The Job
In order to qualify for a work or residence permit, you will need to justify your professional presence in the country. This means: What job in Poland are you qualified to do that cannot sufficiently be done by a Polish citizen?
The most common option is teaching English in one of the dozens of language schools, if you are a native English speaker. But with more and more corporations and startups setting up shop in cities throughout Poland, there are also tons of options for just about any industry and skillset.
Good places to look are LinkedIn (surprisingly popular compared to the U.S. – candidates are regularly recruited for Polish companies/offices directly through the platform) and Facebook expat and city specific job groups. Given Poland’s flourishing economy, it’s very doable to find a job within 1-2 months, and probably much less with a fair bit of hustle.
For reference: I interviewed at 5 language schools, was offered a position at 3 of them, and ultimately took a marketing position at a local tech startup within 6 weeks of my arrival to Krakow (without enormous experience in either area). Later on I was also offered numerous positions teaching or tutoring English part time, without seeking them out.
Having graduated college at the height of the economic depression in 2010, frankly (as well as ironically and sadly) this was the easiest it’s ever been for me to find a job(!).
The Work Visa
Once you have the job offer, you have two options:
- Your new employer sponsors you for a combined work visa + temporary residence permit (“karta pobytu”)
- You create your own business as a CEIDG “sole proprietorship”, sign a business to business (B2B) agreement with your desired employer (limited to EU and American nationals) and apply only for a temporary residence permit
I strongly recommend the second option, for two reasons.
First, creating your own business to offer your services means you don’t need a work permit at all, which simplifies the visa application process.
With Option #1, you will apply for a work + residence permit bundled together. This means more paperwork and therefore more time to go through the process and opportunities for things to go wrong. With Option #2, you only need to set up your business (a one day process that can be done in person at city hall), and apply for a residence permit.
Second, and maybe more importantly, with Option #1 when your employer sponsors your work visa you are then tied to this job in order to have legal residence in the country. This means that if you want to switch jobs, you will have to go through the entire process again.
To set up your business you will need:
- Your passport
- A CEIDG-1 application form (provided at City Hall or can be filled out online). On this form you will need to state your business name (your legal name is sufficient, or you can get more creative if you prefer) and industry of the services you will offer (designated from a long list of codes). The industry code can be changed in the future, should your job/business change.
- A translator (recommended)
For great step by step instructions, a Polish friend of mine has guided many expats on how to set up a business in Poland.
VAT or not to VAT?
When setting up your business, you will be given the option to register with without VAT. VAT is the European sales tax, which is generally around 23%. This means that you will charge your customers VAT for your goods or services, and then register this when you file your taxes.
There are pros and cons on both sides of using it. The primary advantage is that you can then itemize deductions for business expenses if you register with VAT. This can include anything from office supplies to the rent for your apartment (if you conduct your business from home), so this can be significant, depending on your business setup.
However, it is best to consult with a Polish accountant before deciding this either way to make sure you understand the options specific to your business.
ZUS
ZUS is the Polish social security and public health insurance system, which you are required to register for and pay into in order to be issued a residence permit (so necessary for both Option #1 and #2, though with Option #1 your employer will often take care of this). If you set up your own business, be sure to register for ZUS within 7 days of registering your business.
In the same office you set up your business you are also able to register for the ZUS insurance. Again you will need your passport and an application form (available at the office).
A local mailing address and telephone number will be needed on both forms, so make sure to get these set up prior to completing this step.
Make sure to get a copy of your ZUS application or other proof of your ZUS registration, as you will need this for your residence permit application. Copies of documents should receive an official stamp to verify their authenticity (they can be sticklers about this in the immigration office, so ask for the stamp on your copy of the ZUS registration if they don’t do it for you).
The Residence Permit
Getting all your paperwork in order for the residence permit application can seem daunting at first, but it’s really just a matter of a bunch of photocopies and a little extra organization.
