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OBTAINING PERMIT FOR STAYING AND WORKING IN POLAND

If you intend to stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland for more than 3 months and if the purpose of your stay is to work, you should apply for a uniform permit for temporary residence and work. In this case, you do not have to apply for a separate work permit in advance because the issued uniform permit certifies the right to work for your employer, under the conditions set out in this permit.

A temporary residence and work permit is issued for a maximum period of 3 years. Unlike with a work permit, in case of the unified single permit a foreigner is the applicant, not an employer, as the uniform permit for temporary residence and work is a kind of temporary residence permit.

Check time limits! Remember that you apply for a temporary residence and work permit in person, no later than on the last day of legal residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

CONDITIONS TO ISSUE THE UNIFORM PERMIT

Temporary residence and work permits are issued to foreigners whose purpose of stay in the territory of Poland is to work, when the following conditions are jointly met:

you have:

• health insurance in the meaning of the act of 27 August 2004 on health care services financed from public funds or confirmation of coverage by the insurer of treatment costs in the territory of the Republic of Poland,
• a source of stable and regular income sufficient to cover the costs of supporting you and your family members who are dependent on you;
• a place of residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
• the entity entrusting you with the work cannot meet their staffing needs in the local labour market;
• the amount of the remuneration set in your contract with the entity entrusting the performance of work, which is the basis for the work, made in writing, is not lower than the amount of the remuneration of employees with the same work time of comparable work or a comparable position.

WHICH DOCUMENTS DO YOU NEED WHEN APPLYING FOR A TEMPORARY RESIDENCE AND WORK PERMIT?

When applying for a uniform permit for temporary residence and work, you must provide:

• 3 copies of the filled in application for a temporary residence permit;
• 4 photographs that meet the following requirements: undamaged, full-colour, with good sharpness;
• 35 mm x 45 mm size;
• taken not earlier than 6 months before the application lodging date;
• presenting the foreigner’s face from the top of the head to the upper part of the shoulders so that the face occupies 70–80% of the photograph, on a uniform light background, en face, looking straight ahead with open eyes, uncovered hair, with natural facial expression and closed mouth, presenting the natural skin colour;
• clearly showing the eyes of the foreigner, especially the pupils, with the eye line parallel to the top of the photograph. Note: A foreigner wearing a hat in accordance with the rules of his/her religion may attach to the application a photograph showing him in the headgear, provided that the image of the face is fully visible. In this case, the application shall be accompanied by a foreigner’s statement on belonging to a religious community;
• A photocopy of a valid travel document (the original for inspection); under special justified circumstances, if you do not have a valid travel document and you can not obtain it, you can present another document confirming your identity;
• Information of the starosta competent for the main place of your work on the inability to satisfy the employer’s staffing needs based on the registers of the unemployed and job seekers or on the negative result of the recruitment organized for the employer;

STAROSTA INFORMATION – WHAT IS IT?

Starosta Information is a document on the inability to satisfy the employer’s staffing needs based on the registers of unemployed and job seekers or negative recruitment results for the employer, drafted up taking into account the priority of access to the labour market for Polish citizens and some foreigners to in the act on employment promotion and labour market institutions. For this purpose, the employer has to place an employment offer for the post of your employment with the powiat labour office competent for the main place of work.

The Starosta Information is issued on request of the employer within:

• not longer than 14 days from the date of placing a job offer in the powiat labour office, if the analysis of the unemployed and job seekers registers does not indicate a possibility to organize recruitment;
• not longer than 21 days from the day of placing the job offer in case of recruitment among the unemployed and job seekers.

WHEN IS THE STAROSTA INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED?

