Notify the voivode within 15 working days

Do you hold a temporary residence and work permit and are you losing your job with any of the employers named in the permit? Notify in writing the voivode who granted the permit within 15 working days (Art. 121 para. 1 of the Act on Foreigners). If the permit was granted by the Head of the Office for Foreigners in the second instance, you write to the voivode who handled the case in the first instance (Art. 121 para. 2).

The obligation is also met when within this period you submit an application for a change of the permit to work for another employer (Art. 121 para. 3). See: changing employer.

The employer has a separate obligation: to notify the voivode within 15 days (Art. 121 para. 4). This does not release you from your own notification. Keep proof of sending, for example a registered-mail receipt or a copy stamped by the office's registry. It is you who must show that you notified the voivode (Art. 123 para. 1 point 1).

30 days of protection

If you notified the voivode on time, for 30 days from the loss of the job the voivode will not withdraw the permit because the purpose of the stay has ceased or its conditions are not met (Art. 123 para. 1 and Art. 101 points 1 and 2). The same protection applies when the notification did not reach the voivode for reasons independent of you. During this time you can find a new job and submit an application for a change of the permit.

  • When you lose your job with all the employers in the permit, you can use the 30-day protection at most once during the validity of the permit (Art. 123 para. 2).
  • For a permit for work in an occupation desirable for the Polish economy (Art. 114 para. 1a), the period without work cannot exceed 3 months during the validity of the permit and can occur at most 2 times (Art. 123 para. 3).

If you do not notify the voivode

  • you do not have the 30-day protection (Art. 123 para. 1),
  • the voivode will refuse to change the permit to a new employer (Art. 120 para. 4 point 6).

Withdrawal of the permit

A temporary residence permit is withdrawn when the purpose of the stay has ceased or when you have stopped meeting the conditions of the permit (Art. 101 points 1 and 2). Job loss does not end the permit by itself - the voivode withdraws it by a decision (Art. 104 para. 2). The voivode also withdraws a temporary residence and work permit when the employer does not carry out activity, for example has suspended it or is in liquidation (Art. 122 point 2).

An appeal against the withdrawal decision lies to the Head of the Office for Foreigners. You file it through the voivode within 14 days from the delivery of the decision (Art. 129 paras. 1 and 2 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, Art. 22 para. 2 of the Act on Foreigners). What the decision contains and what options you have - see a refusal decision - what next.

When the withdrawal decision becomes final, you must leave Poland within 30 days. During this time your stay is legal (Art. 299 para. 6 point 1 letter a and para. 7). The voivode will not examine a new temporary residence application submitted in this period - the voivode will refuse to initiate the proceedings (Art. 99 para. 1 point 9). That is why you should act while the permit is still valid.

What to do at once

  1. Check the date the work ended and count 15 working days.
  2. Send the notification to the voivode and keep proof of sending.
  3. Ask the employer for an employment certificate - the MOS portal lists it among the documents for an application to change the permit.
  4. Look for a new job and submit the application for a change of the permit before 30 days pass.

Job offers and candidate applications are handled by the employment agencies Jobcen (for people who already live in Poland) and StartEuropa. A new job with another employer requires a change of the permit.

These rules concern the temporary residence and work permit. For the EU Blue Card they are different - see EU Blue Card.