You submitted an application for a temporary residence permit and have a stamp in your passport that allows you to stay in Poland until the final decision. Does it also mean that you can be legally employed in Poland? Read the next part of the Legalisation of Stay and Employment of Foreigners in Poland guide and find out.
FAQ#8
Can I Work Legally in Poland after Applying for a Temporary Residence Permit?
Unfortunately, even though having a stamp in your passport confirming submission of an application for a temporary residence permit allows you to continue to stay legally in Poland, it does not allow you to start working legally in the territory of the Republic of Poland.
However, the foreigner will be able to work legally while waiting for a temporary residence permit to be issued if on the day of submission of the application:
- they had the right to work in Poland (e.g. a declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner from a District Employment Office or a work permit) and currently they still hold such a right;
Likewise, if a foreigner:
- has submitted another application for a single residence and work permit for the same company and the same post, based on the same type of contract (continuation of employment);
- at the date of application for a single residence and work permit they had a valid type A work permit and the application submitted concerns the same company and the same post and the same type of contract (continuation of employment) which the issued type A work permit concerns;
- on the date of application for the single residence and work permit they held a valid declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner (oświadczenie o powierzeniu pracy cudzoziemcowi) from the District Employment Office issued on the basis of an employment contract based on which they have worked continuously for more than 3 months and the submitted application concerns the same company and the same position and the same type of contract (continuation of employment), which the issued declaration concerned;
- on the date of application for the single residence and work permit they held a valid declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner from the District Employment Office issued on the basis of an employment contract based on which they have worked less than 3 months, if the submitted application did not contain any formal defects and its submission was confirmed with a stamp (i.e. the foreigner is waiting for the decision on stay) – they may work only until the end of the term of validity of the declaration unless the employer additionally submits an application for type A work permit after a full 3 months of work of the foreigner on the basis of the declaration, but before its expiry, and type A work permit will concern the same company, position and type of contract as the statement from the District Employment Office;
- there are other circumstances that exempt the foreigner from obtaining a work permit.
More questions about how to legalise your stay in Poland?
Issues related to the legalisation of employment and stay of foreigners in Poland still raise many doubts – both among employers and their foreign employees. In order to make it easier to navigate among statutory regulations, the Invest in Pomerania team in cooperation with specialists from the Pomeranian Voivodeship Office have created a publication containing a list of the most frequently asked questions regarding the procedure of applying for a residence and work permit in Poland. We sincerely hope that the publication will make the process of legalising the stay and employment of foreigners in our region more efficient. We invite you to read the entire guide. If you want to learn more about the full range of support provided by Invest in Pomerania visit the website: investinpomerania.pl .
