Information and services website for entrepreneurs

Extending type A or type B work permits

Do you have a business in Poland and you are employing a foreign national whose type A or type B work permit is about to expire? If you want that person to continue to work for you, you need to apply for an extension of the work permit. Read below to find out how and where to do that.

How to proceed

This procedure can be completed:

  • at an office
  • by post
  • electronically
Complete the procedure online

Complete and send an electronic application via the praca.gov.pl portal. You can sign it using a qualified signature or a Trusted Profile.

What you should know and who can use this service

The foreign national employed by you must have a work permit of the following type:

  • A, issued for a definite period of time, no longer than 3 years
  • B, issued for a definite period of time, no longer than 5 years

If you want the foreign national to continue to work for you after that time, you must submit an application for extension of the work permit to the voivodeship office having competent for your registered office or place of residence.

If you cannot specify the principal place of work performed by the foreign national due to its nature, the permit will be issued by the Office for the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki) in Warsaw.

Please note! If you have employed a citizen of Ukraine legally staying in Poland, you do not need to apply to extend their work permit. You must only report the fact of their employment to the poviat employment office through praca.gov.pl within 14 days of such employment. You can also employ a citizen of Ukraine who is employed by a different employer.

When you should complete this procedure

The application should be submitted no earlier than 90 days and no later than 30 days before the expiry of the period of validity of the work permit.

Where you can complete this procedure

You can complete this procedure at:

  • Voivodship Offices

The jurisdiction of the head of the voivodeship (province) to whom you must submit the application for extension of the work permit is determined as at the date of submission of the application. This is the case if:

  • your place or residence or your company’s registered office has changed
  • the principal place where the foreign national performs work has changed
To find out where to complete service enter
If you are not an entrepreneur, provide place of residence.

What to do step by step

  1. Submit your application for extension of the work permit for a foreign national

How to submit the application

The easiest way to submit the application is through praca.gov.pl:

  • select the tab: "Wniosek o przedłużenie zezwolenia na pracę cudzoziemca na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ZC-WPZ" (ZC-WPZ application for extension of a work permit for a foreign national in Poland)
  • complete the electronic application
  • attach electronic copies (scans) of required documents
  • sign the application using an electronic signature or your trusted profile

The office will contact you if you need to correct formal deficiencies or submit the originals of the documents attached as scans, or to determine how to proceed further.

You may also send the application by traditional post. In this case, it will be useful to pay an additional fee for a confirmation of receipt: this document will serve as a confirmation that the application has been submitted.

If you decide to submit the application in person at an office, please remember that each voivodeship office may set its own guidelines on how to submit applications. Therefore, you must check what rules are applicable at the office at which you submit the application before the visit: phone the office or go to its website.

Voivodeship offices most frequently use queuing systems for this purpose. They may take the following forms:

  • a ticket dispenser, which, between hours specified by the office, issues tickets marking the order in which customers will be served. The dispenser issues tickets to as many customers as the office is able to serve on the given day. As persons who do not manage to register in the queuing system will not be served on the given day, you should not visit the office towards the end of its working day. As a rule, you should take as many tickets as many applications you want to submit. Some offices restrict the number of applications that may be submitted by the same person on the same day,
  • an internet platform, the link to which can be found on the website of the voivodeship office. After creating a profile, you may book the date of your visit to the office that suits you best for submitting the application, from among available dates (date and time may be selected). On the fixed date, you should go to the office with the application and other necessary documents.

In what form to submit the documents?

An application submitted in paper form must be accompanied by original documents or copies certified as true to the original by a notary or by an attorney who is a lawyer, legal adviser, patent attorney or tax adviser.

Exceptions are:

  • the foreign national’s travel document (all completed pages of a valid travel document of the foreign national to whom the application relates),
  • your identity card, which you must submit if you are a natural person (you will be requested to submit the original for inspection),
  • a tax return for income earned or losses sustained, which you must submit if you apply for extension of a type B permit,

– whose copies must be attached.

An application submitted in electronic form must be accompanied by electronic copies (scans) of documents.

Please note!

  • Information from the poviat starost (head of the poviat) – if required – must always be submitted in the original. If you have submitted the application by electronic means and attached a scan of the information at that stage, you will be later requested to submit the original (when the application is being verified).
  • The office may request that the originals of documents whose copies you have submitted in paper or electronic form be submitted for inspection.
  • Documents in a foreign language (except for identity cards or travel documents) must be accompanied by a translation into Polish made by a sworn translator.

If you wish to be represented by an attorney-in-fact, remember to enclose the power of attorney. If you appoint an attorney-in-fact to extend a type A or type B work permit, you will not be required to pay stamp duty for the power of attorney.

