15/05/2025
🚨 URGENT: Key Info for Foreigners Living in Poland – Please Read and Share! 🚨
This message is important because there’s a growing wave of misleading and false information spreading online, targeting foreigners in Poland.
⚠️ Fake profiles are sharing incorrect news to create panic and trick people into paying for fake legal services.
Stay calm and don’t fall for scams.
Here’s the truth about what’s changing and what it actually means for you.
✅ NEW LAW Effective from 1 June 2025:
A new regulation on the employment of foreigners in Poland will come into force:
📘 "Act on Conditions for Legal Employment of Foreigners in Poland" (adopted on 20 March 2025)
Main objectives of the law:
Simplify and clarify hiring rules
Strengthen protection for foreign workers
Crack down on illegal employment and scam job offers
Shift procedures to a faster, digital format
🟢 Types of Visas That Allow You to Work in Poland:
If your visa contains any of the following codes, you are legally allowed to work in Poland. Check the number printed on your visa sticker:
Visa Code Purpose
03 Sports activities
04 Business operations
05a Employment based on employer declaration
05b Seasonal work
06 Work based on a work permit
07 Culture or academic events
08 Diplomatic/international organization roles
09 University or postgraduate studies
10 Vocational education
12 Teaching roles
13 Scientific research
13a Internships
13b European Voluntary Service
15 Joining EU/EFTA/Swiss family member
16 Cultural exchange, humanitarian aid, or working holiday
17 Family of repatriate
17a Family of someone with a residence permit via Karta Polaka
17b Joining a UK citizen under Brexit agreement
19 Repatriation
21 Humanitarian or public interest reasons
22 Temporary residence for family reunification
22a Intra-company transfer
22b Other temporary residence cases (Art. 160 pts 1, 3, 4, 6)
23 Based on Karta Polaka
🔴 Visas That DO NOT Allow Work in Poland:
The following visa types do not permit employment in Poland:
Visa Code Purpose
01 Tourism
02 Visiting family or friends
11 Other studies (not listed in 09 or 10)
14 Medical treatment
20 Temporary protection
23 "Other" – not included in the allowed list
❌ Be Careful with Visas from Other Schengen Countries:
⚠️ If you enter Poland using a visa from another Schengen state (like Italy, Germany, France), even if it's a long-term (type D) or short-term (type C) visa – you cannot work in Poland on it.
🟥 These visas do not provide the legal right to work in Poland.
🟢 What Is Acceptable?
✅ If you hold a residence card (TRC) from another Schengen country (e.g. Hungary, Croatia, Lithuania), and it’s in the EU-standard format – you won’t face deportation just for staying in Poland.
ℹ️ Other Key Legal Updates:
You can apply for a residence permit in Poland with:
Umowa o pracę (employment contract)
Umowa zlecenie (service contract)
✅ Both are accepted – it’s a myth that only full-time jobs count.
All contracts with foreign workers must be in written form. If not in Polish, a certified translation is required and must be kept by the employer for the job duration + 2 years.
Employers must register the contract online before work starts, if they applied for your work permit.
There is no more labor market test required. Instead, there will be an official list of in-demand jobs to fast-track the process.
