Poland’s Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has quietly published a draft regulation that would close an increasingly popular loophole in the country’s labour-migration rules. Under current law, citizens of nearly 70 visa-exempt jurisdictions can enter Poland as tourists for up to 90 days and begin work immediately once an employer files a simple notification. The new draft – released for consultation on 24 April – would remove that option for three nationalities that Polish authorities say present the highest risk of irregular onward migration and document fraud: Colombia, Georgia and Venezuela. If the regulation is adopted, nationals of the listed countries could still take up jobs in Poland, but only after securing either a national work visa or a residence permit before arrival. A transitional clause would allow those already legally working on a visa-free stay to complete their current employment contracts.
![Poland proposes ban on visa-free work for Colombian, Georgian & Venezuelan nationals]()
VisaHQ can help both employers and individual contractors navigate this shift: its Poland-dedicated team and online platform streamline the filing of national work visas or residence permits, arrange all necessary document legalisations, and monitor consular appointment availability. For step-by-step guidance, visit https://www.visahq.com/poland/
The government has not yet announced an implementation date, but officials indicate it could be as early as June, giving employers little time to adapt hiring pipelines. The proposal is rooted in Poland’s 2025 Act on the Conditions for Assigning Work to Foreigners, which gives the cabinet power to tighten access to the labour market on security or migration-management grounds. Warsaw argues that visa-free entrants from the three countries are over-represented in cases of identity fraud uncovered during Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) checks, and that requiring a visa will allow deeper vetting. For multinational companies, the stakes are high. Colombia and Venezuela are fast-growing sources of Spanish-speaking customer-service talent, while Georgian IT specialists are already embedded in many business-services centres in Kraków, Wrocław and Łódź. HR teams should budget for longer lead times (currently six to eight weeks) and higher costs as consular appointments and document legalisations become mandatory. Employers with ongoing recruitment should consider filing work-permit notifications before the regulation takes effect, or explore intra-EU mobility routes such as the ICT permit. They should also prepare internal communications to reassure affected staff and to document the company’s good-faith compliance effort in case of labour-inspector audits.
VisaHQ can help both employers and individual contractors navigate this shift: its Poland-dedicated team and online platform streamline the filing of national work visas or residence permits, arrange all necessary document legalisations, and monitor consular appointment availability. For step-by-step guidance, visit https://www.visahq.com/poland/
The government has not yet announced an implementation date, but officials indicate it could be as early as June, giving employers little time to adapt hiring pipelines. The proposal is rooted in Poland’s 2025 Act on the Conditions for Assigning Work to Foreigners, which gives the cabinet power to tighten access to the labour market on security or migration-management grounds. Warsaw argues that visa-free entrants from the three countries are over-represented in cases of identity fraud uncovered during Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) checks, and that requiring a visa will allow deeper vetting. For multinational companies, the stakes are high. Colombia and Venezuela are fast-growing sources of Spanish-speaking customer-service talent, while Georgian IT specialists are already embedded in many business-services centres in Kraków, Wrocław and Łódź. HR teams should budget for longer lead times (currently six to eight weeks) and higher costs as consular appointments and document legalisations become mandatory. Employers with ongoing recruitment should consider filing work-permit notifications before the regulation takes effect, or explore intra-EU mobility routes such as the ICT permit. They should also prepare internal communications to reassure affected staff and to document the company’s good-faith compliance effort in case of labour-inspector audits.
