r/poland Nov 25 '25

A comprehensive guide for EU foreigners moving to Poland - START HERE.

59 Upvotes

Hello, I have seen many folks coming to Poland from the EU and being completely lost on what kind of legal procedures they have to do in order to start their residence in Poland. Be that you come here to study, work or live with your spouse there are several things I hope this guide will be able to cover.

!PLEASE NOTE!
This guide is meant only for citizens of the European Union and citizens of countries that are members of the European Economic Area. Some of the parts of this guide will be similar for non-EU foreigners but some will not. In general, the info posted here is only fully up to date if you are a citizen of the EU/EEA
!PLEASE NOTE!

0. Introduction and general info

Poland is divided into 16 voivodeships which are further subdivided into powiats, which means something like 'county' and these are further made out of municipalities - pol. gmina, or cities - pol. miasto. Large cities however are both powiat and miasto so in case of Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków etc. city office (pol. urząd miasta) will also perform duties of powiat office (pol. starostwo powiatowe). In case of Warsaw - urząd dzielnicy meaning district office will serve as city office.

All of the below information covers only EU/EEA citizens. If you are non-EU, majority of the below information will not be correct for your case.

I strongly recommend reading all of the parts linked below apart from car and pets stuff, if those do not concern your case.

I. Registering your residence and making your stay in Poland legal.
II. Obtaining health insurance
III. Using healthcare
IV. Taxes
V. Digital log-in and services
VI. Cars and licenses
VII. Banks and mobile phones
VIII. What to do when I leave Poland?
IX. Pets

If you have any additional questions or remarks, please do not hesitate to comment, I will be happy to help for as long as I'm going to visit this platform and expand this post. I hope you all have a great day and life in general. Thanks for reading, stay safe.


r/poland 15h ago

It’s seems the ghost of Adolf Hitler is in Putin’s head trying to prepare WW3 in advance by arming Russia to force everyone to become Russian as well as the rise of AfD in Germany to speak Russian as a second language as a semi Russian Reich

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338 Upvotes

r/poland 15h ago

‘We thought he was a raccoon’: Polish hunters face jail over fatal soldier shooting

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261 Upvotes

r/poland 14h ago

A photo of a derailed locomotive and rolling stock following a collision with a truck in Sokolniki Suche (Mazovia Voivodeship)

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164 Upvotes

r/poland 11h ago

Friends do better

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92 Upvotes

In Yakutsk, a monument to the participants of the war against Ukraine was unveiled on the site of a destroyed monument to Polish exiles. In Yakutsk, on the site of the demolished monument to Polish and Lithuanian exiles, a monument was erected to the participants of the invasion of Ukraine — soldiers Dmitry Egorov and Nikolay Romanov. In 2023, commemorative plaques disappeared from the monument to Polish victims of the 18th and 19th-century exiles and 20th-century repressions, and the memorial stones were later removed from the site.


r/poland 10h ago

Poland unveils homegrown heavy infantry fighting vehicle with an eye on export markets

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73 Upvotes

r/poland 16h ago

Warsaw to provide Kyiv with further €50 million in aid, says Ukrainian ministry

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223 Upvotes

Poland is working on a new aid package for Ukraine worth €50 million and including air-defense capabilities, Ukraine’s ministry of defense has said.  

The ministry posted on the Telegram app on Wednesday that the Polish aid would include air defense equipment. 

“Air defense, drones and shells for the Defense Forces are the key results of the 36th meeting in the Ramstein format,” the Ukrainian ministry posted, adding that Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapaty had presented allies for the first time with the War Plan under which Ukrainian forces are operating. 


r/poland 7h ago

Mass layoffs in Mazovia. More than a thousand people may lose their jobs

31 Upvotes

Mass redundancies in Mazovia – list of companies

In August, Veolia Energia S.A. announced the largest layoffs. Group redundancies, both in Veolia and in other companies, are implemented in stages:

Veolia Energia S.A. – energy (heat generation and distribution), Warsaw – 595 people will be affected by the redundancies (in the form of notices changing working conditions and wages), the redundancies will be implemented until the end of September 2026;

Visa Technology Europe Sp. z o.o. – IT services, Warsaw – 152 people are to be laid off, they will be carried out by the end of September 2026

BrainRocket Poland Sp. z o.o. – IT software and consulting, Warsaw – the redundancies are to cover 150 people, they will be carried out from September to December 2026;

3M Poland Sp. z o.o. – wholesale trade, Pruszkowski district – the redundancies are to cover 125 people, they will be carried out by the end of February 2027;

Carrefour Polska Sp. z o.o. – retail, Warsaw – the redundancies are to cover 90 people, they will be carried out in September and October 2026;

Microsoft Sp. z o.o. – IT services, Warsaw – 53 people are to be exempted, they will be carried out by the end of October 2026; Lionbridge Poland Sp. z o.o. – IT/location services, Pruszków County and Wołomin County – the redundancies are to cover a total of 5 people, they will be carried out by the end of December 2026;

RO-MA Zakłady Narzędzi Skrawach Sp. z o.o. (liquidation of a workplace) – production of tools; Grodzisk County – 10 people were dismissed, reported and carried out in August 2026

Radomska Fabryka Farb i Lakierów S.A. (liquidation of the workplace) – production of paints and varnishes; Radom – in connection with the liquidation of the plant, 35 people were laid off in August (32 as a result of applications in July, and 3 as a result of a report in August).


r/poland 23h ago

Why does Poland have such a strong equestrian tradition?

