Intra-corporate transferee (ICT) in Poland

The application is submitted by the host entity seated within the territory of Poland, where the work is to be performed, to the governmental province authority (voivode) locally competent for the seat of the host entity.

When submitting the application for granting the permit, the third-country national must stay outside the territory of the EU Member States, unless that person resides within the territory of Poland and seeks granting a subsequent permit for the purpose of work under intra-corporate transfer, on the basis of which the stay was granted prior to the application submission.

The host entity submits the application for granting a subsequent permit for the purpose of work under intra-corporate transfer not later than on the last day of legal stay of the third-country national within the territory of Poland.

More information on how to apply for a temporary residence permit for the purpose of work under the Intra-corporate transfer may be found here.

Stamp duty:  440 PLN (approx. 100 EUR)

Fee for issuing a residence card: PLN 100 (approx. 23 EUR)

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

The third-country national, who, at the application of the host entity, was granted a temporary residence permit for the purpose of work under the Intra-corporate transfer, may enter Poland on the basis of a visa issued with a view to collecting the temporary residence permit for the purpose of work under the Intra-corporate transfer, if such visa in needed. After entering Poland, the third-country national applies for granting a residence card to the voivode who has granted the permit submitting his/her fingerprints necessary for the issuance of a residence card.

An annotation “ICT” is included in the residence card issued in relation to granting the temporary residence permit for the purpose of work under the Intra-corporate transfer.

Within its validity period, the residence card confirms the identity of the third-country national during that person’s stay within the territory of Poland and, together with the travel document, provides the right for multiple crossings of the border without the need to obtain a visa.

Necessary:

1. a completed form of the application for the ICT temporary residence permit;
2. 4 up-to-date photographs;
3. a photocopy of a valid travel document;
4. proof of payment of stamp duty (440 PLN, approx. 100 EUR)

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.

Standard documents necessary for examination of the application:

1. The documents constituting evidence of the third-country national holding:
   1. professional qualifications adequate to the matter of operation of the host entity and experience necessary in the unit, to which that person is to be transferred by the parent employer – in the case of a manager or specialist, or knowledge which is crucial and specific for the areas of the activities of the host entity, its techniques or management thereof, based on high qualifications, including relevant professional experience – in the case of a specialist (e.g. documents constituting evidence of the subject of activities of the host entity and concerning professional qualifications and past employment of the third-country national), or diploma of completion of higher education studies – in the case of an employee under training;
   2. formal qualifications and meeting other required conditions, in the case of work in a regulated profession;
   3. public health insurance as specified in the Act of 27 August 2004 on health care services financed from public funds or confirmation of a private insurer’s coverage of medical treatment costs within the territory of Poland (e.g. insurance policy, relevant statement from ZUS);
   4. a place of residence within the territory of Poland (e.g. apartment rental contract, other contract confirming the possession of a dwelling, or statement of a person authorised for the possession of a dwelling on the provision of a place of residence to the third-country national).
2. Document confirming:
   1. the employment of the third-country national directly prior to the day of the intra-corporate transfer within the same enterprise or the same group of enterprises continuously for the period of at least:
      • 12 months - in the case of a manager or specialist,
      • 6 months - in the case of an employee under training.
   2. the employment of the third-country national by the parent employer prior to intra-corporate transfer thereof and during the time of the planned transfer to the host entity within the territory of Poland (e.g. employment contract with the parent employer);
   3. that the host entity, being a legal person or an organisational unit without legal personality, to which legal personality is granted by law to which the employee is transferred within the enterprise is, in particular, a branch or a representative office of the parent employer being a third-country entrepreneur, or is a member of the same group of enterprises as the parent employer (e.g. written statement concerning the entry of the branch into the register of entrepreneurs of the National Court Register, or concerning the entry of the representative agency of the third-country entrepreneur by the Minister competent for economy into the register of representative offices, foreign official documents issued by the competent registry authorities of third countries or other public authorities, stating that the partnership or capital company seated within the territory of Poland holds the majority of the divided into shares or stocks initial capital of a company seated in a third country, which is the parent employer; other documents, including contracts which may provide the basis for exercising decisive influence over the activities of the host entity and parent employer by another legal person or organisational unit, granted legal personality by law);
   4. proof that after the end of the intra-corporate transfer period, the third-country national will be able to transfer back to his/her parent employer or to another enterprise belonging to the same group of enterprises, established outside the territory of the European Union.

