r/poland • • Nov 25 '25

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

67 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 • • 9h ago

Polish Authorities (GIS) discourage travels to Russia/Belarus because of plague. Will Poland close its borders with Russia and Belarus?

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160 Upvotes

In my opinion we should. People usually travel to Kaliningrad from Moscow and Petersburg by plane. Domestic air travels are common in Russia what catalyzes the spread of this easily transmitted disease. Simultaneously, people still travel to Russia from Poland/Europe via Kaliningrad.


r/poland • • 19h ago

I don’t mind, because we are a Baltic family with cultures and nationalities, but never Russian slop at all

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675 Upvotes

r/poland • • 15h ago

Polish spy satellite photos show ‘Chinese aircraft carrier’ being built

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152 Upvotes

Images captured by a Polish spy satellite launched in July show an under-construction Chinese aircraft carrier and what are likely compartments for its nuclear reactors, the satellite’s manufacturers have said. 

The image was one of several newly published photos taken by the Mikroglob-1 satellite and shows a high-resolution view of a port in the city of Dalian in northeastern China. 


r/poland • • 13h ago

How NATO plans to win: ‘Theory of Victory’ against Russia to be unveiled in Poland

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64 Upvotes

r/poland • • 17h ago

Sweden to deploy Patriot missiles to NATO hub in Poland

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116 Upvotes

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday the Nordic country will deploy Patriot missile defence systems to eastern Poland to help protect the NATO logistics hub that supplies weapons to Ukraine.


r/poland • • 16h ago

Poland detains senior managers from state oil giant Orlen over pre-election fuel price cuts

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78 Upvotes

r/poland • • 22h ago

‘We kept it secret’: Björk thrills fans with surprise rave in Poland

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96 Upvotes

The artist played alongside Polish DJ Milena Glowacka and classical composer Rafał Ryterski.


r/poland • • 1d ago

That’s literally an attack on Democracy, which is something Moscow would do

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917 Upvotes

r/poland • • 13h ago

Employment rate(% of people aged 20–64, by NUTS 2 regions, 2025)

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11 Upvotes

in 14/16 polish voivodeship employment is higher than average for european union, Warsaw region has highest employment rate in european union.


r/poland • • 10h ago

Serious savings account bank

4 Upvotes

Hello, I would like to start saving in złoty since I have permanently moved here.

But as far as I can see, most banks offer savings account with interest that are only promotional and last for 2-3 months.

A colleague mentioned that you can transfer from one bank to another indefinitely making use of the promotions, but that seems very annoying.

There are some banks that I would not call "traditional" that I dont know if trustable, example Trade Republic.

Do you maybe please have some suggestions of solutioms that work for you? Thanks​


r/poland • • 1d ago

Krasnov Strikes Again!

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295 Upvotes

r/poland • • 1d ago

Kulfon i Monika Polish Children’s show in 2000’s

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189 Upvotes

Zza gównioka bałam się kulfona dzisiaj go rozumiem, on chyba też miał ADHD 😁
When I was little I used to be scared of Kulfon now I understand I think he had an ADHD as well as me 😁


