The Act enters into force 14 days from the date of publishing in the Journal of Laws. In its communication, the Chancellery of the President explains that “the fundamental objective of the Act is to streamline the proceedings concerning granting foreigners temporary residence permits in the territory of the Republic of Poland, in particular temporary residence and work permits, which are the most frequently granted type of temporary residence permits in Poland”.

The amendment covers, inter alia, the issues of issuing work permits, seasonal work permits and declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner, governed by the provisions of the Act on employment promotion and labour market institutions.

Amendments to the Act on employment promotion and labour market institutions

The most important amendments to the Act on employment promotion and labour market institutions concern declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner, on the basis of which citizens of six countries – Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine – can perform work.

The amendments consist in:

• extending, from 6 to 24 months, the period of work performed by a foreigner based on a statement on entrusting work to a foreigner;
• liquidation of the 12-month settlement period, which will make it possible to entrust a foreigner with work without interruption based on subsequent statements;
• making the entry of a statement in the register conditional upon providing a comparable remuneration by an employer;
• extending, to 7 days, the period for informing the district labour office about taking up work by a foreigner.

The provisions of the Act also provide for the extension of the group of foreigners having access to the services of district labour offices to persons staying in the territory of Poland on the basis of, inter alia, the visa issued for the purpose of arrival for humanitarian reasons, due to the state interest or international obligations and persons applying for international protection.

The Act also provides for a possibility of introducing facilitations with regard to granting work permits and temporary residence and work permits for foreigners who will perform work for entrepreneurs involved in activities being of strategic importance for the national economy.

The Minister in charge of the economy will be able, by way of a regulation, to determine a list of entities involved in activities being of strategic importance for the national economy. Applications for granting permits related to work for entrepreneurs involved in such activities would be considered in the order of priority.