Work permit types A through E – which one do you

A Ukrainian software engineer accepts a job offer from a Kraków IT firm. Her Dutch manager – already based in Warsaw – wants to send a senior consultant to Poland for three months. A Belarusian logistics specialist is joining a transport company in Silesia. Each situation requires a work permit. Each situation requires a different work permit. Choosing the wrong type does not merely cause delay. It can force the employee to leave Poland, restart the process from abroad, and cost the employer weeks of lost productivity.

Polish immigration law recognises five types of work permit – Type A through Type E – each covering a distinct employment scenario. Type A covers standard employment by a Polish-registered entity. Types B through E address board membership, secondment, intra-company transfer, and seasonal work respectively. The competent authority for most permits is the regional governor (wojewoda) of the voivodeship where the employer is registered. Processing times vary from 30 to 60 days depending on permit type and regional workload.

This analysis works through each permit type in sequence. It explains the qualifying conditions, the procedural steps, and the strategic choices that arise when more than one type could apply. It also addresses the EU Blue Card as an alternative pathway for highly qualified workers, and the cross-border dimension for employers relocating staff from other EU member states or third countries. The goal is a decision framework that employment managers and in-house counsel can apply immediately.

What does Type A cover, and when is it the right choice?

Type A is the default work permit in Poland. It authorises a foreign national to perform work for a specific employer, in a specific role, at a specific remuneration level. Polish employment legislation requires the employer to hold a valid Type A permit before the employee begins work. The permit is issued for up to three years, extendable by a further three years. A single employer-employee relationship is the core condition – if the worker changes employer, a new permit is required from day one.

The application is filed with the regional governor of the voivodeship where the employer's registered office is located. Before filing, the employer must obtain a labour market test (informacja starosty) from the district labour office (Powiatowy Urząd Pracy, PUP), confirming that no suitable candidate is available locally. Exemptions from the labour market test apply to certain nationalities and occupations listed in ministerial regulations – Ukrainian nationals currently benefit from a simplified regime under the special act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens.

Remuneration is a hard threshold. The salary stated in the permit must not be lower than the remuneration paid to Polish workers in a comparable role. The National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) enforces this condition through routine audits. Underpaying a permit holder – even by a small margin – constitutes a violation that can result in permit revocation and a fine of up to PLN 30,000 imposed on the employer.

We secured the reversal of a permit refusal for a manufacturing client in the Mazowieckie region (autumn 2025), where the regional governor had incorrectly classified the applicant's role as requiring a higher-category permit. The reclassification freed the client to proceed under Type A and reduced total processing time by six weeks.

Type A covers one employer, one role, one remuneration level.
Labour market test required unless a statutory exemption applies.
Salary must match or exceed the rate for comparable Polish workers.
Maximum initial duration: three years.
Change of employer requires a new permit before work commences.

When do Types B, C, D, and E apply?

Types B through E each address a specific factual scenario. Applying the wrong type does not merely cause a procedural problem – it can mean the permit is invalid for the work actually performed, exposing both employer and employee to sanctions. Understanding the boundary between types is therefore a practical compliance requirement, not an academic exercise.

Type B is reserved for foreign nationals performing the function of a board member (członek zarządu) in a Polish commercial company. It does not cover employment – it covers the corporate mandate. A board member who is also employed under a service contract needs both a Type B permit for the mandate and, separately, a Type A permit for the employment relationship. The Type B permit is issued for up to three years and requires the company to meet a minimum revenue or headcount threshold set by Polish corporate legislation.

Type C applies to secondment. A foreign employer sends an employee to work for a Polish entity for a defined period. The Polish entity is not the employer of record. The employee remains on the foreign employer's payroll. Type C permits are issued for up to three years. The key condition is that the secondment must be genuinely temporary – Polish immigration authorities scrutinise arrangements where the seconded employee performs the same functions indefinitely, as this may be reclassified as standard employment requiring a Type A permit.

