Residence cards for foreign employees: what employers and HR need to know

The employer's role in MOS

The employee opens a MOS account, completes their part of the application and enters the company's e-mail address. MOS sends a link to the employer's attachment to that address. A person authorised to represent the company fills it in and signs it electronically. Only then can the employee sign and send the full application.

• The link is valid for 30 days. After that the process starts again, and the employee's legal stay may end in the meantime.
• The signatory must be authorised under the company's representation rules; a signature by someone without authority is a common cause of summonses.
• The e-mail address the employee gives should reach a mailbox someone checks regularly, not a general recruitment inbox.
• The employee signs the application personally. Neither the company nor a proxy files in MOS on their behalf.

Good practice is an internal rule that the attachment is signed within a few working days of receiving the link, plus a register of the legal-stay end dates of all foreign employees. Technical details of the system: MOS application.

2025–2026 changes that matter to employers

The refusal to open proceedings applies to people who, on the filing date, are in Poland on, for example, a tourist or visiting Schengen visa issued by another country, a Polish visa issued for certain purposes, or a residence document of another Schengen country. If you hire people already in Poland, check their basis of stay at the offer stage. The employee's side of the procedure is explained on temporary residence and work.

Keeping the contract, attachment and later changes consistent

The voivode compares the employer's attachment with the contract and with any documents requested later. Discrepancies, even ones caused by an HR oversight, lead to summonses and sometimes to refusal. We recommend a single "data sheet" for each employee, used both by HR and by whoever signs the attachment:

• the exact job title and duties;
• pay (gross, pay period, monthly or hourly);
• working hours;
• contract type and duration;
• place of work;
• company details matching the register, and current representation.

Assess changes during the proceedings or after the decision, such as an annex with different pay, a move to another position or a change in hours, before signing. Some require amending the permit (stamp duty 220 zł for a single permit, 10 zł for a Blue Card). Details: renewal and change of employer.

Notification duties and HR records

The rules on employing foreigners impose notification duties on employers towards the authorities, for example when a foreigner does not start work, when employment ends early or when the conditions covered by the permit change. Check deadlines and the form of notifications in the current rules and on official websites, as they have changed in recent years. Within a written offer, MaViAl can prepare an HR checklist for specific situations.

What to keep in the employee's file

• the UPO from MOS, which the Lublin Voivodeship Office treats as sufficient proof of filing;
• the certificate of filing, if the office issued one; not every employee gets it, because the office issues it when it can clearly confirm the application was filed during legal stay;
• a copy of the decision and the residence card once the case ends.

The certificate of filing does not entitle anyone to cross borders. When planning business trips abroad for employees whose cases are pending, consider which document they will use to return to Poland.

Workforce planning under current time limits

The statutory time limit for a temporary residence decision is 60 days. Until 4 March 2027, however, these limits do not run: art. 100d of the special act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens, extended by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203, applies to all foreigners, and reminders or complaints about inactivity do not speed cases up. For a company this means:

• an employee who filed on time and without formal defects stays legally until the case ends;
• start dates, promotions and relocations should not depend on a quick decision;
• office summonses (fingerprints with at least 7 days' notice, documents within at least 14 days) require time off for the visit and a quick HR response.

More on timing: residence card processing time.

How MaViAl works with companies

Every engagement with a company rests on a written scope of services: who the client is (company or employee), which cases are covered, who pays the government fees and how we report status. With several or a dozen employees, we agree one contact person on the company side and a schedule based on legal-stay end dates.

1. A list of employees, their bases of stay and deadlines.
2. Diagnosis of each case and choice of route (single permit, Blue Card, another basis).
3. A written offer with scope and prices.
4. Document checklists for employees and a data sheet for HR.
5. Coordinating employer attachments in MOS and preparing data with employees; each signs their own application personally.
6. Case monitoring, handling summonses within the agreed scope, advice when conditions change.

Prices are per case; government fees, translations and notary costs are separate. We do not guarantee decisions or deadlines and offer no "unofficial acceleration". Full price list.

Employers in Wrocław and Lower Silesia

MaViAl is based in Wrocław, so we can also help companies in and around Wrocław in person, at organisational meetings with employees and HR. Cases of employees living in Lower Silesia are handled by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Office (Dolnośląski Urząd Wojewódzki, Wydział Spraw Obywatelskich i Cudzoziemców, pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1). If part of your team lives in other voivodeships, their applications usually go to the offices responsible for where they live, and we work with them online. Local information: residence card in Wrocław and our help in Wrocław. To discuss working together, write to us with the number of employees and the nearest legal-stay end dates.

Frequently asked questions