Temporary residence permit for high qualified workers (EU Blue Card)

You should apply for a temporary residence permit, the so-called EU Blue Card if you wish to stay in Poland for a period exceeding 3 months and your primary purpose of stay is work in a profession requiring high qualifications.

You should apply for a residence permit in person before your current legal status expires (i.e. before your visa or residence card expires).

If you apply to extend your stay in Poland before the expiry date of your legal status, you can legally remain in Poland while your application is pending. Make sure you have submitted an error-free application. Your passport must be valid at this time.

Before you apply, read our tips on how to fill in an application form.

1. Visit the website mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl and create an account.
2. Review the information and the list of common mistakes.
3. Fill out the application for a temporary residence permit.
4. Include your email address in the application. Once your application is registered by the Office, you’ll receive an access code to track the status of your case.
5. Print the application form and sign it.
6. Send the printed form along with the required attachments via postal service to the Department for Foreigners in Poznań or one of our regional offices.

Submit the application no later than the last day of your legal stay in Poland. If you send the application via Poczta Polska, the date of submission will be the date it is posted at the post office.

The next step will be an in-person appointment to submit your fingerprints. During the visit, you will also complete other documents required to obtain a stamp in your passport.

Learn how to submit fingerprints.
Learn how to track the status of your case.

Documents required to obtain a stamp in your passport (i.e. formal requirements)

• Application form - fill in the on-line application or fill in the application in accordance with the instructions in 1 copy (application to be downloaded).
• 4 photographs, 
• A photocopy of a valid travel document (the original for inspection), in a particularly justified case, when you do not have any valid travel document and you are not able to obtain one, you may present another document confirming your identity.

• Annex No 1 (download it here) to the application for the temporary residence permit should be fully completed and signed by an employer or a person authorised for representation of a company.

• Annex No. 2 (download it here) to the application, completed in full by yourself. 

• To start the proceedings you also need the confirmation of the stamp duty payment.

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Documents required to be granted the residence permit:

• Annex No. 1 to the application confirms that you have the purpose of stay in Poland for more than 3 months, a stable and regular source of income and health insurance (in the case of an employment contract and a contract of mandate). On the basis of this document we check whether you have sufficient income to support yourself. The conditions of employment specified in Annex No. 1 must be valid on the day of issuing the permit and must be consistent with the conditions resulting from other documents, e.g. employment contract, labour market test;
• original Labour market test or a document confirming the exemption from this obligation. If a document is required, the application should be accompanied by the original Labour market test for the main place of your work - the lack of such document is not a formal error, but the inclusion of all properly prepared documents when filing the application will make it easier to examine your application;
• current document confirming the place of residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
• a contract of employment concluded for a period of at least 1 year, a contract of employment, a contract of superimposed employment, a civil-law contract on the basis of which you perform work, provide services or are in an official relationship;
• evidence of professional qualifications, e.g. original university degree and its translation into Polish by a sworn translator.

Read our guide

This permit is granted for a period longer by 3 months than the period of work indicated in the application, but not longer than 3 years.

The permit entitles you to work only under the conditions specified therein.

From 1st January 2019, there are rules in force according to which a limit may be set on the number of temporary residences permits granted for the first time in a calendar year due to highly qualified employment. This limit may cover particular province, professions, types of agreements based on which you may be emloyed, or types of activity of an entity which employs you. In case the limit set out in the Regulation is reached, the permit may not be granted. Limits are announced in a given calendar year in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland "Monitor Polski". There are currently no such limits implemented.

The residence card is issued after obtaining a positive decision on granting the permit. Read how to get a residence card