It's Tuesday, 9:40 a.m. Your manager calls you in and says, 'From Monday, you're no longer with us.' Your karta pobytu is in your wallet, and the employer printed on it just stopped being yours. The first thought everyone has is: will I be deported? No. Not tomorrow, and not this week. But if you've lost your job and your karta pobytu (Polish residence permit) was issued for work with a specific employer, two clocks start ticking: 15 working days and 30 days. Here's what to do first.
Which deadlines start when you lose your job on a karta pobytu?
We're talking about the combined temporary residence and work permit, issued by the voivode (wojewoda, the regional office, urząd wojewódzki). It names your employer. When the job ends, the purpose of the permit disappears, and that is a formal ground to revoke it. The law also gives you a way out, if you do three simple things on time.
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- 15 working days (dni robocze, so weekends and public holidays don't count) to notify in writing the voivode who issued your permit. The count starts from the day your job ended.
- 30 days to find a new employer without your permit being revoked. These 30 days are counted from the day you lost the job.
- This protection works only once during the validity of the permit. A second gap on the same card is not covered by the same rule.
- Your employer must also tell the voivode that you've left, within 15 days. That duty has applied since 1 June 2025, but it doesn't replace yours.
These rules are explained by the official portal Zielona Linia and in the general section gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy. The key detail: your permit won't be revoked if you notified the voivode in writing (or the letter didn't arrive for reasons beyond your control), you were without work for no more than 30 days, and it happened no more than once during the validity of the permit.
How do you notify the voivode without losing your proof?
The notification isn't an application or a complaint. It's a short letter. What matters is the date and the proof that you sent it on time. Here's the order of steps.
- Write down the exact date your job ended and keep the paperwork: termination notice, work certificate (świadectwo pracy), or at least a message from your employer. That date starts both clocks.
- Find out which voivode issued your card. It's the urząd wojewódzki named in your decision. If the Office for Foreigners (UDSC) decided your case on appeal, the letter still goes to the voivode who ruled first.
- Write the letter in Polish: full name, date of birth, case or card number, the employer named in your permit, the date you lost the job, and your current mailing address. If Polish is hard, ask for help. In these letters, small details matter.
- Send it by registered post (list polecony) and keep the receipt with the date. If your office accepts notifications in another way, check its page, but the receipt is still your insurance.
- Or file your application for a change of permit within the same 15 working days. The law treats the notification duty as fulfilled if, in that period, you submit an application to change the permit or a new application for temporary residence and work.
If you want to see how this plays out and which mistakes are most common, we have a separate breakdown: Lost Your Job in Poland? 15 Working Days to Tell the Urząd. The logic is the same for every nationality.
How do you find a new employer and file for a change of permit?
You have 30 days, so don't spend them waiting. A new employer who isn't named in your permit can't simply hire you: you need a change of permit or a new permit. Since 27 April 2026, applications for temporary residence, including the combined permit, are filed only electronically through MOS, and you log in with a Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany). Set it up now, not on day 29.
What you need from the new employer so the application isn't sent back:
- the employer-signed attachment with the work conditions (the so-called załącznik nr 1) and the starosta's labour-market information, where it applies to your case;
- conditions that are not worse than required: pay at or above the minimum wage (PLN 4,806 gross in 2026), real hours and rates, not just a line on paper;
- a contract that fits the permit. If the employer offers umowa zlecenie instead of an employment contract, check first whether the format will sink your case.
We covered the PLN 4,806 figure and why cases fail on it in Minimum Wage in Poland 2026: PLN 4,806 Gross, and the employer side in Changed Employer in Poland? You Have 15 Working Days to Tell the Urząd. One more thing: for applications filed from 5 March 2026, the stamp duty (opłata skarbowa) is not refunded if the case ends with a refusal or is discontinued. A mistake now costs money as well as time. Check current amounts on gov.pl, not in group chats.
An illustrative example, not a real client. Rohit, a welder from Punjab, lost his job on a Friday when his company closed a site. On Monday he gathered his papers, sent a registered letter to the voivode, and started looking right away. Nineteen days later he had an offer on conditions at least as good as before, and the application for a change of permit went into MOS before his 30 days ran out. There's no guarantee the office won't ask questions, but he had a receipt and dates, and that's what counts.
Practical tip: take a photo or screenshot of every receipt and letter the same day and email them to yourself. In any dispute about dates, the person with proof wins, not the person who 'clearly remembers'.
What if your application is still pending when you lose the job?
This is a separate situation, and it's easy to panic. If you've filed and are waiting for a decision, and the employer named in your application stops working with you, you need to tell the voivode and give your current address. After that, according to Zielona Linia, there are two paths: submit a new attachment from the next employer together with the starosta's information so the case continues to be handled on the basis of work, or file a statement changing the purpose of stay if you want the case examined on other grounds. Which path suits you depends on your case, so it's better to check with a specialist before you send the letter, not after.
Can you register as unemployed and get benefits?
Short answer: not automatically. The right to register as unemployed (at the powiatowy urząd pracy, the local labour office) depends on the type of your permit. According to official explanations, some permit types require at least six months of uninterrupted work in Poland immediately before registration. Since 1 June 2025, the benefit is paid for 180 or 365 days, but only if you're entitled to it at all. Don't treat it as plan B. First learn your own conditions at the labour office, then plan your budget.
One more everyday point people forget: after you're let go, check whether your health insurance is still active. You'll need it for your next card, and the difference between ZUS and a private policy is explained in Health Insurance for Karta Pobytu 2026.
Ukrainian citizens and the CUKR card: what's different?
If you don't hold the combined work permit but the CUKR card (czasowe uregulowanie kwestii pobytu, a temporary arrangement of stay), the picture changes. CUKR is a three-year permit for Ukrainian citizens with UKR status, and applications have been accepted since 4 May 2026. The card isn't tied to one employer and gives full access to the labour market, so the 15-working-day and 30-day rules belong to the other type of permit, not to this one. One catch: with a CUKR card you can't register at the labour office as unemployed, because this basis of stay isn't listed in the labour-market law. As the special rules for Ukrainians change often, check current information on gov.pl before any decision.
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