How to get a Poland work permit: the employer route (2026)

The first answer to "how do I get a Polish work permit?" is a sentence the person asking usually does not expect: you can't. In Poland the work permit is issued to the employer, not the employee; the employer files the application, and the permit is valid for you working for that employer, in that position. This article describes the whole process for a Turkish citizen with a job offer in Poland: the employer's part, your part, what happens after you arrive, and the rules specific to Turkish citizens. If you don't have an employer yet, this article will not find you a job; the "if you have none of these" section of four ways to move to Poland is for you.

Short answer: Since 1 June 2025 your employer in Poland files the work-permit application only on praca.gov.pl, electronically; the labour-market test has been abolished, pay cannot be below the minimum wage, the decision usually takes a month, two for complex files, and the permit is issued for at most three years. Once it is granted you apply in Turkey for a work-purpose D visa, come to Poland, start work, and before the visa expires apply for the permit that combines residence and work in one document. Turkish citizens cannot use the simplified "oświadczenie" route; in return, EU–Turkey association law gives a graduated right: one, three and four years. The voivode and the consul decide; we run the coordination between you and the employer, the documents and the timeline.

Permit types and their new names in 2026

The permit types known for years by the letters A, B, C, D, E and S have carried new names on praca.gov.pl since 1 January 2026. The three that concern you:

Work permit on behalf of a Polish employer (form code ZC-WWZPP, the former "type A"): if you will work for an employer operating in Poland. The rest of this article is about this permit.
Permit for a specific function (ZC-WWZF, the former "type B"): if you will spend more than six months a year in Poland as a board member or representative of a company. If you plan to work as a director in your own Sp. z o.o., this is the permit to discuss.
Posting by a foreign employer (ZC-WWZD, the former C, D and E): if your employer in Turkey sends you to Poland on a temporary assignment.

Seasonal work has a separate permit (S), issued by the district labour office rather than the voivode and limited to nine months a year.

The route closed to Turkish citizens: oświadczenie

The fast route Polish employers use most often is the "oświadczenie" declaration, filed at the district labour office and registered within days. It is open only to citizens of four countries: Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Turkey has never been on that list. The practical consequence: if your Polish employer says "we'll do an oświadczenie, you start in two weeks", that knowledge comes from their Ukrainian staff and does not apply to you. You need a full work permit, and explaining this to the employer from the start, in writing, saves time.

The employer's part: the application on praca.gov.pl

The application is filed only electronically; paper applications are not processed. The employer logs in with the company's trusted profile or qualified e-signature, completes the form and uploads the attachments: a digital copy of every written page of your passport (not just the identity page), the job description and pay, the employer's identity documents and, where required, evidence of the qualifications the position demands. The fee is PLN 200 for a permit of up to three months and PLN 400 for longer, paid by the employer.

What the 2025 act changed is not only the form but the logic. The labour-market test (the obligation to look for a Polish candidate first) was abolished; in return, each district's labour office may keep a list of occupations for which no permits are issued in that district, and if the job is on the list no permit is granted. The grounds for refusal have widened: an employer with ZUS or tax arrears, a company that appears to exist only to bring in foreigners, an employer who did not actually start the workers it obtained permits for in the last two years. So the employer's file matters as much as yours; we go through this list with the employer before filing.

The statutory decision period is one month, two for complex files; in practice it varies by voivodeship. A refusal can be appealed within 14 days. The permit is issued for at most three years and is tied to a specific employer, a specific position and the stated minimum pay.

Your part: the D visa

A work permit does not replace a visa. When the permit is issued you apply in Turkey for a work-purpose national D visa: the form in the e-konsulat system, an appointment at VFS Global (Ankara or Antalya; Istanbul, Izmir, Trabzon or Gaziantep), documents handed in in person. VFS's work-visa list: the original work permit, the employer's invitation or draft employment contract, proof of accommodation, your Turkish social-security record, a criminal-record certificate, military-service status, diplomas, travel insurance. The consul may ask for additional documents or an interview. The visa is issued for at most one year and can be applied for at the earliest six months before travel. Details in the four routes article.

The most common trap: arriving on a tourist visa and starting work because "the permit is already out". A tourist visa gives no right to work; since 2025 the employer's fine is at least PLN 3,000 per foreigner with a ceiling of PLN 50,000, and for the employee expulsion and an entry ban come into play.

The employer's obligations towards you

The 2025 act imposed obligations that many Polish employers are also learning for the first time. You should know them, because gaps here affect your file too:

A written contract before you start, with a translation into a language you understand; for employment based on a work permit a copy of the contract has been uploaded to praca.gov.pl before the start date since 1 August 2025.
A copy of the work permit handed to you.
ZUS and health-insurance registration within 7 days of starting work.
Notifications to the voivode: if you did not start on the date in the permit, if you left more than three months before the permit's expiry, or if the employer changed its name or address (7 days); if you work on a residence-and-work permit, leaving the job is reported within 15 days. Since 1 June 2026 these notifications are also electronic only.
Keeping the contract and these documents for the duration of the work and two years after it ends.

