Documents entitling a foreigner to work in Poland

Detailed information on the temporary residence and work permit is available in the TEMPORARY STAY / RESIDENCE AND WORK PERMIT tab.

WORK PERMIT

A work permit is a document that entitles a foreigner to work legally in Poland, provided that the foreigner has a basis of residence enabling them to perform work in accordance with the regulations.

Note! A foreigner may not perform work in Poland, even if they have a valid work permit, if they are staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of:

• a visa issued for the purpose of tourism, arrival for humanitarian reasons, due to the interest of the state or international obligations;
• a temporary residence permit granted due to circumstances requiring a short-term stay of a foreigner on the territory of Poland (Article 181 (1) of the Act on foreigners).

Changes to the conditions of employment of a foreigner indicated in the permit require a new permit. The following situations are exceptions:

• change of the seat or place of residence, name or legal form of the entity entrusting work to a foreigner;
• takeover of the employer or its part by another employer;
• transfer of the workplace or its part to another employer;
• replacement of a civil law contract with an employment contract;
• changing the name of the position on which the foreigner performs work, while maintaining the scope of his duties;
• increased working time of a foreigner with a proportional increase in remuneration;
• entrusting the foreigner, for periods not exceeding 30 days in a calendar year, with work of a different nature or at a different position than specified in the work permit, if the other conditions specified in the work permit and the requirements for performing regulated professions or activities have been met;
• working conditions of a foreigner with a work permit have changed:

1. a) on the terms set out in art. 91 or art. 231a of the Act of June 26, 1974 - Labour Code (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1320 and of 2021, item 1162),
2. b) on the terms set out in art. 4 of the Act of 11 October 2013 on special solutions related to the protection of jobs (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 669),
3. c) on the terms set out in art. 3, art. 15g sec. 6 and 8, art. 15gb, art. 15x sec. 1 or art. 15zf sec. 1 of the Act of March 2, 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them (Journal of Laws of 2021, items 2095, 2120, 2133, 2262, 2269 and 2317).

In a situation described above, it is not required to obtain a new work permit.

The permit is valid for the period for which it was issued. The expiry date of the permit is stated on the document.

A work permit is required in the case of taking up employment on the basis of both employment contracts and civil law contracts.

The entity entrusting the work (the employer) applies for a work permit for a foreigner.

The permit is issued by the voivode competent for the seat / place of residence of the employer.

We can distinguish the following types of work permits:

• TYPE A - obtained in the case of a foreigner who will perform work in Poland on the basis of an agreement with an entity whose seat or place of residence, or a branch, plant or other form of organized activity is located in Poland.
• TYPE B - is obtained in the case of a foreigner who will perform work consisting in performing a function in the management board of a legal person entered in the register of entrepreneurs or being a capital company in organization, or in connection with running the affairs of a limited partnership or limited joint-stock partnership as a general partner, or in connection with granting them a procuration for a total period exceeding 6 months in consecutive 12 months.
• TYPE C - obtained in the case of a foreigner who will perform work for a foreign employer and will be posted to the territory of Poland for a period of more than 30 days in a calendar year to a branch or plant of a foreign entity or a related entity.
• TYPE D - obtained in the case of a foreigner who will perform work for a foreign employer without a branch, establishment or other form of organized activity on the territory of Poland and will be posted to the territory of Poland in order to provide a temporary and occasional service (export service).
• TYPE E - obtained for a foreigner who will perform work for a foreign employer and is posted to the territory of Poland for a period of more than 30 days within consecutive 6 months for a purpose other than for the type B, C, D permits.
• TYPE S - obtained for a foreigner who will perform work in the scope of activities specified in the Regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of December 8, 2017. (i.e.  activities directly related to agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, or catering and accommodation).

An employer who employs a foreigner is obliged to:

• check, before the foreigner starts work, whether they have a valid residence permit,
• make a copy of the residence permit and keep this copy for the entire period of work by the foreigner,
• conclude a written contract with a foreigner under the terms of the work permit,
• present a translation into a language that the foreigner understands before signing the contract,
• provide the foreigner with one copy of the work permit in writing,
• increasing the foreigner's remuneration in proportion to the increase in the working time of the foreigner employed part-time or the number of hours in which the foreigner performs work under a civil law contract,
• inform the foreigner about activities undertaken in connection with the procedure for granting or extending a work permit and decisions on issuing, refusing to issue or revoking a permit,
• if the foreigner does not start work within 3 months from the initial validity date of the work permit, stops to work for a period exceeding 3 months, ends work earlier than 3 months before the expiry of the work permit, the employer must inform the voivode within 7 days.

Note! An employer who employs a foreigner on the basis of a work permit has the same obligations towards them as towards a Polish citizen:

• reporting within 7 days from the date of commencement of work to social and health insurance and monthly and timely payment of contributions of an appropriate amount to the Social Insurance Institution (if required by the type of contract - primarily an employment contract and a mandate contract, it does not apply, for example, to a specific task contract),
• calculating, collecting and paying advances for income tax (the method of tax settlement depends on the tax residence of the employed foreigner),
• compliance with the provisions of the Labour Code.

DECLARATION OF ENTRUSTING THE PERFORMANCE OF WORK TO A FOREIGNER

Note! Declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner entered into the register of declarations pursuant to the provisions in force until January 28, 2022 may be submitted in proceedings for issuing a visa for no longer than 6 months from January 29, 2022. In such a case, it will be possible to obtain a visa for a stay longer than 6 months if an additional statement of the entity entrusting the performance of work is attached to the visa application on extending the period of entrusting work with respect to the statement entered in the register of declarations.

