the company - 340 PLN).

Note: Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned documents will result in the applicant being requested to provide the missing documents within a deadline of not less than 7 days from the delivery of the request, otherwise the application will not be considered. In case of failure to pay a stamp duty within a deadline specified in the request the application will be returned.

The application should also be accompanied by the following standard documents:

Note: The documents listed below and attached to the application are obligatory or may reduce the quantity of official correspondence and shorten the processing time which is necessary to handle the case.

1. Information from the poviat starost competent in regard to the main place of performance of the work by the third-country national on the lack of the possibility to satisfy the employer’s staff needs based on unemployed or job-seekers registers or on the negative recruitment result organised for the employer.

Note: This document is issued at the request of the entity which delegates the work by the District Employment Office (powiatowy urząd pracy) competent with respect to the main place of performance of the work by the third-country national. In case of doubt, whether the above information from the poviat starost is required, it is advisable to contact the proper organisational unit in the voivodeship office (urząd wojewódzki) which is involved in issuing work permits for third-country nationals.

The document is not required if:

• the profession performed or the work entrusted is within the list of occupations and types of work specified by each voivode in relation to which issuing the work permit does not require taking into account the above information of the poviat starost (Article 10 (4), item 1 of the Act of 20 April 2004 on Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions),
• the third-country national, immediately before making the application held or holds a work permit or a temporary residence and work permit for the same employer and on the same position,
• the third-country national in the period of three years before the application for permit, graduated from a university located on the territory of the Republic of Poland or within another country of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation or participates in PhD studies in Poland,
• the third-country national stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland legally and continuously for a period of three years,
• the third-country national complies with the conditions defined in the regulation issued on the basis of Article 90 (5) of Act of 20 April 2004 on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions,
• the third-country national complies with the conditions of exemption from the obligation to hold a work permit as specified in separate regulations, or
• the performance of work consists in performing by a third-country national a function in the management board of a legal person subject to entry in the register of entrepreneurs, whose shares or stocks the third-country national does not hold or in case of work as a proxy of the company.

More information may be found here.

2. In case of compliance with the conditions of exemption from the obligation to hold the work permit: the document which confirms the fulfilment of these conditions (e.g. the Card of the Pole, the diploma of completion of full-time studies in a Polish University, the certificate of completion of the Polish high-school).

3. Employment contract, mandate contract (a civil law contract on providing services) along with accounts from the last 3 months (when the party performs the work), or a task-specific contract.

4. The certificate of employment from the last employer (when the third-country national performed a work activity for a different employer).

5. Documents which certify that the third-country national is covered by public health insurance in Poland or the confirmation of the private insurer’s coverage of the medical treatment costs on the territory of Poland (e.g. the appropriate certificate from the Social Security Institution (ZUS) or the insurance policy). If the work is to be carried out on the basis of employment contract or a contract of mandate, no health insurance document is required.

6. If the work activity to be carried out on the territory of Poland consists in performing a function in the management board of a legal entity which is subject to the registration in the register of entrepreneurs (shares or stocks of which a third-country national does not have) or in case of work as a proxy of the company: documents which confirm that the entity entrusting work complies with the relevant conditions concerning the economic activity carried out by that entity.

Note: The amount of monthly remuneration specified in the Annex No 1 to the application for a temporary residence and work permit should not be less than the amount of the minimum remuneration for work regardless of the working hours and type of legal relationship constituting the basis for performance of work by a third-country national. This requirement is also deemed to be fulfilled if the third-country national is to perform work for more than one entity commissioning work and the total remuneration indicated in the Annexes to the application for a temporary residence and work permit is not lower than the minimum remuneration required.

Remuneration specified in the Annex No 1 to the application for a temporary residence and work permit should not be less than the remuneration of employees working for similar hours in comparable type of work or at comparable position. This requirement shall not apply if the third-country national meets the conditions for exemption from the obligation to obtain a work permit, as defined by separate regulations.

Note: During the administrative proceedings, the third-country national may be called to submit other documents or to provide testimonies confirming the circumstances referred to in the application.

Note: If the decision issued to the third-country national specifies the employer and other working conditions, the change of the temporary residence and work permit is required (or obtaining new temporary residence and work permit) in case of intention of:

• the change of the entity entrusting work (the employer) indicated in this permit;
• performance of work for a different user-employer (in the case of temporary work) or under other conditions than those specified in the permit (i.e. with a different position, with lower remuneration, in the event of the change of working hours or type of the contract which is the basis for performing the work).

The change of the registered office, place of residence, name, legal form of the entity entrusting performance of work or takeover of the employer or its part by another employer, transfer of a business entity or its part on a different employer or replacement a civil-law contract with the employment agreement, a change of the name of the position at which the third-country national performs work while retaining the scope of his or her duties or an increase in the working hours with a simultaneous proportional increase in remuneration do not require changes or the issuance of a new temporary residence and work permit.

The application for the change of a temporary residence and work permit should contain the aforementioned information from the poviat starost, unless this requirement is not applicable.

The validity period of the changed permit remains unchanged. In case of a need, the third-country national may apply for a new temporary residence and work permit.

The third-country national may perform additional work for another entity entrusting the performance of work on the basis of a separate work permit – the work permit for the third-country national, in this case, is issued on the application of the entity entrusting work.

More information may be found here.

Polish law makes a distinction between a permanent residence permit and the EU long-term residence permit.

Permanent residence permit

The permanent residence permit is issued to specified categories of third-country nationals i.a. to children of Polish citizens or of permanent residents in Poland, spouses of Polish nationals and persons of Polish origin. A decision on granting a permanent residence permit is issued for an indefinite period. A residence card remains valid for 10 years, which means that it should be replaced every 10 years.

A permanent residence permit issued in Poland does not entitle the third-country national to obtain a residence permit in another EU country as is provided for holders of EU long-term residence permits.

A permanent residence permit entitles the third-country national to travel to another country in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in a 180-day period mainly for tourism purposes like temporary residence permits.

More on  permanent residence permit.

EU long-term residence permit

The EU long-term residence permit is issued to the third-country national who has been staying legally and continuously on the territory of Poland for at least 5 years directly prior to submission of the application for granting this permit and meets the following conditions:

• has a source of stable and regular income adequate to cover the means of subsistence for himself/herself and his/her dependent family members,
• has a health insurance as defined by the Act of 27 August 2004 on health care services financed from the public funds or a certificate confirming that the costs of medical treatment on the territory of Poland shall be covered by an insurer,
• has confirmed command of Polish.

The permit is granted for indefinite time. A residence card remains valid for 5 years, which means that it should be replaced every 5 years.

Note for important exception:

In the case of mobile holders of the so-called EU Blue Card: The required 5-year period of residence shall include the total period of legal residence on the territory of the European Union, if the third-country national was staying legally and continuously on this territory for at least 5 years on the basis of a residence document with an annotation ”EU Blue Card” issued by a Member State of the European Union, including Poland. In this case,  a residence in the territory of Poland on the basis of the EU Blue Card issued by Poland is required for at least 2 years immediately prior to the submission of the application for the EU long-term residence permit is required.   

More on EU long-term residence permit.