Temporary residence permit for long-term mobility of an EU Blue Card holder

Route status

Active as of 2026-04-07[1][5]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)Zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu mobilności długoterminowej posiadacza Niebieskiej Karty UE as of 2026-04-07[1][4]
Recorded from the statutory chapter or article heading; the Office for Foreigners' own procedure page uses the same wording. Diacritics as published.
Official name (English)Temporary residence permit for long-term mobility of an EU Blue Card holder as of 2026-08-24[4][5]
Working translation of the Polish statutory name. Poland publishes no official English text of the Act on Foreigners, so this is marked a translation, not an official English name.
Legal basisUstawa z dnia 12 grudnia 2013 r. o cudzoziemcach, art. 137a-138b (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079, as updated to 2026-04-07) as of 2026-04-07[1]
Instrument typeresidence permit as of 2026-04-07[1]

Who can apply

Who can apply
Nationals not served by this routeEU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-04-07[1]
Minimum ageNot applicable
Art. 137a imposes no minimum age. A minor's application is filed by a parent or guardian under art. 105 ust. 3, which is a procedural rule rather than an age threshold.
Criminal-record conditionNo as of 2026-04-07[1]

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial durationup to 3 years as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137e applies art. 131, art. 133-134a and art. 137 to this permit but not art. 128, so the general ceiling in art. 98 ust. 2 governs: the period necessary for the purpose, no longer than 3 years.
RenewableYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
Renewal durationNot established from a qualifying source
No separate renewal term exists – a further permit is granted under the same art. 98 ust. 2 ceiling of 3 years.
Work rightsown activity only as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137e applies art. 137: the decision states that the holder may work in a profession requiring high qualifications at not less than the art. 137a pkt 2 salary, and does not name the employer.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residenceYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 212 ust. 1 pkt 1 names this permit alongside the Blue Card for the EU-wide 5-year accumulation, and ust. 3 pkt 2 for the wider tolerated breaks.

Requirements

Requirements
Job offer requiredYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137a pkt 1 lit. a: a contract of at least 6 months, on the same terms as art. 127.
Salary threshold
    • Measured against: statistical average
    • Amount: 1.50 × average wage in the national economy (annualised total) per year as of 2026-08-24[1][3][4]
      Art. 137a pkt 2 states the same 150% test as art. 127 pkt 3, word for word, against the same GUS announcement. Same annualised reading and the same PLN 160,264.08 operative figure for applications filed in 2026.
Labour-market testNo as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137a does not carry art. 127 pkt 2's negative-occupation-list condition at all – the applicant already holds another member state's EU Blue Card. Sourced absence on a closed enumeration.
Qualification requirementregulated profession as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137a pkt 1 lit. b names only the regulated-profession condition. Unlike art. 127 pkt 1 lit. c it does not restate the higher-professional-qualifications condition, because the applicant must already hold an EU Blue Card issued by another member state on that basis (lit. c). The record does not infer a degree requirement the Polish text does not impose.
Employer sponsorshipYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
A contract with a Polish entity is a condition of the grant.
Paid in-countryYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
The salary test in art. 137a pkt 2 applies to the Polish contract.
Job-search routeNo as of 2026-04-07[1]
Not a job-search route.

Process

Process
Where to apply fromin-country only as of 2026-04-07[1][5]
Art. 105 ust. 1: the foreigner files the application in person, no later than the last day of their legal stay in Poland. There is no consular stage for this permit. The pending amendment carried in the consolidated text rewrites art. 105-106a and moves filing into the Office for Foreigners' electronic Moduł Obsługi Spraw (MOS); the Office's own procedure pages already describe electronic filing through MOS. The entry-into-force date is to be announced by communique under art. 17 of the Act of 21 November 2025 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794).
Statutory processing time30 days as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 137d ust. 1: the decision is issued within 30 days, with art. 112a ust. 2 governing when the clock starts; the appeal stage closes within 60 days (ust. 2). This is the shortest statutory clock on any Polish temporary residence permit.
Observed processing timeNot established from a qualifying source
No official observed-duration statistics were located for this permit; the Office for Foreigners publishes the statutory deadline, not outturn times.
Fees
    • Kind: application
    • Amount: PLN 440 one-off as of 2026-08-24[7]
      Opłata skarbowa, Part III of the annex to the Act of 16 November 2006 on stamp duty, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1154 as updated to 2026-08-03. Item 2 sets PLN 340 for a temporary residence permit generally; item 2b sets PLN 440 for permits under art. 114 ust. 1 and 1a, art. 127, art. 137a, art. 139a ust. 1 and art. 139o ust. 1; item 2c sets PLN 170 for the art. 185a seasonal permit; item 2d sets PLN 220 for changing a single permit under art. 120 ust. 1. Permits under art. 160 pkt 4, 5 or 6, art. 176 and art. 186 ust. 1 pkt 8 and 9 are exempt.
    • Charged per: application
    • Paid by: applicant
    • Kind: card
    • Amount: PLN 100 one-off as of 2026-08-24[2]
      § 2 pkt 1 lit. a of the Regulation of the Minister of Interior and Administration of 26 July 2022: PLN 100 for the issue or replacement of a residence card. The same regulation provides reductions for named categories (§ 4), which are not recorded here.
    • Charged per: applicant
    • Paid by: applicant
Quota
  • Quota exists: No as of 2026-04-07[1][6]