Please note that this document is not required if:

• the work to be performed by a foreigner is included in the list of deficit professions published in voivodeship heads’ orders (eg concrete-fixer, tiler);
• the employer applies for an extension of the work permit for the same foreigner at the same position;
• the work area is nursing and caring or domestic help to be carried out by citizens of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, or the Ukraine;
• immediately before submitting an application for a work permit, the employer has been employing for the period of at least 3 months at the same position a foreigner who is a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, or the Ukraine on the basis of the declaration of employment intent registered by the Powiat Labour Office concerning a foreigner, subject to the presentation of the registered statement, the contract, and the documents that confirm the payment of social security contributions, if required in connection with the performance of work;
• the work area is a sports trainer or a sportsman who works for sports clubs and other entities whose statutory activities include promotion of physical culture and sport;
• the case applies to a foreigner authorized to represent a foreign entrepreneur in their branch or representation office located in Poland;
• the foreigner is a relative of a diplomatic employee or of an employee of a branch of an international organization in Poland or works as a private domestic service for such employees;
• the foreigner is a postgraduate student at a Polish university or during the last 3 years graduated from a university in Poland, the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein;
• the foreigner, for the three years preceding the application for the residence permit, has been legally residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland (except in the cases specified in Article 110 of the act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners).

REFUSAL TO OPEN THE PROCEEDINGS

The voivodeship head refuses to initiate the proceedings on granting of a temporary residence and work permit if:

• you are an employee posted to work in the territory of the Republic of Poland for a limited period by an employer established outside the Republic of Poland – throughout the period of posting;
• you entered the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of the obligations set out in international agreements to facilitate the entry and temporary stay of certain categories of natural persons dealing in trade or investment;
• you conduct economic activities in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

TYPICAL DOCUMENTS REQUESTED BY AN INSPECTOR IN THE OFFICE

The following is a list of typical documents that you will have to present at the office during the proceedings for issuing a temporary residence and work permit.

If you are exempt from the obligation to have a work permit, you must present a document confirming the fulfilment of this condition by submitting, for example, Karta Polaka, the diploma of completion of a Polish university or the certificate of completion of a Polish high school.

Confirming that you have a place to live, you must submit a document in the form of a flat rental agreement (or other contract that allows you to be responsible for a residential unit), a registration certificate or a written statement of the person authorized to be responsible for a residential unit that they ensure place of residence for you.

Confirming health insurance or confirmation of the coverage of medical costs in Poland by the insurer, provide a relevant ZUS certificate or insurance policy.

Having a stable and regular source of income sufficient to cover the costs of living for yourself and your dependent family members, for example, a contract of employment, a PIT return with the amount of income earned for the last tax year, or a relevant ZUS certificate, or any other document certifying a stable and regular source of income.

Income criterion:

• a single person: 643 zł
• a person in a family: 514 zł

If you perform work under a contract for a specific work, provide the certificate of lack of tax arrears with the office. If you have previously worked for another employer, include a work certificate from that employer.

HOW TO FILL IN THE APPLICATION

Start filling in the application for a temporary residence and work permit by reading the instructions. Remember the following:

• fill it in legibly in Polish;
• fill it in with capital letters in the relevant boxes;
• fill in all the required fields of the application in accordance with the fact;
• state the place of the actual stay where correspondence will be received;
• in the criminal record section, state the information about judgments concerning you, while in the part on pending criminal proceedings or proceedings in misdemeanour cases, provide information about all pending proceedings (eg in case of refused fines);
• attach proof of payment of stamp duty and 4 photographs in the appropriate format with the application;
• enter your first and last name in the application using the Latin alphabet and sign it, remember to attach the annex no. 1 filled in and signed by the employer.

HOW MUCH DOES A SINGLE RESIDENCE PERMIT COST FOR A TEMPORARY RESIDENCE AND WORK?

The stamp duty on the issuance of the permit is 440 zł. The fee for issuing a residence card is 50 zł.

Sources:

• Act on foreigners of 12 December 2013 (Journal of Laws of 2013, item 1650, as amended);
• Act on the promotion of employment and labour market institutions of 20 April 2004 (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 645);

Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 29 January 2009 on determining cases in which the work permit of a foreigner is issued irrespective of the specific conditions for issuing work permits for foreigners (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 97).

 

Author: Trainee Attorney-at-law Marta Szczepanowska
Editorial Supervisor: Attorney-at-law Paweł Tokarski