At the end of January, the Act of December 17, 2021 on the amendment of the Act on foreigners and some other acts came into force. Among the changes in force are those related to the submission of a declaration on entrusting the performance of work to a foreigner. Check what has changed.

When can you submit a statement?

You can submit a statement on the intention to entrust work to a foreigner if the following conditions are met:

the foreigner you want to hire is a citizen of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia. the period of employment does not exceed 24 months the work to be performed by the foreigner does not relate to seasonal work for which a permit is required.

What you will gain by submitting a statement?

By submitting a statement on entrusting work to a foreigner, the district labor office will not conduct a labor market test, which will significantly accelerate the process of legalizing the employment of a foreigner.

Changes regarding declarations of entrusting work to a foreign national:

The most significant change concerns the period of entrusting work. Until January 29, 2022, an employer could register a declaration for a period of 6 months within 12 months. This meant that after working for 6 months, the foreign national and the employer had to wait another 6 months for registration. Currently, the regulations allow for the registration of a declaration for 24 months. In addition, the employer and the foreign national no longer have to wait to register another declaration. They can do so immediately after the previous document expires.

Changes also relate to the day the foreign national starts work. This cannot take place later than 6 months from the date of the declaration. This means that the employer will not be able to register a declaration earlier than 6 months before the planned start of work for the foreign national.

The law also states that the foreign national’s salary cannot be lower than the salary of employees performing work of a comparable type or on a comparable position. Therefore, the employer will not be able to hire a foreign national at a lower rate than they pay Polish citizens working in the same position.

Information obligation

After registering a statement, the employer is obliged to inform the competent district labor office about:

1. the employment of a foreigner within 7 days from the start of the employment specified in the statement register;
2. the non-employment of a foreigner within 7 days from the start of the employment specified in the statement register.

Additionally, the employer or the foreigner may inform the competent district labor office about the completion of this work. In practice, this means that both the employer and the foreigner may, but are not required to, inform the labor office about the completion of the work carried out under the registered statement.