The declaration on entrusting the performance of work is entered into the register of declarations by the poviat labour office competent for the seat or place of permanent residence of the employer, if:

• the foreigner is a citizen of: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, or Ukraine;
• the work of the foreigner is not related to the activity of the entity specified in the regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of December 8, 2017 / provisions on seasonal work;
• the period of work specified in the submitted declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner is not longer than 24 months;
• the date of commencement of work indicated in the submitted declaration will take place no later than 6 months from the date of submitting the declaration;
• the amount of the foreigner's remuneration will not be lower than the remuneration of employees performing work of a comparable type or on a comparable position.

In matters that do not require explanatory proceedings, the poviat labour office enters the declaration on entrusting the performance of work to a foreigner in the declaration register or the starost refuses to enter the declaration in the declaration register no later than within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the declaration, and in cases requiring explanatory proceedings - no later than within 30 days from the date of receipt of the declaration.

The entity entrusting work to a foreigner whose declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner has been entered in the register of declarations shall notify the competent poviat labor office in writing of:

• starting work by a foreigner within 7 days from the date of commencement of work specified in the register of declarations;
• failure to take up work by the foreigner within 7 days from the date of commencement of work specified in the register of declarations.

Note! If the foreigner has been employed for a period of not less than 3 months on the basis of a declaration and the employer has submitted an application for a work permit for this foreigner at the same position under an employment contract before the end of the work date indicated in the declaration, and the application does not contain formal deficiencies or formal deficiencies have been corrected on time, the work of a foreigner on conditions not worse than those specified in the declaration entered in the declaration register is considered legal from the date of expiry of the declaration to the date of issuing a work permit or delivery of a negative decision in this matter.

The above also applies to a foreigner for a temporary residence permit (referred to in art. 114 par. 1 of the Act of 12 December 2013 on foreigners) in order to continue employment with a given employer.

SEASONAL WORK PERMIT

The permit is obtained by an employer who intends to employ a foreigner for activities specified in the Regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of December 8, 2017. A seasonal work permit is issued for a specified period, it may not exceed 9 months in a calendar year.

In the case of a foreigner who entered the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a visa issued for the purpose of performing seasonal work or under the visa-free regime in connection with an application for a seasonal work permit entered in the register of applications, this period is counted from the date of the foreigner's first entry into the territory of the Schengen area countries in a given calendar year.

If the application for a seasonal work permit concerns a foreigner who stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland on a different basis which may be related to the right to work, the permit may be issued for the period of legal stay, but not longer than for a period of 9 months within a calendar year, calculated together with the periods specified in the previously issued seasonal work permits for the foreigner.

A seasonal work permit is issued by the staroste competent for the seat or place of residence of the entity entrusting the performance of work to a foreigner.

The procedure for obtaining a work permit differs depending on whether the foreigner is in Poland or abroad.

If the foreigner is in Poland on a basis that can be related to the right to work , the employer submits an application for a seasonal work permit to the staroste competent for the seat or place of residence of the entity entrusting the work to the foreigner, and the staroste issues a decision within 7 days or up to 30 days if an clarification proceedings are required.

If the foreigner is abroad and will apply for a visa issued for the purpose of performing seasonal work, or intends to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland under the visa-free regime, the employer shall submit an application to the staroste competent for the seat or place of residence of the entity entrusting the performance work for a foreigner, and the staroste enters the application in the register of applications for seasonal work and issues a certificate of entry of the application within 7 to 30 days. Then the employer submits the certificate to the foreigner, and the foreigner obtains a visa issued for the purpose of performing seasonal work or enters the territory of Poland under the visa-free regime in connection with the application for a seasonal work permit entered in the register of applications. A foreigner may start work on the day on which the employer presents to the competent staroste:

1. a copy of a valid document entitling the foreigner to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland;
2. information about the foreigner's accommodation address during the stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Extension of the permit

If a foreigner entered the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a visa issued for the purpose of performing seasonal work or under the visa-free regime in connection with the application for a seasonal work permit entered in the register of seasonal work applications, the staroste may issue an extension of the seasonal work permit in order to continuation of seasonal work by a foreigner for the same entity entrusting work to a foreigner or for the purpose of performing seasonal work for another entity entrusting work to the foreigner.

If the foreigner stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a document other than a visa issued for the purpose of performing seasonal work or under the visa-free regime, without connection to the application entered in the register of applications for seasonal work, the staroste refuses to initiate proceedings to extend the seasonal work permit.

The extension of a seasonal work permit is issued for a period which, together with the period of stay of the foreigner for the purpose of performing seasonal work, counted from the date of the first entry into the territory of the Schengen area countries in a given calendar year, is not longer than 9 months in a calendar year.

A seasonal work permit is issued if:

1. the amount of remuneration that will be specified in the contract with the foreigner, shall not be lower than the remuneration of employees performing comparable work in the same amount of time or at a comparable position;
2. the entity entrusting the performance of work to the foreigner attached the information from the staroste about the inability to meet the employer's staffing needs based on the registers of the unemployed and job seekers or about a negative result of recruitment organized for the employer to the application for a seasonal work permit.

Information from the staroste is not required if:

• During the 3 years preceding the submission of the application for a work permit, the foreigner graduated from a university based in Poland or another EEA country or the Swiss Confederation, or is a participant in doctoral studies conducted in Poland;
• The foreigner has been legally residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland for 3 years preceding the submission of the application for a work permit and the stay has been uninterrupted;
• The foreigner is a citizen of one of the following countries: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, or Ukraine.

The fee for submitting an application for a seasonal work permit is PLN 30.