3. The work contract with the parent employer on the basis of which the third-country national is to perform work, concluded in a written form or a document issued by the parent employer, constituting the basis for intra-corporate transfer, stating:

   1. the period of the intra-corporate transfer of the third-country national,
   2. the seat of the host entity,
   3. the position of the third-country national within the host entity,
   4. the remuneration and other work conditions of the third-country national in the host entity.

   The remuneration should be:

   • higher than the social assistance generating income as stipulated in the Act of 12 March 2004 on social assistance granted to a third-country national and every family member supported thereby (it should exceed PLN 600 (approx. 136 EUR) for each person in a family or PLN 776 (approx. 176 EUR) for a person running a household alone);
   • not lower than the remuneration of employees performing a comparable type of work or in a comparable position, in the same time period within the territory of Poland;
   • no lower than 70% of an average gross monthly remuneration in the national economy in the voivodship  (one of the 16 provinces, the highest-level administrative division of Poland) where the host entity is seated, in the year preceding the submission of the application for granting the permit, published by the President of the Central Statistical Office, pursuant to Article 30 (2) of the Act of 26 October 1995 on Certain Forms of Support of Residential Construction (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 790 as amended).
4. In the case of an employee in training, it is necessary to additionally present the contract concerning the undergoing training in the host entity, which stipulates the training programme, its duration and the terms of supervision over the third-country national during the training.

Upon arrival, the third-country national applies to the voivode who has granted the permit for a residence card. You can find more information here.

Documents attached to the application for a residence card:

• 2 up-to-date photographs;
• 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;
• a certificate of registration at the address in Poland (if the third-country national is registered at the address);
• proof of payment of a fee for a residence card (100 PLN, approx. 23 EUR).

While making the application, the third-country national shall submit his/her fingerprints.

The holder of the ICT residence permit has a right to family reunification (see the section: “Family Member”). The family reunification residence permit is granted if the family reunification conditions are fulfilled.

If the application for granting a temporary residence permit to a family member for the purpose of family reunification was submitted on the same day or within 3 days from the date of submitting the application for an ICT permit, the permit is granted or refused by the voivode competent for the seat of the host entity immediately after granting or refusing to grant an ICT permit.

It is necessary that the host entity established in another EU Member State submits a relevant notification.

The condition for a third-country national to benefit from the short-term mobility on the territory of Poland is that the Head of the Office for Foreigners:

• receives a notice of intention of the third-country national to benefit from this mobility from the host entity established in another EU Member State which issued the residence permit referred to in Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation No 1030/2002 (equivalent of the Polish residence card) with the annotation “ICT” to the third-country national,
• a decision on objection is not issued within 20 days.

Important note: the decision of the Head of the Office for Foreigners on the objection is final.

A third-country national entering the territory of Poland in order to benefit from the short-term mobility of a manager, specialist or trainee employee in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer in connection with the possession of a residence permit referred to in Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation No. 1030/2002, with the annotation “ICT”, issued by another European Union Member State which is not a State of the Schengen Area, provides a copy of the aforementioned notice or a letter from the host entity established in the territory of Poland which specifies at least the period of benefiting from the mobility in this territory and the address of the host entity. Presentation of the above letter of the host entity established on the territory of Poland at the entry into Poland does not exempt from the obligation of prior notification of the intention to benefit from the short-term mobility by the third-country national referred to above.

The notification should be drawn up in the Polish language, submitted in writing, in paper form or electronic form to the electronic inbox of the Office for Foreigners through the Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services (ePUAP) (/UDSC/SkrytkaESP). As regards the electronic form, currently the most practical is submitting the notification by a proxy based in Poland. More information on ePUAP may be found here.

The notification on the short-term mobility intention should include the information listed on pages 39-40 of the Instruction available here.

The notice should be accompanied by the following documents:

1. evidence that the host entity established in the territory of Poland is a legal person or an organisational unit without legal personality, to which is granted legal personality by law, where the employee is transferred, and which:
   1. is in particular a branch or agency of the parent employer being a third-country entrepreneur or
   2. belongs to the same group of enterprises as the parent employer;
2. evidence that the third-country national has formal qualifications and meets other conditions required in the case of the intention to work in a regulated profession;
3. a contract under which the third-country national is to work, concluded in writing, or a document issued by the parent employer, constituting the basis for the intra-corporate transfer;
4. a copy of a valid travel document of the third-country national;
5. if applicable, a power of attorney document as well as proof of payment of stamp duty for submitting a power of attorney (17 PLN, approx. 4 EUR) in case of submitting a notification by a proxy.

Documents prepared in a foreign language shall have a certified translation into Polish attached.

