Since 2014, we have observed dynamic growth trends in the number of national and Schengen visas issued to foreigners from outside the EU/EEA for the purpose of working in Poland, the granting of work permits, and the registration of declarations of entrusting work, as well as the number of applications submitted and decisions issued regarding granting foreigners the permission to stay in Poland.
This dynamic was and is dictated by various socio-political conditions, among which one can mention: the stabilization of the Polish economy, the falling unemployment rate, and the increasing shortages of workers in many professions and regions in Poland, as well as social unrest and armed conflicts beyond our eastern border (Belarus, Ukraine).
This resulted in an increasingly large influx of foreigners to Poland seeking safe refuge and the opportunity to work under better conditions than those in their home countries.
Dynamic growth of immigration to Poland since 2014
It is worth remembering that just over a decade ago, Poland was not a country to which foreigners migrated, and the migration balance was negative (mainly due to the departure of Poles to work in those European Union countries that had most “liberalized” their labor market after Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004).
The impact of conflicts in Eastern Europe on Polish immigration
The temporal threshold for the beginning of the “influx” of immigrants (primarily citizens of Ukraine) to Poland on an unprecedented scale is marked by the aforementioned year of 2014 and the armed conflict in the Donbas Coal Basin (Donbas).
It erupted as a result of attempts by pro-Russian separatists to separate the Donetsk and Luhansk regions from Ukraine, followed by the Ukrainian government’s initiation of an anti-terrorist operation. Since 2014, the statistics of applications for residence permits in provincial offices have started to climb dramatically.
Response to the Belarusian political crisis
Another turning point came in 2020 with the rigged presidential elections in Belarus. In response to a wave of street protests, Alexander Lukashenko’s regime launched unprecedented actions (brutal dispersal of demonstrations, arrests, internet censorship).
As an expression of “social solidarity,” the Polish government launched the Poland. Business Harbour (PBH) program in September 2020, aimed at creating a “safe haven” not only for Belarusian IT specialists but also for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises wanting to relocate their activities to Poland.
Belarusian IT specialists could apply for a Polish national visa with the “PBH” annotation under simplified conditions, which would ensure them not only entry and legal stay in Poland but also access to the Polish labor market on preferential terms.
The Visa scandal in Poland and its implications
Over time, the program was also extended to citizens of other countries, but in January 2024, it was completely suspended. This was the result of the so-called visa scandal – the discovery of irregularities in the visa issuance process and justified suspicions that visas with the “PBH” annotation were being used not for their intended purpose (as a “ticket” to the Schengen zone, rather than enabling work in Poland).
Statistics provided by the Border Guard Command mention about 13.5 thousand controls of PBH visa holders at the border – since the beginning of the program in 2020 – while during the same time, about 100 thousand PBH visas were issued in total.
Apart from the PBH program, Belarusian citizens also have the option of applying for humanitarian visas – over 36 thousand of them were issued in 2020-2022. Since July 2022, their holders could then apply for – dedicated only to Belarusian citizens – a special type of temporary residence permit, which is exempt from stamp duty and processed in a simplified manner.
A further expression of support from the Polish legislature was the introduction at the beginning of 2023 of the possibility for Belarusian citizens – again on simplified terms – to apply for a Polish travel document, which is not only equivalent to a passport but also serves as an identity document for the foreigner in Poland in contacts with various offices.
This document solves the problematic situation of an invalid or lost Belarusian passport, when – in light of Alexander Lukashenko’s decree prohibiting the issuance of Belarusian passports abroad – a foreigner would face the dilemma of illegal stay in Poland or return to Belarus, risking arrest or other reprisals.
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on immigration to Poland
The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, spanning from March 2020 to June 2023, with the final lifting of the epidemic threat state occurring on July 1, 2023, did not lead to a halt or collapse in the upward trends.
It turned out that the periodic economic lockdown, restrictions on movement between countries, or the temporary suspension of direct customer service in many institutions serving foreigners (provincial offices, city and municipal offices) did not stop the upward trend of the influx of foreigners to Poland that had been ongoing since 2014.
It is enough to say that between 2014 and 2020, the number of applications for temporary residence permits in Poland increased almost fivefold, while the number for permanent residence and long-term EU resident status doubled. A slight decline in the number of applications filed in 2022, compared to previous years, was only observed in the case of permanent residence.