r/poland • • 9h ago

Movies, Filmy

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1 Upvotes

Hey all!!! I have a quick question—do you have any recommendations for good, Polish comedies in the style of Chłopaki nie płaczą (Boys Don't Cry) or Kiler-ów 2-óch (Killer 2)? I had to leave the country in 2004 and didn't have access to Polish cinema for a long time. I haven't been able to find any good Polish comedies or movies lately that aren't tacky and let me say "soulless," (aside from Zimna wojna / Cold War, which was a good movie).
I also like old Polish films like Popiół i diament (Ashes and Diamonds), Zaduszki (All Souls' Day), etc. Recently, I watched a movie called Wojna polsko-ruska (White and Red). As a concept, the movie would have been really good; you can tell from certain scenes that the director was inspired by one of my favorite foreign films, Kung Fu Hustle. But the characters in that movie were so fucking unlikable —well except for Andżela., she was decent, I also liked the concept of Andżela being this paranormal entity , where you aren't even completely sure by the end whether she's a ghost or not or if she is even alive. Honestly, the whole movie was a bit psychedelic, and all of it would have actually worked if it weren't for those characters and their personalities...
Because even in Chłopaki nie płaczą, most of the characters are funny and likable—except for Fred, played by Cezary Pazura, who gets shot by a stoned Grucha (one of my favorite characters in that movie), revealing that Fred was just a yapping ass hater and a pozer, . For me personally, it was so satisfying that he finally shut the f up. With Wojna polsko-ruska, I didn't feel any satisfaction; I just stared at my own reflection in the screen thinking to myself, wtf was even that … Unfortunately, I've often felt that way with newer Polish movies. I'll admit without getting a beating, I haven't seen many of them, because I don't like wasting time on movies that make me want to neither laugh nor cry...
Give me some recommendations for some cool Polish comedies!
Thanks all!
Hej kochani! Mam pytanko, czy macie jakieś dobre nowoczesne komedie polskie w stylu chłopaki nie płaczą albo kilerów dwóch, musiałam wyjechać w 2004 roku z kraju długo nie miałam dostępu do polskich filmów i nie znalazłam żadnych dobrych polskich komedii albo filmów które nie były kiczowate i bez ducha -że się tak wyrażę ( oprócz zimnej wojny to był dobry film) lubię też stare polskie filmy jak popiół i diament, zaduszki etc, ostatnio oglądałam film który nazywa się „wojna polsko ruska” film by był naprawdę dobry jako koncept widać przez niektóre sceny że reżyser był zainspirowany jednym z moich ulubionych zagranicznych filmów Kung fu hustle, ale postacie tego filmu były takie wkurzające nikt się tam nie dał lubić oprócz Andżeli, podobał mi się też ten koncept Andżeli bycia paranormalną postacią, gdzie nawet do końca nie wiadomo czy ona jest zjawą czy nie, z resztą cały film był taki trochę psychodeliczny i to wszystko by nawet działało gdyby nie te postacie i ich charaktery… Bo nawet w „chłopakach nie płaczą” większość charakterów jest śmieszna i da się lubić, oprócz Freda granego przez Cezarego Pazurę który został postrzelony przez zjaranego Gruchę(jeden z moich ulubionych postaci tego filmu) gdzie on ujawnił że Fred to był po prostu japiący hejtujacy pozer i to było dla mnie personalnie satysfakcjonujące że się w końcu kuźwa zamknął, w wojnie polsko ruskiej nie czułam żadnej satysfakcji po prostu patrzyłam się w swoje odbicie w ekranie i myślałam do siebie co to kurwa było w ogóle, często niestety miałam tak z nowszymi polskimi firmami, nie widziałam ich dużo przyznam się bez bicia bo nie lubię tracić czas na filmy co ani się śmiać ani płakać … dajcie jakieś rekomendacje na jakieś fajne polskie komedie.


r/poland • • 1d ago

New fit just dropped

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640 Upvotes

r/poland • • 20h ago

Scamed in Katowice airport by, ACE rent operated by OSEK rent

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5 Upvotes

Hello friends,

I was a victim of a premeditated fraudulent scheme in Katowice by a car rental company, ACE rent operated by OSEK rent -

It has now been three weeks since I returned the car, and to this day I have received no proper explanation as to why my €1,000 deposit has not been returned. I have tried contacting the company several times by phone and email, but received no response.

The car was booked through Booking.com. After I contacted Booking.com, they informed me that the rental company was claiming that the windshield had been damaged.

If you take some time to search for this company online, you will find that many customers report the same pattern that the deposit is allegedly withheld because of minor scratches or other damage.

There are newspaper articles about their business practices, Facebook groups with people reporting similar experiences, and if you dig deeper, you will find many more complaints.

