Do you want to employ a foreigner in your company? If he is a citizen of a country outside the European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland, check whether his stay is legal and what residence titles entitle him to work in Poland.

When can a foreigner legally work in Poland

A foreigner who is a citizen of a country outside the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland may legally work in Poland if he or she meets the following conditions:

stays legally on the territory of Poland, i.e. has appropriate residence documents (e.g. a visa or a residence card)
if he is not exempt from the obligation to have a work permit:

will obtain a temporary residence and work permit (uniform permit) or
the employer will obtain a work permit for him, a seasonal work permit or submit a statement on entrusting work to a foreigner
residence documents (the basis for legal stay in Poland) allow him to work (it is not a tourist visa or other document excluding work)
his/her work is carried out under the conditions and position specified in the work permit,

statement on entrusting work or temporary residence and work permit (except for entrusting work of a different nature or in a different position than specified in the work permit - for periods in total not exceeding 30 days in a calendar year, provided that the voivode who issued the permit is notified within 7 days in writing).

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A foreigner cannot work legally if he/she stays in Poland on the basis of:

visa, the purpose of which has been marked with the symbol:

"01" - tourist destination
"20" - using temporary protection
temporary residence permit due to circumstances requiring a short stay.

The European Union Member States are: Austria, Lithuania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Latvia, Croatia, Malta, Cyprus, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Portugal, Estonia, Romania, Finland, Slovakia, France, Slovenia, Greece, Sweden, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy, Ireland.

Member States of the European Economic Area are, apart from the EU countries: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein.

Remember that it is the employer - as the entity entrusting work to a foreigner - that is obliged to:

check whether the foreigner has a valid residence permit entitling him to work
keep a copy of this residence permit for the entire period of work by the foreigner.
Important! In order to be able to enter the territory of Poland, a foreigner must have travel medical insurance with a minimum insurance amount of EUR 30,000, valid for the entire period of the planned stay in Poland, or be registered for health insurance under the National Health Fund.

Which visas entitle you to work in Poland

A foreigner should obtain a work visa at the Polish consulate competent for the country of his permanent or temporary residence or stay, which will enable him to legally stay and work on the territory of Poland.

The following entitle the foreigner to work in Poland:

C-type Schengen visa
national D-type visa.
A foreigner will receive a visa on the basis of a work permit, a certificate of entry of an application for a seasonal work permit in the register of applications or an employer's declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner, entered in the register of declarations by the poviat labor office.

If you want to apply for a visa, register in the E-konsulat system.

Remember! If you want to employ a foreigner in your company who is already staying in Poland on the basis of a visa, even if it was issued for a purpose other than performing work, you must first check whether the purpose of stay specified in the visa allows him to perform work.

Schengen visa

A Schengen visa is issued when a foreigner plans to stay on the territory of Poland for a short time, i.e. for a period not exceeding 90 days within each 180-day period (during one or several entries), counted from the date of entry within the period of validity of the visa.

This type of visa - uniform Schengen visa symbol C - entitles a foreigner not only to stay on the territory of Poland, but also to move around all countries belonging to the Schengen area.

Currently, 26 countries belong to the Schengen area - 22 countries of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Hungary, Italy and 4 non-EU countries: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Read how a foreigner can extend the validity of a Schengen visa.

Important! The waiting time for a decision on issuing a Schengen visa is 15 days from the date of submitting the application. In exceptional cases, this period may be extended.

National visa

A national visa (symbol D) is issued when a foreigner plans to stay on the territory of Poland for a period longer than 90 days (during one or several entries) within the period of validity of the visa. This is a long term visa.

The period of validity of a national visa starts no later than 3 months from the date of its issue and does not exceed 1 year. A national visa entitles you to stay in Poland for the period indicated therein, but not longer than one year.

On its basis, a foreigner may also stay in the Schengen area countries for up to 90 days in each 180-day period without the need to obtain visas from the authorities of individual Schengen countries.

Read how a foreigner can extend the validity of a national visa.

Important! The waiting time for a decision on issuing a national visa is 15 calendar days from the date of submitting the application. In exceptional cases, this period may be extended, but up to a maximum of 60 days.

Visa purpose indications

On the visa sticker, in the "comments" field, the consul indicates the purpose of issuing a Schengen visa or a national visa.

Visas typically intended for work in the territory of Poland are visas in which the purpose of issuing has been marked as:

"05a" - in order to perform work on the basis of a declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner, entered into the records by the poviat labor office
"05b" - for seasonal work
"06" - in order to perform work not covered by the above visas, i.e. most often on the basis of a work permit.
Remember, however, that these visa markings are not the only ones that allow a foreigner to work legally in Poland.