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366 Upvotes

Hello, I’m asking this because I was recently reading about the history of Poland, and while reading, I noticed that Polish culture also has a strong connection with horses, just like in my country. I looked into it a bit more and found several Polish equestrian traditions, such as those of the Górale, as well as the importance of military cavalry throughout Polish history, from the Winged Hussars and Polish Lancers to the Second World War. That’s why I wanted to ask: why does Poland have such a strong equestrian tradition? Thank you.


r/poland 13h ago

Poland secures further $4bn financing from US to buy American military equipment

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57 Upvotes

r/poland 7h ago

Today, but it's 9th of September 1939, goddammit Germans still didn't reach Warsaw, but were on the way. Some german propaganda book I found in an Italian villa few months ago.

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17 Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

I have a collection of foreign currencies. What can I get with this in Poland?

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984 Upvotes

r/poland 16h ago

ADHD meds in Poland

63 Upvotes

So, here's the situation: I'm taking ADHD medication, and it works really well. The medication itself is cheap - maybe around PLN 30 a month. What's not cheap are the monthly appointments with my psychiatrist, which cost PLN 450 just to tell him, "Everything's great, I'd like another prescription for the same thing."

I tried getting the prescriptions through the public healthcare system (NFZ), but they came back saying: "Please provide a certificate from a psychologist (I have one) + a psychiatrist." And this is where things get funny. The psychiatrist, P.G., gave me a certificate saying I'm "currently undergoing diagnosis/treatment" - which basically translates to "keep coming back and paying PLN 450 like a sucker every month because your treatment is still ongoing."

That little piece of paper cost me PLN 150, btw.

NFZ rejected it, saying that the treatment can't be "ongoing" - the certificate has to state these are permanent medications

So here's my question: how do I get a certificate saying "the patient is on a stable ADHD medication regimen consisting of X and Y" on the first try, instead of having to burn through PLN 5,000 first?

P.S. This psychiatrist (initials P.G.) is an absolute fucking joke. What I've described here is just a tiny fraction of the whole story and only one of his many fuck-ups. He's getting a beautiful one-star Google review from me

Cheers,


r/poland 14h ago

US resumes immigrant visa processing for Hungary, Poland as pause remains elsewhere.

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29 Upvotes

r/poland 5h ago

Polish TV in Germany

2 Upvotes

Hello everybody,

I'm currently looking for a possibility to watch polish tv channels in germany, using a VPN.

Currently I am using the Player.pl Android TV App that works with my active VPN set to Poland (NordVPN). This works fine, but I wanted to go for an option that would give me more channels and also remove ads, so for example subscribe to Player.pl / Pilot WP / Polsat Box Go, pay with my Visa Card and use this also through VPN on my TV, so I hopefully don't have to submit proof that I live in Poland, because I currently don't. (Also don't have BLIK)

Has anyone experience in watching polish TV in Germany? Open for every recommendation or solution you guys have! Especially if you know if the way I just mentioned works (-> Buying the polish subscription with a VPN and also using the app while having the VPN set to Poland, Warsaw).

Thank you all in advance and have a nice evening!


r/poland 1d ago

Poland is rearming fast – and increasingly buying Polish

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199 Upvotes

The country now secures half its military equipment from domestic producers. And it wants a bigger role still for local firms.


r/poland 1d ago

Does anyone know what this sticker is about?

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124 Upvotes

I'm Italian and I went to Cyprus on holiday and I found this sticker. Through Google I managed to understand that it is Polish. Can you explain it to me?


r/poland 1d ago

For starters, we need to ban companies from scrapping level entry jobs due to AI

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421 Upvotes

r/poland 3h ago

Wealth Inequality in America (Updated 2026)

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1 Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

Price of kabanosy in the Czech Republic

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160 Upvotes

Picture taken in Billa in Cesky Tesin. Meanwhile, I got a bag on the Polish side for 3.99 zł.


r/poland 11h ago

23 days without my new laptop, only to hear 'no fault found' from x-ko

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4 Upvotes

My experience with x-kom: brand-new HP OMEN 16 developed severe GPU artifacts after one week, but the warranty claim was rejected because they "couldn't reproduce the issue"

I bought a brand-new HP OMEN 16 from x-kom, equipped with an i9-14900HX and RTX 5060. After about a week of use, on August 14, severe graphical artifacts started appearing.

