Blue Card
A foreigner who intends to perform or continue work in a profession requiring high qualifications in Poland may apply for this type of permit.
Applying for the so-called Blue Card requires the foreigner to complete higher education or
- to have three years of professional experience at a level comparable to the level of qualification obtained as a result of higher education, necessary to perform the work specified in the contract, in a period of no more than 7 years preceding the submission of the application for a permit
- to have at least 5 years of professional experience at a level comparable to the level of qualifications obtained as a result of graduating from a higher education unit, as necessary for the job.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
in addition to the basic documents referred to in the TEMPORARY RESIDENCE - GENERAL INFORMATION tab, the foreigner must also submit:
- appendix 1 to the application - the attachment must be signed by a person authorized to represent the employer (e.g. in accordance with the manner of representation of the Company established in the National Court Register). Submitting an incorrectly completed / signed attachment or no attachment will be treated as a formal deficiency;
Note! A prerequisite for obtaining the Blue Card is that the foreigner's annual gross remuneration resulting from the monthly or annual remuneration, as indicated in the contract, is not lower than the equivalent of 150% of the amount of the average remuneration in the national economy in the year preceding the submission of the application for the Blue Card, as announced by of the President of Statistics Poland, pursuant to art. 20 point 1 letter a of the Act of December 17, 1998 on old-age and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund.
- attachment 2 to the application (to be completed by the foreigner);
- an employment contract (or an outwork contract or a civil law contract) concluded for a period of at least 6 months;
- documents confirming higher professional qualifications (e.g. a university diploma with a translation into Polish;
- information from the staroste competent for the foreigner's main place of work (if required);
- documents confirming health insurance or coverage by the insurer of treatment costs in the territory of the Republic of Poland (e.g. printouts from ZUS - ZUS RCA for the past 3 months together with information about sending and confirmation);
- documents confirming a place of residence in Poland. Such documents may be, for example, a rental contract, confirmation of check-in or a hotel reservation.
- tax settlement, e.g. PIT submitted to the tax office (if the person submitting the application performed work in Poland in previous years);
- certificate of no arrears in taxes (such a certificate is obtained at the Tax Office located closest to the place of residence of the person submitting the application).
Note! The above list cannot be considered complete. The set of documents necessary to obtain a Blue Card may differ due to the given foreigner's situation and the office where the foreigner applies for the permanent residence permit.
REFUSAL TO INITIATE PROCEEDINGS
The voivode refuses to initiate the procedure for issuing the Blue Card, among others, if the foreigner:
- is staying on the territory of Poland on the basis of a visa issued by the Polish authorities for the purpose of tourism or visiting family or friends;
- is staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland for the purpose of tourism or visiting family or friends, on the basis of a visa issued by another country of the Schengen area.
DECISION ON GRANTING THE PERMIT - ISSUING A BLUE CARD
A temporary residence permit in order to perform work in a profession requiring high qualifications is granted for a period longer by 3 months than the period of work, but not longer than 3 years.
The decision on granting a residence permit for the purpose of performing work in a profession requiring high qualifications specifies the period of validity of this permit and indicates:
- The entity at which the foreigner is to perform work;
- The position at which the foreigner is to be employed;
- Remuneration;
- The minimum working time and type of contract under which the foreigner is to perform work.
Note! A foreigner staying in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit in order to perform work in a profession requiring high qualifications must notify the voivode competent for the place of their place of residence of the loss of job, in writing within 15 working days.
A foreigner staying in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit in order to perform work in a profession requiring high qualifications must notify in writing, within 15 working days, the voivode competent for the place of his/her current stay of the following:
1) change of the entity entrusting work to the foreigner;
2) ceasing to meet the requirements for granting him this permit.
A foreigner staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of the permit referred to in Article 127 shall, within 15 working days, notify in writing the governor who granted him/her this permit of the commencement of the long-term mobility of the EU Blue Card holder, indicating the European Union Member State in which he/she benefits from this mobility.
WITHDRAWAL
The decision to withdraw the permit, shall be issued no earlier than:
1) after 3 months from the date of initiation of the proceedings on withdrawal of this permit, if the foreigner stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of the Blue Card, for less than 2 years;
2) after 6 months from the date of initiation of proceedings on withdrawal of this permit, if the foreigner stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of the Blue Card for a period of not less than 2 years.
Short-term mobility
Short-term mobility allows you to work in another European Union country for up to 90 days within 180 days, without the need for an additional work permit. This includes participation in business meetings, contract negotiations, conferences or marketing activities.
Long-term mobility
Long-term mobility means staying in another EU country for more than 90 days for professional purposes. It requires a special temporary residence permit, but in return it gives the foreigner a wider range of opportunities related to the performance of professional duties.
A temporary residence permit for long-term mobility of an EU Blue Card holder is granted when the purpose of the foreigner's stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland is to perform work in a highly qualified profession and the following conditions are met together:
1) the foreigner:
(a) concluded a contract of employment, a tolling agreement or a civil law contract for a period of at least 6 months, on the basis of which he performs work, provides services or remains in a service relationship,
(b) has formal qualifications and meets other conditions that are required, in the case of the intention to work in a regulated profession
(c) has a residence permit with the annotation “EU Blue Card” issued by another European Union Member State, and immediately prior to entering the territory of the Republic of Poland, he stayed in that European Union Member State on the basis of that document for at least 12 months, or in the case of long-term mobility of the EU Blue Card holder in that country - for at least 6 months,
(d) has health insurance within the meaning of the Act of August 27, 2004 on health care services financed from public funds or confirmation of coverage of medical expenses on the territory of the Republic of Poland by the insurer;
2) the gross annual salary resulting from the monthly or annual salary indicated in the contract is not less than the equivalent of 150% of the amount of the average salary in the national economy in the year preceding the application for a temporary residence permit for long-term mobility of the holder of the EU Blue Card