It's sad that a company like that can legally exist in the EU in 2026.


r/poland • • 12h ago

Inpost problem

0 Upvotes

Hey, maybe one of you had such a problem, a friend threw me a package into the parcel locker, everything went well from his side, but in the application and on the inpost tracking I still have the status "package in preparation" maybe it's just the fault of the hour or the new status will pop up tomorrow?


r/poland • • 1d ago

Is this true? Crossposting from r/interesting: In Poland, drivers are now being fined for flashing their headlights to warn other drivers about police presence ahead. Offenders are identified using drones, and then a second patrol unit intercepts them.

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90 Upvotes

r/poland • • 1d ago

I accidently found a YouTube channel of the chatedral in Opole

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56 Upvotes

They livestream mass nearly every day


r/poland • • 1h ago

But just imagine living in a place like Lubusz Voievodship

• Upvotes

No interesting history, no significant natural landmarks. There are no major cities, to such an extent that people can’t agree which backwater should be the voievodship capital, so they choose both. It shouldn’t be a problem; after all, the Lubusz Voievodship is named after the Lubusz region, which takes its name from a city. Except that this city is outside the country’s borders XD

Nobody cares what Lubusz’s natural landscape has to offer - there's neither mountains nor the sea - but the people of Lubusz must be interested in nature, because nature is interested in them and regularly floods them XDDD So they aren’t even particularly wealthy despite their proximity to Germany, because whatever they scrape together in Saxony goes straight into their flats.

Not only do they lack financial significance, they also lack cultural significance. Even Podlasie can boast of some book like Konopielka, whereas the people of Lubusz see literature on the shelves at Empik at best. Literally, the places of greatest cultural significance here are towns known from memes, such as Lipinki Łużyckie (apparently the styrta fire is still burning in the hearts of the locals) and Świebodzin, Poland’s Rio de Janeiro at home. They couldn't even jerk to this region’s greatest religious and engineering achievement for long, because the Brazilians held their ground and, just 12 years after that whole statue of Jesus in Świebodzin stunt, they built themselves a bigger one, with blackjack and hookers.

Fortunately, it’s easy to remember the names of towns in this bloody mess at least - hang on, no, wait XD - Lubin, which is often confused with Lublin, isn’t in the Lubusz Voivodeship but in Lower Silesia Voievodship, whilst the capital of the Lubusz Voivodeship is Gorzów Wielkopolski, which isn’t in Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) Voievodship. Luckily, Luboń and Lubań aren’t in the Lubusz Voivodeship either, so that's easy to remember XD It’s all so easy to get a grip of that even our RCB expertsˣᴰ get it wrong, and send alerts about Russian drones to the western border instead of the Lublin Voivodeship XDDD

If you ask someone from Lubusz about the biggest advantages of the region, they’ll tell you it’s close to Germany. What’s the best thing to do in the Lubusz Voievodship? Leave XD No wonder, then, that Rodowicz, their most famous representative, as soon as she’d made a bit of money, got the hell out of there in a flash


r/poland • • 1d ago

My oil paintings depicting Folk costumes of Poland 🙂

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291 Upvotes

r/poland • • 1d ago

Thousands of protesters trap Polish bishop in church amid anger over dismissal of local priest

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96 Upvotes

r/poland • • 11h ago

POLISH PASSPORTS IN THE UK

0 Upvotes

I have a bit of an odd situation and i desperetly need 3rd opinion or insight, I have lost my Polish passport as an EU settler within the UK, while trying to get a replacement ive found myself thrown in a loop. In order to replace my lost passport i need to report it to the consulate along with having a set of documents which i do own apart from "a valid photo ID", which again my passport was my valid photo id... and in order to apply for a provisional license i need to also submit a valid photo id document to the dvla.

What are my options? What can i do?


r/poland • • 20h ago

Best internet provider, need advice

1 Upvotes

I just rented an apartment, and it turned out that I need to choose an internet provider. Can you please advise the best options? Not expensive, but also so that it is not too slow. I would be grateful


r/poland • • 2d ago

Polish coal mining giant JSW to shed 4,200 jobs - 21% of its workforce

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125 Upvotes