The 20-day deadline concerning the short-term mobility procedure shall be counted from the date of delivery of the notification along with all required documents including certified translations.

The compilation of the information on modalities of ICTs’ mobility concerning Poland may be found here.

In order to benefit from the long-term mobility of a manager, specialist or trainee employee in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer in the territory of Poland (for a period exceeding 90 days), it is required to obtain a temporary residence permit for the purpose of long-term mobility of a managerial employee, specialist or employee undergoing an internship, as part of an intra-corporate transfer.

Initiation of the proceedings on granting the ICT`s long-term mobility temporary residence permit to third-country national is refused, if:

1. the third-country national, on the day of submitting the application for this permit:
   1. applies for a temporary residence permit in order to study or has such permission, or
   2. applies for a temporary residence permit in order to conduct scientific research or has such permission, or
   3. he/she is seeking or has a temporary residence permit to enjoy long-term mobility of the researchers, or
   4. is the employee of the enterprise having its registered office in another Member State of the European Union and is temporarily delegated by the employer to provide services on the territory of the Republic of Poland, or
   5. conducts business activities, or
   6. is employed by the temporary employment agency or another enterprise involved in lease of employees to work under the supervision and management of another enterprise or is transferred within the enterprise with participation of the entity conducting business activities with regard to providing employment services, or
2. the application for the permit was submitted on the day of receipt by the Head of the Office for Foreigners of the notification concerning short-term ICT mobility of the same third-country national, or within 14 days from that date.

The application for the ICT`s long-term mobility temporary residence permit is submitted by the host entity seated within the territory of Poland, where the work is to be performed, to the governmental province authority (voivode) locally competent for the seat of the host entity.

The host entity submits an application for a permit not later than on the last day of the third-country national legal stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland, in case he/she already stays in this territory.

Necessary:

1. a completed form of the application for the ICT`s long-term mobility temporary residence permit. The application form may be found here;
2. 4 up-to-date photographs;
3. a photocopy of a valid travel document;
4. proof of payment of stamp duty (440 PLN, approx. 100 EUR).

Standard documents necessary for examination of the application:

The documents constituting evidence of the third-country national holding:

1. a residence permit referred to in art. 1 sec. 2 lit. a of Regulation No. 1030/2002, with the annotation "ICT", issued by another Member State of the European Union;
2. formal qualifications and meeting other required conditions, in the case of work in a regulated profession;
3. public health insurance as specified in the Act of 27 August 2004 on health care services financed from public funds or confirmation of a private insurer’s coverage of medical treatment costs within the territory of Poland (e.g. insurance policy, relevant statement from ZUS);
4. a place of residence within the territory of Poland (e.g. apartment rental contract, other contract confirming the possession of a dwelling, or statement of a person authorised for the possession of a dwelling on the provision of a place of residence to the third-country national).

Documents confirming:

1. the employment of the third-country national by the parent employer prior to intra-corporate transfer thereof and during the time of the planned transfer to the host entity within the territory of Poland (e.g. employment contract with the parent employer);
2. that the host entity, being a legal person or an organisational unit without legal personality, to which legal personality is granted by law, to which the employee is transferred within the enterprise is, in particular, a branch or a representative office of the parent employer being a third-country entrepreneur, or is a member of the same group of enterprises as the parent employer;
3. proof that after the end of the intra-corporate transfer period, the third-country national will be able to transfer back to his/her parent employer or to another enterprise belonging to the same group of enterprises, established outside the territory of the European Union.

The work contract with the parent employer on the basis of which the third-country national is to perform work, concluded in a written form or a document issued by the parent employer, constituting the basis for intra-corporate transfer, stating:

1. the period of the intra-corporate transfer of the third-country national;
2. the seat of the host entity;
3. the position of the third-country national within the host entity;
4. the remuneration and other work conditions of the third-country national in the host entity.

The remuneration should be:

• higher than the social assistance generating income as stipulated in the Act of 12 March 2004 on social assistance granted to a third-country national and every family member supported thereby (it should exceed PLN 600 (approx. 136 EUR) for persons in a family or PLN 776 (approx. 176 EUR) for a person running a household alone);
• not lower than the remuneration of employees performing a comparable type of work or in a comparable position, in the same time period within the territory of Poland;
• no lower than 70% of an average gross monthly remuneration in the national economy in the voivodship where the host entity is seated, in the year preceding the submission of the application for granting the permit, published by the President of the Central Statistical Office, pursuant to Article 30 (2) of the Act of 26 October 1995 on Certain Forms of Support of Residential Construction (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 790 as amended).