In October, the Council of Ministers adopted a project of amendments to the Act on foreigners and some other acts. The changes are aimed at streamlining procedures in the field of temporary residence permits in Poland, in particular temporary residence and work permits.
The proposals are to meet the interests of Polish employers and foreign investors.
What should employers pay attention to?
1) Expedited issuance of all temporary residence and work permits for which proceedings were initiated before January 1, 2021.
The simplified procedure provides for the issuance of temporary residence and work permits (both by voivodeship offices and the Office for Foreigners in the case of the appeals) for a period of 2 years, without indicating the entity entrusting the work or the conditions of work, if:
- the application was submitted during legal stay in Poland, without formal defects (or formal defects were corrected on time);
- the purpose of staying in Poland declared in the application is work.
The regulation excludes the need to appear in person at the office.
A residence and work permit issued under this special procedure will exempt from the obligation to have a work permit, provided that:
- the minimum remuneration for work is received;
- work is performed under an employment contract or contract of mandate;
- the foreign national submits to the voivode within 60 days from the date of delivery of the decision, the employer's declaration concerning the entrustment of work on the basis of the above-mentioned conditions. Failure to submit the declaration will result in the expiry of the permit.
It is assumed that the residence card will be issued only after verification of the above-mentioned boundary conditions.
There will also be checks on how the foreign national uses this permit. The inspections are to take place at the seat of the voivodeship office or the Office for Foreigners, and in case of unjustified failure to appear twice, the permit will be withdrawn.
2) Simplifications for granting the foreign nationals temporary residence and work permits, including:
- resignation from the need to present documents confirming the possession of a place of residence and a source of stable and regular income in favor of the requirement for the foreign national to receive remuneration not lower than the minimum remuneration for work, regardless of the working time and type the legal relationship constituting the basis for the performance of work by a foreign national.
- introducing a procedure for changing a temporary residence and work permit in the event of a change of employer within the validity period of the permit granted so far;
- extending the catalog of circumstances that do not require changing the temporary residence and work permit - including the case of changing the name of the position while maintaining the scope of duties or increasing the working time with a proportional increase in remuneration.
3) Important changes in the deadlines for processing the matters such as:
- shortening the deadlines for examining applications for a national visa, including student visas and visas for people conducting research or development works;
- a 60-day time limit for settling the matter of granting a temporary residence permit in the first instance and a 90-day time limit in the appeal procedure;
- introducing specific 6-month deadlines for considering the matter of granting permanent and long-term EU residence permits.
4) Facilitating obtaining a work permit by foreigners intending to work in entities of particular strategic importance for the Polish economy.
The draft provides priority in considering cases for a work permit for employers of strategic importance for the Polish economy. The minister competent for the economy will be able to publish such a list of entrepreneurs. This can be also beneficial to foreign entrepreneurs wishing to invest in Poland.
5) Extension of the catalog of persons who can be covered by health insurance.
This extension will cover people staying in Poland on the basis of a humanitarian visa and applying for international protection.
Additionally, it is proposed to introduce a legal basis to recognize that a foreign national meets the requirement of having public health insurance due to the fact that, as a result of granting a temporary residence and work permit, the foreign national will be entrusted with work, and thus be covered by compulsory health insurance.
6) Extending the possibility of entrusting work to a foreign national to 24 months on the basis of a declaration on entrusting work entered in the register.
Currently, the declaration of entrusting work to citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine can be registered for a period of 6 months within the next 12 months. The draft provides for the extension of this period up to 24 months and the elimination of the 12-month settlement period. It might be also possible to entrust work in certain professions to foreigners who are not citizens of the above-mentioned countries.
7) Accelerated visa applications examination for citizens of selected countries.
The project provides for an accelerated path for the issuance of national visas for the purpose of work and for the so-called "declarations" on entrusting the performance of work on the basis of the list of countries specified in the regulation, whose citizens may be admitted out of sequence. This is to prioritize the handling of visa applications depending on their importance for the Polish economy and the needs of the labor market.
The bill was submitted to the Parliament, and the new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after their announcement. If you want to know how to prepare for changes, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Autorzy:
