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 at least 5 years of professional experience at a level comparable to the level of qualifications obtained because 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 C- 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 1 year;
• 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:

1. 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;
2. 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:

1. The entity at which the foreigner is to perform work;
2. The position at which the foreigner is to be employed;
3. Remuneration;
4. 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.

POSSIBILITY TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE DECISION

At the request of a foreigner, a temporary residence permit for the purpose of performing work in a profession requiring high qualifications may be changed at any time by the voivode competent for the foreigner's place of residence, if the foreigner intends to work for an employer other than the one specified in the permit, intends to change the position, or will get lower remuneration than that specified in the permit.

Note! During the first 2 years of stay in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit in order to work in a profession requiring high qualifications:

1. A foreigner may not commence work for an employer other than that specified in the permit;
2. A foreigner cannot change the position at which they are employed;
3. A foreigner cannot be paid less than the remuneration specified in the permit
   - without changing the permit.

Note! If, after 2 years of stay in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit in order to perform work in a profession requiring high qualifications, the foreigner changes the job position, their remuneration has been reduced or the minimum working time has been changed or / and the type of contract under which they work has been changed, they are obliged to notify the voivode competent for the current place of residence about this change within 15 working days.

In the event of a change of the seat or place of residence, name, or legal form of the employer, or if the employer or part of it is taken over by another employer, there is no requirement to change or issue a new temporary residence permit in order to work in a profession requiring high qualifications.

WITHDRAWAL

The Blue Card is cancelled (temporary residence permit granted for the purpose of working in a profession requiring high qualifications is withdrawn), inter alia, if the foreigner does not comply with the restrictions on access to the labour market, i.e. When during the first 2 years of stay in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit in order to work in a profession requiring high qualifications, the foreigner changed the employer, their position has been changed or remuneration has been reduced, and the decision has not been previously changed.