The relevant government entities relating to immigration in Poland are as follows:

• Consulates and Embassies of Poland in foreign countries – responsible for, i.a., issuing visas, legalization of documents and other consular services.
• Local Labour Offices – responsible for declarations of entrusting work to a foreign national as well as notifications of entrusting work to a foreigner benefiting from temporary protection.
• Voivodeship Offices – relevant for majority of immigration processes connected to work and stay legalization (i.a., work permits, residence permits, EU blue cards, EU registrations).
• Office For Foreigners – central government office handling refugees, asylum, and international protection cases, also acting as the second (appeal) instance for residence permit cases issued by Voivodeship Offices.
• Polish Border Guard – a state security agency responsible for border control and border crossing within the country ports of entry, as well as enforcement of immigration law regarding the legal ground for work and stay of foreign citizens in Poland.
• The National Labour Inspectorate – a state agency responsible for supervising the observance of labour and employment law in Poland, including provisions regarding employment of foreign nationals in Poland.

In Poland all work permits are employer (sponsor) based, i.e., it is not possible for a foreign national to obtain a work permit for themselves.

There are the following types of work permits in Poland:

• a work permit for a foreigner working for a Polish entity (work permit type A),
• a work permit in connection with the performance of a specific function (work permit type B),
• a work permit in connection with posting a foreigner by a foreign entity to Poland (work permit types C, D, E),
• a work permit for seasonal work (work permit type S).

Estimated processing time for work permits in the Warsaw Voivodeship Immigration Office is currently around ; however, it is worth mentioning that awaiting time tends to increase.

In other Immigration Offices processing times can be much shorter – for instance, in the Lodz or Poznan Voivodeship Immigration Offices it is currently 1-2 months. Voivodeship Immigration Office’s jurisdiction is appointed based on a company’s registered office.

Every foreigner working in the territory of Poland as an employee should have a work permit, unless they are exempted under other regulations (e.g., EU citizens, graduates of Polish universities, EU long-term residence permits holders, permanent residence permits holders, etc.). If an individual is not exempted from the obligation of obtaining a work permit, it is the obligation of an employer to obtain such a permit.

Any local company which is registered in the Polish Court Registry (KRS) or an individual entrepreneur registered in the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG) or a private person who is, for instance, hiring a foreign house help or a babysitter, may apply for a work permit for a foreigner. There is no special sponsorship or registration required to be a sponsor of employment-based migrants but to receive work permit, an applicant (sponsor):

• must not have any tax and social security arrears in Poland,
• must fulfil duties related to mandatory social security and healthcare registrations of employees,
• must have sufficient funds or sources of income to satisfy the obligations due from employment of foreigners,
• may not be lawfully punished for selected crimes relating to illegal employment or crimes against employee rights resulting from Labour Code provisions or crimes relating to human trafficking,
• must not act solely with the purpose of facilitating the entry of foreign nationals into the territory of the Republic of Poland.

In case of assignment from a foreign company to company registered in Poland, the obligation of obtaining a work permit lies on the foreign posting entity, where an individual is employed. A foreign employer should appoint a person who will represent it in Poland. Additionally, to this requirement, a foreign company should notify the Labour Inspectorate about the details of the assignment and comply with other regulations specified in the respective Polish law on the Posted Workers.

The Act on the Conditions of Admissibility of Entrusting Work to Foreigners on the Territory of the Republic of Poland impose on the applicant (employing entity) an obligation to transfer the employment contract to the authority that issued the work permit or registered the statement on entrusting work to a foreigner. The obligation came into force on 1^st of July 2025 when it concerns statements and on 1^st of August 2025 in case of work permits.

Certain events might trigger filing of notification to Polish immigration authorities when foreigners are hired under work permits, e.g.:

• a foreigner has not taken up work within 2 months from the initial date of validity of a work permit, or
• a foreigner has stopped work for a period exceeding 2 months, or
• a foreigner has finished work earlier than 2 months before the expiry of the validity period of a work permit.

All work permit applications must be filed only electronically via central governmental portal praca.gov.pl. As a result, work permits are issued in a digital form with a digital signature. Any communication with the immigration office relating to work authorization documents can be done only electronically.

Electronic submission of residence permit applications (temporary or permanent residency) in Poland came into force on 27^th of April 2026; however, there are exceptions, e.g., applications for dependents who are not in Poland at the moment of filing an application (such applications are still submitted exclusively in a paper form). Residency permit applications must be filed through central government platform MOS (Moduł Obsługi Spraw) https://mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl/.

