Before you start

A Polish employment contract, and usually a work permit obtained by the employer
A trusted profile or e-dowód to authenticate into MOS
Health insurance and a stable source of income
A confirmed Łódź address

Step-by-step

1
Employer obtains the work permit
The voivode issues the work permit to the employer, often after a labour-market test. Some occupations and nationalities are exempt, and the EU Blue Card substitutes a salary threshold for the permit route.
Via employerWho: Your employerBefore you file
2
Create a trusted profile
MOS authenticates through login.gov.pl. A profil zaufany takes minutes inside a Polish bank app and is now upstream of the entire immigration procedure.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
3
File through MOS before your legal stay ends
Applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident status go through mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl only. The office is explicit that the application must be lodged no later than the last day of your legal stay in Poland — not the last day of your visa's grace period.
OnlineWho: YouBefore your current legal stay expires
4
Attend the appointment at Piotrkowska 103
Fingerprints, signature and original documents are handled in person by the Wydział Spraw Obywatelskich i Cudzoziemców. Failing to give fingerprints is grounds for refusing to open the proceedings at all, so this appointment is not optional.
In personWho: You
5
Get PESEL and meldunek from the city, separately
PESEL and address registration are municipal business, handled by the Urząd Miasta Łodzi, not the voivodeship. Meldunek is legally due within 30 days of moving in and the form needs the property owner's signature.
In personWho: YouFree
6
File your first Polish tax return in Łódź and pick up the resident's card
Not an immigration step, but it belongs in the same first-year sequence: settling your PIT with a Łódź tax office is what qualifies you for the Karta Łodzianina and its transport discounts.
In personWho: YouPLN 5 to activate

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the national visa where applicable
Employment contract and work permit, or Blue Card documentation
Proof of health insurance
Evidence of your Łódź address
Biometric photographs to Polish specification
The MOS-generated application form and its attachments

Things most newcomers don’t know

Choosing Łódź over Poznań or Wrocław can be worth several months of queue.

Residence permits are national law, but they are administered voivodeship by voivodeship and the caseloads are wildly uneven. The ministry's own figures have shown some voivodeships averaging over a year while others sit under six months, and Łódzkie has consistently been in the better group. Nobody advertises this and every relocation article treats Polish cities as interchangeable on immigration. They are not.

Source: MSWiA reporting on residence permit processing times

The office that decides your case is chosen by where you sleep, not where you work.

Jurisdiction follows your registered place of residence. Łódź is 70 minutes from Warsaw by train and a real number of people live here and work there — those people file in Łódzkie and benefit from its shorter queue. The reverse arrangement, a Warsaw flat with a Łódź job, puts you into Mazowieckie's much heavier caseload.

Source: Office for Foreigners — territorial jurisdiction

Paper is dead, and it died on a date rather than gradually.

From 27 April 2026 residence applications may only be filed electronically through MOS. Applications posted before that date but arriving after it were not processed — the postmark carried no weight. Employer HR packs and guides written before spring 2026 still describe the paper route, and following them costs you the whole application.

Source: UdSC — MOS launch notice

The lodging stamp legalises your stay and does not legalise your travel.

Once the application is accepted, a stamp keeps your presence in Poland lawful throughout the procedure even after the visa expires. It is not a visa, and leaving the Schengen area on a stamp with an expired visa risks not getting back in.

Source: Office for Foreigners procedure

Common mistakes to avoid

Posting a paper application after 27 April 2026, which is not processed at all.
Missing the appointment where fingerprints are taken, which stops the case being opened.
Filing after your legal stay has already lapsed rather than on its last day.
Filing in the wrong voivodeship because your address and your employer are in different ones.
Leaving the Schengen area on a lodging stamp with an expired visa.

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