The proposed amendment to the Act on foreigners solves many problematic issues related to the process of applying for residence and work permits by foreign nationals in Poland. One of the solutions is resignation from the obligation to present a proof of the individual’s health insurance that meets the relevant requirements.
Health insurance requirement
In accordance with the currently applicable regulations, a temporary residence and work permit is granted on the condition that the foreign national has a health insurance within the meaning of the provisions of the Act on health care services financed from public funds (i.e. health insurance in the National Health Fund) or confirmation that the insurer covers the costs of treatment in the territory of the Republic of Poland.
In the case of people applying for a residence and work permit, this created a practical problem due to the fact that an individual may be covered by compulsory insurance in the National Health Fund only after taking up employment (i.e. in practice after obtaining a residence and work permit, unless a different combination of permits has been used, which allowed him/her to start working before this document was issued).
The amendment to the provisions proposes a solution of the possibility of recognizing that a foreign nationals meets the requirement of compulsory health insurance in the National Health Fund due to the fact that the person, after being granted a temporary residence and work permit, will take up employment which will result in the obligatory title to health insurance.
Does this mean that the requirement to have health insurance before taking up employment disappears?
The obligation of a foreign national to have health insurance during the stay in Poland may also result from other regulations. For example, people who stay in Poland on the basis of a visa, in order to obtain it, must present proof of health insurance, e.g. in the National Health Fund or travel medical insurance. In the case of a national visa, it is required to have insurance that meets certain requirements, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes and updates the list of the so-called authorized insurers. The same is true if a person enters the territory of Poland under the visa-free regime. It is also required from him/her to have health insurance.
This means that the provision that introduces the lack of the need to present proof of health insurance when submitting an application for a temporary residence and work permit does not mean that the person who applies for it does not need to have such insurance for any other reason. The change in the regulations, however, is very beneficial and eliminates, for example, situations in which offices did not grant residence permits due to e.g. medical insurance, which, in the opinion of the office, did not meet a certain criterion (there were often over-interpretations of offices and appeals to the second instance due to this reason).
What is worth paying attention to?
It is worth paying attention to the requirements of the immigration offices as to the type of documents submitted with applications. Currently, the interpretation of the regulations, and therefore also the requirements for individual documents, differs among individual offices. An example may be the situation regarding health insurance under the National Health Fund and the interpretation of some authorities that the confirmation usually submitted along with the application concerns only one month. This leads to situations in which such a document must be completed even every month. The amendment to the Act simplifies this requirement, but it is worth paying attention to the further practice of the immigration offices.
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