For the permit you will need:
- A completed application form
- Copies of every page in your passport (even the blank ones)
- A work contract in Polish certifying:
- why you are needed to work in Poland (B2B contract mentioned above)
- how much you will be paid (this needs to be no less than 200% above the poverty line for your voivodeship)
- the length of employment (Ideal if this can be indefinite or 3 years in your B2B contract, as they will set the length of your permit based on this. 3 years is the maximum length of an initial residence permit)
- A lease rental agreement in Polish
- Proof of ZUS enrollment
- An official translation of your birth certificate in Polish*
- 4 passport size photos taken within the past 6 months
- Receipt of the application fee payment
*May be optional, this was not required for the approval of my permit, but can be requested by the border officers. It is best to have this just in case.
You will need to present the originals and the copies of all these documents. The Polish are very particular about accepting an original versus a copy of documents, and are generally careful to stamp documents to certify their authenticity.
Navigating the immigration office to submit these documents is not a lot of fun and can take quite a few hours. It is best to set up an appointment in advance online here. It is wise to set aside a minimum of 2 hours to complete any transaction there, even with an appointment.
Also note that few people in the immigration office speak English, so it can be very helpful to bring along a Polish friend or colleague to help make sure there is good communication flowing in both directions.
Once you submit all your paperwork, you will receive a case manager who will follow up with any necessary questions in a short interview, likely by phone. You will receive all correspondence from the immigration office by post, so make sure you have a reliable mailing address you can receive these important documents at prior to filing.
From the submission of your application to approval can take anywhere from 3 months to 8 months. Once approved, you will receive a letter in the post giving the border officials’ decision, while it will take another 1-2 months to actually receive your physical residence permit card (the identification needed to travel in and out of the Schengen Zone and Poland in general).
During this time you are legally allowed to stay in Poland and visit your home country, but you are not allowed to go anywhere else in Europe, as you are technically then in (and exceeding) Schengen Zone time.
After you get approved, you will need to go to the immigration office to pick up your residence permit card. When it is ready, they will send you a text message and you will have 1 week to pick up the card.
Should you run into any problems along the way, the same Polish friend has outlined many common resident permit application errors, and how to resolve them.
It’s not a fun process, but compared to many situations, we are still super lucky they accept foreigners here as much as they do, and most of the time you’ll get the permit, even if it is a long slog to get there…
The Apartment
Finding an apartment in this day and age is relatively easy, so long as you stick to the larger cities where people are use the web and speak English to some degree.
OLX, Gumtree Poland, Otodom, and Facebook groups are all reliable options to find decent flats in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Wrocław, and many places in between.
For Kraków specifically, Flatskrakow aggregates flat listings from OLX, Gumtree, and Otodom, and puts them on one map, which is super handy to filter by district and price.
It is standard for flats to be mostly or completely furnished, including basic furniture and a washing machine, some even with bed linens and kitchen supplies (especially those marketing to expats). Rent prices listed can be all inclusive, though more often they will exclude the price for water, electricity, and/or wifi (sometimes listed as “administrative fees”).
Lease agreements vary in length, but shorter length ones of 6 months or under are relatively common. Rent payment is generally through bank transfer, so it’s best to set up your Polish bank account first. Checks are not used in Europe really at all, and cash is acceptable but inconvenient to get to your landlord unless you are subletting through a flatmate.
Lease agreements are generally written in Polish, unless you work with an agency or landlord that is experienced in marketing to expats. In the case your receive a lease agreement only in Polish, it is generally well respected to request a version in English to ensure you can understand everything you are signing. Often a landlord will have a younger family member or relative with stronger English skills do a decent translation for you.
A Note on Expat Responsibility:
The prices of apartments are rapidly changing as most of Poland’s major cities’ economies grow quickly, accompanied with an expanding expat community. As expats we are used to and often willing to pay higher prices because we come from stronger currencies and think of Poland as quite a cheap place to live.
Just within the year or two I’ve lived in Kraków, I’ve noticed rent prices rise. This is a major problem for locals whose working wages have not increased along with it, so for them and for yourself as well it is important to get an idea of local prices before agreeing to a rate.
Currency exchange rates are very favorable to western expats, so what seems astronomically cheap to someone used to dollars, euros, or pounds, can be impossibly expensive to someone getting paid in zlotys.