In-person attendance/interview are required as part of the entry visa and residence permit application processes. An individual is also required to submit fingerprints and show a valid passport during both processes. In-person attendance is not a part of the work permit application process as employer applies for a work permit for a given foreign national and must provide the scan of foreign national’s passport.

Immediate family members covering legally married spouses and minor children qualify as dependents for Polish visa and residency permit processes. Partnership or common law relationships are not considered as legal dependents but may be still allowed to apply for an entry visa or residency permit depending on the discretion of the immigration authorities. Legal dependents cannot initially work on their dependents visas but once they are granted temporary residency permit in Poland under so called “joining the family” purpose that gives them unrestricted access to Polish labour market. As the legal status of a dependent is correlated with the legal status of the main applicant, their access to Polish labour market depends on the main applicant’s type of a residence permit.

An application for a long-term European Union residence may be submitted by a foreigner who has been residing legally and uninterruptedly on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 5 years immediately prior to submitting the application. There are also requirements to prove Polish language command at B1 level (for example confirmed by state organized exams) and to have a stable and interrupted source of income for last 3 or 2 years (depending on types of residence permits which a foreigner has had in the past). This type of permit is granted for indefinite period.

It is also possible to apply for a permanent residence permit in following situations:

• when a foreigner has a Pole’s Card (an application can be submitted just after foreigner’s arrival to Poland),
• when a foreigner has Polish roots (an application can be submitted just after foreigner’s arrival to Poland),
• when a foreigner is a spouse of a Polish citizen (an application can be submitted after 3 years of marriage the earliest).

A foreigner residing continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 3 years based on a permanent residence permit, a residence permit for a long-term EU resident or the right of permanent residence, who has a stable and regular source of income in the Republic of Poland, may apply for a Polish citizenship. Under certain circumstances resulting from personal situation the application might be submitted sooner (for e.g., for a foreigner who obtained a permanent residence permit based on a Pole’s Card or Polish roots).

Polish immigration rules do not include catalogue of permissible business activities which would not be considered as standard work duties in Poland; hence every case must be analysed case by case to decide if a certain activity might be conducted based on a business visa. It concerns especially short trips in regard to:

• Performance discussions;
• Contract negotiations;
• Attending a training;
• Providing a training;
• Office based planning activity (no hands-on work);
• Visits to the factory (no hands-on work);

However, any business activities exceeding the 30 calendar days limit might trigger work permit obligation under the assignment type. In case of employees being seconded to a related party in Poland (including secondment to branch, rep office or permanent establishment) and when work permit is applicable, no work permit is triggered for initial 30 days stay period during the calendar year irrespective of type of activities carried. Based on our experience with the Border Guards in Poland, such 30 days waiver period is recognized as not triggering work permit in case of assignments between related parties.

The Act on the Conditions of Admissibility of Entrusting Work to Foreigners on the Territory of the Republic of Poland set new rules when it concerns remote work. Before 1st of June 2025 remote work wasn’t explicitly forbitten or allowed – it used to be a grey area, and in general it used to be considered that if the foreign national held a right to stay in Poland, he/she was able to work remotely from a place other that companies’ workplace (e.g. working from home).

As of 1st of June 2025, according to the above-mentioned Act, it is allowed to conduct occasional, incidental performance for a foreign entity of activities unrelated to the labour market and economy of the Republic of Poland, by a foreigner who resides in the territory of the Republic of Poland for a purpose other than the performance of these activities, in particular if these activities are not aimed at the provision of services by a foreign entity from or on the territory of the Republic of Poland and their performance is not organized directly, or indirectly through a foreign entity.

As the regulation is relatively new, its application is still a subject of discussion since the exact number of days allowing for remote work being considered as occasional has not been defined. However, even if a co called workation scheme is possible on a certain occasion the individual still must be compliant with regulations regarding entry and legal stay in Poland.

Generally, there is no defined catalogue of activities that can be carried out on a visitor status without need for a work permit and the necessity to apply for the work permit in case of temporary posting to Poland would depend on the type of posting to Poland and its length. In case of employees being seconded to a related party in Poland when work permit type C is applicable, no work permit is triggered for initial 30 days stay period during the calendar year irrespective of type of activities carried. In case of work permit type D applicable for secondment to a local Polish entity for a purpose of temporary and occasional service, there is no allowed period for work permit exemption.