The detailed data is presented in the table below.
Table 1. Number of applications for residence in the first year of the pandemic compared to previous years
| Case/Type of Permit | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Growth Rate (2020 vs 2014)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Stay | 53,565 | 92,895 | 127,324 | 169,878 | 204,375 | 229,953 | 260,094 | 385.56% |
| Permanent Stay | 8,491 | 12,587 | 11,630 | 18,718 | 17,416 | 17,203 | 15,385 | 81.19% |
| Long-term EU Resident Stay | 2,640 | 2,618 | 2,548 | 3,638 | 2,588 | 2,698 | 5,144 | 94.84% |
| TOTAL | 64,696 | 108,100 | 141,502 | 192,234 | 224,379 | 249,854 | 280,623 | 333.76% |
*Own work
Particularly notable was October 2020, when foreigners submitted 28.5 thousand applications for legalization of stay in Poland. This was not only a record month during the pandemic but also a record month since 2014.
Influx of war refugees from Ukraine after February 24, 2022
The declaration of war on Ukraine by the Russian Federation resulted in an unprecedented wave of war refugee migration in Europe, estimated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at over 5 million people in the initial period alone. Between February and April 2022, about 3 million war refugees (mainly Ukrainian citizens) were said to have entered Poland.
Some of them treated Poland – in the longer term – only as a transit country (mainly on their way to Germany, but also to the USA or Canada), and many of them were highly mobile (returning to their country whenever the situation allowed, men leaving for the front, “shuttle” travels between Poland and Ukraine, moving between different EU countries).
Just three weeks after the outbreak of the war, on March 12, 2022, the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens in Connection with the Armed Conflict on the Territory of that Country (informally known as the “Ukrainian special act” or “war special act”) was published in the Journal of Laws (item 583) and came into force immediately, with its provisions having retroactive effect from February 24, 2022.
It primarily regulated the stay of all those who sought refuge in Poland after February 24, 2022, fleeing the war, providing them with material support (including family and childcare benefits, financial and non-financial social assistance) and various social services (including access to medical care on the same terms as Polish citizens, access to free psychological help, food assistance).
The act also addressed the situation of Ukrainian citizens who had come to Poland earlier and were in the country legally on the day Russian troops attacked Ukraine (including by extending the validity of visas and residence cards expiring after February 24, 2022).
Both groups of beneficiaries (war refugees and Ukrainian citizens staying in Poland before the outbreak of the war) were also granted access to the Polish labor market on simplified terms (without the need for employers to obtain work permits or register a declaration of entrusting work to a foreigner) and the right to undertake and conduct business activities on the same terms as Polish citizens.
From that moment, the basic form of legalizing employment for them became the simplified “path” of Notification of entrusting work to a citizen of Ukraine sent by the Polish employer to the relevant labor office via the dedicated IT system praca.gov.pl within 14 days from the day of employing the foreigner.
For those fleeing the war in Ukraine who do not meet the criteria set out in the “Ukrainian special act,” the solutions provided in the Council of the EU Implementing Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, declaring the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine under Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC, resulting in the introduction of temporary protection, apply.
It’s worth noting that the demographic structure of this wave of refugees from Ukraine (a large proportion of women, children, and seniors) fundamentally differs from the demographic profile of labor migrants from Ukraine in the period 2014-2022. Although the “starter” of the migration wave was the aforementioned year 2014 and the conflict in Donbas, its scale and impact were incomparably smaller than the conflict with Russia initiated in February 2022.
According to the “Signal Information” of the Central Statistical Office from December 2023, there were 997,737 people with Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian citizenship under temporary protection in Poland, who arrived from Ukraine in connection with the armed conflict in that country (as of March 31, 2023). The “feminization coefficient” was as high as 184 women per 100 men.
Detailed data on the number of people under temporary protection in Poland due to the armed conflict in Ukraine – broken down by main age groups – is presented in the table below.
Table 2 presents the number of people under temporary protection in Poland due to the armed conflict in Ukraine as of March 31, 2023. The data breaks down both by citizenship and age groups, offering a comprehensive overview of the demographics of those affected by the conflict and seeking refuge in Poland.