In Poland: switching to a single permit

You arrived on the visa and started work. Since the visa lasts at most a year, before it expires you apply in Poland for the permit that combines the right to reside and to work in one decision ("zezwolenie jednolite", on the card "pobyt czasowy i praca"). You file this application, not the employer; since 27 April 2026 only through the MOS system, with an electronic signature. The employer only completes the annex to the application. An application filed on time and complete keeps your stay and your work legal until the decision; the certificate downloaded from MOS replaces the passport stamp but gives no right to travel within Schengen. When the single permit is issued, the work permit for the same employer and position expires automatically. The card is issued for at most three years; the renewal calendar is in the residence card article.

If I want to change employer

The rule is simple and its consequence heavy: the permit is tied to the employer and the position, and not a single day may be worked without a basis in between. There are two routes depending on which document you work on. If you work on a work permit only, the new employer obtains a new permit in its own name; the old one is of no use to them. If you work on the single permit (residence and work), you ask the voivode to amend the decision before starting the new job (fee PLN 220, usually a month); if the new employer has meanwhile obtained a work permit for you, the transition is seamless. If you lost the job, you notify the voivode within 15 working days; if you don't, a revocation procedure starts on the grounds that "the purpose of stay has ceased". If you notify in time, no revocation procedure is started for 30 days, once during the permit's validity; that is the period allowed for finding a new job.

Some changes need no new decision: a change of the employer's name, address or legal form, the transfer of the workplace to another employer, replacement of a civil-law contract by an employment contract, a change of position title with the same duties, or an increase in working hours with proportionally higher pay. These are only reported to the voivode within 15 days.

Specific to Turkish citizens: one, three and four years

Decision 1/80 of the EU–Turkey association law gives a Turkish citizen working legally in Poland a graduated right, and the Polish authorities apply it:

After one year of legal work with the same employer, the right to have the permit renewed with that employer if the position is kept.
After three years, the right to work in the same occupation for any employer; no work permit is required.
After four years, free access to any paid employment in Poland; no work permit is required, and there is a separate temporary-residence type based on this right (Act on Foreigners art. 186).

Two warnings: the stages must be completed in sequence; accumulating four years across different employers is not enough, the first year and the three-year rule must have been completed with the same employer in the same line of work. And this right concerns the work permit; it does not affect the visa and residence decision, and the residence application is still filed by you, in MOS. The practical conclusion for anyone planning long term: think three and four years ahead when choosing the first employer and the first occupation, and keep your employment contracts and ZUS records; those are the documents that prove each stage.

Frequently asked

How long does the permit take, when can I come?

The statutory decision period is one month, two for complex files; it varies by voivodeship and we don't quote fixed dates. On top come the visa appointment and the consul's decision time. Starting the day the job offer arrives is the safest calendar.

Can I get the permit myself and then look for a job?

No. The permit is issued for a specific position with a specific employer; without an employer there is no application. We don't find jobs either; if you have an offer, we coordinate the process with the employer.

Can my spouse and children come with me?

Residence based on a work permit meets the sponsor condition for family reunification (two years of residence history) only over time; in the first period the family's own basis is considered. We put this on the timeline in the first call; details in the four routes article.

What we do

If you have a job offer, we do the work that sits between the two sides: we explain to the employer in writing which permit a Turkish citizen needs and why the oświadczenie does not apply, close the document list with the employer so the application goes in complete, prepare your D-visa file and VFS appointment once the permit is out, set up the calendar for ZUS, PESEL and the single-permit application when you arrive, and clarify which route is open when you change employer. Applications run with the immigration and lawyer partners; the voivode and the consul decide. We don't find jobs and we don't guarantee permits.

Sources

Last checked: 26 September 2026. This article is general information; your own case needs assessment by a licensed partner.

Tell us your situation or see the Coming to Poland page.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Basis: the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners (in force 1 June 2025), the Act on Foreigners (art. 114 ff., 120, 186), Association Council Decision 1/80 (art. 6), praca.gov.pl, Zielona Linia and MOS guidance, the visa pages of Poland's missions in Turkey; as of September 2026. Fees and timings change; for your own case the last word rests with the immigration and lawyer partners, and the decision with the authorities.

Author

Savaş Dere · Founder, CEO

Close to twenty years in software and e-commerce: web and application development, automation, digital products. At Senavia he runs process design, the technology infrastructure and integrations; a founder who has been through company formation and settling in Poland himself.

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Poland work permit: how the process works when you have an employer