After almost four years, Poland is winding down the extraordinary measures it introduced at the outset of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. On 23 February 2026 the President’s Chancellery confirmed that President Karol Nawrocki had signed a bill that abolishes the 2022 “Special Act on Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine” and amends the Law on Foreigners. When the Special Act expires on 5 March 2026, Ukrainians will remain under the EU Temporary-Protection Directive, but the generous Polish-only privileges that allowed near-friction-less access to the labour market, benefits and education will disappear. The new law extends legal stay rights until 4 March 2027 and guarantees access to temporary protection, but it will now be conditional on registration in Poland’s PESEL population register within 30 days of arrival. Refugees who fail to register will be deemed to have waived protection, a shift designed to curb so-called “double dipping” of benefits across EU states. Health-care entitlements will mirror those of uninsured Polish citizens, with carve-outs for children, pregnant women and victims of violence.
![Poland repeals “Special Act”, folds Ukrainian refugees into EU-wide temporary-protection regime]()
For organisations and individuals unsure how the tighter rules will affect their status, VisaHQ can bridge the gap. Our Warsaw-based specialists track every tweak to Poland’s immigration framework and can secure work permits, PESEL registrations and business visas end-to-end, sparing HR teams the learning curve. Explore tailored solutions at https://www.visahq.com/poland/
Special educational subsidies and simplified rules for hiring intercultural classroom assistants will lapse at the end of the current school year, while preferential rules for opening a business on the same footing as Polish nationals will be terminated outright. Warsaw argues that the changes create “one coherent system for all foreigners” and protect the domestic labour market at a time when unemployment has inched up to 5.7 %. Business groups are broadly supportive of the move to a single framework but warn that employers will have to shoulder extra compliance costs—especially where previously exempt work-notification procedures must now be replaced with full work-permit applications. For mobility managers the message is clear: Ukrainian assignees already in Poland keep their right to stay, but any change of employer or role after 5 March will trigger the standard Polish work-permit process, including a labour-market test in some voivodeships. Companies should audit Ukrainian talent pipelines, check that PESEL numbers are in place, and be ready to update employment contracts before the grandfathering window closes. The legislative U-turn also sends a regional signal. Neighbouring states such as Slovakia and Romania have hinted that they may follow Poland’s lead in replacing national schemes with the EU baseline, tightening a patchwork that many recruiters had come to rely on. Mobility teams should therefore prepare for faster convergence of rules—and fewer national opt-outs—across Central Europe in 2026.
For organisations and individuals unsure how the tighter rules will affect their status, VisaHQ can bridge the gap. Our Warsaw-based specialists track every tweak to Poland’s immigration framework and can secure work permits, PESEL registrations and business visas end-to-end, sparing HR teams the learning curve. Explore tailored solutions at https://www.visahq.com/poland/
Special educational subsidies and simplified rules for hiring intercultural classroom assistants will lapse at the end of the current school year, while preferential rules for opening a business on the same footing as Polish nationals will be terminated outright. Warsaw argues that the changes create “one coherent system for all foreigners” and protect the domestic labour market at a time when unemployment has inched up to 5.7 %. Business groups are broadly supportive of the move to a single framework but warn that employers will have to shoulder extra compliance costs—especially where previously exempt work-notification procedures must now be replaced with full work-permit applications. For mobility managers the message is clear: Ukrainian assignees already in Poland keep their right to stay, but any change of employer or role after 5 March will trigger the standard Polish work-permit process, including a labour-market test in some voivodeships. Companies should audit Ukrainian talent pipelines, check that PESEL numbers are in place, and be ready to update employment contracts before the grandfathering window closes. The legislative U-turn also sends a regional signal. Neighbouring states such as Slovakia and Romania have hinted that they may follow Poland’s lead in replacing national schemes with the EU baseline, tightening a patchwork that many recruiters had come to rely on. Mobility teams should therefore prepare for faster convergence of rules—and fewer national opt-outs—across Central Europe in 2026.
