Poland has enacted the steepest price hike in years for work-authorisation filings. An official bulletin circulated by the Lubelskie Voivodeship on 4 December confirms that, with effect from 1 December, the fee for registering an “oświadczenie” (declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner) has jumped from PLN 100 to PLN 400. Standard work-permit charges have been harmonised at PLN 200 for permits of up to three months and PLN 400 for longer assignments, while secondments now cost PLN 800 per worker. Seasonal-work fees remain PLN 100.
Just as significant is a drastic pruning of the declaration programme’s nationality list. Only citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine may now be hired through the ultra-simplified procedure; Georgia has been struck off after years of heavy use by Polish agriculture and construction firms. Existing declarations for Georgian nationals will stay valid until expiry, but renewals must follow the full work-permit route.
![Poland quadruples ‘oświadczenie’ fee and removes Georgia from fast-track hiring list]()
The government has also tightened documentary standards. Employers must upload complete passport scans, proof of professional qualifications for regulated occupations and sworn Polish translations where applicable. Local labour offices have been told to reject any application that omits evidence of the new, higher payments.
For global-mobility and HR teams the commercial impact is immediate. Budgets must be adjusted for higher state fees, lead times will lengthen as additional paperwork is gathered, and talent pipelines that relied on Georgian workers will need to pivot—most likely toward Ukrainian or Belarusian recruits. Companies with declarations already in force are being urged to audit expiry dates quickly and plan transitions to full work-permits well before the busy January hiring season.
Longer-term, the move signals Warsaw’s determination to calibrate labour inflows more precisely amid record migration. By raising costs and narrowing eligibility, authorities hope to steer employers toward higher-skilled talent while preserving a safety-valve for critical sectors that still rely on simplified hiring from neighbouring countries.
Just as significant is a drastic pruning of the declaration programme’s nationality list. Only citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine may now be hired through the ultra-simplified procedure; Georgia has been struck off after years of heavy use by Polish agriculture and construction firms. Existing declarations for Georgian nationals will stay valid until expiry, but renewals must follow the full work-permit route.
The government has also tightened documentary standards. Employers must upload complete passport scans, proof of professional qualifications for regulated occupations and sworn Polish translations where applicable. Local labour offices have been told to reject any application that omits evidence of the new, higher payments.
For global-mobility and HR teams the commercial impact is immediate. Budgets must be adjusted for higher state fees, lead times will lengthen as additional paperwork is gathered, and talent pipelines that relied on Georgian workers will need to pivot—most likely toward Ukrainian or Belarusian recruits. Companies with declarations already in force are being urged to audit expiry dates quickly and plan transitions to full work-permits well before the busy January hiring season.
Longer-term, the move signals Warsaw’s determination to calibrate labour inflows more precisely amid record migration. By raising costs and narrowing eligibility, authorities hope to steer employers toward higher-skilled talent while preserving a safety-valve for critical sectors that still rely on simplified hiring from neighbouring countries.
