Before you start

Passport and residence document, visa or EU registration certificate
PESEL, preferred by most banks
A Polish address
CEIDG registration and NIP, for a business account

Step-by-step

1
Choose on English-language service
mBank, ING, Santander Bank Polska and Millennium have strong English apps and free currency sub-accounts. PKO BP and Pekao are larger but their branch service is effectively Polish-only.
OnlineWho: You
2
Open the account
Several banks onboard fully online with courier identity verification. Where a branch visit is needed, confirm English service at that specific branch before travelling to it.
In personWho: YouSame day to a few days
3
Issue the trusted profile in the same session
Your bank can create your profil zaufany in minutes. It unlocks e-PIT, NFZ services and — since April 2026 — the MOS residence portal, so doing it now removes a dependency from the front of your immigration timeline.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Activate BLIK
Six-digit codes generated in the app for online payment, cardless ATM withdrawal and instant transfers by phone number. Near-universal in Poland and the reason you will carry almost no cash.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Open a business account before your first invoice
Sole traders report a business account to the tax authority, and only business accounts can appear on the Ministry of Finance whitelist. Personal accounts cannot.
OnlineWho: You
6
Set up standing orders for czynsz and, if self-employed, ZUS
The building charge and sole-trader social contributions are both fixed and both monthly, and both are easy to forget in your first quarter. Automate them the week you start.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence card, visa or EU registration certificate
PESEL confirmation
CEIDG extract and NIP, for a business account
Proof of address, sometimes requested

Things most newcomers don’t know

Which tax office your PIT names is a Łódź-specific money question.

The Karta Łodzianina — the city's resident card — is issued on proof that you settle your income tax in Łódź, and it holds MPK season-ticket prices at pre-increase levels. Activation costs PLN 5 at Piotrkowska 8 and needs last year's PIT plus proof you live here. The city has deliberately tied a municipal benefit to your tax address, and people who commute in from a suburb and file elsewhere pay the higher fares.

Source: Karta Łodzianina — resident package terms

Your bank issues the digital identity your immigration filing depends on.

Since MOS became the only channel for residence applications in April 2026, the profil zaufany moved from convenience to prerequisite. Getting it inside a banking app takes minutes and needs no appointment; getting it at a government office needs a slot you would rather spend on something else.

Source: gov.pl — trusted profile issuance channels

A whitelisted business account is not optional if you invoice at scale.

Payments over PLN 15,000 must reach an account on the Ministry of Finance whitelist or the paying company loses its deduction and can be jointly liable for VAT. Personal accounts cannot be whitelisted, and the corporate outsourcing clients that dominate Łódź's contractor market check this automatically.

Source: Ministry of Finance — biała lista podatników VAT

Some banks will onboard you before PESEL, which is worth knowing early.

Because the trusted profile and therefore the residence filing depend on having a bank account, waiting on PESEL creates an avoidable bottleneck. Several banks open accounts for foreigners on a passport and visa with a reduced product set, then upgrade once PESEL exists. Ask explicitly rather than accepting the first no.

Source: Polish retail banking practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Delaying the trusted profile and blocking the MOS residence filing behind it.
Filing your PIT outside Łódź and quietly forfeiting the resident-card fares.
Invoicing Polish companies into a personal account that cannot be whitelisted.
Receiving foreign-currency payments into a PLN account and losing 2–4% to the spread each time.
Letting the residence document on file expire and having outgoing transfers frozen.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.