Changing jobs in Poland is a normal life situation. A person may find better conditions, move to another city, switch from an agency to a direct employer, or simply realize that their current job is not the right fit. The problem begins not with the resignation itself, but with the question: what happens to the documents. Can you continue working? Do you need to change your residence card? Will a new invitation be enough? Will the permit be revoked if you simply leave your job and say nothing? Polish official sources clearly state that the required procedure depends on the exact document you currently have: a single permit for residence and work, a separate work permit, an oświadczenie, or a card with free access to the labor market.
That is exactly why the topic of “changing employer” does not have one universal answer for everyone. For some people, it is a simple job change with no additional permits required; for others, it means an obligation to file an application to amend the single permit; and for others, it requires a completely new document from the new employer. After the changes to the rules on employing foreigners that came into force on June 1, 2025, part of the procedures became electronic, while some visa-based grounds for work became more restricted. This means that relying on “the old way of doing things” is now risky.
Start Not With the Documents, But With the Right Question: What Is Your Current Status
In legalization practice, people most often confuse three different situations. The first is when a person has a residence card with free access to the labor market. The second is when they have a single permit for residence and work, where the employer and working conditions are directly specified. The third is when a person works on a work visa and a separate work-related document: an oświadczenie or a zezwolenie na pracę. Everything else depends on this starting point: whether you need to notify the voivode, submit a new Annex No. 1, or whether the new employer must obtain a completely new legal basis for your employment. The official pages for foreigners and biznes.gov.pl clearly separate these legal regimes.
That is why the first rule is very simple: do not start with the question, “Can I start my new job tomorrow?” First, you need to establish what exactly is written in your decision or on what legal basis you are currently working. This is what protects you from the most unpleasant mistake: when a person formally no longer has the right to work on their current documents, but thinks that “if the card/visa is still valid, then everything is fine.”
If You Have a Card With Free Access to the Labor Market
There are categories of foreigners who can change employers without going through a separate procedure to amend the “work” part of their permit. This applies to those who have access to the labor market not through a specific employer, but through their status — for example, certain types of residence where the employer is not listed in the decision. Official pages for foreigners clearly indicate that if you have a permit without a named employer, you do not need to go through the procedure for amending a single permit in the same way as for a card issued “for a specific company.”
But even in such situations, you still need to check your status carefully, because people often mistakenly believe that “every residence card” gives freedom on the labor market. In reality, that is not the case. If your employer is listed in your decision, you are already in a different category — and the procedure for changing jobs will be different.
If You Have a Single Permit for Residence and Work: This Is the Most Important Scenario
The most common situation is when a foreigner has a jednolite zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę, meaning a card/decision issued specifically for a particular employer. In that case, changing the employer, the user employer (if you work through an agency), or key employment conditions is not a minor detail, but grounds for amending the permit. Official pages of the voivodeship offices and biznes.gov.pl clearly state that if the employer, the user employer, or important employment conditions change, you must file an application to amend the residence and work permit.
Such changes include not only resignation and moving to another company. They also include changes in position, minimum salary level, working time, and the type of contract, if those parameters were material to the original decision. This is important because many people think, “I stayed with the same employer; they only changed one condition” — but for the immigration office, this may still require a separate procedure. In the Pomeranian Voivodeship, this is explicitly listed on the official page describing the amendment procedure for the single permit.
When You Do Not Need to Amend the Permit
Not every change within a company automatically means that a new document must be issued. Official materials clearly list a number of exceptions where amending the single permit or obtaining a new work permit is not required. For example, if only the legal name of the company, its address, or legal form changed, if there was legal succession of the business, if a civil-law contract was replaced with an umowa o pracę, if the job title changed without any change in duties, or if working hours increased along with a proportional increase in salary. Such exceptions are listed both on the pages for foreigners in the Greater Poland Voivodeship and in official FAQs on amending permits.
This is where precision matters. If only the “label” changed, while the substance of the job remained the same, that is one situation. But if the changes genuinely affect the legal basis of your work, it is better not to rely on formal wording in the contract, but to check how the immigration office is likely to interpret it. This is exactly the kind of case where one consultation can save you months of problems.
Deadlines: 15 Days, 15 Working Days, 30 Days — Where People Get Confused Most Often
One of the most confusing issues is the deadlines after losing a job or changing work. Official pages of the voivodeship offices clearly state that if you have a single residence and work permit, you must notify the voivode of the loss of employment within 15 days, and in some explanations it is stated that this obligation is considered fulfilled if you file an application to amend the permit within 15 working days. The Pomeranian Voivodeship explicitly states that if you file an application to amend the permit within 15 working days, this counts as fulfilling your obligation to notify the voivode. If you fail to do so, a revocation procedure may be initiated.
Separately, biznes.gov.pl also states that with a single permit there is a 30-day period during which, after losing a job, a person may look for a new employer. But this does not mean “do nothing for a month.” It means you must act within the rules and not miss your obligations to notify the authorities and submit the appropriate application. It is the confusion between these deadlines that creates the greatest number of mistakes.
What Documents are Needed to Change Employer with a Residence Card
In voivodeship guidelines for amending a single permit, the list of documents is fairly clear. You need an application to amend the permit, Annex No. 1 completed by the new employer, proof of payment of the fee, and in some cases a health insurance document and additional materials confirming the new employment conditions. On the official website of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the stamp duty for amending the permit is also clearly stated — PLN 220 — and to speed up the process, applicants are advised to attach a current extract from the company’s KRS/CEIDG.
The same source also states separately that if you are changing employer, the voivode may refuse to amend the permit if you failed to report the loss of your previous job on time, if the new job is for a shorter period than your current permit, if the salary is below the minimum or lower than the pay of employees in a comparable position, and in certain cases related to occupation shortage lists. This once again shows that the immigration office does not simply “replace the company name,” but reviews the new job from the ground up.
What to Do If Your Employer Changed While You are Still Waiting for Your First Card
This is a very common situation: a person has already submitted an application for a residence card based on employment, but the decision is still far away, and suddenly the employer changes. This cannot be ignored. The official FAQ of the Greater Poland Voivodeship clearly states that if the proceedings for granting the single permit are still ongoing, the foreigner must notify the immigration office about the change of employer and submit a new Annex No. 1 with the new employment conditions, signed by an authorized representative of the new employer.
This is one of the most important points in the entire topic. Many people mistakenly think: “I’ll wait for the decision, and only then change anything.” In reality, if the decision has not yet been issued but the basis for your employment has already changed, the immigration office must know this before issuing its decision. Otherwise, you risk receiving a decision tied to an employer you no longer work for, or even creating a problem for yourself with the legal basis of your stay.
What If You Have a Work Visa Rather Than a Residence Card
When a person works in Poland on a work visa, what matters is not only the visa itself, but also the document that grants the right to work: an oświadczenie or a zezwolenie na pracę. A visa grants legal entry and stay within its terms, but it does not replace authorization for a specific job. Government resources clearly explain that a new place of employment often means that the new employer must obtain a new legal basis for employment — an oświadczenie or a zezwolenie.
After the changes introduced on June 1, 2025, all applications for oświadczenia and work permits must be submitted electronically through praca.gov.pl. The state also restricted the use of certain visa types and visas issued by other Schengen countries for work based on an oświadczenie or zezwolenie. This is a very important point for those who think: “My visa is still valid, so the new employer can just get me any paper.” After these changes, not every valid visa gives the right to work on new grounds.
Changing Jobs Based on an Oświadczenie: What You Need to Know
The oświadczenie procedure in 2026 is no longer what it was a few years ago. The official government resource Psz.praca.gov.pl states that this simplified procedure applies to citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, and allows them to work in Poland for up to 24 months after the oświadczenie has been entered into the register and provided they have the appropriate legal basis for stay. The same source explicitly states that from December 1, 2025, the fee for registering an oświadczenie is PLN 400.
If the employer changes, in most cases a new oświadczenie from the new employer is required. However, there are exceptions: a new oświadczenie is not required if only the address, name, or legal form of the employer changed, if there was legal succession, if working time increased to full-time, or if only the job title changed without any change in duties. This is explicitly listed on the government resource about oświadczenia.
