Foreign workers
17.02.2010
Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, the legal requirements for foreign employees who intend to commence work in Poland differ, depending on whether the individual in questionis an EU national or a citizen of a third country. The procedures to be followed when employing a foreign employee in Poland:
EU Employees
Registering the EU national’s residence in the Voivode’sOffice (the governor of thevoivodeship) pertinent to the actual place where the EU national will be stayingin Poland in the three months following his/her arrival.
Non-EU Employees
The process consists of 4 main stages:
- obtaining an opinion from the local labour authorities and publicly advertising the vacancy– the main aim of these procedures is to verify whether there are any Poles who have the required skills and who may wish to take up the position offered by the employer
- obtaining a preliminary work permit
- applying for a document legalizing the foreign national’s stay in Poland (this can be eithera work visa or a residence permit)
- obtaining a final work permit (for a periodof up to one year)
The entire process may, in practice, take up to three months.
The article from Doing Business - publication prepared by: PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the cooperation with Malopolska Regional Development Agency.