It's Friday afternoon. Your supervisor hands you a termination letter. Or maybe you quit after three months of late salaries. You walk out thinking about rent, money for your family back home, and where the next job will come from. What you're probably not thinking about is a clock that just started: 15 working days.
If you changed employer in Poland and your residence permit is tied to your job, the urząd (the voivodeship office) needs to hear from you quickly. Not in two months. Not when the new employer "gets around to it". This guide explains what the 15 working days are, who they apply to, and what to send, so you don't lose your legal status over a missed letter.
Here's a short, illustrative story (a composite, not a real client). Ravi, a warehouse operator from Punjab, left a job after repeated salary delays. He found a new employer within nine days and felt safe. But nobody told the office. Weeks later, when the new employer's paperwork arrived, the first question was simple: when did you notify us that the old job ended? He had no answer. That gap is exactly what this article helps you avoid.
What are the 15 working days, exactly?
Under the Polish Act on Foreigners, a foreigner who stays in Poland on a temporary residence and work permit must notify, in writing, the voivode who issued the permit within 15 working days of losing work with any employer named in the permit. The Green Line portal run by the Polish government explains this duty in its guide on changing employer on a single permit, and general information for foreigners is collected at gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy.
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Three details people get wrong:
- Working days, not calendar days. In practice this means Monday to Friday, without Polish public holidays. Weekends don't count toward the 15.
- The clock starts when the work ends, not when you decide to look for a new job and not when you receive your last salary.
- The duty sits with you, not with the old employer and not with the new one. HR may help, but if nobody files, it's your case that suffers.
One more thing before we go on. This rule is about people on a temporary residence and work permit (the single permit). If your Karta Pobytu is based on something else, for example marriage to a Polish citizen or a Polish spouse's route, your obligations are different. If you're not sure which one you hold, read the basis on your decyzja or card, or ask us.
Notify the voivode or file a change application — which one do you do?
You have two ways to satisfy the 15 working days. Pick the one that fits your situation.
Route 1: you don't have a new job yet
Send a written notification to the voivode (the same office that issued your permit) saying that your work with the previous employer has ended. Keep proof that you sent it: a registered-mail receipt, a stamped copy if you deliver it in person, or the confirmation from the electronic channel the office accepts. This buys you time to look for the next job without hiding anything from the authorities.
Route 2: you already found a new employer
File an application to change your permit within the same 15 working days. According to the official guidance, the notification duty is treated as fulfilled if you submit that change application in time. For the logic behind this route, see our guide to changing employer while a Karta Pobytu is pending, which covers the related case where your first application is still in progress.
Which route is better? If you have a signed offer in your hands, Route 2 is cleaner, because one filing does two jobs. If you don't, Route 1 protects you from the worst outcome. Doing nothing is the only wrong answer.
Step by step: what to do in the first 15 working days
Treat the first week like a checklist. Here is the order we recommend.
- Write down the exact last working day. Take it from your termination letter, resignation acknowledgement or contract end date. This is day zero.
- Count 15 working days on a calendar and mark the deadline in your phone with two reminders: one at day 5, one at day 10.
- Collect papers: your permit decision (decyzja), the old contract or termination letter, your passport and Karta Pobytu or the stamp, and your PESEL or address details.
- Decide between the two routes above. No job yet means a notification. Signed offer means a change application.
- Send or file, and keep proof. A photo of the receipt is good. A second copy in your email is better.
- Ask the new employer for the documents the office will need from their side, such as the employer's application papers and the work contract terms. Don't wait for them to volunteer.
Applications for residence permits now go through the online MOS system, so check that your login access works well before you need it. Our guides on the TRC process in Poland in 2026 and Karta Pobytu via MOS step by step show how filing works, and how to avoid mistakes that cost weeks.
What if you miss the 15 working days?
Take a breath first. You're not going to be put on a plane tomorrow. But a missed notification is a real problem, and it's better to understand it than to hope.
The official guidance says the voivode refuses to change the permit if the foreigner did not notify the office of losing work within 15 working days. See the Green Line page on reasons for refusing a permit change. So the new job itself may be fine, and the paperwork for it can still fail because the old job ended without notice.
What helps if you are already late:
- Notify now anyway. Late is better than never, and it shows good faith.
- Write down the real reasons for the delay (hospital stay, employer promised to file, no access to MOS) and keep proof.
- Don't sign anything you don't understand and don't let anyone promise you that "it's fine".
Also remember that the office can contact you, and the letters have their own deadlines. Read our short guides on the wezwanie letter and its 7-day answer window and on how to read a Polish decision letter, including the 14-day appeal window.
You may also read that after losing a job the permit isn't withdrawn for a period of about 30 days if you did notify the office, giving you time to find new work. Treat that number as something to confirm on gov.pl for your own case, because it depends on your exact permit and the current wording of the law.
What should the new employer do, and what if the old one disappears?
A legal job in Poland means the employer does their part too. Our article on the documents your employer must provide shows what to ask for. And employers who let a foreigner work without the right papers risk heavy penalties, which is why serious ones will cooperate.
If the old employer vanished, won't sign anything or refuses to give you a termination letter, don't wait. Your duty to the office does not depend on their cooperation. Describe what happened in your notification, and attach whatever you have: contract, bank transfers, messages.
Practical tip: the day your job ends, send yourself an email titled 'Permit deadline: day 15' with the end date and the deadline date. When your phone, your SIM or your memory fails, that email still works.
Changing jobs shouldn't cost you your papers, and a short message now is cheaper than months of repairs later. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate. Drop us a WhatsApp on +48 735 248 525 — Kamil answers in English and we read every message.