Also, an employer who has obtained the wpis oświadczenia is required to notify the starosta/labor office about the foreigner’s commencement of work within 7 days, and about failure to commence work within 14 days from the start date specified in the document. Since June 1, 2025, this procedure has been fully electronic through praca.gov.pl.
Changing Jobs Based on a Zezwolenie na Pracę (Type A): When a New Permit Is Required
If you are working not on the basis of a residence card, but on a work visa + zezwolenie na pracę, the key logic is as follows: in most cases, the new employer must obtain a new work permit for you. Official resources such as biznes.gov.pl and government FAQs explain that there are exceptions where a new document is not required, but a move to another employer usually means a new procedure. At the same time, a new permit is not required if only the employer’s name, address, or legal form changed, if there was legal succession of the business, and in some cases a different position/type of work is allowed for up to 30 days per year provided the voivode is notified in writing within 7 days.
For the employee, this means one simple thing: if you are moving to another company, it is not enough just to “have a valid visa.” The new employer must obtain the proper legal basis for you before you start work, or within the framework of a regime expressly allowed by law. Otherwise, legal stay does not equal legal work — and that creates risk both for you and for the employer.
Can You Start a New Job Right Away
This is the most pressing question. The answer: not always. If you have a single residence and work permit, the stamp in your passport or a valid card by itself does not mean that you can automatically start working for a new employer. In the FAQ for foreigners in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, it is explicitly stated that the mere fact of having a stamp in your passport does not automatically grant the right to work; it depends on whether the conditions for legal employment in the specific situation have been met.
That is why before starting a new job, you need to check not only “Am I staying in Poland legally?” but also “Do I already have the legal basis to work for this new company?” For oświadczenia and zezwolenia, this is especially critical. It is also critical for a single permit if the amendment has not yet been completed. Ignoring this issue is one of the most common causes of problems in future applications for a residence card, a new visa, or during inspections.
What Happens If You Do Not Notify the Immigration Office or Just Work “Somehow Along the Way”
If you have a single residence and work permit and you failed to notify the voivode of the loss of your job, or did not file the application to amend the permit on time, official pages of the voivodeship offices clearly warn that the immigration office may start proceedings to revoke the permit, and may later also refuse the amendment or the next permit. This is not a theoretical risk, but a clearly described consequence in voivodeship instructions.
In cases of work based on an oświadczenie or a zezwolenie na pracę, the problem is different: legal stay does not cover illegal employment. In other words, you may formally “be in Poland legally,” but already be working outside the rules. And that creates risk for your salary, your future documents, inspections, and the new employer. After the changes in 2025, the state further tightened electronic monitoring and employer notification obligations within the system.
How We at VisaV.pl Help You Go Through a Job Change Without Chaos
Changing employer is not a single action, but a review of the entire chain: what type of document you have, what exactly has changed, whether a new permit is needed, whether there are notification deadlines, whether you can start your new job right now, or whether you first need to prepare a package for the voivode or the new employer. That is why in such matters we always start not with a template, but with a diagnosis of your status.
At VisaV.pl, we help you:
- determine which job-change procedure applies specifically to you;
- prepare an application to amend the single permit;
- collect Annex No. 1 and the document package from the new employer;
- assess whether a new oświadczenie is enough or whether a zezwolenie is required;
- respond properly if the employer changed while you were still waiting for the decision;
- reduce the risk of card revocation or refusal in your next application.
Conclusion
Changing employer in Poland is possible, but it cannot be reduced to a single question of “can I or can’t I.” Everything depends on whether you have a single residence and work permit, a work visa with an oświadczenie, a work visa with a zezwolenie, or a card with free access to the labor market. It is the type of legal basis you have that determines whether you need to file an application to amend the permit, obtain a new document from the employer, or whether you can rely on an exception.
If you want to go through this transition calmly and without dangerous mistakes, contact VisaV.pl. We will help you not just “change jobs,” but do it in a way that preserves your legal stay, your right to work, and a solid foundation for your future documents in Poland.