On top of the general rules there are certain work permit exemptions available for short term postings if certain conditions are met. Foreign nationals conducting the following hands-on work activities may be eligible for a technical work authorization exemption for up to three months per calendar year, if their employer holds an after-sales agreement and foreigners maintain their permanent place of residence outside of Poland:

• Technical installation, repairs or maintenance, supplying complete technological equipment, machinery or other equipment (hardware), if the foreign employer is its producer
• Training employees of a Polish company (legal entity), which is a recipient of the equipment mentioned above
• Participating in the collection of ordered technological equipment, machinery, or other equipment if the Polish entity is its producer.

Furthermore, a foreign national may hold a position on the management board or manage the company’s affairs in Poland without a work permit type B for a total of up to 6 months within any 12-month period.

There are no specific visa categories enabling remote or nomad work or equivalent at this point of time. However, it is possible that an individual will be able to conduct work from the territory of Poland while visiting as long as he/she holds authorisation that allows him/her to stay in Poland legally e.g. based on a visa waiver. No plans or discussions to implement a specific nomad visa in Poland for the time being.

As a rule, a work permit and a residence permit for work are issued with connection to employment at a specific company. In such case, the permits state such data as the job position, renumeration and data of the employer. In case of a change of the i.a. job position or the employer there might be a necessity to obtain a new work permit and change or obtain new residence permit which requires initiating a new immigration case taking several weeks.

Unified temporary residence permit for work is also tied to an employer that is why in case of employer change it is mandatory to apply for a new residence permit or apply to amend the currently possessed residence permit. However, it is possible to change the job position without amending the unified residence permit if the core scope of duties stays the same. This change has been demanded to introduce by employers to facilitate work promotions within the company and as such is vastly use.

It is worth to remember that for the unified temporary residence permit will to be amended successfully, a foreign citizen must submit a notification to Immigration Office informing about termination of the contract with his/her former employer/contractor within 15 workdays.

Some permit types may not include employer (sponsor) details and if this is a case switch of employer or change of employment conditions is possible easily although it may require filing a notification to Immigration Office (but not waiting for the new permit). As of 1st of June 2025, one of the types of temporary residence permits that gives its holder a considerable flexibility is a residence permit for high qualified worker (so called EU Blue Card). Due to the change in provisions an EU Blue Card holder is allowed to change his/her employer from the day one, if his/her new job positions fulfil requirements applicable to obtaining this type of the residence permit. What is more, an EU Blue Card holder is entitled to 3 or 6 months of break in employment, if he/she stays in Poland for up to 2 years or more than that respectively.

If made redundant, it is necessary to officially notify Immigration Office about that fact within 15 working days counting from the last day of employment. If notification on redundancy is made on time, the authorities would not cancel the existing residency permit for at least 30 days from termination date. However, foreigner is required to find new purpose of stay in Poland (e.g. new employment) and apply for a new residence permit in relation to this. In practise, the existing residency permit allows to continue stay (if official notification filed on time) until officially cancelled by the immigration office.

However, not all of the rules have been loosened as of 1^st of June 2025. While highly skilled workers enjoy more benefits in regards of their freedom at the Polish labour market, students and foreign nationals that reside in Poland based on a visa or residence card issued by another EU member state are facing more scrutiny. First major amendment is that a foreign national who is residing in Poland based on a student visa, in general, is not allowed to apply for a work and residence permit skipping the step of obtaining a temporary residence permit for studies first. It is to prevent a situation when the sole reason of obtaining a student visa is to receive a legal ground that would allow the individual to entry Poland and be allowed to take up employment. Second major change concerns a similar situation with a difference that the legal ground for stay is a visa or residence permit issued by another member state. Similarly, as in a case of a student, in general, such a person is not allowed to apply for a Polish temporary work and residence permit. Both of above-mention limitations does not apply to temporary residence permit for a highly skilled worker (EU Blue Card).

