Poland has rung in the New Year with the most sweeping procedural change to its immigration system in two decades. From 00:00 on 1 January 2026, every temporary-stay (residence) permit application must be lodged through the Moduł Obsługi Spraw (MOS) on-line portal and signed with a qualified electronic signature. Paper dossiers handed to voivodeship offices are now deemed “not filed”, effectively forcing employers, foreign assignees and immigration advisers onto the digital platform overnight.
The change caps a year-long digitisation drive that had already migrated work-permit filings to praca.gov.pl. Authorities argue that a single end-to-end electronic channel will cut processing times by 30 %, reduce fraud and generate a data set the Interior Ministry can mine for labour-market analytics. Brussels is watching closely: if MOS delivers the promised efficiencies, the European Commission is expected to recommend similar architectures across the Schengen area.
Companies and individuals seeking help with these new requirements can turn to VisaHQ, which integrates with Polish government portals to lodge compliant e-dossiers, arrange qualified e-signatures and track fee payments in real time. Their dedicated Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) consolidates document reviews, appointment scheduling and status updates on one dashboard, easing the administrative burden for HR teams and assignees alike.
![Poland makes MOS e-filing mandatory and quadruples immigration fees]()
Fees, however, are the sting in the tail. The standard residence-permit charge jumps from PLN 100 to PLN 400; posted-worker permits leap to PLN 800. Consular tariffs rise in parallel—national (type D) visas now cost €200 and Schengen (type C) visas €90. A family of four moving to Kraków faces government charges of roughly €1,060, almost triple last year’s outlay.
For multinationals the practical implications are immediate. HR teams must help new hires obtain a Trusted-Profile login or EU eID, buy an e-signature token and train on MOS navigation—steps that can take a week in peak periods. Because the portal suffered time-outs during pilot testing, advisers recommend screenshotting every stage to prove timely submission if a session crashes. Companies without in-house expertise are turning to external providers that can create MOS accounts and submit compliant e-dossiers within 24 hours.
Strategically, the fee hike may force employers to revisit assignment budgets, prioritise high-value roles and consider longer assignment durations to amortise the upfront cost. Mobility managers are advised to update cost projections, book MOS training for HR staff and warn travellers that consular appointment slots may be scarce until the initial surge of applications subsides.
The change caps a year-long digitisation drive that had already migrated work-permit filings to praca.gov.pl. Authorities argue that a single end-to-end electronic channel will cut processing times by 30 %, reduce fraud and generate a data set the Interior Ministry can mine for labour-market analytics. Brussels is watching closely: if MOS delivers the promised efficiencies, the European Commission is expected to recommend similar architectures across the Schengen area.
Companies and individuals seeking help with these new requirements can turn to VisaHQ, which integrates with Polish government portals to lodge compliant e-dossiers, arrange qualified e-signatures and track fee payments in real time. Their dedicated Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) consolidates document reviews, appointment scheduling and status updates on one dashboard, easing the administrative burden for HR teams and assignees alike.
Fees, however, are the sting in the tail. The standard residence-permit charge jumps from PLN 100 to PLN 400; posted-worker permits leap to PLN 800. Consular tariffs rise in parallel—national (type D) visas now cost €200 and Schengen (type C) visas €90. A family of four moving to Kraków faces government charges of roughly €1,060, almost triple last year’s outlay.
For multinationals the practical implications are immediate. HR teams must help new hires obtain a Trusted-Profile login or EU eID, buy an e-signature token and train on MOS navigation—steps that can take a week in peak periods. Because the portal suffered time-outs during pilot testing, advisers recommend screenshotting every stage to prove timely submission if a session crashes. Companies without in-house expertise are turning to external providers that can create MOS accounts and submit compliant e-dossiers within 24 hours.
Strategically, the fee hike may force employers to revisit assignment budgets, prioritise high-value roles and consider longer assignment durations to amortise the upfront cost. Mobility managers are advised to update cost projections, book MOS training for HR staff and warn travellers that consular appointment slots may be scarce until the initial surge of applications subsides.
