Changing Employers and Your Residence Card in 2026 — 15 Days to Notify the Voivode and Amend the Permit

Changing employers does not invalidate your residence card — but it almost always requires action on your part. A temporary residence and work permit (zezwolenie jednolite — the single permit) names a specific employer, position and employment conditions in the decision. The plastic card itself stays the same, but working for a new employer without amending the decision is illegal work — with all the consequences: from refusal of your next permit to withdrawal of the current one.

When changing employers requires amending the permit

What matters is the basis on which you work. You do not need an amended decision if you have full access to the labour market, which includes cases where:

• you are the spouse of a Polish citizen holding a residence card issued on that basis,
• you have a permanent residence permit (pobyt stały) or EU long-term resident status,
• you are a graduate of full-time studies in Poland,
• you have UKR status under temporary protection.

If, however, you hold a single permit "for temporary residence and work" — as most foreigners working in Poland do — the decision ties you to the employer named in it, and changing jobs triggers the obligations we describe below.

15 working days to notify the voivode

After your job with the employer named in the permit ends, you have 15 working days to notify, in writing, the voivode (wojewoda) who issued the decision. Since 1 June 2025 the employer has had an analogous obligation as well. This notification matters more than it seems:

• it protects you against withdrawal of the permit for 30 days from losing the job (Article 123(1) of the Act on Foreigners) — and only once during the permit's validity; within that time you need a new employer and an application to amend the permit,
• a missing notification is a classic objection raised by the office in later applications — it can be grounds for refusal,
• the notification does not give you the right to work for the new employer — it is only information that the previous job has ended.

Amending the permit instead of a new application

If only the employer or the employment conditions change (position, salary, working hours), you do not file a new residence card application — you file an application to amend your existing single permit. The stamp duty is PLN 220, and the permit's period of validity remains unchanged. Until the amending decision is issued, you must not start working for the new employer on the basis of the old permit.

In practice it is often faster for the new employer to obtain a separate work permit for you via the praca.gov.pl portal — your residence card then remains the basis of your legal stay, and the new permit legalises the work. Which route to choose depends on how much validity your card has left and how quickly you want to start working.

What the new act on employing foreigners changed

Since 1 June 2025 the new act on the conditions of admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners has been in force. The key changes:

• full digitalisation — applications for work permits and declarations are filed exclusively online,
• abolition of the labour market test — procedures are faster,
• higher fines for illegally entrusting work — offices carry out inspections more often and more effectively,
• from 1 June 2026 employment-related notifications will be filed exclusively electronically.

An application to amend the single permit itself, however, goes to the voivode and — unlike a new residence card application, which since 27 April 2026 can only be filed through the Moduł Obsługi Spraw (MOS case-handling portal; we covered it when writing about residence card applications via MOS) — it is filed on paper, on the official form (Article 120a(1) of the Act on Foreigners). An application filed within 15 working days of losing your job also counts as the notification to the voivode (Article 121(3)).

The most common mistakes — and how to avoid them

• Starting work for the new employer "on the old card" — that is illegal work, even if you have already filed the amendment application.
• Missing the 15 working days — the deadline runs from the day the job ends, not from the day you find a new one.
• Confusing the card with the permit — the card is only a document; where you may work is determined by the content of the decision.
• A long gap without employment — the longer you remain out of work, the greater the risk that proceedings to withdraw the permit will be opened.

Received a refusal decision? The 14-day appeal deadline runs from delivery. Before writing the appeal on your own, order an online analysis of the refusal decision — within 48 hours a lawyer tells you plainly whether the appeal has grounds, and if it does, we run the case and the analysis fee counts towards it.

If you would rather not run it yourself, the Bartosz Krajewski Law Firm handles residence legalisation entirely online for 1900 PLN instead of 2200 PLN: you upload photos of your documents, we do the rest.

Legal help with changing employers

We have been handling single permit amendments, notifications and work legalisation for years — we know which route will be the fastest and safest in your situation. See how we work in foreigners' cases in Warsaw, or read our guide to legal employment of foreigners in Poland.

Do not guess which basis fits your situation — we will check it against your documents. We handle foreigners' cases across Poland, also fully remotely: no visits to the office, with document photos taken on your phone. Book a consultation and start with a diagnosis, not with an application.