Type D is for foreign nationals coming to Poland to perform work outside the employment relationship – typically on a civil-law contract (umowa zlecenia or umowa o dzieło). It also covers intra-company transfers of managers and specialists within multinational groups, provided the Polish entity and the sending entity belong to the same group and the transfer does not exceed three years. The intra-company transfer route has become increasingly relevant for German and Dutch multinationals relocating regional managers to Warsaw.

Type E covers seasonal work. It is issued for a maximum of nine months within a calendar year. Agriculture, horticulture, and tourism are the primary sectors. The employer must register the offer with the district labour office before applying, and the permit cannot be extended beyond the nine-month limit. An employee who continues work after the Type E expires is in an irregular situation from day one of the overstay.

For a German investor's subsidiary in Lower Silesia, our team structured an intra-company transfer under Type D for three senior managers, avoiding the labour market test entirely and reducing onboarding time to 45 days (spring 2026). The alternative – three separate Type A applications – would have required individual labour market tests and added eight weeks to the timeline.

How does the EU Blue Card change the calculation?

The EU Blue Card (Niebieska Karta UE) is a residence and work permit for highly qualified third-country nationals. It is governed by EU directive and implemented in Poland through the Act on Foreigners. The Blue Card is not a separate permit type in the A-through-E classification – it operates as a parallel pathway available to workers who meet the salary and qualification thresholds. The minimum salary requirement is currently set at 1.5 times the national average gross salary, which in 2025 equated to approximately PLN 10,500 per month.

The Blue Card offers two advantages over a standard Type A permit. First, it is issued for up to three years and is renewable without a labour market test if the worker remains with the same employer. Second, after 18 months of legal residence in Poland under a Blue Card, the holder may transfer to another EU member state for highly qualified employment – a significant benefit for multinationals managing talent across multiple jurisdictions. This mobility dimension makes the Blue Card particularly relevant for employers in the IT, finance, and engineering sectors.

The application is filed with the regional governor. The employer must submit a valid employment contract or binding job offer specifying the salary, the role, and the period of employment. Professional qualifications must be documented – typically a university degree or at least five years of equivalent professional experience in the relevant field. The National Court Register (KRS) entry of the employer is required as part of the file.

One practical consideration: the Blue Card and Type A permit are mutually exclusive for the same employment. If the employer initially obtains a Type A permit and the salary later rises above the Blue Card threshold, the worker may apply for a Blue Card at the next renewal. Missing this window does not forfeit the right permanently, but it does delay the cross-EU mobility benefit by another permit cycle – typically three years.

What are the cross-border dimensions for EU and non-EU employers?

The permit framework applies differently depending on where the employer is incorporated and where the employee last resided. Employers registered outside Poland face additional steps. A foreign employer seconding staff to Poland under Type C must appoint a Polish-based representative for correspondence with the regional governor. Failure to appoint a representative within 14 days of the application being flagged as defective results in the application being returned without examination.

EU nationals do not require a work permit to work in Poland. Freedom of movement applies. However, their third-country national family members do require permits, and employers sometimes overlook this when relocating EU employees with non-EU spouses. The Polish Office for Foreigners (Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców, UdSC) processes residence cards for family members separately from work permits. Processing time is up to 60 days. Employers who fail to account for this in relocation timelines create situations where the employee arrives but the spouse cannot legally work – a significant personal and operational disruption.

For employers using EU funds or KPO financing to fund employment costs, there is an additional compliance layer. Permit status affects eligibility for certain subsidy programmes. A worker whose permit is under appeal – and therefore technically expired – may not qualify as a "regularly employed" person for grant reporting purposes. Employers managing KPO-funded projects should cross-reference permit validity dates with reporting periods. Further detail on KPO compliance requirements is available in our analysis of EU funds compliance, KPO and RRF requirements in Poland.

The cross-border dimension is also relevant for employers in Italy and other EU member states who are considering relocating employees to Poland. The permit type and processing timeline differ materially depending on the employee's nationality and the structure of the employment relationship. Our practice note on employment matters involving Italy addresses this intersection in more detail. For employers relocating staff specifically from the Netherlands, the practical steps and timelines are set out in our guide on global mobility: relocating employees to Poland from the Netherlands.

