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 5h ago

And his name is Jan Cena!

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665 Upvotes

r/poland 41m ago

‘Grandma’ is back: Poland's 1963 electric train returns to service

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Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

German right-wing distribute Nazi propaganda justifying attack of Poland

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1.2k Upvotes

Historical revisionism is on the rise in Germany. They are starting to be not ashamed of posting straight Nazi propaganda. The polls show that Germans are not aware what crimes their ancestors committed in Poland.


r/poland 21h ago

The AfD party in Germany are pretty much Russian Terrorist themselves as well, as one of their party policies is people must learn Russian as second language 🤔

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303 Upvotes

r/poland 22h ago

Poland moves to allow local communities to ban short-term rentals

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267 Upvotes

r/poland 15h ago

Just Reading This

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37 Upvotes

Quite brilliant


r/poland 1d ago

Poland’s gaming industry bets big on vampires

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185 Upvotes

Polish studio Rebel Wolves is set to release The Blood of Dawnwalker on September 3, adding another big-budget title to an industry long associated with The Witcher. 

The dark-fantasy, open-world action RPG is set in the fictional Vale Sangora, in the 14th-century Carpathians. Its protagonist, Coen, is human by day and a vampire by night; the two forms offer distinct combat, abilities and ways of navigating the world as he races to save his family.  

Rebel Wolves was founded by veterans of CD Projekt RED, including The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. Poland has 824 active game producers and publishers employing 14,568 people, according to the 2025 Game Industry of Poland report. The report places Poland roughly level with France in workforce size, behind Britain.  


r/poland 20h ago

Poland offers businesses seats on presidential plane for foreign visits

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39 Upvotes

r/poland 17h ago

American-born daughter of a Polish father considering relocating to Poland

21 Upvotes

First time on reddit,

need guidance and expertise from others about making a move from US to Poland. Please consider me a 'dumb American', albeit willing to learn, in your responses.

dziękuję!


r/poland 23h ago

Warsaw summons Russian envoy to protest at “aggressive actions”

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47 Upvotes

r/poland 4h ago

Xbox Game Pass introduces strict limits on cloud gaming time under the subscription. From 5 hours a month in the basic subscription to 15 hours a month with Ultimate. What do you all think about subscriptions and memberships?

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0 Upvotes

r/poland 14h ago

Czy da radę samemu nauczyć się na maturę rozszerzoną z histori? Is it possible to self-study for the extended high school graduation exam in history?

7 Upvotes

Jestem na profilu na którym jest tylko podstawowa historia, ale chiałabym napisać z niej maturę bo jest mi potrzebna i nie wiem czy dam radę sama się tego nauczyć. Czego mi trzeba jakbym się zdecydowała?
I'm on a profile that has only basic history, but I would like to write my high school graduation exam on it because I need it, and I'm not sure if I can learn it on my own. What do I need to do if I decide to go for it?


r/poland 12h ago

Do people under 40 watch shows like M jak miłość or panna młoda?

3 Upvotes

My mom and grandma watch M jak miłość, panna młoda, Dziedzictwo, barwy szczęścia and Akacjowa 38 every time it is being aired. I understand why elder people might enjoy the Turkish shows, but the little bit i see sometimes when my family watches their shows, m jak miłość and barwy szczęścia are sometimes really heavy on makeouts and sex scenes and that was also what my grandma often times complained about and for that reason usually prefers the foreign shows.
I always assumed that such shows are rather aimed at older folks and other village grandmas that sit every second day in a church might not necessarily enjoy looking at sex scenes twice an episode either, but considering that the shows are being aired for decades, they must have a stable audience.

Anyways, I would be really interested in reading if younger polish people under 40 watch these shows too?


r/poland 1d ago

Where the heck do you even buy male clothes anymore?

191 Upvotes

It's all enshitificated and overpriced trash. Used to buy polish brand Reserved, quite liked it​, but lately the prices and quality are ridiculous. +150zl for a basic polo shirt??? 1 wash and shrinks

Other polish brands I tried (Wolczanka, Vistula, etc) are trying so hard to sell you their "luxury" stuff , as if the clothes were not made for <5 zl in Bangladesh

And this is not only polish brands. I noticed pretty much any other chains, specially H&M, Levis, have completely gone mad. Clothes that last 2-3 months maximum.

I find myself always in a state of "I have no clothes", but unable to find any store, and travelling to distant shopping malls always disappointed

Would please the polish gentlemen please share tips and recommend stores? maybe local chains or brands?

P.D.: yes I know first world problems


r/poland 14h ago

Looking for good Vietnamese food vendors on Allegro 🇻🇳

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for recommendations for reliable Vietnamese sellers on Allegro.
My fiancée is Vietnamese, and we’re trying to find a good online vendor with a wide selection of Vietnamese groceries, rather than just the usual generic Asian products.
We’re mainly looking for things like:

- rice paper / bánh tráng
- Vietnamese sweets and snacks
- sauces and spices
- dried vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, etc.
- noodles and other staples
- and, most importantly, all the random Vietnamese food that only my fiancée knows the name of

If you regularly order Vietnamese products on Allegro, I’d really appreciate recommendations for specific sellers that you trust. Bonus points if they have a large selection of more authentic/traditional Vietnamese products!
Thanks! 🙏🇻🇳


r/poland 15h ago

Registration of residence

2 Upvotes

Hejka.