Physical presence

Physical presence
none statedto keep the permit as of 2026-04-07[1]
The Act on Foreigners attaches no minimum-presence or maximum-absence condition to holding a temporary residence permit. What it does attach, in art. 101, is withdrawal where the purpose of the stay ceases or the conditions of the grant are no longer met – a purpose test rather than a day count. The 6-month and 10-month absence limits recorded at country level under permanent_residency.absence_rules bite on the qualification for the EU long-term resident permit, not on this permit.

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be includedYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 159 ust. 1 pkt 1 lit. he: a family member of a holder of a permit for long-term mobility of an EU Blue Card holder may be granted a temporary residence permit for family reunification with no prior-residence condition on the sponsor.
Eligible relationsspouse, minor child as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 159 ust. 3: a spouse in a marriage recognised by Polish law, and minor children (including adopted children) of the foreigner, of the spouse, or of either where dependent and under their actual parental authority. Minority is assessed at the date the application is filed (ust. 3a).
Family may apply at the same timeYes as of 2026-04-07[1]
Art. 168 ust. 4 and 4a: where the family member's application is filed on the same day as, or within 3 days of, the principal's application, the same wojewoda decides both and issues the family decision immediately after the principal's.
Family members' work rightsfull as of 2026-08-07[8]
Art. 3 ust. 1 pkt 17 of the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for the admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners: a holder of a temporary residence permit granted under art. 159 ust. 1 of the Act on Foreigners has free access to the labour market (swobodny dostęp do rynku pracy) – no work permit, no employer tie, no hours cap.

Your next step

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Verification

Verification
Sources cited8
of which official (tier 1)8
Oldest as-of date2026-04-07
Newest as-of date2026-08-24
Reviewed on2026-08-26
Schema version1.1

Sources

  1. [1] Ustawa z dnia 12 grudnia 2013 r. o cudzoziemcach — tekst ujednolicony (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079)
    Kancelaria Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-08-07 · Accessed 2026-08-23 · Amended by pl-aliens-act-amendment-2025-1794, pl-work-admissibility-act-2025
  2. [2] Rozporządzenie Ministra Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji z dnia 26 lipca 2022 r. w sprawie opłat pobieranych w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej od cudzoziemców za wydanie i wymianę dokumentów (Dz.U. 2022 poz. 1583)
    Kancelaria Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2022-07-26 · Accessed 2026-08-23
  3. [3] Komunikat Prezesa Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego z dnia 9 lutego 2026 r. w sprawie przeciętnego wynagrodzenia w gospodarce narodowej w 2025 r. (M.P. 2026 poz. 192)
    Główny Urząd Statystyczny / Monitor Polski · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2026-02-10 · Accessed 2026-08-24
  4. [4] Zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu wykonywania pracy w zawodzie wymagającym wysokich kwalifikacji (Blue Card)
    Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców — Moduł Obsługi Spraw · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-24
  5. [5] Zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy — praca: katalog zezwoleń
    Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców — Moduł Obsługi Spraw · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-24
  6. [6] Akt prawny: ustawa o cudzoziemcach (Dz.U. 2013 poz. 1650) — metadane ELI, w tym wykaz aktów wykonawczych i aktów zmieniających
    Kancelaria Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej — API ELI · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-24
  7. [7] Ustawa z dnia 16 listopada 2006 r. o opłacie skarbowej — tekst ujednolicony (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1154), załącznik część III
    Kancelaria Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-23
  8. [8] Ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2025 r. o warunkach dopuszczalności powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej — tekst ujednolicony (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, 1794, z 2026 r. poz. 203, 473, 734)
    Kancelaria Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-05-16 · Accessed 2026-08-24

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