In terms of reforming immigration law, 2025 was only a warm-up. Last year showed that the proposals set out in the 2025–2030 migration strategy have gradually begun to take shape through new legal regulations.

The employment of foreign nationals finally has “its own” statute. At the turn of 2025, an entirely new Act on the Conditions of Entrusting Work to Foreign Nationals in the Republic of Poland entered into force, replacing the previous Act on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions.

The key changes introduced by the new act include:

1. full digitisation of the processes for submitting applications for work permits and declarations on entrusting work;
2. the abolition of the labour market test, commonly known as the starosta’s information;
3. higher penalties for illegally entrusting work to a foreign national;
4. an obligation to submit a copy of an agreement with the foreign national to the authority before work is entrusted;
5. the expansion of the catalogue of mandatory grounds for refusing to issue a work permit or a declaration on entrusting work to a foreign national;
6. a mandatory limitation of the validity of a work permit to one year;
7. a priority procedure for issuing work permits;
8. the exclusion of the possibility of taking up work on the basis of a work permit or a declaration on entrusting work for those staying on visas issued by another Schengen Area state;
9. new notification obligations on the part of employers.

All these changes were intended (in theory) to fundamentally reform the system of employing foreign nationals, focusing on speed of procedures and more effective oversight. The proposed solutions were justified primarily by the need to shorten timeframes and improve the work of administrative bodies, combat abuses and reduce bureaucratic burdens.

In practice, however, little has changed. Even before the amendments, many employers already used electronic channels to submit applications for documents legalising their employees’ work. At the same time, abolishing the labour market test significantly simplified the process of obtaining work permits by removing the requirement to publish job offers (which, in practice, were often fictitious anyway). Raising the penalties was meant to restore their original deterrent effect by making them more onerous.

As for the obligation to provide a copy of the agreement concluded with the foreign national to the authority, the rationale for this solution was multi-faceted: facilitating control of working conditions, preventing wage undercutting and confirming that work was in fact entrusted to the foreign national.

A genuine novelty, however, was the introduction of a list of mandatory grounds for refusing a work permit or a declaration on entrusting work where the entity entrusting work is in arrears with taxes, fails to fulfil its obligation to register employees for social insurance, was established or operates to facilitate foreign nationals’ entry into the Republic of Poland, or where the circumstances indicate that the work would be entrusted by an entity that is not a temporary employment agency, and the work would be performed for the benefit of a third party.

The introduction of a priority procedure for processing applications also appeared as a new solution. Particular emphasis was placed on the significance of the list of entities in the register of entities carrying out business activity in the Republic of Poland that are of material importance to the national economy.

A disappointing surprise was the restriction on the possibility for foreign nationals staying on visas issued by another Schengen Area state to work on the basis of a work permit or a declaration on entrusting work.

The last change discussed in the act is the introduction of a catalogue of employers’ notification obligations. This includes both obligations carried over directly from the previous regulations and a completely new requirement to notify the authority that issued the temporary residence and work permit of any changes relating to employment, even if the change is beneficial to the foreign employee.

Comparing the current regulations with those previously in force, the changes introduced –though ambitious sounding – have not, in practice, altered very much. All parties concerned continue to face persistently lengthy administrative proceedings and bureaucracy.

Given the scope of the announcements made back in 2025, this reform is only the beginning of the promised revolution in Polish immigration law. In the second half of 2026, we can probably expect a full-scale overhaul of temporary residence permit proceedings through their complete digitisation and, finally, the long-awaited solution for Ukrainian citizens with UKR status – namely the CUKR residence card.

Read more about Polish HR law – PRO HR Year Book 2025