The best way to think about it is in the local currency. This means that my 1,450 zł/month (about $450/month) studio apartment in the city center – which would be a steal in any major US city – is actually $1,450/month if thought relative to its local cost, which makes it not cheap at all.
While I was able to negotiate a 100 zł drop in the rent before signing, I still know I am over paying and contributing to the problem. However, when I tried to negotiate down further I was given a hard no, and could find no place cheaper with the specs I wanted, so had to accept this was more or less the current market price.
As a person privileged enough to live and be part of a foreign country’s local economy, make sure to do your part to not contribute to this problem as much as you can.
The Phone
Assuming you have arrived with an unlocked smart phone (full discussion of border hopping phone options here) getting your Polish digits is also a same day event. Stop by a mobile provider in any of the local malls (“galeria”), and request a prepaid sim card. The sim card will either be free or sold for a small amount (5-20 zł), and will need to be activated in store before you leave. Just open up your sim slot, top up your plan while you’re there, and you’re good to go.
Play, Orange, and T Mobile are the main options, all with affordable plans available. I initially had a plan with T Mobile, but after finding their mobile data speeds lacking, switched to Play and have been really happy ever since.
For 30 zł a month, you get unlimited talk and text within Poland and 9 GB of data. You can check your balance anytime, for Play dial *101# and it will fetch it for you.
To top up your plan, you can go to just about any corner store and tell them how much you want to load on your phone and your network. They will charge you, print out a receipt with a top up code and instructions on how to load the top up directly from your phone.
Alternatively you can top up your sim online. Topping up online is extremely handy, especially when traveling in and out of the country. Top up when you are abroad, so you have uninterrupted connectivity when you land, and/or use your Polish sim while traveling through the rest of Europe.
As part of the EU telecommunications agreement, mobile providers cover you in just about any EU country with minimal roaming fees. This is an amazing perk compared to the ridiculous prices American mobile providers charge the minute you leave the country.
While it is great, it is still a somewhat imperfect system. Once you take your mobile plan out of its home country, your charges and quality of connectivity change depending on the country. You will receive a text message with the rates upon landing, and the connectivity will reveal itself with use.
Roaming on a Polish plan is somewhat notoriously crappy in connectivity and cost for much of Europe (though not all). So while the base plan is quite cheap, if you will be traveling elsewhere in the EU for more than a week, it may be best for your budget and sanity just to buy a local card.
I have both a Spanish and Polish sim card, and simply top them up/swap them out depending on where I am and how long I’ll be there. For instance my Polish plan works better in Berlin, but my Spanish one is better in Portugal.
As I regularly visit Spain it was worth the initial setup, and is good to have more connectivity options to work with. The setup for this was very similar- pick up a new sim card in any local mobile store and get it activated for a prepaid plan, then manage it online. My current plan with Orange is 10 euros for 4 GB of data.
It’s taken some trial and error to find the best balance, but with the roaming options it’s really quite workable to hop between countries without disruption to my connectivity nor paying huge roaming fees.
The Bank Account
A simple, single day process. You can do this in person at any major bank branch. You will need your passport, a phone number, and local mailing address.
Millennium and ING are two of the largest banks and generally will have 1-2 people who speak English well in each office. Because you cannot walk in and expect them to always be on shift, however, it can be helpful to call in advance and set up an appointment with an English speaking clerk.
When setting up your account, you will be given debit and savings account information. Their systems are a little different (i.e. better) than what’s available in the U.S., so make sure they walk you through how each one works and what fees/benefits you are getting.
Mobile banking is very common in Europe and super easy to use. Each bank has a mobile app that can be used to manage all of your accounts, so there is virtually no need to go in in person after the initial setup. Between the main options, there is not a huge difference, aside from the fact that Millennium allows you to purchase public transit tickets directly through their app, whereas ING does not.
*This is written from the perspective of an American national going through the process in 2017/2018. Things constantly change for all of the above, so please check the linked resources for your planning purposes. Additional support can be found at the Information Point for Foreigners.