Changing or losing a job with a residence and work permit

What is stated in your permit

A decision granting a temporary residence and work permit states more than just its validity period. It states the company entrusting you with work (in the Act: podmiot powierzający pracę), the position or type of work, the lowest remuneration, working time and type of contract (Art. 118(1) of the Act on Foreigners (ustawa o cudzoziemcach)). For temporary agency work, the decision also states the company where you actually work, that is, the user employer (pracodawca użytkownik).

Each of these items matters when you change jobs. The decision also contains information about the duty to notify the voivode (wojewoda) of the loss of employment (Art. 118(1a)). If you are exempt from the work permit requirement, the decision does not list these conditions. You then work under the rules of the provision that exempts you (Art. 118(3) and (4)).

We describe the differences between types of residence cards and permits on the page about the residence card.

Changes that do not require a new decision

The Act lists five situations in which the permit remains unchanged (Art. 119(1)):

• the company or the user employer changed its registered office (or place of residence), name or legal form;
• the workplace or part of it was transferred to another employer;
• working time was increased and remuneration was increased proportionally;
• the job title changed, while the scope of duties remained the same;
• a civil-law contract was replaced with an employment contract.

In these situations, you do not file any application. The company has the duty: within 15 working days, it notifies in writing the voivode who granted the permit (Art. 119(2)).

Changes that require a change to the permit

You need to change the permit if you want to work for another company, another user employer, or under conditions different from those stated in the decision (Art. 120(1)). Different conditions mean a different position, lower remuneration, different working time or a different type of contract.

You file the application, not the company: only the foreigner is a party to these proceedings (Art. 120(7)). It is examined by the voivode competent for the place where you are currently staying. The application may be filed at any time during the permit's validity, but the validity period does not change (Art. 120(1) and (3)).

From 27 April 2026, an application to change the permit is filed in paper form, using a form that states the reason for the change (Art. 120a(1)). You attach an annex completed by the company that will entrust you with work and documents confirming the information in the application (Art. 120a(2)).

The voivode refuses to change the permit for a new company, among other cases, when the new work is to last for less than the permit's validity period. The voivode also refuses if you did not notify them of the loss of employment within the required period (Art. 120(4)(5) and (6)).

Do not work under the new conditions and wait. If your position changes or your remuneration is reduced and the permit is not changed, the voivode withdraws the permit (Art. 122(1)).

Loss of employment: 15 working days and 30 days

If you lose employment with any company listed in the permit, you notify in writing the voivode who granted it. You have 15 working days to do so (Art. 121(1)). If the permit was granted at second instance by the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców), you write to the voivode at first instance (Art. 121(2)).

No notification is required if, within those 15 working days, you have already filed an application to change the permit for a new company (Art. 121(3)). The company where you lost your job has a separate duty. It notifies the voivode in writing within 15 days (Art. 121(4)).

After the loss of employment, the voivode generally withdraws the permit because the purpose of stay has ceased (Art. 101(1)). However, the Act gives you 30 days from the date of losing employment during which the permit is not withdrawn. The condition is that you notified the voivode on time or the notification did not reach the voivode for reasons beyond your control (Art. 123(1)).

These 30 days are available only once during the permit's validity period (Art. 123(2)). In practice, this is time to find a new job and file an application to change the permit. You can find offers where we tell you immediately which documents are needed on the page with current job offers.

Several companies in the permit and work through an agency

A permit may list several companies. In that case, the working conditions, meaning the position, remuneration, working time and type of contract, are stated separately for each company (Art. 118(2)). You notify the loss of work at any one of them, even if you keep working for the others (Art. 121(1)).

For temporary agency work, your employer is the agency, and the decision also states the company where you work. Moving to another user employer requires a change to the permit, even if the agency remains the same (Art. 120(1)(2)). We explain more about who is who in this arrangement in the article about temporary agency work.

Steps to take after losing your job

1. Record the day you lost your job and keep the document confirming it.
2. Within 15 working days, send the voivode a written notification or file an application to change the permit for a new company.
3. Keep proof that the letter was sent or filed. It will be useful if the voivode asks about the deadline.
4. Look for a job so that you can file the application to change the permit within 30 days of losing your job.

We describe how we handle such cases from the document perspective in the residence permits section.

Questions

Sources

Legal status as of 23.09.2026. The text was prepared by WNR Group sp. z o.o. based on the provisions listed below. The voivode issues the decision in your case.

1. Ustawa z dnia 12 grudnia 2013 r. o cudzoziemcach, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079, art. 101, 118–123
2. Ustawa z dnia 21 listopada 2025 r. o zmianie ustawy o cudzoziemcach oraz niektórych innych ustaw (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794), art. 1 pkt 17: nowe brzmienie art. 120a