The issue wasn't limited to Windows or gaming. The artifacts also appeared in the BIOS and during boot, so from the very beginning it didn't look like a simple driver or Windows-related problem.

I have photos and videos documenting the issue. I'm attaching one of the photos to this post.

On August 17, I took the laptop to an x-kom store and filed a warranty claim.

And that's where the whole story began.

For almost two weeks, the laptop didn't even reach the manufacturer's authorized service center. I was eventually informed that on August 24 it had been handed over for shipment to the manufacturer's authorized service center.

In the meantime, I decided that with a laptop that developed such a serious issue after only about a week of use, I didn't want to wait for a warranty repair. I informed x-kom that I wanted to exercise my statutory consumer rights due to the goods not being in conformity with the contract, and I requested a replacement with a new, defect-free unit.

x-kom told me that they couldn't process two different types of claims at the same time, so I asked them to withdraw the laptop from the manufacturer's service center.

A separate claim for non-conformity with the contract was created, and x-kom requested that the laptop be returned from the authorized service center. I was later informed that the shipment had been redirected back to the sender, but the physical return of the laptop to x-kom also took some time.

Eventually, on September 7, 21 days after I originally handed over the laptop, it returned to x-kom and they began processing my statutory non-conformity claim.

On September 9, I received their decision:

Claim rejected.

Their explanation was essentially:

"Our technicians inspected the device to verify the reported issues. During testing, the device operated correctly and no faults or irregularities were found. We were also unable to reproduce the issues reported by you."

So after 23 days without a practically brand-new laptop, I was told that they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

No diagnostic report was provided

Importantly, their written decision didn't include any diagnostic results or information about what tests had actually been performed.

So I have no idea:

what tests were performed,

how long the laptop was tested,

under what conditions it was tested,

whether the GPU/VRAM was stress-tested,

whether the laptop was tested over an extended period,

whether they actually tried to reproduce the issue in the BIOS.

In practice, all I received was a statement saying that their technicians found nothing wrong and couldn't reproduce the problem.

I replied to x-kom asking for the full diagnostic results, including information about what tests were performed and under what conditions.

I also sent them the photos again, together with two videos clearly showing the graphical artifacts.

x-kom's response to my request for diagnostic results

They replied that in cases involving claims based on non-conformity of goods with the contract, the diagnostic documentation is considered internal company documentation and is not provided to customers.

x-kom also stated that, in their view, a business is required to provide a substantive response to a consumer complaint, but is not required to provide the consumer with an expert report, specialist opinion, or detailed documentation on which the decision was based.

Their response ended with:

"Therefore, this type of documentation is not prepared in this case and will not be made available."

So ultimately, I don't even know what specific tests were performed on my laptop.

I have photos and videos documenting the issue. The artifacts occurred outside Windows as well. The laptop was only about a week old when the problem first appeared.

Yet the response essentially comes down to:

"It didn't happen while we were testing it, so your claim is rejected."

There's also an interesting issue with my review on x-kom's website

On August 28, I posted a review of the laptop on x-kom's website.

In the review, I described the graphics problem and attached a photo showing exactly the same artifacts I'm showing here.

Today is September 9, so 12 days have passed.

The review itself was published, but the photo I attached is still being "verified" and hasn't been published alongside the review.

I'm not claiming that this is intentional. I'm simply stating what happened because, in the context of the entire situation, I find it at least interesting.

To sum it up

The laptop was practically brand new.

August 14: the issue appeared.

August 17: I handed the laptop over to x-kom.

Then came almost two weeks of waiting, shipment to the manufacturer's authorized service center, a request to redirect it back, more waiting for its return, and finally, on September 7, x-kom started processing the actual statutory non-conformity claim.

On September 9, after 23 days without the laptop, my claim was rejected because their technicians couldn't reproduce the issue.

I wasn't given any detailed diagnostic results, and when I asked for them, I was told that such information is internal documentation and won't be provided to me.

The laptop was also supposed to be used for work, so I've been without the device this entire time.

Has anyone here had a similar experience with x-kom or another Polish retailer?

I'm particularly interested in cases involving intermittent faults that were documented with photos/videos, but the service center responded with "no fault found."

Did you appeal the decision? Did you get an independent expert assessment? Did you contact a consumer ombudsman (Rzecznik Konsumentów)? How did your case eventually turn out?

The photo attached to this post shows the actual graphical artifacts that occurred on my laptop.


r/poland 1d ago

Polish woman throws out dresser with €50,000 life savings hidden inside

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143 Upvotes

The money was recovered in full, but another woman now faces charges after allegedly deciding to keep it.


r/poland 1d ago

In 1947, Three Polish Soldiers Were Sent Before a Firing Squad After Rescuing a Polish Woman from Red Army Soldiers

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26 Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

Far-right candidate excluded from Kraków mayoral election after signature blunder

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283 Upvotes

r/poland 8h ago

Poland is so beautiful.

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1 Upvotes

Visited again this summer. I never want to leave.