• Processing times and delays on Immigration office side – in certain immigration offices the processing time for getting a temporary residence permit can from a few months to around two years, depending on the voivodeship in which the case is being processed;

• Issues with getting a personal appointment for entry visa submission / residence permit submission due to high demand for visas and insufficient resources on authorities side;

• Visa process for Poland may be challenging in certain locations beginning with booking a slot to submit a visa application, as a result it may delay the relocation and thus employment process;

• War in neighbouring Ukraine caused a significant influx of war refugees that were granted temporary protection status in Poland and other EU countries. Due to war in neighbouring country and implementation of special protective rules for Ukrainian refugees, Polish government suspended statutory timelines for processing of immigration applications including work permits and residency permits. The suspension is currently valid till 4 March 2027 and is foreseen to be prolonged till March 2028. However, the suspension is widely criticised as its root cause it seen no longer to be valid and as authorities had been given enough time to adapt to the increased numbers of applications. A critique that is slowly becoming supported by rulings of Administrative Courts.

The Act on the Conditions of Admissibility of Entrusting Work to Foreigners on the Territory of the Republic of Poland, which came into force on 1st of June 2025, introduced official fast track possibility in case of a national work visas, work permits type A, and temporary work and residence permits.

First, fast track applies for applications submitted (in case of a work permit) or sponsored (in case of a national work visa or temporary work and residence permit) by entities included on the list of entrepreneurs of significant importance to the national economy. The list is published on the website of the Ministry of Development and Technology. Entities included in the list are those benefiting from one of the forms of support enlisted below:

• support for investments of significant importance to the economy based on regulations issued based on Article 19(2) of the Act of 6 December 2006 on the principles of conducting development policy (Journal of Laws of 2024, items 324, 862 and 1717),
• support for new investments within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Act of 10 May 2018 on supporting new investments (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 459),
• from support for investment projects of strategic importance for the transition to a net-zero emissions economy within the meaning of Article 53(2) of the Act of 7 July 2023 on the preparation and implementation of investments in the National Data Processing Centre (Journal of Laws, item 1501).

Entry in the list is not the only reason for treating the application as priority. Second in line are applications submitted for another, subsequent work permit or temporary work and residence permit, by the same Polish entity and for the same foreigner or by the same foreigner and for the application sponsored by the same entity respectively.

And finally, third in line are work visas, work permits and work and residence permit to be issued for a foreigner who is to perform work in professions included on the list specifying groups of professions in which there are staff shortages. The list specifying the groups of occupations in which there are staff shortages may be created on the basis of research, analyses and assessments of the needs of the national labour market, including monitoring of shortage and surplus occupations at the national level carried out by the minister in charge of labour in cooperation with provincial and district labour offices. Official works on the preparation of the shortage jobs occupations were initiated by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy in January 2026 but have been currently put on hold.

Poland has been continuously experiencing considerable growth in its foreign workforce in the last 10 years, driven by a stable economy and a relatively low unemployment rate (one of the lowest in the entire EU). The growing number of foreigners arriving in Poland for work has led to a significant increase in immigration- related permits, issued in Poland which has adversely affected the administration’s ability to process applications within the statutory timelines. The number of work-authorisation permits issued annually has stabilised over the last four years (since 2022) due to legal changes and the impact of the war in Ukraine, which gave Ukrainian nationals broad access to the Polish labour market. Further decrease in work-related permits (including notifications) is expected in the future because of legal changes and a tighter migration policy.

Inbound migration has become a key topic in the public discussion and government policymaking. Current Polish government is continuing to implement Poland’s official migration strategy document for 2025-2030, which focuses on the challenges arising from Poland’s transformation from an emigration country into an immigration country, while prioritising national security and social cohesion.

As a result, the Polish government has adopted the principle that the consequences of demographic and social changes on the labour market cannot be addressed solely through immigration policy instruments. This approach is reflected in the Act on the Conditions of Admissibility of Entrusting Work to Foreigners on the Territory of the Republic of Poland, which that came into force on 1st of June 2025, and in amendments to the Act on Foreigners. However, it should be noted that due to demographic trends and the shrinking domestic local workforce pool, the demand for foreign workers who fill out gaps in the local labour market remains still high.

The authorities are focused on facilitating relocation and attracting highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs, which is reflected in increased flexibility for EU Blue Card holders. At the same time, the authorities are taking more rigorous approach towards for those who violate or abuse Polish immigration law, such as like foreigners who claim to come to Poland to start commencing higher education when their actual purpose is work, or entities that apply for work permits solely to facilitate obtaining a Polish national work visas and benefit from illegal immigration.

The temporary protection for Ukraine nationals fleeing the war has been extended until March 4^th 2028 in Poland – a result of the decision implemented on the EU level. However, temporary protection is granted now only to those who have fulfilled their military obligations toward Ukraine. As such Ukrainian male citizens, who are now arriving and registering for the temporary protection in Poland might be required to show a document, which confirms that the above mentioned obligations have been fulfilled.

There might be some important changes in the future resulting from the draft bill amending the Act on Foreigners from the Ministry of Interior and Administration Poland, such as:

• Nationals of the most developed third countries, where the overall security situation is satisfactory, will benefit from the institution of tacit closure of proceedings in cases concerning their residence permit process. As such the residence permit process will end within 60 days from the submission date.
• The Council of Ministers will select these countries by means of a regulation – the provision delegating the power to adopt this regulation will set out the criteria for selecting these countries, based on an assessment of the level of migration risk associated with the migration of nationals of individual countries to Poland and the state of cooperation in the field of security. This measure will apply exclusively to countries whose nationals benefit from visa-free travel within the EU and list of proposed countries includes citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

It is worth pointing out that the tacit closure of the cases does not mean a complete resignation from the administrative proceedings. The immigration office will inspect submitted documents and the applications form and compliance with the statutory requirements. The only difference lays in the fact that if the decision to the residence permit case is not take within 60 days, the result will be satisfactory and instant for the applying foreigner.

Another draft bill introduced by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy proposes easing right to work requirement for foreigners holding passports of some high developed countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, USA, UK, Taiwan. Standard requirement for citizens from these countries to hold work permit would be replaced with the simplified notification procedure which currently is applied for Ukrainian citizens. If this implemented, this brings significant flexibility when hiring foreigners from those locations and shortening the initial process considerably.

The above-mentioned proposed changes to immigration laws are yet in the initial stages with tentative implementation in later part of 2026 but it has to undergo full parliamentary process and receive final sign-off of the President in order to enter into force.

Technology is expected to become main driver of the immigration process changes in the upcoming future. The requirement for digital transformation of the immigration process has been raised as one of the government’s priorities in the official Migration Strategy document. The digital transformation has been observed in the last couple of years changing the process from paper based to more digital or fully digital process.

Starting from 1^st of June 2025, all work authorization applications (including notifications on hiring) must be filed fully electronically with no paper alternative submission and work permits/work authorization documents are since then issued only in a digital format. At the same time new functions are being added to the governmental portal praca.gov.pl and it is expected that the scope of activities possible to be done electronically will increase and could potentially exclude the paper-based exchange of information in all right to work application processes.

Despite full digitalization of work-related applications, it did not yet convey to faster and reliable processing times due to resourcing issues in the local immigration offices and additional duties implemented along with the digitalization.

The major change was also implemented with respect to residency permit application process (temporary and permanent residency) enabling electronic only submission of applications through central government system Moduł Obsługi Spraw (MOS) from 27 April 2026. The new electronic system replaced previously binding paper-based application process for most types of application while some limited procedures will be still carried in paper format.

While digitalization currently applies only to actual submission of the application, it is expected that new features will be added to central government platform enabling more interaction between foreigners and the immigration authorities. The new filing system has been in place only since 27 April 2026 so it has not yet impacted processing times which remain long across Poland while authorities are facing substantial backlog of residency applications submitted before the change.

On top of digital residency process for third country foreigners, MOS platform enabled also filing for application for special residency card for current holders of Ukrainian Temporary Protection system from 4 May 2026. This allows to switch to more permanent 3 years residency permit status for eligible Ukrainians and application process is only digital.

At the same time internal, digital exchange of information between government’s immigration and tax offices, as well as the Border Guard and social insurance institution has been on the rise with an aim to prevent the abuse of the gaps in the system.

Foreigners are entitled to work in Poland if:

• reside legally and have a work permit, unless one is not required, or
• they hold a temporary residence and work permit, or a temporary residence permit for the purpose of highly qualified employment.

The entity entrusting work to a foreigner (employer) obtains from the foreigner his/her personal data, such as:

• first name(s) and surname,
• citizenship
• the name, series, number, date of issue and expiry date of the travel document,
• PESEL number or, if the foreign national does not have this number their date of birth and gender

The employer also obtains copies of documents containing these data from the foreigner to confirm his/her identity and to obtain a proper work authorization or confirm the right to work without wok authorization document. Additionally, before the start of work the employer requires foreigner to present a valid document entitling him/her to stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland. What is more, employer may require the foreigner to present a document entitling him/her to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland for the entire period of work performed by the foreigner.

It is not subject to punishment for the offence of illegal employment of a foreigner, consisting in entrusting work to a foreigner who does not have a valid visa or other document entitling him to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland, who, while employing a foreigner, met all of the following conditions:

• required the foreigner to present a valid document entitling him to stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland before his employment and kept a copy of such document throughout the entire period of employment, as well as for a period of 2 years from the end of the calendar year in which the legal relationship being the basis for the foreigner’s employment was terminated or expired, unless separate regulations provide for a longer period of storage of documentation concerning employment, unless he knew that the presented document entitling him to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland was falsified;
• registered a foreign national to ZUS – Social insurance institution, if such an obligation arises from the applicable regulations.

Employer is obliged to keep copies of documents entitling to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland throughout the entire period of employment of the foreigner and for a period of 2 years, counting from the end of the calendar year in which the employment was terminated or expired, unless separate regulations provide for a longer period of storage of documentation concerning employment.

The provisions concerning the need to present a valid document entitling to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland before starting work and relating to the storage of copies of these documents do not apply to a foreigner who:

• is a family member of a citizen of an EU, EFTA or EEA Member State, residing with him or her in the territory of the Republic of Poland
• is a family member of a Polish citizen residing with him in the territory of the Republic of Poland
• is the above-mentioned person who has retained the right of residence
• is a citizen of the Swiss Confederation with the right of residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland or a member of his family residing with him in the territory of the Republic of Poland
• he/she has the right of permanent residence in the Republic of Poland based on the Act of 14 July

2006 on entry, stay and departure from the territory of the Republic of Poland of citizens of the Member States of the European Union and members of their families

In addition, the citizens of other EU, EFTA and EEA Member States and citizens of the United Kingdom who are beneficiaries of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement are also excluded.

The regulations require the conclusion of a written employment contract with the foreigner before allowing them to start work, except for the situation when the foreigner staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland will:

• serve on the management board of a legal entity entered into the register of entrepreneurs of the National Court Register or a capital company in organization, or
• represents a limited partnership or a limited joint-stock partnership or conducted the affairs of such a partnership, or
• serve as a proxy.

If the contract is concluded in Polish, then it is necessary to present a foreigner a translation into the language that they understand; while if the contract is concluded in a foreign language, it must be translated by a sworn translator into Polish and kept in the records.

Employers who illegally employ foreign nationals without a valid right to work mainly face administrative (contravention) fines and related immigration consequences, and in serious cases exposure to criminal liability.

The minimum fine for the illegal employment of a foreign national is 3,000 PLN per a foreign national. In cases of deliberate breach of the law, the fine may reach 50,000 PLN, with a minimum of 6,000 PLN per illegally employed person. Repeated offences involving illegal employment within a specified recent period, or obstruction of inspections verifying the legality of foreign nationals’ employment, can negatively affect the employer’s ability to obtain work permits or related approvals for foreign workers. Rather than a formal blanket “ban on applying” for two years, these acts operate as grounds for refusing such permits for a defined period (often assessed over the last 24 months), meaning that non compliant employers can in practice be denied new work permits or extensions for foreign staff.

The employer is being subject to a fine is also if he, e.g., fails to conclude a written contract of employment in a language understood by the foreigner or fails to submit the signed employment contract to the governmental platform in certain cases. Additionally, not submitting a notification when required might be punishable with a fine not lower than PLN 500, depending on a situation.

Beyond these contravention type and administrative consequences, employers may also face criminal liability in the most serious scenarios. This includes, for example, cases involving severe exploitation of foreign workers, trafficking, coercion, or serious and persistent violations of employee rights, which can be prosecuted under general provisions of the Polish Criminal Code and specific immigration related legislation. Such offences are punishable not only by fines but also by potential terms of imprisonment, particularly where the conduct amounts to exploitation or endangerment of the foreign national.

No. Local market testing has been fully abandoned post law changes implemented on 1 June 2025.

Under the Polish immigration regulations, it is possible for the government to introduce quotas regarding the number of permits issued (both work permits and residence permits connected with work) per calendar year. However, to date, such quotas have never been introduced. Time-limited restrictions for certain occupations may be imposed in regions where the situation on the local labour market has deteriorated. These restrictions are introduced based on monitoring of the regional labour market, where an increase in unemployment registrations justifies such measures.

Employers are required to notify the Immigration Office within seven calendar days of the termination of a work permit holder if the foreign national’s employment is terminated more than 2 months before the expiry of the work permit, as well as the foreign national ceased performing work for a period exceeding 2 months.

