Foreigners working in public administration

Pursuant to the Act of 21 November 2008 on civil service (Article 5 sec. 1), a person  who is not a Polish citizen may join the civil service solely if in an announcement of job vacancies the general director of the relevant office upon the consent of the Head of Civil Service identifies the positions which can be applied for by Polish citizens as well as European Union citizens and the citizens of other countries who are entitled to take up employment within the territory of the Republic of Poland under relevant international agreements or the provisions of Community law. A person who is not a Polish citizen may be employed on a position in the case of which the work performed does not consist in an indirect or direct discharge of public authority or functions aimed at protecting the general interests of the State and if such person knows the Polish language and if such knowledge is confirmed by means of a document stipulated in the Ordinance of the President of the Council of Ministers of 23 April 2009 on the types of documents confirming the knowledge of Polish by persons who are not Polish citizens and who are applying for a civil service job, i.e.:

  • a certificate of Polish language confirming a passed exam in Polish at the medium general or advanced level, issued by the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language;
  • document confirming graduating from university studies conducted in Polish;
  • certificate of secondary education obtained in the Polish educational system;
  • sworn court translator’s license issued by the Minister of Justice.

Article 11 of the Act of 21 November 2008 on self-government employees stipulates that self-government unit heads, such as:

  1. Marshal offices and voivodship self-government organisational entities;
  2. poviat starosty offices and poviat organisational entities;
  3. municipal offices, municipal auxiliary entities, municipal budgetary entities and self-government budgetary entities;
  4. offices (or their equivalents) of territorial self-government associations and self-government budgetary entities created by said associations;
  5. offices (or their equivalents) of administrative units of territorial self-government entities,

In their announcements of administrative job vacancies, including high-ranking administrative job vacancies, will identify positions which can be applied for both by Polish citizens and the citizens of European Union and other countries who are entitled to take up employment within the territory of the Republic of Poland under international agreements or the provisions of Community law. A confirmation of knowledge of the Polish language is similarly required.

These solutions may be applied both to EU citizens and the citizens of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, the Swiss Confederation, Ukraine and Russia.

Announcements on recruitment for positions in the civil service and self-government entities are published in the Public Information Bulletin (Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej) which must be available at the website of every institution.

NB: Under the laws of some countries, taking up work for a foreign country may be subject to additional conditions, sanctions or even altogether prohibited. Make sure whether you are entitled to take up such work according to the laws of your country of origin!

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Project “New law - my new rights” is co-financed by European Fund for Integration
of Third Country Nationals and Polands state budget

 Copyright © by Foundation for Development Beyond Borders, 2015