Eight times fewer work visas: what the MSWiA figures mean for foreigners and employers

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration reported that in the first quarter of 2026 Poland issued 16 thousand work visas — eight times fewer than in the same period of 2022. The number of work permits and student visas also fell, while the number of enforced return decisions concerning foreigners rose almost threefold. This is not a change in the attitude of officials, but the effect of specific rules that entered into force in 2025 and 2026. Below: what exactly the figures show, which regulations stand behind them and what follows in practice for a person planning to work in Poland and for a company wishing to employ a foreigner.

1. What the MSWiA data actually shows

The ministry's announcement of 9 June 2026 compares the first quarter of 2026 with the first quarter of 2022. The comparison covers four figures.

The trend continues beyond that announcement. According to data for the first half of 2026, the number of newly issued work permits was approx. 69 thousand, against approx. 144 thousand in the first half of 2025 and approx. 173 thousand in the first half of 2024. The decline therefore holds regardless of which year is taken as the reference point.

2. Which rules stand behind this decline

The change in the figures corresponds to three specific regulations that entered into force over the last fifteen months.

The new act on entrusting work to foreigners

Since 1 June 2025, entrusting work to foreigners has been governed by the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for the admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners in the territory of the Republic of Poland (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621). The labour market test was abolished and applications are submitted electronically. The act also reshaped the catalogue of residence titles conferring the right to work (art. 3 ust. 3) and the catalogue of exemptions from the requirement to hold a work permit (art. 3 ust. 5).

Electronic route only in residence cases

Since 27 April 2026, applications for a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit and an EU long-term resident permit are submitted exclusively electronically, through the Case Handling Module (MOS) (art. 225a ust. 1 of the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners). Paper applications received after that date are left without examination — what counts is the date of receipt by the authority, not the date of posting.

Ban on working under a work permit during visa-free travel for three countries

Since 22 August 2026, citizens of Georgia, Colombia and Venezuela are not entitled to perform work on the basis of a work permit while staying in Poland under visa-free travel — regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 31 July 2026 (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1072), issued on the basis of art. 3 ust. 4 of the Act of 20 March 2025. The transitional provision (§ 2) allows work started before that date to continue until the end of the current visa-free stay.

3. What this means for a foreigner

The practical conclusion from these figures differs from what the headline about an eightfold drop suggests. The path to legal work has not been closed — it has been narrowed to well-documented routes in which every element of the application can be evidenced.

• The completeness of the application matters more. Formal deficiencies result in a summons with a time limit of no less than 7 days, under pain of leaving the application without examination (art. 64 § 2 k.p.a.).
• The residence basis alone is not enough to assess whether the work is legal. Residence and work are examined separately — legal residence does not by itself legalise work.
• The application for a temporary residence permit must be filed no later than on the last day of legal stay (art. 105 of the Act on Foreigners). Filing on time and without formal deficiencies means legal residence until the day the decision becomes final (art. 108 ust. 1).
• The growing number of enforced return decisions means that a break in the legality of residence now has real consequences, not merely formal ones.

4. What this means for an employer

For a company, the key change is not that there are fewer documents, but that the burden of verifying the basis for work rests on the entity entrusting the work and must be documented.

• Before entrusting work, establish in this order: whether the basis is to be a work permit, what the residence basis is, and whether an exemption from the requirement to hold a permit applies.
• The single permit for residence and work is tied to a specific employer and specific working conditions (art. 118 of the Act on Foreigners). A change of employer requires an amendment of the permit (art. 120) or a separate title to work.
• For students in full-time studies, the status of the higher education institution is examined, not only the status of the student — the temporary provision allowing that condition to be omitted was in force until 30 June 2026 (§ 1 pkt 12 of the MRPiPS regulation of 20 November 2025, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1620).
• On the contributions side the sanctions are severe: an additional charge of up to 100% of unpaid contributions and a five-year limitation period (art. 24 of the Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 199) and a fine of up to 46 000 zł (art. 98 ust. 1 of that act).

5. Risks and deadlines you must not miss

A selective migration policy means in practice that the cost of a procedural mistake has shifted from delay to the loss of the basis for residence or work. The nearest deadline of wide reach concerns citizens of Ukraine: persons whose PESEL number with UKR status was granted on the basis of a declaration, without presenting a travel document, have until 31 August 2026 to confirm their identity with a valid passport at the municipal office. Failure to confirm means a change of status to NUE from 1 September 2026 and the loss of entitlements arising from temporary protection.

The second area of risk is appeal deadlines. An appeal against the voivode's decision is lodged with the Head of the Office for Foreigners within 14 days, through the authority that issued the decision; a complaint to the voivodship administrative court — within 30 days. Where the authority remains inactive, the route is a requerimiento under art. 37 k.p.a., followed by a complaint about inactivity.

The third area is service of documents. With electronic filing and correspondence sent to the address for electronic delivery, the duty to notify the authority of a change of address has a direct legal effect — neglecting it means that service at the previous address is effective (art. 41 § 1 i 2 k.p.a.).