24 January 2020
Temporary residence and work permit
Today we will discuss a popular topic. Despite the fact that this topic is very popular, the 7HR employment agency often gets a lot of inquiries from foreigners as well as from employers employing foreigners.
Grab a cup of coffee in hand. Together, we will get through a difficult topic regarding the permit to stay and work in Poland.
A residence and work permit is issued to a foreigner whose main purpose is to legally perform work in Poland.
Of course, a foreigner applying for a temporary residence and work permit must meet several conditions jointly.
A foreigner must:
- have health insurance;
- have a source of steady and regular income sufficient to cover the cost of subsistence for the foreigner himself/herself and family members dependent on him/her;
- have guaranteed place of accommodation in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
- the salary which is not lower than the minimum salary and not lower than the salary of employees performing work of comparable type on a comparable position within the same working
time.
In addition, the employer must document the fact that it is not possible to satisfy its staffing needs within the local labour market. The employer is exempt from this obligation if the occupation which the foreigner performs is a deficit profession or the foreigner was employed by the same employer in the same position for at least 3 months, or during the 3 years preceding the submission of the application, the foreigner graduated from one of the Universities of Poland or another country of the European Economic Area, or if a foreigner is a PhD student of the Polish University in the Republic of Poland, or if the foreigner meets the conditions for exemption from the obligation to have a work permit, set out in separate regulations.
A temporary residence and work permit is granted for a maximum period of 3 years. However, the validity period of a residence and work permit may be shorter. Usually the period for which a temporary residence and work permit is issued depends on the documents presented by the foreigner (in particular, the period for which the contract was signed).
It is worth to know that at the foreigner’s request, a temporary residence and work permit may be amended at any time by the voivode competent with respect to the foreigner’s current place of residence if the foreigner intends to perform work for another user employer or under conditions other than those specified in the previous temporary residence and work permit such as the position on which the foreigner is to perform work.
If a foreigner residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a temporary residence and work permit loses his job or resigns from it, he shall, within 15 working days, notify in writing the voivode competent with respect to the foreigner’s current place of residence of the loss of a job at any of the entities entrusting the performance of work indicated in the permit.
‼If within 30 days from the moment of losing a job and informing the voivode about this fact, the foreigner will not find a new job, his permit for temporary residence and work may be cancelled.
‼If within 30 days from the job loss the foreigner finds a new employer and applies for a new temporary residence and work permit, then he may legally continue his stay in Poland.
Legal basis:
The Foreigner’s Act of 12 December 2013 (OJ L 2013, No. 0, item 1650); Ustawa z dnia 12 grudnia 2013 r. o cudzoziemcach (Dz.U. 2013 r. poz. 1650)