In a late-night regulation published on 18 December 2025, Poland’s Interior Ministry confirmed that every application for a temporary-stay (residence) permit must be lodged exclusively through the Moduł Obsługi Spraw (MOS) e-portal from 1 January 2026. Paper dossiers will be rejected outright, forcing employers and foreign assignees to complete the end-to-end process online, attach full-passport scans and sign with a qualified electronic signature. The move finalises a year-long drive to digitise Polish immigration and is being closely watched in Brussels as a possible model for other EU states.
The same ordinance sends government fees soaring. The standard residence-permit charge jumps from PLN 100 to PLN 400, posted-worker permits climb to PLN 800, national (D-type) visa fees rise from €135 to €200 and Schengen (C-type) visas edge up to €90. Warsaw argues the hike will fund extra staff and cybersecurity for MOS and cut processing times by 30 %, but HR directors say budgets for 2026 relocations have been blown overnight.
For multinational companies, the two-week transition window is brutal. Each foreign employee now needs (1) a Trusted-Profile login or EU eID, (2) a qualified e-signature, and (3) training on MOS navigation. Visa advisers recommend screenshotting every step because the portal still suffers time-outs; a screenshot may be the only proof of timely submission if a session crashes.
![Poland mandates digital-only filing of residence permits and quadruples immigration fees from 1 January 2026]()
Against this backdrop, visa facilitation platform VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) can act as a turnkey partner. The company’s Warsaw team arranges Trusted-Profile registrations, issues qualified e-signatures and uploads MOS-ready applications, giving HR managers a one-stop conduit and real-time tracking while the new system stabilises.
Compliance consultants also warn that MOS will soon be cross-linked to Polish tax and social-security databases, enabling automatic flagging of payroll discrepancies. A mismatch between declared salary and tax filings could trigger automatic revocation of a permit, exposing employers to fines of up to PLN 50 000 per assignee under the June 2025 Foreigners Employment Act amendments.
Practically, mobility managers are front-loading any remaining paper files before New Year’s Eve and urging assignees to pay 2025-level fees in advance. Those who miss the deadline face a four-fold cost increase and the steep learning curve of an untested digital system in the first weeks of 2026.
The same ordinance sends government fees soaring. The standard residence-permit charge jumps from PLN 100 to PLN 400, posted-worker permits climb to PLN 800, national (D-type) visa fees rise from €135 to €200 and Schengen (C-type) visas edge up to €90. Warsaw argues the hike will fund extra staff and cybersecurity for MOS and cut processing times by 30 %, but HR directors say budgets for 2026 relocations have been blown overnight.
For multinational companies, the two-week transition window is brutal. Each foreign employee now needs (1) a Trusted-Profile login or EU eID, (2) a qualified e-signature, and (3) training on MOS navigation. Visa advisers recommend screenshotting every step because the portal still suffers time-outs; a screenshot may be the only proof of timely submission if a session crashes.
Against this backdrop, visa facilitation platform VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) can act as a turnkey partner. The company’s Warsaw team arranges Trusted-Profile registrations, issues qualified e-signatures and uploads MOS-ready applications, giving HR managers a one-stop conduit and real-time tracking while the new system stabilises.
Compliance consultants also warn that MOS will soon be cross-linked to Polish tax and social-security databases, enabling automatic flagging of payroll discrepancies. A mismatch between declared salary and tax filings could trigger automatic revocation of a permit, exposing employers to fines of up to PLN 50 000 per assignee under the June 2025 Foreigners Employment Act amendments.
Practically, mobility managers are front-loading any remaining paper files before New Year’s Eve and urging assignees to pay 2025-level fees in advance. Those who miss the deadline face a four-fold cost increase and the steep learning curve of an untested digital system in the first weeks of 2026.