I have a question about the topic if anyone has any experience. So i moved here 4 years ago almost to be with my gf. At the time i went to the city office to get my pesel and to learn what else i needed, they told me i need to register at the city fir the residency, i did so, a one year registration that i extended for 3 years now, today i went to do so again for this year, when i was informed that i cant do that because i was not registered with the county, in this case silesia, in katowice. This was never brought up to me as something that would need to be done. I have a bank account, had multiple jobs, pesel, at one point even had my own company for b2b work, this was never an issue or brought up. A friend of mine also moved to the same city a few weeks ago and they registered his residency for 2 years, also did not mention anything to him(we are both eu citizens). So i told him about this as well. I checked the documents and everything i needed. But seeing as i have been here 3 years, i am worried about any fines etc. I have of course paid taxes and everything as normal, filled out my pit etc.
Do any of you have any knowledge about this or any experience?

Edit: i have not chnaged cities the zaświadczenie o zameldowaniu lasts a year, so i had to renew it, 3 years they renewd it no problem for a year more, i went today, and it was an issue, becouse i did not register in the voivodeship, and they couldnt renew the one in my city, which i was supposed to be told the first time i went


r/poland 1d ago

Poland grants Ukraine permission to search for remains of Ukrainians massacred by Polish partisans

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549 Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

What’s happening in Poland?

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159 Upvotes

r/poland 14h ago

Can you guys help me with indentifying some of these unreadable autographs of football players on jerseys that i got

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0 Upvotes

After 4 hours of trying to find from which football players autographs are they i gave up lol. Maybe some kind souls can help me indetify them 😭🙏


r/poland 1d ago

Polish PM says fire at drone factory was ‘deliberate’ sabotage

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266 Upvotes

r/poland 15h ago

Sudden appearance of Beggars?

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0 Upvotes

r/poland 1d ago

Police detain Russian suspected mobsters in Warsaw

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162 Upvotes

27.08.2026 - Polish police have detained three Russian citizens in an operation against suspected mobsters after firearms and ammunition were found in an apartment in Warsaw.

Police officers, accompanied by agents from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), entered the apartment in the Wola district of the Polish capital after receiving information that an organized criminal group could be operating there.

The operation was carried out last weekend, but police only disclosed details on Thursday.

Three men, aged 21, 25 and 42, were found inside. All were Russian citizens of Chechen origin.

During a search of the apartment, police found three firearms and ammunition in a bedroom wardrobe,” police said in a statement.

The men were taken to Warsaw police headquarters for questioning.

The 42-year-old was charged with possessing firearms and ammunition without a permit.

A court ordered him to be held in pre-trial detention for three months. If convicted, he could face between six and eight years in prison.

Deportation proceedings were launched against the 25-year-old, while the 21-year-old was released after being questioned as a witness.


r/poland 18h ago

Question about unusual legal advice

0 Upvotes

Hi,

Some time ago, I ordered a bag from Asia which, as it turned out, is made using crocodile leather (specifically, a species that may be protected under CITES). My package was stopped by customs authorities due to suspected violations of CITES regulations.

I received a request to provide the missing formal documentation, specifically a complete list of the materials/products used in the manufacturing process. After contacting the seller, I was informed that they would not be able to provide me with such documentation.

Because of all the problems that have arisen from this situation, I decided to request that the package be returned to the sender. Unfortunately, my request was rejected by the customs and tax office.

A few days ago, my customs agent passed on information received from an official that I may be facing a criminal-fiscal case. My natural reaction was to search online to find out what kind of penalty I could potentially face for violating these regulations, and I came across information stating that I could be sentenced to anywhere from 3 months to 5 years in prison.

I would like to emphasize that the bag was ordered for personal use and not for commercial purposes. Although I understand that ignorance of the law does not exempt someone from liability, I was not aware that importing this type of product required obtaining the appropriate documentation. I was also not informed about this by the seller at the time of purchase.

My question is: What penalty could I realistically face for this type of violation, and is there really a possibility that I could go to prison over a single bag that I ordered in good faith for personal use? Has anyone experienced a similar situation in the past?


r/poland 1d ago

How does e-TOLL actually work for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes? A tourist needs help 😅

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone!
We are tourists travelling through Poland with a Ford Raptor and a caravan, and our vehicle is over 3.5 tonnes, so we have to use e-TOLL.
We have registered everything and are using the e-Toll PL app, but we are really confused about how it works in practice. 😅
Could someone who regularly drives a vehicle/vehicle combination over 3.5 tonnes please explain this to us in simple terms?