Poland Company Residence Permit 2026 (TRC)

It's Tuesday morning and you're sitting in a café in Istanbul with a plan for Warsaw: a small software or trading company, and your family joining you later. One question keeps coming back. Can you start a company in Poland and get a residence permit at the same time, and which comes first? Short answer: owning a company does not give you residence by itself. The Poland company residence permit (the TRC, or karta pobytu) depends on your role in the company, your legal stay and the documents in your file. Below are only the conditions we could confirm on gov.pl and the MOS portal. No guesses, no 'my cousin did it this way'.

Does registering a company give you a residence permit?

No. These are two separate procedures. A sp. z o.o. (limited liability company) is registered in the KRS company register. The residence card is issued by the voivodeship office (urząd wojewódzki). The office checks three things: is there real business activity in Poland, what is your role in it, and is that role the main reason you are staying. A company that exists only on paper weakens your case. The usual order that works: settle your role and permit type first, collect documents second, file last.

One thing up front: Legal Solutions handles residence cards, including the business-activity permit. We don't obtain visas, and we don't obtain work permits or oświadczenia. The consulate handles the visa and the employer handles the work permit. We take over from there with the residence card.

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Shareholder or board member: which residence permit fits your role?

Your role decides the application type. According to the official MOS information cards, the common situations are:

• You founded the company or bought shares, and you sit on the board: this points to the temporary residence permit for business activity (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu prowadzenia działalności gospodarczej).
• You are a board member without shares, or a commercial proxy (prokurent): MOS describes this under the single work-based permit (zezwolenie jednolite).
• Don't mix the two. If you run a business and file a combined 'residence + work' application, the office can refuse to start the proceedings. The wrong type costs you time.
• If your role changes (share transfer, leaving the board), the basis of your permit changes too. Plan this before you file.

Voivodeship offices sometimes describe the same situation differently, so check the current information card of the office that will handle your file before you decide. We do that check for you.

Poland residence permit documents: company papers and documents from Türkiye

The document list has two parts: the company's papers in Poland and what you bring from Türkiye. Start with the company side, because that is where the office looks first.

• A ZUS (social insurance) certificate of no contribution arrears and a tax office certificate of no tax arrears.
• Documents showing the company's current financial position, including the current bank balance.
• Proof the activity is real: company agreement, KRS extract, contracts, invoices.
• The company annex (Załącznik nr 1): the person authorised to represent the company fills it in on MOS and signs it electronically through login.gov.pl.

Be careful with the income requirement. Article 142 of the Act on Foreigners ties the company's income to a multiple of the average wage. That wage is published by GUS and changes every year, and offices can show the national or regional average differently. So we don't print a number here. According to MOS, a company that doesn't yet meet the threshold can show funds or activities that will meet it in the future. Check the current figure before you file.

Now the papers from Türkiye. Türkiye is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a Turkish document with an apostille from the competent Turkish authority can be used in Poland. The Polish version is then made by a sworn translator (tłumacz przysięgły) working from Turkish.

• Typical examples: civil registry extract, marriage or birth records for family members, diploma. The office decides what your file needs, so work from a list made for your case.
• Order of work: get the document in Türkiye, get the apostille, then the sworn translation.
• Some offices may accept alternatives to an apostille. Don't rely on it. Practice varies by office.

For the full checklist, see our documents guide for Turkish citizens.

Can Turkish citizens enter Poland without a visa? Entry, visa and filing timing

No. Turkish citizens need a Schengen visa to enter Poland; there is no visa-free stay. We checked the current rule and found no exemption. Still, confirm the latest position on the Polish consulate's official page before you travel. The consulate handles the visa. Legal Solutions doesn't take part in that step.

Here is the trap: a short-stay visa is a travel document, not a residence plan. You must file while your legal stay is still running. The rule is clear: the application for a temporary residence permit must be filed no later than the last day of legal stay. A one-day delay can make your stay illegal. Documents also rarely fit into a single day, so don't leave it to the last day.

Official office pages say a tourist visa is not enough to apply for the single work-based permit. For the business-activity type, the basis of your stay and the timing depend on your file. Message us before you buy a ticket and we'll check your plan together.

How does a TRC application run on MOS, and how do you track the card?

According to a gov.pl notice from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Office, from 27 April 2026 temporary residence applications are accepted only electronically through the MOS portal. Paper applications are not processed. The process looks like this:

1. Settle your role and permit type (shareholder, board member, proxy).
2. Prepare the company papers: ZUS, tax office, financial position, proof of activity.
3. Get apostilles in Türkiye and finish the sworn translations.
4. Create your MOS account through login.gov.pl; the company's authorised representative signs the company annex.
5. File before your legal stay ends and keep the confirmation showing the filing date.
6. Track the file: watch the office's letters and answer any request for missing documents on time.

The confirmation or stamp you receive after filing proves the date of your application. What it means for your right to stay should be confirmed from the office's letter and your own file, so don't assume the same result in every case.

Waiting times differ a lot by voivodeship and nobody can promise a fixed timeline. If the office runs over, the tools are a ponaglenie (a reminder complaint about delay) and, if needed, a skarga na przewlekłość (a complaint about the length of proceedings). Read our guide to the voivode inactivity complaint and the step-by-step residence permit guide for Turkish citizens. For official information see gov.pl/cudzoziemcy and the MOS portal.

A generalised example (not a real client): Kaan, an e-commerce founder from Ankara, set up a sp. z o.o. in Warsaw and holds most of the shares. He had started with a combined 'residence + work' application by mistake. We switched the file to a business-activity application, completed the ZUS and tax certificates, prepared his Turkish documents with apostilles and sworn translations, and refiled on MOS. The file then moved forward in the right category and complete.

Practical tip: Get the company's ZUS and tax-arrears certificates close to the week you plan to file. These documents go stale, and a certificate obtained too early may not be accepted on filing day.

Not sure yet? We can sort out your role and documents together. WhatsApp or call +48 735 248 525 and we read every message. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate.