Annex No. 1 for a Polish residence and work permit 2026: what the employer fills in via MOS, ZUS ZUA, RCA, costs

Without Annex No. 1 there is no temporary residence and work permit, and since 27 April 2026 the employer completes and signs it electronically in the MOS system. What the company types into a few fields ends up in the decision and binds both sides for the whole validity of the card. Below we explain what must match in the annex, which HR and ZUS documents are needed, what duties and fines the employer faces and how much legalising an employee costs. If you prefer the law firm to run the employee's whole application, online for PLN 1999 instead of PLN 2300, see legalisation of stay online.

What Annex No. 1 is and how it reaches the employer

Annex No. 1 is the form in which the entity entrusting work describes the foreigner's employment terms. The current template is set by the Interior Ministry regulation of 10 April 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 553). The foreigner does not complete it: in the MOS application they give the employer's e-mail address and the system sends a link to the form to that address (Article 106c(3) of the Act on Foreigners). According to the Office for Foreigners the link is valid for 30 days and the form cannot be saved halfway, so prepare the data in advance.

The employer signs the annex with a qualified electronic signature, a personal signature or a trusted signature (Article 106d(4)). Under joint representation each authorised person completes and signs the form separately. This is not a formality: the application is deemed filed only once both the application and the annexes are signed (Article 106d(6)), so a delay on the company's side holds up the employee's case. The whole procedure is described in our guide residence card application in MOS.

What the employer enters in Annex No. 1

The form has several parts; for an ordinary residence and work permit the company mainly fills in data about itself and about the work:

• entity details: name, registered address, register and entry number, NIP, REGON, telephone and e-mail address;
• position or type of work, occupation according to the classification of occupations, and the main duties;
• place of work and legal basis, that is the type of contract the company intends to conclude;
• working time or number of hours per week;
• proposed gross pay, the period of entrusting work and the PKD subclass of the activity.

A separate part contains the employer's declarations of no penalties for illegally entrusting work and no convictions for listed offences; a natural person and a company tick different items. A temporary work agency also names the user employer, and when the foreigner works for several entities each of them completes its own annex.

Pay and working time: two thresholds the office checks

The voivode checks pay twice. First, it cannot be lower than the pay of employees doing comparable work or holding a comparable position on the same working time (Article 114(1)(4)). Second, monthly pay cannot be lower than the statutory minimum wage, regardless of working time and type of contract (Article 114(1)(5)). In 2026 that is PLN 4806 gross, and from 1 January 2027 PLN 4950 gross, also for a half-time job and for a contract of mandate. If the foreigner works for several entities, the total pay from their annexes counts.

The data from the annex passes into the decision: the voivode names the employer, the position, the lowest pay, the working time and the type of contract (Article 118(1)). That is why the annex must describe the work as it will really be performed. Cutting the salary or changing the position without amending the permit is a ground for revoking it.

The starost's information and the list of occupations

The starost's information on the lack of candidates on the local labour market is no longer attached: the labour market test was abolished on 1 June 2025. Another condition remains: the occupation in which the foreigner is to work must not be on the list of occupations set by the starost for the given district (Article 114(1)(3) of the Act on Foreigners and Article 31(3) of the Act of 20 March 2025, Journal of Laws 2025, item 621). This condition, like the comparable pay condition, does not apply to people exempt from the work permit requirement. Check the list for your district before entering the occupation in the form. Other bases for legal work are covered in our text foreigners' work in Poland.

ZUS ZUA, RCA and other documents from the employer

The annex alone is not enough. With the application and in reply to summonses, offices usually ask for documents the employee can only get from the company:

• the ZUS ZUA registration (or ZZA for health insurance only): it confirms the health insurance required by Article 114(1)(1);
• ZUS RCA reports for recent months with proof of submission, if the employee already works for you;
• an employment contract or contract of mandate consistent with the annex as to position, working time and pay.

The insurance condition is also met if the foreigner will be insured in connection with the work that is the basis of the application (Article 114(4a)). The full list of documents on the employee's side is in our guide documents for a residence card 2026.

Annex mistakes that end in a summons

In cases we take over after a summons the same mistakes keep recurring:

• pay below PLN 4806 (from 2027 PLN 4950) for part-time work, or a rate different from the contract;
• the position and duties described one way in the annex, another in the contract and another in the ZUS registration;
• one person's signature under joint representation, or a link that expired after 30 days;
• a period of work shorter than the planned stay, or a wrong company e-mail address in the application.

Employer duties after the decision, and fines

The duties do not end when the card is issued. A change of the company's seat, name or legal form, a transfer of the workplace to another employer, an increase in working time with a proportional raise, or replacing a civil-law contract with an employment contract must be reported to the voivode in writing within 15 working days (Article 119). When the foreigner loses the job, the company notifies the voivode within 15 days (Article 121(4)) and the employee within 15 working days. What then happens to the card is explained in our text losing your job and the residence card.

A new employer, a different position or lower pay require an application to amend the permit (Article 120), accompanied by a new Annex No. 1 completed by the entity entrusting work. This application, unlike the permit application, is filed on paper (Article 120a(1)), and the stamp duty is PLN 220. Details in our guide changing employer and the residence card.

Illegally entrusting work to a foreigner carries a fine of PLN 3000 to 50 000, not less than PLN 3000 per foreigner, and the foreigner faces a fine of at least PLN 1000 (Article 84 of the Act of 20 March 2025). If a company with a final penalty for illegally entrusting work is penalised again for a similar offence within 2 years, the voivode refuses permits to its employees (Article 117(1)(a) of the Act on Foreigners).

What legalising an employee costs and what we do

Stamp duty for a temporary residence and work permit is PLN 440 and the card fee is PLN 100. Kancelaria Radców Prawnych Bartosz Krajewski handles the employee's case in the online legalisation mode, fully remote, for PLN 1999 instead of PLN 2300, or for PLN 2300 with a consultation. For that price we prepare the data for Annex No. 1 for the company so that it matches the contract and ZUS documents, file the application in MOS as attorney and answer summonses.

We serve employers and employees across Poland; office: Warsaw, ul. Marszałkowska 20/22 lok. 72, tel. 537 927 737. More on how we work on the page immigration lawyer in Poland.