A bill amending the Law on Foreign Citizens and other laws has appeared in the Council of Ministers’ list of legislative and programme works (draft number: UD275). The bill’s main objective is to streamline proceedings on granting temporary residence permits for foreign citizens in Poland – including, in particular, the so-called "combined permits" (i.e. residence and work permits) – where flagrant breaches of statutory deadlines for handling these types of administrative matters are currently being noted. The changes are also intended to facilitate obtaining of work permits by foreign citizens intending to work in entities of particular strategic importance for Poland's economy.
The proposed changes will consist, inter alia, in:
- abandoning the requirement of an assured place of residence and a stable and regular source of income in cases concerning the granting of temporary residence and work permits in favour of the requirement that the foreign citizen should be paid at least the minimum wage for work, irrespective of working time and the type of legal relationship which constitutes the basis for the foreign citizen’s work;
- the introduction of a new procedure for amending the combined permit, as well as extending the list of circumstances which do not require an amendment to such a permit;
- enabling faster acquisition of a combined permit by foreign citizens who are to work in entities of particular strategic importance for Poland’s economy;
- introducing:
- 60-day periods for the first-instance authority to examine cases, calculated, as a rule, from the moment when all formal defects of the application for a temporary residence permit have been remedied and the foreign citizen has fulfilled the obligation to appear in person at the office,
- 90-day time limits for the respective appeals body to examine cases,
- 6-month time limits for resolving issues of granting permanent residence permits and residence permits for long-term EU residents, counted, as a rule, from the moment when all formal defects of an application for a temporary residence permit have been completed and the foreign citizen has fulfilled the obligation to appear in person at the office;
- enabling the exchange of information by means of electronic communication between authorities on whether a foreign citizen’s entry and stay in Poland may constitute a threat to state defence or security or the protection of public security and order.