The salary didn't arrive on the 10th. By the 14th, a coworker forwards you a court notice: your company has filed for bankruptcy, and a stranger called a syndyk (the court-appointed trustee) now runs the books. Your karta pobytu (Polish residence permit, often called a TRC) is sitting in your wallet, and it was issued because of this employer. So what happens to it? Take a breath. Employer bankruptcy does not cancel your karta pobytu overnight, and nobody is knocking on your door tomorrow. But a clock can start, and it is short: 15 working days. This guide shows when that clock starts, what to send, and how to chase the wages you're owed.
Does employer bankruptcy cancel my karta pobytu?
No, not by itself. A bankruptcy filing is a fact about your employer's money. Your residence permit is a decision by the voivode (the regional office, urząd wojewódzki) about you. If you hold a temporary residence and work permit, that decision names your employer and your job. The trouble starts only when the job underneath it disappears.
Here is the part people miss. If you lose the job, you must tell the voivode who issued your permit, in writing, within 15 working days. Skip it, and the office can withdraw your permit. Tell them on time and you keep your options open, including moving to a new employer. You can check the official wording on the gov.pl foreigners portal and in the MOS question base at mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl.
We explain the general version of this rule in Leaving Your Employer? 15 Working Days to Act on Your TRC. This article is the bankruptcy edition, because bankruptcy makes the dates messy.
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Bankruptcy filed, job lost: which day starts the clock?
Bankruptcy is a process, not a single date. Employment law and immigration law count differently, so find yourself in one of these four situations.
- Still employed, company in bankruptcy. Your contract usually continues until someone ends it. The 15 working days have not started. Keep every document that proves you are still employed.
- The trustee or the company terminates your contract. The clock runs from the day you lose the job. Read the letter closely: the date the contract ends matters, not the date the envelope arrived. If you're unsure, count from the earlier date.
- You resign because wages stopped. Your job ends on your last day, and the clock starts then. Before you resign, ask a labour lawyer or the labour inspectorate how it affects your wage claims.
- The company went quiet but nobody terminated you. This is the grey zone. Ask in writing whether you are still employed. A written answer is your evidence either way.
Working days means Monday to Friday, without Polish public holidays. Fifteen working days is about three calendar weeks, and less if a holiday falls inside it. Put the deadline in your phone calendar the day any termination notice reaches you.
An illustrative case (names and details are invented to show the process, not a real client): Sunil, a warehouse operator from Kerala living in Łódź, saw his employer enter bankruptcy in March, with two months of pay missing. His termination letter gave the 31st as the last day. He wrote to the voivode on day four, found a new employer by day twelve, and had the change application ready before day fifteen. The wage claim went on a separate track.
What do I send in the first 15 working days?
Think of these as five moves, in this order. None of them needs a perfect file. They need to happen on time.
- Day 1: gather papers. Employment contract and annexes, payslips, the termination letter, your świadectwo pracy (work certificate) if you got one, ZUS statements, bank statements that show the missing transfers, and copies of your karta pobytu and the permit decision.
- Days 2 to 5: write to the voivode who issued your permit. Give your name, case number, the date your job ended, and say you are looking for a new employer. Send it in a way that leaves proof: through MOS if your case is there, or in person with a stamped copy, or registered post. Keep the receipt.
- Find the next employer. The new employer prepares their own part of the paperwork. We do not arrange work permits or employer declarations; that is the employer's job. Once you have a signed job offer, we take over the residence side.
- File the application to change your permit. When your employer changes, you normally file a wniosek o zmianę zezwolenia (application to change the permit) rather than starting from zero. Application forms were updated in 2026, so always download the current one from gov.pl instead of using an old PDF.
- Keep the proof of filing. Your stamp or confirmation of submission is what shows the office, a bank, or a future landlord that your case is moving.
The next-employer step has its own traps, from timing to which documents the office expects. We walk through them in Changing Employer in Poland: 3 Steps to Protect Your TRC.
A short gap between jobs is not automatically fatal. Offices decide case by case, and what they want to see is that you acted fast, told them honestly, and are not drifting. A three-month silence followed by a new job offer reads very differently from a letter sent in week one.
Will I get my unpaid salary if the company is bankrupt?
Possibly, and you should claim it even while you're job-hunting. Poland has the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (FGŚP, Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych). When an employer is insolvent, the fund can pay certain unpaid employee claims, mainly wages. The government describes how it works on gov.pl.
- What it covers: wages that were truly not paid. It does not pay you twice for money you already received.
- It has limits: only a limited period before the insolvency date is covered, and there is a monthly cap. Check the current period and cap on gov.pl before you count on any number.
- Where it goes: claims are handled through the regional FGŚP office. The employer or trustee prepares a list of unpaid claims, so ask them in writing to include you.
- Speed matters: late applications can be refused. Don't wait for perfect paperwork.
Whether your nationality or your permit type changes anything for the fund, ask the FGŚP office directly. The National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) also gives free advice on wage disputes. We help with the residence-card side, not with wage claims.
Why does a residence-permit team care about wages? Because later, when you renew or apply for long-term status, the office looks for stable income and paid contributions. Months of unpaid salary or missing contributions leave holes in your file. Save the proof now, and you can request your contribution record from ZUS when you need it.
What if my karta pobytu application is still pending?
This one is common. You filed, you're waiting, and then your employer goes bankrupt. A pending case rests on the documents you submitted, including an employer who may no longer exist. Tell the office as soon as the situation changes and send the new employer's documents once you have them. Staying silent and hoping the decision arrives first is the risky choice.
If the office sends you a call to supplement the file (wezwanie), the deadline is short. Answer inside it, even if your answer is 'my employer is insolvent, here is my new offer'.
How long cases take is a separate worry. We cover it in Day 61 and No Answer? Poland TRC Decision Time in 2026. And if the company that went bankrupt is your own business, not your employer, that is a different route: Business Closed or Bankrupt in Poland? 3 Ways to Keep Your TRC.
Practical tip: On the day you get them, photograph every unpaid payslip, the bankruptcy notice and your termination letter, and email the photos to yourself. Paper disappears when an office closes. Your inbox doesn't.
Employer trouble is stressful, but it is a paperwork problem with a deadline, and deadlines can be met. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate. Drop us a WhatsApp at +48 735 248 525 — we read every message.