Poland digital nomad visa & residency (2026)

From this date, applications for temporary, permanent, and EU long-term residence permits must be submitted only through the electronic MOS portal (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl); any paper or mailed application is legally invalid and will not be examined. This marks the completion of Poland's multi-year digitalization of its immigration administration.

Poland completed the roll-out of its new foreign employment framework with four ministerial regulations specifying 12 categories of work-permit exemptions — explicitly covering remote workers performing work entirely for a foreign entity with no Polish-market nexus — and raising employer-declaration fees from PLN 100 to PLN 400. This is the final layer of the most comprehensive reform of foreign worker rules in two decades.

Poland's first standalone law exclusively governing employment of foreign nationals entered into force, superseding the 2004 Act on Promotion of Employment. It abolishes the labour-market test, retains B2B and civil-law contracts as valid employment bases, and creates a restructured work-permit framework separating employment law from migration law for the first time.

The President signed an amendment to the Act on Foreigners (Journal of Laws 2025, item 619), transposing EU Directive 2021/1883 and granting EU Blue Card holders full labour-market access on par with Polish citizens, enabling intra-EU short- and long-term mobility. It also set the April 2026 deadline for mandatory electronic submission of all residence permit applications.

An amendment to the Act on Foreigners entered into force extending the right of residence for Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection and introducing structural changes to Poland's general immigration system for third-country nationals. The change reflected Poland's continued adaptation to the large Ukrainian migration wave triggered by the 2022 war.

Poland established a legal basis for the Diia.pl mobile application to function as a digital residence permit for Ukrainian citizens holding a PESEL number with 'UKR' status, confirming identity and temporary-protection status electronically without a physical card. Poland became the first country in the world to issue a fully digital residence permit.

An amendment entering into force on 7 April 2023 made confirmed B1-level knowledge of Polish a mandatory condition for the EU Long-Term Resident status permit, raising the bar for long-term settlement. It also shortened the voluntary-departure window after a return order to 8–30 days (previously 15–30 days).

The Polish Ministry of Family and Social Policy confirmed in official guidance that third-country nationals working remotely in Poland exclusively for a foreign entity — where the work has no nexus to the Polish labour market or economy — do not require a Polish work permit. Critically, no dedicated digital-nomad visa exists; such workers must still maintain a valid visa or residence title to stay legally.

President Duda signed amendments to both the 2013 Act on Foreigners and the 2009 Act on Polish Citizenship, making certified B1-level Polish language proficiency a prerequisite for a permanent residence permit and for naturalisation. The change tightened the long-term settlement pathway for all third-country nationals.

Poland adopted a new comprehensive Act on Foreigners replacing the 2003 law, establishing the unified legal architecture for all third-country national entry, transit, residence, and departure. It created the core permit categories — temporary residence, permanent residence, and EU long-term resident status — and integrated Poland's Schengen and EU immigration-directive obligations into a single statute.

Poland formally joined the Schengen Area on 21 December 2007 (land and sea borders; air borders from 29 March 2008) under Council Decision 2007/801/EC, enabling visa-free stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period for nationals of Schengen-waiver countries. This remains the primary legal basis under which most digital nomads currently reside in Poland without a long-stay visa.