Who can apply for Poland. Business Harbour visa? A special visa for an IT specialist. Poland. Business Harbour visa and later permits.
In principle, employment of foreigners requires obtaining a number of permits and hence investing a lot of time and work to prepare all the needed documents. Even then we have to wait for weeks, often months for the competent body to issue needed permit. That or similar scenario is widely known among entrepreneurs who have tried to include foreigners in their staff.
However, the Polish government has introduced quite a few exceptions to above rule, aimed at accelerating the proceedings and making it easier to obtain some permits faster and focusing the attention on specific markets or industries (or both). One of such exceptions is obtaining a visa in Poland. Business Harbour. This program originally applied only to employees (and companies) from Belarus. Right now, there are more countries, whose citizens can benefit from the mentioned program.
Poland. Business Harbour program offers a full range of services helping IT specialists, startups and established companies relocate easily to the Republic of Poland (vide government materials) addressed mostly to Eastern European countries. One of the mentioned instruments aimed at citizens of chosen countries, is a special visa with an annotation “Poland. Business Harbour”. It is issued faster than the „regular” visa and what’s more important, it also allows to work in Poland without the obligation to obtain further permits (e.g. work permits). As a consequence, the foreigner doesn’t have to wait for obtaining the permit, so after arriving in Poland they can start working immediately. This makes obtaining visa in this procedure definitely attractive.
PBH VISA. WHO CAN APPLY?
The procedure presented above is the exception from general procedures and rules of legalizing the entry and stay in Poland. Therefore “Poland. Business Harbour” visa is only available to limited group of foreigners. In order to obtain it, one has to meet following conditions:
1. have worked in IT for at least a year or have technical education connected to IT,
2. have a proof of interest regarding employment from one of the partner companies from list published on government websites dedicated to the program.
Until the autumn of 2022 there was additional condition that only citizens of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan could apply for PBH visa (initially the program was addressed only to Belarusian employees). Right now, this special type of visa is available for citizens of all countries of the world.
Listed criteria are quite general and not very restrictive, so the range of job positions that will be considered as a part of IT industry is wide. Above mentioned proof of interest is not binding, so it doesn’t create any claims for the potential employee. Hence, it is possible that the foreigner will obtain the PBH visa on the basis of the proof of interest from one company, but finally will join another company. A foreigner who applies for a visa is obliged to prove the interest of company listed by Polish Investment and Trade Agency.
To be added to the aforementioned list, it is required to fill out a short form regarding basic information. Then, the contact data and job offers are published on the dedicated website for the program.
WIZA PBH – FURTHER PERMITS?
Validity of “Poland. Business Harbour” visa can’t exceed one year. In this period, the holder of the visa can legally stay and work in Poland (you can read
here about employer's obligation related to employment of foreigners), but later they should apply for the temporary stay permit (or come back to their homeland for a new visa). There are no simplifications for PBH visa holders when it comes to obtaining the temporary stay permit or even in regard to the obligation of obtaining information of the staroste (you can read
here about information of the staroste). In many cases this obligation will be lifted on the basis of specific regulations and legal acts due to IT related job positions, but it has nothing to do with Poland. Business Harbour visa. Hence it is recommended to secure the legality of work and stay of the foreigner in Poland after the expiration date of PBH visa.
Legal grounds:
Foreigners Act (t.j. Dz.U. tłum. gb z 2021 r. poz. 2354),
Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions Act (t.j. Dz.U. tłum. gb z 2022 r. poz. 690);
Rozporządzenie Ministra Pracy i Polityki Społecznej w sprawie przypadków, w których powierzenie wykonywania pracy cudzoziemcowi na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej jest dopuszczalne bez konieczności uzyskania zezwolenia na pracę z dnia 30 listopada 2021 r. (t.j. Dz.U. z 2021 r. poz. 2291).
Legal status as of February 24th, 2023
Our law office provides services in the field of consulting and legal aid, in the field of stay and work of foreigners on the territory of Poland. Please contact us to get more information.