What is the strategic decision framework?

Selecting the correct permit type requires answering four questions in sequence. First: is the worker an EU national? If yes, no permit is needed for the worker personally, though family members may still require permits. Second: is the worker a board member without an employment contract? If yes, Type B applies. Third: is the worker being seconded by a foreign employer? If yes, Type C is the starting point. Fourth: is the work seasonal and limited to nine months? If yes, Type E applies. All remaining cases default to Type A unless the Blue Card threshold is met.

The decision matrix also has a cost dimension. Type A applications carry a state fee of PLN 440. Type B carries PLN 440. Type C carries PLN 440. Type D carries PLN 440. Type E carries PLN 170 for seasonal work. The Blue Card application carries a fee of PLN 440. These fees are modest relative to the cost of a wrong choice. A permit issued under the wrong type is not merely ineffective – it can constitute a false declaration, which under Polish immigration law is grounds for a five-year entry ban.

Processing times are a second strategic variable. Type A and Type B applications in Mazowieckie currently take 45 to 60 days. Type E applications, processed through a separate seasonal track, take 7 to 14 days. Type C and Type D applications involving intra-company transfers typically take 30 to 45 days. These timelines assume a complete application file. Incomplete files are returned, and the clock restarts – a common cause of avoidable delay.

Employers with high-volume permit needs – typically logistics, manufacturing, and IT firms – benefit from a permit management protocol that tracks expiry dates, monitors regulatory changes, and pre-stages renewal applications 90 days before expiry. A permit that lapses because the renewal was filed late does not grant a grace period. The employee must stop working on the day the permit expires, regardless of whether the renewal is pending.

Confirm the worker's nationality and EU status before selecting a permit type.
Identify the correct employment structure: employment contract, civil-law contract, board mandate, or secondment.
Check whether the Blue Card salary threshold is met.
File renewal applications at least 90 days before expiry.
Appoint a Polish-based representative if the employer is registered abroad.

Selecting the wrong permit type forfeits the right to continue work immediately and, in cases involving a false declaration, precludes the worker from reapplying for five years. This irreversible consequence makes early-stage legal review cost-effective even for employers who manage immigration internally.

Specific permit situations vary significantly by employer size, sector, and employee nationality. To receive an expert assessment of your company's permit requirements, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can a foreign national work while the permit application is pending?

A: Generally, no. Polish immigration law does not provide a statutory right to work during the processing period for a first-time permit. An exception applies where the worker holds a valid permit that has not yet expired and has filed a renewal application before expiry – in that case, work may continue until the regional governor issues a decision. Employers should not allow work to commence on the basis of a pending application alone, as this constitutes an irregularity that can result in fines of up to PLN 30,000 per employee.

Q: Is the labour market test always required for Type A?

A: No. Ministerial regulations exempt a significant number of occupations and nationalities from the labour market test requirement. Ukrainian nationals currently benefit from a broad exemption under the special act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens, which remains in force as of early 2026. Occupations on the shortage list maintained by the district labour office are also exempt. Employers should verify the current exemption list before filing, as the list is updated periodically and an unnecessary test adds two to four weeks to the process.

Q: What happens if the employee's role or salary changes after the permit is issued?

A: A material change to the role or remuneration stated in the permit requires either an amendment application or, in some cases, a new permit. Polish immigration legislation treats the permit as tied to the specific conditions stated in the decision. A salary increase above the amount stated in the permit does not require an amendment. A salary decrease below the stated amount does – and failure to file an amendment in time constitutes a violation of the permit conditions, which can lead to revocation. Role changes that alter the occupational category almost always require a new permit rather than an amendment.

KORDECKI & Partners is a law firm based in Warsaw and Krakow, advising business clients across 30 jurisdictions. Our team combines expertise in Polish and international law with a practical approach to employment, global mobility, and work permit compliance. We work with Polish entrepreneurs, foreign investors, and in-house legal teams navigating the full range of permit types from Type A through Type E, including EU Blue Card applications and intra-company transfer structures. To discuss your situation, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.