Table 2. Number of people under temporary protection in Poland due to the armed conflict in Ukraine (as of March 31, 2023)
| Citizenship | Total | Age Groups | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14 years | 15-64 years | 65 years and over | ||
| Ukrainian | 994,367 | 354,044 | 597,918 | 42,405 |
| Non-Ukrainian, including: | 3,370 | 178 | 3,069 | 123 |
| Russia | 104 | 17 | 82 | 5 |
| Belarus | 427 | 29 | 393 | 5 |
| Georgia | 29 | 15 | 12 | 2 |
| Moldova | 270 | 11 | 25 | 7 |
| TOTAL | 997,737 | 354,222 | 600,987 | 42,528 |
Moreover, according to Eurostat data, by the end of October 2023, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Poland was estimated to be 960,000, with a noticeable slight downward trend. This discrepancy between national and Eurostat figures could be attributed to various factors, including the movement of refugees between countries, repatriations, and the evolving situation in Ukraine.
Declaration of entrusting work entered into the declarations register
The number of declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner registered in the declarations register maintained by district labor offices, as well as the number of work permits issued by voivodeship offices (in both cases, the applicants are employers), constitutes an important source of information on the changing landscape of the Polish labor market.
However, these numbers should not be equated with the exact number of foreigners who began work based on them.
Not all foreigners for whom declarations were registered or permits were issued ultimately began work (due to, for example, problems with obtaining visas to Poland or accepting another job offer); meanwhile, for some of them, more than one declaration/permit was registered/issued within a year (e.g., due to changes in employment conditions).
Nonetheless, these data still say a lot about the trend that has been ongoing in Poland for several years.
The table below contains data on the number of declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner (after changes introduced from January 1, 2018) entered into the declarations register. It is worth noting that the statistics of declarations entered into the register are also not synonymous with the number of submitted declarations (“applications”).
Not all of them ended with registration, for example, due to not supplementing deficiencies within the deadline or the employer initiating the procedure for a candidate having citizenship for which this procedure is not intended.
Table 3 presents the number of declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner that have been entered into the register by district labor offices.
Table 3. Number of declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner entered into the register by district labor offices
| Year | Belarus | Russia | Ukraine | Moldova | Georgia | Armenia | Total | Growth Rate (2022 vs 2018)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 62,805 | 671 | 1,446,304 | 36,742 | 28,008 | 16 | 1,582,225 | – |
| 2019 | 66,045 | 11,262 | 1,475,923 | 39,414 | 45,137 | 82 | 1,640,083 | – |
| 2020 | 78,905 | 19,246 | 1,329,491 | 45,281 | 44,270 | 2,302 | 1,519,599 | – |
| 2021 | 98,623 | 35,038 | 1,635,104 | 74,239 | 129,830 | 6,998 | 1,979,886 | – |
| 2022 | 212,409 | 15,845 | 610,824 | 46,365 | 145,620 | 7,253 | 1,038,316 | -34.37% |
*Growth Rate (2022 vs 2018) for individual countries and overall total
Taking 2022 as a reference point, the overall upward trend (especially for citizens of Belarus, Georgia, and – considering proportions – Armenia) is somewhat overshadowed by a significant decrease in registered declarations for Ukrainian citizens (considering all previous years), as well as Moldova (compared to 2021) and Russia (in relation to the period 2020-2021).
In the case of Ukraine, this was due to the implementation – under the “Ukrainian special act” – of the previously described “path” of sending a Notification by the employer to the appropriate labor office; for citizens of Moldova, a possible reason may be the limitation of the influx of workers to Poland due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine and difficulties with international mobility.
The case of Russia is special, as on October 28, 2022, by the regulation of the Minister of Family and Social Policy, this country was removed from the list of countries whose citizens are entitled to use the “declaration path” (as well as obtaining seasonal work permits). The introduction of these restrictions was due to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Work permits and temporary residence permits in relation to employment
The significant and sudden increase in the influx of foreigners to Poland over the past decade is also illustrated by the statistics on work permits issued to foreigners. It’s insightful to examine the data presented in the table below.
