Effective January 2018, seasonal workers in certain agricultural and hospitality services will be eligible to work in Poland for up to nine months under a new work permit. The new work permit will offer a one-month processing time (not including the time it takes to perform a labor market test) and will be available for local hires in the following industries:

• Agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing; and
• Hospitality and food services

Seasonal workers under the new permit will not be restricted to a specific position, as the current seasonal permit requires, but will instead be able to work in any position in the above industries.

Background
Currently, seasonal workers can obtain a regular work permit, which takes up to three months to process, or a Short-Term permit, which is applicable only to nationals from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals
Qualifying employers should benefit from the new work permit since they will be able to hire seasonal workers through a significantly faster process than the typical work permit process.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to emea@fragomen.com.

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