Documents

You can submit a document as:
Kopia, Oryginał
You can submit a document as:
Kopia
You can submit a document as:
Oryginał, Uwierzytelniona kopia
You can submit a document as:
Oryginał, Uwierzytelniona kopia
You can submit a document as:
Kopia
You can submit a document as:
Oryginał, Uwierzytelniona kopia
You can submit a document as:
Oryginał, Uwierzytelniona kopia

Time limit

The application should be submitted no earlier than 90 days and no later than 30 days before the expiry of the period of validity of the work permit.

  1. The office will examine your application

If your application contains any formal defects (for instance, you have made an error in the application or you have not attached necessary documents), the office will request that you correct the errors or supplement the missing documents. You will have at least 7 days to do this. If you do not correct the application within the specified deadline, your application will not be further processed.

  1. The office will issue a decision on your application

An extended type A and type B work permit is issued in three copies: one remains at the office and the other two are given to the employer. You must provide one copy to the foreign national.

The head of the voivodeship will refuse to issue a work permit if:

  • you have provided incorrect data or false information in the application, used false documents, made a false statement or withheld information
  • you do not meet the necessary conditions to extend the permit as set out in the relevant act
  • you have been convicted by a final judgment of illegal employment of a foreign national or, within 2 years of being convicted of illegal employment of a foreign national, you have once again been convicted of the same act
  • you have been convicted of a crime against the rights of persons engaged in gainful employment
  • you have been convicted of document fraud in connection with a procedure to extend a work permit or you are an entity managed or controlled by such a person
  • you have been convicted of human trafficking or you are an entity managed or controlled by such a person
  • you have not fulfilled obligations related to the procedure for extending a work permit or employment of a foreign national
  • the personal data of the foreign national are included in the Polish list of undesirable foreign nationals
  • the foreign national does not meet the requirements set out in the document from the poviat starost on the lack of possibility to meet the staffing needs of the employer locally
  • you apply for an extension of a work permit for a foreign national who does not meet qualification requirements and other conditions - if the foreign national is to pursue a regulated profession
  • the foreign national has been penalised for acts for which an extension of the permit is refused

Please note! The head of the voivodeship may also refuse to extend the work permit if the circumstances suggest that the application for extension of a work permit has been submitted under false pretences and the foreign national will use the permit for a purpose other than work for the entity concerned, or the entity employing the foreign national does not meet the obligations related to business activity or assignment of work to other persons.

Documents

How much you will have to pay

  • PLN 50 – a fee for extending a permit if you employ a foreign national for up to 3 months
  • PLN 100 – a fee for extending a permit if you employ a foreign national for more than 3 months

 

The fee must be paid to the account of the voivodeship office to which you submit the application for a permit.

 

How long you will have to wait

No longer than 1 month (30 days). In particularly complex cases, the deadline may be extended to 2 months (you will be notified accordingly).

How can you appeal

If the provincial governor has refused to extend the work permit, you may appeal against that decision. You must appeal to the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy through the provincial governor who has issued that decision. You must do this within 14 days from the date of receipt of the decision.

Good to know

Please remember to notify in writing the head of the voivodeship who has issued the extended work permit, within 7 days, of the following circumstances:

  • the foreign national has started work that is different in nature or in a position other than that specified in the work permit
  • the registered office or place of residence, name or legal form of the entity employing the foreign national has changed, or the establishment or a part of it has been taken over by another employer
  • the establishment or a part of it has been transferred to another employer
  • the person representing the employer has changed
  • the foreign national has not started working in the first 3 months of the initial validity period of the work permit
  • the foreign national has stopped working for longer than 3 months
  • the foreign national has finished working earlier than 3 months before the expiry of the validity period of the work permit

The head of the voivodeship will revoke a work permit if:

  • the circumstances or evidence relating to the decision have changed
  • the basis for issuing the work permit is no longer valid
  • the employer has not fulfilled obligations towards the foreign national related to the work permit
  • the foreign national no longer meets the requirements for the pursuit of regulated professions or activity
  • the foreign national has not started working in the first 3 months of the initial validity period of the work permit or has stopped working for longer than 3 months (however, the head of the voivodeship will not revoke the permit in this case if they have been informed that the permit will be used in accordance with its intended purpose and why the foreigner has not started working or has stopped working)
  • they have been informed that the foreign national is included in the Polish list of undesirable foreign nationals
  • the entity assigning work to the foreign national does not conduct business, agricultural or statutory activities, and especially has suspended activities, has been removed from the relevant register or has gone into liquidation
  • the employer has been penalised for a minor offence or criminal offence for which a work permit is refused

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