Table 4. Work permits issued to foreigners by voivodeship for the years 2015-2021
| Voivodeship | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022* | Growth Rate (2021 vs 2015)** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 65,786 | 112,739 | 192,356 | 263,287 | 684,447 | 384,069 | 650,417 | 236,546 | 66.38% |
| Lower Silesian | 3,388 | 10,880 | 12,284 | 19,158 | 23,907 | 22,069 | 26,662 | – | 686.95% |
| Kuyavian-Pomeranian | 334 | 4,998 | 6,504 | 8,256 | 23,797 | 6,209 | 4,825 | – | 1,142.51% |
| Lublin | 1,615 | 2,782 | 5,254 | 8,043 | 12,981 | 15,639 | 8,448 | – | 423.16% |
| Lubusz | 266 | 3,581 | 7,452 | 10,748 | 16,395 | 13,823 | 14,199 | – | 4,339.10% |
| Łódź | 1,305 | 3,577 | 19,345 | 32,423 | 19,934 | 14,285 | 32,023 | – | 2,352.49% |
| Lesser Poland | 6,291 | 15,138 | 22,162 | 27,533 | 37,389 | 39,364 | 29,431 | – | 368.09% |
| Masovian | 32,502 | 48,126 | 75,271 | 96,708 | 86,348 | 68,228 | 104,843 | – | 222.57% |
| Opole | 1,218 | 2,794 | 5,798 | 9,584 | 11,578 | 13,531 | 4,865 | – | 299.59% |
| Subcarpathian | 936 | 1,754 | 3,730 | 5,378 | 8,551 | 6,678 | 4,505 | – | 381.41% |
| Podlaskie | 643 | 1,011 | 2,985 | 3,399 | 7,961 | 12,481 | 2,498 | – | 288.49% |
| Pomeranian | 4,133 | 7,889 | 12,480 | 20,929 | 30,409 | 23,431 | 21,692 | – | 424.65% |
| Silesian | 2,003 | 7,175 | 23,160 | 21,924 | 39,077 | 34,469 | 8,736 | – | 336.30% |
| Świętokrzyskie | 603 | 1,765 | 3,252 | 4,177 | 6,647 | 5,949 | 3,177 | – | 426.87% |
| Warmian-Masurian | 506 | 1,483 | 5,228 | 6,936 | 10,504 | 6,674 | 6,024 | – | 1,091.30% |
| Greater Poland | 3,608 | 10,231 | 21,036 | 36,464 | 49,069 | 50,330 | 57,837 | – | 1,603.60% |
| West Pomeranian | 1,022 | 4,210 | 9,772 | 14,779 | 22,599 | 26,519 | 21,597 | – | 2,014.09% |
*Data for 2022: Public Employment Services Portal, Public Employment Services
**Own work. The comparison against 2022 was omitted due to the special circumstances described in the article (outbreak of war in Ukraine).
From the data above, it is evident that from 2015 to 2021, a dynamic increase in the number of decisions on work permits issued by voivodes for foreigners was observed in all voivodeships, with the most noticeable absolute values of increase in the Pomeranian, Łódź, and Podlaskie voivodeships (increases of approximately 3000-4000% in 2021 compared to 2015).
Immigration to Poland in 2022
The year 2022 stands out in this comparison as the previously observed growth trend came to a sudden halt (with a countrywide decrease in issued permits of -27.50% compared to 2021). This was most likely influenced by the outbreak of war in Ukraine (since it was Ukrainian citizens who had previously been issued the most work permits proportionally).
The uncertain situation regarding the “paths” of legal employment that could be offered to Ukrainian citizens (primarily refugees) did not last long, and with the introduction of the “war special act” until the present, the work permit for a Ukrainian citizen as a form of legalizing his work has been replaced by the mentioned simplified “Notification path”.
It’s also valuable to track the number of decisions on temporary stay where the premise for the stay was employment. This category should be understood broadly (“in connection with work”) as employment can take place not only in the form of employment (a single decision for stay and work) but also as conducting business activity, serving on the boards of legal persons, or conducting scientific research.
Statistics for issued temporary stay permits for three selected years, referring to the relevant article from the Act on Foreigners (Journal of Laws 2023, item 519), which is the basis for their issuance, are contained in the table below.
Table 5 illustrates the number of temporary stay permits issued in connection with employment for the years 2014, 2019, and 2023, broken down by decision type/legal basis.
Table 5. Number of temporary stay permits issued in relation to work for the years 2014, 2019, and 2023
| Decision Type/Legal Basis | 2014 | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Permit for Stay and Work (Art. 114(1) of the Act on Foreigners) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 14,514 | 150,205 | 351,235 |
| Decisions Granted | 10,593 | 88,503 | 218,766 |
| Highly Qualified – “Blue Card” (Art. 127 of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 692 | 4,770 | 9,036 |
| Decisions Granted | 742 | 1,047 | 6,612 |
| Serving in Management Boards (Art. 126(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 22 | 1,331 | 61 |
| Decisions Granted | 43 | 967 | 77 |
| Intra-corporate Transfer (Art. 139a(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 0 | 24 | 35 |
| Decisions Granted | 0 | 31 | – |
| Posting by a Foreign Employer (Art. 140(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted* | – | 262 | 200 |
| Decisions Granted* | – | 261 | 518 |
| Business Activity (Art. 142(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 0 | 2,057 | 18,376 |
| Decisions Granted | 0 | 542 | 7,557 |
| Business Activity (Art. 142(3) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted* | – | 1,493 | 3,800 |
| Decisions Granted* | – | 1,707 | 1,035 |
| Scientific Research (Art. 151(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 0 | 631 | 76 |
| Decisions Granted | 0 | 311 | 15 |
| Seasonal Work (Art. 185a(1) of the Act) | |||
| Applications Submitted | 0 | 4,611 | 18 |
| Decisions Granted | 0 | 1,311 | – |
*According to explanations provided to the author of the article by the Department of Migration Analysis and Statistics, the “non-balancing” ratio between submitted applications and granted decisions in the indicated types of temporary stay permits over the course of a year stems from the decision-making authority’s ability, based on the submitted documents, to decide that a different legal basis than the one entered with the application (usually more favorable for the foreigner) is more adequate in a given case. Additionally, often
This table reflects the considerable growth in applications and granted decisions for temporary stay permits related to employment, highlighting the dynamic changes in the landscape of foreign workforce regulation in Poland.
The increase in applications and decisions across various categories, especially the significant rise in single permits for stay and work, underscores the expanding demand for foreign labor in Poland’s economy.
Foreigners in the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS)
According to the Act on the Social Insurance System (Journal of Laws 2023, item 1230), all individuals, including employees, contractors, or those running a non-agricultural business, are subject to mandatory pension and disability insurance. These insurances (with certain exceptions) also apply to foreigners working in Poland.
As indicated in the June 2023 report by the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Forecasts of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), there has been a progressive increase in the number of foreigners registered for social insurance since 2015.
This represents nearly a 6-fold increase between 2015 and 2022 (from 184.2 thousand to 1,062.3 thousand insured foreigners), with the highest growth recorded in the recent period (149.9 thousand between 2020 and 2021, and 188.2 thousand between 2021 and 2022).
The largest group of insured foreigners consists of Ukrainian citizens, who saw a 7-fold increase in 2022 compared to 2015 (from 101.2 thousand to 746 thousand insured individuals). A dynamic 5.5-fold increase was also noted for citizens of Moldova (from 2.6 thousand in 2015 to 14.7 thousand insured individuals in 2022).
Interestingly, there has been a steady decrease in the share of foreigners from EU/EEA countries (from 16% of all insured in 2015 to 3.7% in 2022).
Detailed data is presented in the table below.
Table 6. Number of foreigners registered for pension and disability insurance by citizenship – end of year status
| Citizenship | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 184,188 | 293,188 | 440,255 | 569,724 | 651,506 | 725,173 | 875,090 | 1,063,261 |
| EU Countries* | 29,421 | 31,694 | 34,116 | 35,960 | 37,593 | 38,733 | 38,608 | 39,339 |
| Non-EU Countries, including: | ||||||||
| Ukrainian | 101,150 | 194,418 | 316,474 | 420,723 | 479,113 | 532,503 | 627,028 | 745,980 |
| Belarusian | 8,903 | 14,351 | 24,013 | 33,414 | 34,279 | 50,606 | 67,121 | 108,111 |
| Georgian | 5,056 | 24,272 | 56,931 | 110,611 | 129,712 | 233,732 | 38,495 | |
| Indian | 1,942 | 7,554 | 21,593 | 71,878 | 268,107 | 351,596 | ||
| Moldovan | 2,628 | 5,024 | 6,510 | 7,650 | 8,901 | 10,762 | 12,918 | 14,685 |
*Until 2020, the number of foreigners with citizenship of EU countries included British citizens.
The latest data from ZUS as of October 2023 indicates a continued increase in the number of foreigners insured in the Polish social insurance system, reflecting the growing integration of foreign workers into the Polish labor market and social security system.
Forecasts and challenges for the future of immigration to Poland
Finally, it’s insightful to examine the dynamics of growth in all permits for stay in Poland that were valid in a given calendar year for the period 2014-2023. Detailed data is presented in the table below.
Table 7. Number of stay permits in Poland valid in a given calendar year
| Year | Type of Permit | TOTAL | Temporary Stay | Permanent Stay | Long-term EU Resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 256,700 | 34,849 | 18,839 | 301 | |
| 2015 | 183,874 | 57,188 | 23,095 | 359 | |
| 2016 | 325,979 | 93,947 | 27,783 | 424 | |
| 2017 | 470,536 | 131,457 | 34,183 | 489 | |
| 2018 | 197,033 | 149,776 | 41,912 | 534 | |
| 2019 | 223,699 | 165,012 | 51,790 | 689 | |
| 2020 | 253,250 | 186,776 | 58,594 | 788 | |
| 2021 | 360,555 | 282,024 | 71,810 | 672 | |
| 2022 | 556,045 | 459,965 | 90,563 | 551 | |
| 2023 | 802,951 | 681,679 | 117,075 | 419 |
Source: www.migracje.gov.pl
The overall upward trend in the number of foreigners holding a document that legalizes their stay in Poland – and in many cases, their work – long-term (up to 3 years for temporary residence permits and indefinitely for the other two types of permits) is evident. This trend, particularly intensified in the “pandemic” period from 2020 to 2023, deserves further analysis to determine the reasons behind the clear downward trend post-2020 for foreigners holding a long-term EU resident permit.
Considering all the upward trends described in the article, it’s reasonable to assume a continued increase in the number of foreigners coming to Poland, primarily for work purposes, in the coming years.
The scale of this increase will be decided by factors including the situation beyond our eastern border (Ukraine, Belarus) and the broader international context, which, depending on the development of events, will lead to greater or lesser reorientation in terms of labor recruitment by employers necessary for implementing business plans of companies.
The gradual outflow of workers from Ukraine to Germany and other countries (offering higher wages) is already noticeable. Some experts even posit the thesis of a “drainage” of Ukrainian labor resources in industries such as warehouse logistics or industrial processing, suggesting a more expansive recruitment of workers from countries in Southeast Asia or South America.
Employers, however, sometimes face recruitment challenges, where the prospect of waiting several months (often without ultimate success) for granting a work visa to candidates from countries like Nepal or Bangladesh effectively discourages firms from initiating recruitment aimed at citizens of such countries.
Immigration to Poland 2024 – the forecast
The aftermath of the so-called visa scandal has led to further delays and bureaucratic obstruction in the visa issuance process, resulting from a sort of “decision-making paralysis” in response to announced audits of irregularities in many consular posts.
The simplified employment procedure provided only for beneficiaries of the “Ukrainian special act” – although generally deemed appropriate – does not fully meet the demand for workers in many industries, raising questions about functional solutions offered to employers for the efficient employment process of candidates of other nationalities.
Employers and experts have long indicated that the regulations in force in Poland are not adapted to business and social realities. This includes, for example, the mandatory labor market test that often precedes the employment of a foreigner (i.e., the search for willing Polish workers listed in the registers of employment offices).
Another significant issue is the excessive workload of offices, resulting from the numerical mismatch of administrative staff (especially in voivodeship offices) relative to the rapidly increasing volume of initiated cases – both from employers (work permits) and foreigners (residence permits).
The organization of the entire system of administration in offices also raises considerable concerns, such as inefficient communication via traditional postal mail or problems with obtaining specific information about deficiencies in ongoing proceedings by employers and foreigners.
In this context, the planned changes regarding the employment of foreigners from outside the EU/EEA in the form of the Employment of Foreigners Act, which has been processed for over a year (currently only in its draft form), will be of great importance.
It includes some provisions concerning work permits extracted from the Act on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions.
Initially, it was planned that the act would come into force at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023, as it was supposed to implement the “milestones” defined in the National Recovery Plan (component A 4.1.: “Effective institutions for the labor market”). However, its draft has been in the legislative process for many months without any changes since March 2023 (as of January 2024).
The draft of this act aims to streamline administrative procedures (mainly concerning work permits and – under a changed name – declarations of employment of a foreigner), reduce abuses, and minimize delays, among others, by:
- Fully digitizing the procedure for granting work permits from the application submission to decision collection;
- Linking the IT system concerning work permits with similar systems for visas and residence permits for foreigners and with the system containing data on their border crossings;
- Integrating the system with databases collected in the registers of the National Labour Inspectorate, Border Guard, or National Criminal Register, which would create an effective tool to support the enforcement of the ban on issuing work permits to entities penalized for illegally employing foreigners;
- Simplifying some procedures (e.g., abolishing the mandatory labor market test, moving away from the procedure of extending the work permit);
- Monitoring the actual entrustment of work to a foreigner, based on information obtained from the employer’s reports on whether the foreigner has commenced or not commenced work, as well as checking if social insurance contributions are being paid. This would determine if the contract is being executed/continued in accordance with the conditions included in the work permit;
- Introducing the effect of the termination of the employment contract or civil law contract in cases where the foreigner has lost the right to work in the territory of Poland or the residence title on its territory;
- Introducing provisions providing for the imposition of a fine proportional to the number of foreigners illegally employed, in an amount not lower than PLN 500 for each foreigner.
How many of the solutions mentioned in the draft will ultimately remain is unknown. The draft also lacks information about directions for changes in the organization of work in voivodeship offices and increasing their staffing levels. It’s likely that the “human factor” will determine whether the changes expected by employers will be noticeable.
The Employment of Foreigners Act draft does not address all the challenges related to immigration to Poland faces. It’s important to note issues such as:
- Aligning Polish legislation with the Council of Europe’s decision to extend temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine until March 4, 2025 (work on the corresponding amendment to the “Ukrainian special act” is just beginning – as of January 15, 2024);
- Enabling Ukrainian refugees who do not work or conduct business activities in Poland to apply for a residence permit (currently, their legal stay is regulated only by the “Ukrainian special act” – as of January 15, 2024);
- The ongoing humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border and illegal migration routes from the east;
- Opening Poland to new directions and countries from which workers can be sourced (mentioned Southeast Asia and South America) with transparent rules for issuing visas and internal security standards;
- More effective utilization of the labor force potential (including Ukrainian women in Poland with small children), especially in the context of increasing the percentage of Ukrainian refugees working in Poland according to their qualifications and education. A barrier here includes, among others, insufficient knowledge of the Polish language, preventing employment requiring fluent communication and understanding of written texts;
- Potential increased migration movements from Africa and the Middle East towards Europe (including Poland) due to social unrest in volatile regions of the world, as well as climate changes making life impossible for migrants in their home countries.
Immigration to Poland after the elections in Poland in 2023
After the recent parliamentary elections, the new government faces the challenge of rethinking policy and strategy for immigration to Poland. The problem is that in the electoral programs of political groups, the issue of migration policy was not seriously addressed.
Although between 2004-2023, Poland changed its status from strictly an emigration country to an emigration-immigration country, the interdependence of such issues as the development of the Polish economy in conditions of labor shortages, integration of foreigners, or related national security has never become the subject of public debate.
The so-called visa scandal certainly did not contribute to progress in this area; on the contrary, it resulted in the withdrawal of the draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on the adoption of the document “Migration Policy of Poland – Directions of Actions 2021-2022”.
Time will tell if, in the coming years starting from 2024, Poland will see a real migration policy, and which variant of the figurative slogan “Migration can be won or lost” will ultimately be realized in Poland.