6 Ways to Get a Poland Work Visa After Your Studies: Post-study Work |

6 Ways to Get a Poland Work Visa After Your Studies: Post-study Work Options

Contents in this Article

Temporary Residence Card
Temporary Residence and Work Permit
Temporary residence for business activity
EU Blue Card
Permanent Residence Card
Naturalised Citizenship

Poland is a land where west and east meet. The mixture of cultures is visible in the country’s architecture, art and cuisine. Poland has old and prestigious universities offering high quality and inexpensive education which has been drawing the attention of the international student community.

It may be hard to leave such a beautiful country after you complete your study program. No matter what your story is, you should know your options if you want to continue living and working in the county. The residents of Poland welcome people who follow the government rules.

Like any other EU member state, your residence permit to stay in Poland after completing your education depends on your nationality. Foreign EU/EEA and Swiss students may work in Poland without restriction after graduation. You just need to ensure that your stay permit is in order. You need to prove that you are financially able to live in the country without government assistance.

Students from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine can work in Poland without a work permit for six months and a maximum of 12 months. In these cases, declaration or authorization of your employment will be initiated by your employer.

As a non-EU/EEA student, you are entitled to work without a work permit however you need to submit your application for a new permit before it expires. Do not worry if the visa expired so long as a new permit has been submitted prior to the expiration. You can legally stay in the country while waiting for the decision.

Temporary Residence Card

If you decide to stay and work but have not found a job, you can apply for this permit. The temporary residence permit can be issued once, directly after graduation for a period of 9 months.

To apply for this Poland work visa, you need to prepare the following

Polish university graduation diploma
Documents certifying holding a health insurance
Proof of financial
Proof of residence provided (e.g. confirmation of registration, apartment rent contract)
Valid Passport
Passport Photo

Processing of the permit usually takes a month. As a graduate of a Polish University, you do not need a work permit to start working.

Poland Work Visa: Temporary Residence and Work Permit

This permit is required for foreign individuals who work for a Polish employer. Once you have secured a job contract and before your temporary residence card expires, your employer should initiate the process.

Your temporary residence and work permit can be valid up to 3 years, but the validity depends on the employment contract itself. If your employer decides to employ you for one year, then your residence and work permits are valid for that time. In case you decide to get a new job, you will have to go through the whole process again.

Temporary residence for business activity

If you want to start a business in the country, you can qualify for a temporary residence. This Poland work visa basically requires the investor to set up business activity and demonstrate that they generate at least 15,000 EUR of income a year to be eligible for a temporary residence permit.

You can do business in the following type of companies:

limited partnership – may be formed by at least two individuals, one as a limited partner and the other one as a general partner
limited joint stock partnership – At least one general partner (natural person/legal person) and shareholder (natural person/legal person) with a minimal share capital of PLN 50 000
limited liability company – this is the most common company in Poland. The shareholders liability is limited to their contribution of the share capital.
joint stock company – a legal entity with a separate legal personality from its stockholders. This is the safest way of doing business for the stockholders as they not liable for the company’s obligations, they only bear a risk up to the value of stock contributed.

EU Blue Card

As a non-EU/EEA national working as a highly skilled employee, you will qualify for this permit if your monthly salary is at least PLN 6,877.55.

To obtain this residence permit:

Sign at least one-year long employment contract/preliminary contract
Have higher education qualifications
Have health insurance

The permit is valid for a period longer by 3 months than the period of work specified in the contract or in a binding job offer, but not longer than 3 years. With this permit, you will be allowed multiple border crossings without the need to obtain another Poland work visa.

Permanent Residence Card

If you have legally lived in Poland for at least 5 uninterrupted years, you will be eligible for a permanent residence card. Uninterrupted stay means you have not left the country for a period longer than 6 months and all interruptions in a given period do not exceed 10 months in total.

Having a valid permanent residence permit in Poland does not entitle them to work abroad. With this permit you are allowed to travel as tourists to other Schengen countries for up to 90 days each half a year.

This permit is valid for 10 years and can be renewed.

Naturalised Citizenship

If you have legally stayed in the country for 3 uninterrupted years and are proficient with the Polish language, then you can apply for a Polish citizenship. If you are not proficient with the language, then you will be eligible to apply once you have legally lived in Poland for 10 uninterrupted years.

The rules regarding possession of more than one citizenship may differ depending on your first citizenship, so if your current citizenship will allow dual citizenship, you do not need to renounce it to become Polish citizen.

A Polish passport entitles you to visa-free travel to the U.S. and freedom of movement in the European Union.

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