Employment of foreigner in Poland

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Notification procedure – EU and EFTA citizens

The Notification procedure applies only to:

  • citizens of EU member countries,
  • citizens of EFTA member countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland).

EU (EFTA) citizens can freely stay in Poland for 3-months period based on their valid passport.

EU (EFTA) citizens can stay in Poland for more than 3 months based on:

  • valid passport and
  • notification of residence submitted to the regional authority (wojewoda).

Residence notification

The notification of residence must be filed personally by the foreigner to the wojewoda competent for the place of residence of the EU citizen, no later than on the day following the expiration of 3 months from the day of entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland.

EU (EFTA) citizen who wants to stay in Poland for more than 3 months and submits the notification of residence must meet at least one of the following conditions:

  1. to be an employee or person running a one-person activity in Poland,
  2. to have a health insurance and sufficient financial resources to support himself (herself) and family members,
  3. to have a health insurance and to be a student of Polish educational institution,
  4. to be a spouse of a Polish citizen.

Documents required:

  • notification filled in,
  • passport and its copy,
  • Employer’s statement on entrust the work to the foreigner,
  • foreigner’s statement on registration in register of entrepreneur – for person running a one-person activity in Poland,
  • certificate from Polish educational institution on admission to studies – for a student,
  • marriage certificate and copy of spouse’s passport – for a spouse of a Polish citizen,
  • insurance policy,
  • statement about having sufficient financial resources.

The Employer entrusting the work to a foreigner shall be obliged to request a foreigner to present a valid passport and certificate of notification of residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland prior to the commencement of work and keep copies of these documents referred throughout the period of work performed by the foreigner.

Declaration procedure

The Declaration procedure applies only to citizens of 6 countries:

  • Ukraine,
  • Russia,
  • Belarus,
  • Moldova,
  • Georgia and
  • Armenia.

The advantages of the Declaration procedure:

  • simple, cheap (PLN 30) and fast (up to 7 working days) procedure,
  • applied to the largest group of foreigners in Poland (the citizens of some former USSR-member countries),
  • the foreigner can commence the work straight after the Employer’s declaration is registered by the authority,
  • can be settled by the Employer of its proxy without the participation of a foreigner.

Entitlement to work in Poland based on declaration

The declaration allows foreigner to work in Poland for up to 6 months during a 12-months period without having to obtain a work permit, provided that:

  • the foreigner has a legal title to stay in Poland, e.g. valid passport with visa (except visa issued for tourism purpose or to visit family or friends), visa-free travel, residence permit and
  • the declaration is registered by the local labor authority (powiatowy urząd pracy) competent for the Employer’s seat and
  • the foreigner has not yet used the 6-month period of work during the 12 months by working for another employer.

Filing the declaration 

The Employer or its proxy files the following documents to the local labor authority (powiatowy urząd pracy) competent for the Employer’s seat:

  • declaration on entrust the work to the foreigner,
  • the statement on a lack of criminal records concerning the Employer (signed by the Employer),
  • power of attorney – for proxy,
  • foreigner’s passport copy,
  • confirmation of payment for registration in the amount of PLN 30.

After the declaration is registered, the Employer or its proxy must notify the local authority about the commencement the work by the foreigner at latest on the day of work commencement.

If the foreigner does not reside in Poland, the registered declaration may be the basis for a visa issuance by the Polish consul abroad. In this case the registered declaration must be sent to the foreigner in original paper form.

The registered declaration itself doesn’t allow the foreigner to stay in Poland. A foreigner should take care of obtaining and maintaining an appropriate legal title to enter or stay in Poland (e.g. residence permit, visa).

The Employer entrusting the work to a foreigner shall be obliged to request a foreigner to present passport consisting a valid visa (in case of Ukrainian citizens – passport with Border Guard’s stamp confirming entering Poland on visa-free basis) or valid residence permit prior to the commencement of work and keep copies of these documents referred throughout the period of work performed by the foreigner.

Additional facilities

1. The foreigners being employed based on a registered declaration of entrust work for a period of not less than 3 months can work legally even after the expiration of registered declaration, provided that:

  • they worked constantly during this period, for the same Employer and on the same position and on the same or better conditions indicated in the declaration, and
  • the foreigner submitted the application for a residence and work permit before the declaration is expired, and
  • the application or documents attached to it do not contain any formal defect or these defects were completed on time.

The period of legally working mentioned above ends at the moment of issuing the decision on residence and work permit or delivery the negative decision on residence and work permit. In nowadays practice, the procedure of issuing the residence and work permit takes 6-9 months.

2. Moreover, the foreigners, which met the requirements from the p. 1, and their employers can also avoid the procedure of Labor Market Test when applying to residence and work permit.

The basic principle for these two facilities is that the foreigner must have a legal title to stay in Poland throughout the period of work, otherwise the work is considered illegal.

Work permit procedure

If the candidate is not EU / EFTA citizen or citizen of countries eligible for declaration procedure (Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia), the candidate will need to follow regular procedure and obtain work permit in Poland.