EU Blue Card in Poland: 2026 Salary Threshold and Rules
Short answer: Poland's EU Blue Card is a temporary residence permit for highly qualified work. For 2026 applications it requires a 6+ month contract and gross pay of at least 150% of the 2025 average salary: 13,355.34 zl a month. It lasts up to 3 years and Blue Card years count EU-wide towards long-term residence.
Poland's EU Blue Card, formally the temporary residence permit for work in a profession requiring high qualifications, is the fastest legal route for skilled non-EU professionals who earn well above the average wage. It bundles residence and work rights into one decision, gives generous rules for job loss and lets you count Blue Card years from other EU states towards long-term residence. Here is how it works under the foreigners act as of 14 October 2026.
Who qualifies
The permit is granted when every condition in article 127 of the foreigners act is met. You need a contract for at least six months: an employment contract, a contract of mandate or another civil-law contract under which you work or provide services. For a regulated profession you must hold the formal qualifications that profession requires; for other professions you need higher professional qualifications. You must have health insurance, your profession cannot be on the excluded list set under the 2025 foreign employment act, and your annual gross salary from the contract must be at least 150 percent of the average national salary announced by the statistics office GUS for the year before you apply.
The 2026 salary threshold
GUS announced on 9 February 2026 that the average salary in the national economy in 2025 was 8,903.56 zł a month. For applications filed in 2026 the Blue Card threshold is therefore 150 percent of that: 13,355.34 zł gross a month. The threshold is recalculated every year from the previous year's average, so check the current figure before you apply. The salary test looks at the annual gross pay implied by the monthly or annual amount written into your contract, and this is one of the few Polish permits where a civil-law contract qualifies, not only an employment contract.
How long it lasts and changing jobs
The permit is granted for the duration of your work plus three months, up to a maximum of three years, and it can be renewed. If you lose your job or change employer, you must notify the voivode who granted the permit in writing within 15 working days, and the same deadline applies if you stop meeting the permit conditions. Losing your job does not cancel the permit automatically: you have up to three months of unemployment if you have held the permit for less than two years, and up to six months once you have held it for at least two years. After two years of legal employment on a Blue Card, the excluded-professions condition no longer applies to you.
Moving within the EU and staying long term
A Polish Blue Card opens the rest of the EU. After twelve months on a Blue Card in one member state you can use long-term mobility to take up highly qualified work in another member state, and short-term mobility covers business stays of up to 90 days in any 180. Time on Blue Cards also adds up towards permanent status: the EU long-term resident permit accepts a total of five years of legal continuous residence in the EU on Blue Cards, as long as the last two years before your application were in Poland on the Polish Blue Card or the mobility permit. If you start using long-term mobility to another member state, you must tell your voivode within 15 working days.
How to apply
You apply to the voivode for the region where you will work, with the contract, proof of qualifications, health insurance and the standard temporary residence documents. The decision carries the annotation Niebieska Karta UE on your residence card. The authorities can refuse if the employer was set up mainly to channel foreigners into Poland, fails to pay social contributions, owes taxes or is insolvent, so a legitimate employer matters as much as your own paperwork. Fees and waiting times are the same as for other temporary residence permits; see our guides to residence permit fees and card wait times for the current numbers.
Frequently asked questions
### Can I qualify with a B2B or mandate contract instead of an employment contract?
Yes. The foreigners act expressly accepts a contract of mandate and other civil-law contracts, as long as the contract runs for at least six months and the gross salary meets the 150 percent threshold. Regulated professions still require the formal qualifications.
What happens to my Blue Card if I am made redundant?
Report the job loss in writing to the voivode within 15 working days. You then have three months of unemployment, or six months if you have held the permit for at least two years, before the permit can be withdrawn. A new job must still meet the salary threshold.
Does time on a German or Dutch Blue Card count towards Polish permanent residence?
It counts towards the EU long-term resident permit, not the ordinary permanent residence permit. The rule is five years of continuous legal residence in the EU on Blue Cards, with the final two years in Poland on the Polish Blue Card or the Blue Card mobility permit.