In case of Temporary Residence Permit holders, the foreign national must notify the immigration office within 15 working days that the basis of his residence permit has ceased to exist. In case of a work and residence permit both foreigner and the employer have a duty to inform the authorities about the termination of employment

 In general, there is no requirements for medical certificates or vaccination for the immigration process, but medical check-ups are mandatorily required due to local labour law provisions in case of local hiring.

There are no language requirements, unless the foreign citizen applies for Long Term EU residence permit or Polish citizenship.

400 PLN (approx. 93 EUR) – work permit for local hires or individuals performing function in the board or 800 PLN (approx. 186 EUR) for work permit for temporary posting work permits

200 EUR (or local equivalent) – entry visa D type for the purpose of work

540 PLN (approx. 115 EUR) – temporary residence permits for work purposes and the residence card

Local contract is not required to obtain a work permit, providing employment details in the application is enough. However, signing an employment contract before commencing work is one of the requirements for the foreigner to be able to conduct work.

It may happen that when applying for an entry working visa, the Consulate wants to see work permit plus additional letter from the employer confirming potential employment (employment contract draft / offer letter / invitation letter).

Employment details indicated in work permit document and the ones in employment contract must be the same. What is more, in case of work permit or statement on entrusting work to a foreigner, the employer is obligated to share the copy with the immigration authorities by uploading its copy to a portal work immigration portal – praca.gov.pl

As for work permit and unified temporary residence permit there is a general minimum monthly salary requirement, which cannot be lower than PLN 4.806 gross per month as of 1^st of January 2026 (in case based on local employment contract). At the same time, in case of employment based on civil contract, the minimum salary level is PLN 31,40 gross per hour.

For EU Blue Card applicants there is a separate salary requirement, stating the amount of the minimum yearly gross remuneration required for the purpose of granting the permit may not be lower than equivalent of 150% of the average remuneration in the national economy during the year preceding conclusion of employment contract. In 2026 the minimum salary for the EU Blue Card is PLN 13 355,34 per month.

Work permits may be issued for up to three years, and declaration on entrusting work to foreigner (applicable to citizens of selected countries) may be issued for up to two years.

The maximum period for which the visa type D (national visa) can be issued is 365 days. Upon entry to Poland on the said visa, the foreign national can apply for a temporary residence permit which can be issued for maximum period of 3 years.

Yes, it does.

Poland’s immigration system offers several features that make access to the labour market comparatively straightforward for certain categories of foreign nationals. Several groups of foreigners have a relatively easy access to the Polish labour market. For instance, Polish university graduates have a full access to the labour market and do not need a work authorization document to be employed. Thus, they have equal access to the Polish labour market as the Polish nationals.

From June 2025 Poland has completely abandoned the labour market test, present in other EU countries, which used to be a quite challenging aspect of work permit application.

Furthermore, there are also several legal regulations which provide easier access to the Polish labour market for the dependent family members of foreign nationals working in Poland.

Procedures in Poland are currently heavily digitalised: core notifications and many filings can be made via an electronic platform, with individual accounts and electronic delivery of decisions, which simplifies compliance.

Yes, according to The Polish Occupational Barometer published by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy the greatest challenge in 2026 is finding qualified employees with technical and engineering skills (24%) and logistics and operations skills (24%). The greatest labour shortages are in transportation, logistics, and the automotive industry (71%) and the natural sciences and healthcare (67%), while the smallest are in communications services (29%).

Poland, as a member of the EU, must follow the European Green Deal strategy. Launched in 2019, it consists of a package of policy initiatives, which set the EU countries on the path to a green transition, with the ultimate goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.

According to the report of Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) the increase in the number of green jobs, as a result of the Green Deal strategy implementation – primarily in the energy sector, transport, vehicle manufacturing and construction – will have a direct impact on changes in the for green occupations and skills in these sectors. Demand will rise for professions such as ESG managers, energy auditors, electric and hydrogen powertrain engineers, battery product managers, energy transition specialists, Chief Sustainability Officers, green transition leaders, energy efficiency specialists etc.

From the immigration perspective it is worth mentioning that employers who receive support for investment projects which help transition to the net-zero emission economy within the meaning of Article 53(2) of the Act of 7 July 2023 on the preparation and implementation of investments relating to the National Data Centre have the priority in the work permit process through official fast-track programme. Their applications should be processed as a priority compared to standard applications.