You filed for your karta pobytu (Polish residence permit) in spring. It's October, and a friend calls: 'There's an opening at our plant, and it pays PLN 600 more.' You almost say yes. Then it hits you: the case at the voivodeship office is still open, and it names your current employer. Will they refuse? Do you start from zero? Changing employer while your karta pobytu is pending is common, and it doesn't doom your case. But staying silent is the one thing you can't do. Here's what to report, which document your new employer must give you, and where the line sits beyond which starting the new job gets risky.
What happens to your case when the employer changes?
A work-based karta pobytu is a zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę, a single permit for residence and work. It's issued for a specific job. Your file contains Attachment 1 (załącznik nr 1), a form where the employer describes the position, pay and working time and confirms they want to hire you.
While the office reviews your case, it relies on exactly that data. If the employer, position or working conditions change, you should tell the voivode handling your case. That's what the official explanation in the MOS system (the online case portal) says. If you stay silent, the voivode keeps judging a file that no longer matches reality. That's a refusal risk we wouldn't take.
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The good news: you don't always have to start over. Offices describe this exact situation. If someone loses a job or moves to another employer during the proceedings, they can submit a new Attachment 1 and, where required, the starosta's information, and ask for the application to be reviewed on the basis of the new job. See the explanation on Zielona Linia.
How do you report a new employer in MOS, step by step?
The process is shorter than it looks. The key is not to wait, and to keep proof of everything.
- Get a new Attachment 1 from the new employer. It must be signed by a person authorised to represent the company. Check that the position, pay and working time match what you agreed.
- Find out whether the starosta's information (informacja starosty) is needed. It's a document from the local labour office about the labour market for that vacancy. For some jobs and situations it isn't required, and then you attach documents showing the exemption. Your new employer, or we, can tell you what applies.
- Log in to your MOS account through login.gov.pl and send the notice about the employer change with the documents. Our Profil Zaufany guide below explains how to set up access.
- Save proof of submission: a screenshot, a PDF, the date. If anyone later asks when you reported the change, this is your protection.
- Watch MOS and your mail. If a wezwanie (a request to add documents) arrives, the deadline to answer is short. The exact date is in the letter itself.
How login and confirmations work: Do you need Profil Zaufany in Poland? Full guide. What to do with a letter from the office: Wezwanie letter from the urząd: what it means.
Can you start the new job before the decision?
Here the honest answer is: don't rush. The right to keep working after you file on time rests on Article 108 of the Act on Foreigners. It covers continuing the work you were already entitled to do. A new employer isn't the same job.
For someone whose permit is already issued, the rule is strict. If an employer takes on a foreigner whose permit names another employer, without their own permit or declaration, that work is illegal (see Zielona Linia). The employer faces fines of PLN 3,000 to 50,000 per person, and your case gets extra questions.
While your case is pending, we suggest one thing: before the first day at the new place, get written confirmation of what actually allows you to work, and keep it. What the filing confirmation gives you is covered in Passport stamp during karta pobytu: what it allows and what replaced it. There is no universal 'yes' here. It depends on the stage of your case and what it already says.
What if your karta pobytu is already issued? The 15-day and 30-day rules
Once the decision is made, the rules change and the deadlines get tighter. According to MOS:
- If you lose the job with the employer named in your permit, notify the voivode in writing within 15 working days (the wording used by MOS).
- Or, within the same 15 days, file a request to change the permit (wniosek o zmianę zezwolenia). Then a separate job-loss notice isn't needed.
- If you met the obligation, the voivode will not revoke the permit during 30 days from the day you lost the job. This protection applies no more than once during the permit's validity.
- The validity period of the card does not change when the permit is changed.
Some changes don't require changing the permit, for example: a new address or company name, transfer of the workplace to another employer, more hours with proportionally higher pay, a new job title with the same duties, or replacing a civil-law contract with an employment contract.
Since 1 June 2025 the employer must also notify the voivode in writing within 15 days if you stop working for them. More on the employer's side in Karta pobytu for your employee: what the employer must do. For a brand-new application the standard fees apply: PLN 440 for the decision and PLN 100 for the card.
An illustrative example (not a real client). Dilyara, a cook from Uzbekistan, filed for her karta pobytu, and three weeks before the decision another restaurant hired her away. She didn't switch jobs quietly. The new employer prepared Attachment 1, the documents went to the voivode through MOS, and the case continued without a new filing from scratch. Every case differs, but the sequence was exactly this.
Ukrainian citizens: what works differently?
Rules for Ukrainian citizens with special status (PESEL UKR) are different. On 5 March 2026 a law winding down the special measures came into force. Legal stay for people with UKR status has been extended to 4 March 2027, provided they hold a valid travel document, and the 3-year CUKR card is applied for online through MOS. Details are on the gov.pl page about aid for Ukrainian citizens in 2026.
Per official information, Ukrainians can still work without separate permits, but employers have their own duties under the new law on admitting foreigners to work. If your case is an ordinary work-based karta pobytu, everything above applies. Check current rules at gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy or message us.
Practical tip: before you sign at the new job, photograph your whole file (case number, filing date, the old Attachment 1) and ask the new employer to prepare a fresh Attachment 1 in advance. Send the notice through MOS the day the deal is final, not a month later.
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