Each Schengen visa and national visa entitles you to work (provided you obtain an appropriate document legalizing your work), with the exception of a visa issued in order to:

tourist (visa code "01");
using temporary protection (visa code "20").
If a foreigner has one of the above-mentioned visa codes in his passport, he has no right to work on the basis of such a residence permit.

Who and how can benefit from visa-free travel

Foreigners who are citizens of certain countries can use visa-free travel, i.e. cross borders without the need to obtain a visa or other residence permit when entering the territory of the Schengen area, including Poland, also when they want to work.

Check the list of countries whose citizens can benefit from visa-free travel.

Citizens of these countries can benefit from visa-free travel only if they have a biometric passport, i.e. a passport that can be read with the use of dedicated electronic and optical devices, issued in accordance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Such a passport must be:

released in the last 10 years
be valid for at least 3 months after the planned date of leaving the Schengen area.
The period during which a foreigner may stay on the basis of visa-free travel is 90 days within each 180-day period - the total period of stay of a given foreigner on the territory of all Schengen zone countries counts here. After this time, a foreigner who wants to stay and work in Poland is obliged to have an appropriate visa or a temporary residence permit.

90 days of stay in a 180-day period should be counted as follows:

the day of crossing the border of a Schengen country is considered the first day of stay in the Schengen area
the day of leaving the border of a Schengen country is considered the last day of stay in the Schengen area
The 180-day period is not fixed in advance. It is flexible, based on a backwards calculation, taking into account each day of your stay

Absence for a continuous period of 90 days from the Schengen area always entitles you to a new stay of up to 90 days.

Important! Citizens of certain countries or special administrative regions may re-enter Poland as part of visa-free travel without the need to maintain the 180-day limit, based on bilateral agreements regulating visa-free travel concluded by Poland with these countries (e.g. Israel, USA, Mexico, Japan, Korea south).

• For employers

A foreigner who wants to benefit from visa-free travel must additionally meet the following conditions:

have a legitimate purpose and conditions of the intended stay
have sufficient financial resources to support themselves during their stay and to return to their country of origin
not be listed in the Schengen Information System (SIS)
not be considered a person posing a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or international relations for any EU country, and in particular not be a person who is listed in national databases for the purpose of refusing entry.

Remember that the legal stay of a foreigner in Poland under the visa-free regime does not exempt him from the obligation to obtain a work permit for him, entry of the employer's statement on entrusting work to a foreigner to the records of the poviat labor office, seasonal work permit or a certificate of entry of an application for such a permit into the records of applications.

residence permit

Temporary residence permit

A foreigner may be issued a temporary residence permit:

due to circumstances justifying residence in Poland for a period longer than 3 months. Such a residence permit entitles you to work in Poland. It is issued for a definite period of time, depending on the purpose of the foreigner's stay (e.g. work, studies, business activity), but for a period not longer than 3 years. A foreigner may apply for an extension of this permit.
Remember that a foreigner may also obtain a temporary residence and work permit under one administrative procedure, i.e. a uniform permit. Thanks to this, you do not need to obtain a work permit for him.

Find out more about the temporary residence and work permit for a foreigner

due to seasonal work, when its purpose is to perform such work in Poland. Such a residence permit entitles you to work in Poland. The temporary residence permit is granted for the period of validity of the seasonal work permit, but not longer than 9 months, counted from the date of the first entry on the basis of a visa or under visa-free travel for the purpose of performing seasonal work, occurring in a given calendar year.
Read about the rules on which a foreigner can apply for a temporary residence permit - an example of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Important! The only temporary residence permit that does not entitle to work in Poland is a temporary residence permit issued due to the need for a short-term stay of a foreigner on the territory of Poland, resulting from the obligation to appear before a Polish public authority or an important interest of the foreigner or the interest of Poland .

Permanent residence permit

A permanent residence permit is issued to a foreigner who meets the conditions set out in Art. 195 sec. 1 of the Act on Foreigners.

Read in what cases and how a foreigner can apply for a permanent residence permit - the example of the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

The permit is issued for an indefinite period and entitles the foreigner to work in Poland. If a foreigner has a permanent residence permit, you are released from the obligation to obtain a work permit for him in Poland.

Residence permit for a long-term resident of the European Union
A long-term resident's European Union residence permit is generally issued to a foreigner who resides in Poland legally and continuously for at least 5 years immediately before submitting the application for this permit and who meets all of the following conditions:

has a source of stable and regular income sufficient to cover the costs of living for himself and his dependent family members
has health insurance in the National Health Fund or travel medical insurance with a minimum insurance amount of EUR 30,000, valid for the period of the foreigner's stay in Poland.
has a confirmed knowledge of the Polish language.

The permit is issued for an indefinite period and entitles the foreigner to work in Poland. If the foreigner has a long-term resident's European Union residence permit, you are exempt from the obligation to obtain a work permit for him in Poland.