Poland

Temporary residence permit for business activity. Poland has no golden visa; the realistic option for a family with capital is setting up and running a Polish company, then getting a residence permit tied to it.

Free, with the law behind every answer

Temporary residence permit for business activity

A temporary residence permit valid up to 3 years, renewable while the business continues to meet the conditions.

Who qualifies

Run a Polish company that, in its last tax year, earned income of at least 12 times the average gross monthly salary in the region where it is registered (roughly PLN 108,000–114,000, about $28,000–29,600 at PLN 1 = $0.26), or that employs at least 2 people full-time on permanent contracts; a brand-new company instead files a credible business plan for its first permit.
Act on Foreigners, Art. 142; Office for Foreigners, business-activity residence permit
Show personal income above the social-assistance threshold from a source other than the company’s own turnover, such as a management-board salary: at least PLN 1,010 net a month (about $262) living alone, or PLN 823 (about $214) per family member if not.
Office for Foreigners, temporary residence for business activity

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Does it fit your family?

2 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Income: Steady income each month, rising with each person who moves.
Just you$262
2 people$476
4 people$904
Time: Statutory limit is 60 days once filed, but 4–12 months is typical in practice, longer at busy voivodeship offices (Warsaw and Kraków), per Dudkowiak Kos Nikolaev law firm.
Cost: About $2,000–5,000 in company setup, accountancy, the PLN 340 application fee plus PLN 100 residence-card fee (about $114 combined), and legal help with the mandatory MOS e-filing.
The hard part: The 2026 mandatory electronic filing through the MOS portal, and proving the company’s own income or headcount test separately from the applicant’s personal income.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2036.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
3 years, renewable for 3 years at a time.
2030
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 3 years.
2032
Permanent residence
EU long-term residence: five years of legal, unbroken stay (study years count partly, some stays not at all), Polish at B1 shown by an official certificate, stable income and health insurance.
2035
Apply for citizenship
With a language test.
2036
Citizenship
The decision usually takes 0–6 months.

Language: Polish at B1, shown by an official certificate.
Time away: Three years in a row living in Poland on permanent residence or EU long-term residence, with stable income and a legal home. No single absence over 6 months and no more than 10 months away in total.
Two passports: Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Business residence counts in full toward the 5 years for EU long-term residence, and 3 years after that a family can ask to be recognised as Polish.

The law behind these dates

Living there.

Time you must spend there: No fixed day-count, but the office expects genuine, ongoing business activity in Poland and can question long absences at renewal.
Tax: Living in Poland more than 183 days a year, or having your centre of life there, makes you a Polish tax resident on worldwide income.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Read the Office for Foreigners’ page on the business-activity residence permit.Open mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl ↗
Gather these documents.
- Proof of steady income: at least $262 a month
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Postern can’t run this for you yet.

The official application forms, submission and recovery specification are not complete. Postern cannot run this application yet.

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