Monday, 8:30 a.m. Your recruiter in Łódź has just closed the interviews with a welder from India, and the production manager asks one question: “Can he start next week?” Silence. Because the answer doesn’t depend on how good the candidate is. It depends on the legal basis for him to work in Poland, and on whether you, as the employer, complete the formalities in the right order. Hiring a foreigner in Poland in 2026 works differently than two years ago: a new act has been in force since 1 June 2025, applications go online only, and fees rose on 1 December 2025. Below are the steps, the amounts and the duties that stay with the employer.
Hiring a foreigner step by step: what legal basis does your candidate have?
The first step isn’t an application. It’s a check question. Everything else depends on the answer, and a mistake here is the most expensive one.
The Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners in Poland has applied since 1 June 2025. It abolished the labour market test – you no longer need the starost’s information about the lack of Polish candidates – and moved procedures to praca.gov.pl, with no paper applications. The permit procedure is described in the Case Handling Module (MOS). For you as the employer, there are three possible paths:
- The foreigner already holds a residence document that gives the right to work (for example a temporary residence and work permit, or another title with labour market access). You don’t file for a work permit, but you check the document and carry out the duties listed below.
- The foreigner needs a work permit. You apply for it, as the entity entrusting the work, to the voivode.
- The foreigner is a citizen of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova or Ukraine. You can use the shorter route: a declaration on entrusting work, entered in the register at the county labour office, for up to 24 months.
Don’t guess from the interview. Ask for the document, check the basis of stay and the expiry date, and when in doubt see gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy. One line on a document can decide whether an application is needed at all.
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Work permit in Poland 2026: the fee, the application and the conditions you can’t change
A work permit is a decision issued on the employer’s application – you are the party to the proceedings, not the worker. In practice (source: Zielona Linia):
- Prepare the data: position, place and working time, salary and employment period. Whatever you enter becomes the conditions of the permit.
- File the application electronically via praca.gov.pl with the voivode competent for your company’s seat. Paper applications are no longer accepted.
- Pay the fee. Since 1 December 2025 it is PLN 200 when the permit covers work of up to 3 months, and PLN 400 when longer. The fee is generally non-refundable.
- Wait for the decision and don’t let the foreigner start earlier. The permit is issued for a fixed period of no more than 3 years.
- After receiving the permit, sign a contract that matches it and carry out the duties described further down.
The easiest mistake here is one nobody makes out of bad faith: the worker ends up in a different position or on different terms than written in the permit. The act treats that as illegal entrusting of work. Before you promote someone or change their duties, check whether the permit needs to be amended.
If the candidate is from one of the four countries covered by the simplified route, the application for entry in the register is also filed via praca.gov.pl. Since 1 December 2025 that fee is PLN 400 (previously PLN 100) – details on psz.praca.gov.pl.
A work permit is not a residence card – what else does your employee need?
This is the most common misunderstanding in HR departments. A work permit gives the right to work for you, but it does not legalize the stay. A non-EU citizen also needs a basis of stay – a visa or a residence permit. That is why many companies choose the temporary residence and work permit, where one voivode decision covers both stay and work.
In that variant the stay application is usually filed by the foreigner, while you provide documents about the company and the employment terms. The worker has their own deadlines and fees, and you carry the risk of a gap: if the application for the next stay isn’t filed in time, the worker may lose the basis for legal work. That’s why HR should keep a simple calendar of document expiry dates.
We cover the employee’s side in separate articles: Temporary Residence in Poland for Foreigners 2026 and Polish Residence Card Renewal 2026. Pass them on to an employee who asks “what happens next with my card?”.
Employer duties after signing the contract: 5 points inspectors can check
Legal employment doesn’t end with the office’s decision. Inspections are carried out by, among others, the Border Guard and the National Labour Inspectorate, and the basic duties are collected on biznes.gov.pl:
- Residence document. Before entrusting work, require a valid document entitling the person to stay in Poland, and keep a copy for the whole period of work and for 2 years after it ends.
- Written contract. Conclude the contract with the foreigner in writing, whatever its type, and give them a translation into a language they understand beforehand (it doesn’t have to be a sworn translation).
- Copy of the contract to the authority. For a foreigner with a work permit or a registered declaration, you send the authority a copy of the signed contract before work begins – through praca.gov.pl.
- Pay and conditions. Remuneration can’t be lower than the minimum wage – in 2026 that is PLN 4,806 gross per month, with a minimum hourly rate of PLN 31.40 for civil-law contracts. Work must follow the conditions of the permit or declaration.
- Reporting events. Inform the office if the foreigner did not start work or the work ended. Under a temporary residence and work permit, you notify the voivode within 15 days when the foreigner loses the job.
An illustrative example (a generalised story, not a real client): a logistics company in Poznań hired a driver from Nepal and signed the contract in Polish only, with no translation, while the copy of his residence document stayed with a former accountant. None of this was bad faith – and every item could have been avoided with one checklist at onboarding.
What happens to an employer when something goes wrong?
The act defines illegal entrusting of work: the foreigner is staying in Poland illegally, their basis of stay doesn’t allow work, a required permit or registered declaration is missing, or the work is done on different terms or in a different position than in the permit.
Such offences carry fines, and the amount depends on the rules and the circumstances – check current rates in the act on isap.sejm.gov.pl. For companies another consequence can hurt more: a penalty for these offences is a ground for refusing the next work permit or entry of a declaration in the register. One slip can block foreign recruitment for a long time.
Warning signs worth catching yourself, before an inspection does:
- work “on trial” before the permit is issued or the declaration is registered,
- a contract in a language the worker doesn’t understand, with no translation,
- a change of position or terms without checking whether the permit needs amending,
- no copy of the residence document and no calendar of its validity.
Practical tip: keep one control card per foreign employee – expiry date of the residence document, permit or register number, position and terms from the decision, and the date the contract was sent to the office. Whoever has this on one page rarely has trouble in an inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreigner start work before the work permit is issued?
No. Work without a required permit (or a declaration entered in the register) is illegal entrusting of work. Starting “on trial” doesn’t change that assessment, and a penalty for it can be a ground for refusing your company’s future permits.
How much does a work permit cost in Poland in 2026?
Since 1 December 2025 the application fee is PLN 200 for work of up to 3 months and PLN 400 for work longer than 3 months. The application for entry of a declaration on entrusting work costs PLN 400. The fee is generally non-refundable, so check your data before filing.
Can a Georgian citizen still work on a declaration?
No. Since 1 December 2025 the declaration applies to citizens of four countries: Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Georgia was removed from the list, so for a Georgian citizen check whether a work permit or another basis for legal work is needed.
How long must I keep a copy of the employee’s residence document?
For the whole period the foreigner works for you and for 2 years after the work ends. Make the copy before entrusting the work, after checking that the document is valid and entitles the person to stay in Poland.
What if the employee never showed up or has left?
Inform the competent office that work was not started or has ended. Under a temporary residence and work permit, you notify the voivode who issued the permit within 15 days of the event.
Hiring foreign staff, or about to start? We legalize foreign employees for companies – see legalsol.pl/b2b. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate.