#alert: Planned changes to the Polish immigration law, which are to enter into force in a few months

1. One of the announced actions as a part of the Polish Deal (a post-COVID recovery plan presented by the governing party) is the introduction of facilitation in the employment of IT specialists from Eastern European countries (including Ukraine, Russia). It would be possible to employ such persons on the basis of a visa without the need to obtain a work permit (similar to the current rules applicable to Belarusian citizens under the Poland. Business Harbor program). At a later stage, it is planned to possibly expand the program to include specialists from another areas, such as engineering, and from another countries.

2. Moreover, the government also announced a reform of the procedure of obtaining work permits. The changes will include:

a) elimination of declarations on entrusting work (short-term work permits) – as a consequence, all foreigners will need work permits but it is planned to offer simplified procedure for citizens of Eastern European countries;

b) change of the office issuing work permits – they will be issued by poviat labor offices instead of voivodship offices, which is supposed to shorten the time of processing applications as the labor offices are more numerous than voivodship offices.

3. In addition, the government is working on an amendment of the administrative procedure, which will exclude the possibility of submitting a reminder for inactivity or excessive length (in Polish: “ponaglenie”) in the proceedings for issuing a work permit and a declaration of entrusting work (short-term permit). As a consequence, the only possibility to challenge the untimely settlement of the case by the authorities will be to file a complaint with the court about the excessive length of the proceedings.

Our Global Mobility & Immigration team is ready to support you in all matters related to hiring and seconding employees.