Karta Pobytu Salary Requirement 2026: Minimum Wage Rules

For a work-based karta pobytu, the monthly pay your employer states in Annex 1 must be at least the minimum wage: 4,806 PLN gross in 2026 and 4,950 PLN from 1 January 2027. That holds for any working hours and any contract type (art. 114 of the Act on Foreigners). Your pay also can't be lower than what others earn in comparable jobs.

Simple on paper. Yet the Mazowiecki office refuses on pay grounds people who work legally and get paid on time. The usual culprits are a half-time contract, an umowa zlecenie with no hours stated, or a contract nobody updated for the new year.

What the law actually requires

A zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę (temporary residence and work permit) is granted when work is the purpose of your stay and the conditions of art. 114 ust. 1 are all met:

1. You have health insurance.
2. Your occupation is not on a list that a starosta (county head) may draw up for their county when the local labour market is weak, approved by the voivode (pkt 3).
3. The pay in the employer's annex is not lower than that of workers doing comparable work for the same hours (pkt 4).
4. The monthly pay is at least the minimum wage "niezależnie od wymiaru czasu pracy i rodzaju stosunku prawnego", meaning regardless of hours and contract type (pkt 5).

The labour market test (informacja starosty) is gone: that point of art. 114 has been repealed. If you are exempt from needing a work permit, for example as a graduate of full-time studies in Poland, the occupation and comparable-pay conditions don't apply to you (ust. 4).

The minimum wage in 2026 and 2027

The threshold is gross. Take-home pay on 4,806 PLN is roughly 3,606 PLN according to Zielona Linia, the public employment services helpline, and your exact figure depends on your tax situation. The Mazowiecki office states it plainly on its procedure page: "aktualnie 4806 zł brutto miesięcznie".

Filed in 2026, decided in 2027: which minimum applies?

The voivode decides on the facts as they stand on the decision date, and in the Mazowiecki office many months can pass between filing and decision. If your contract and annex say exactly 4,806 PLN and the decision comes after 1 January 2027, the inspector will see pay below the new minimum. That is exactly what happened to 2025 contracts at 4,666 PLN in early 2026. Ask your employer to sign an aneks (contract amendment) now raising your pay to at least 4,950 PLN from 1 January 2027, and keep it ready for when the office writes to you.

Part-time: why a half-time job at the minimum fails

Labour law and immigration law count differently. Under the Kodeks pracy (Labour Code), the minimum wage for part-time work is proportional: 2,403 PLN gross for half-time, 3,604.50 PLN for three-quarter time. That job is perfectly legal.

For a karta pobytu it is not enough. Art. 114 demands 4,806 PLN a month whatever your hours. On half-time, your hourly pay has to be roughly double the minimum; on three-quarter time, about a third higher. The decision itself will record the minimum pay proportionally for part-time work (art. 118 ust. 5), but that is how the decision is worded, not a softer rule at the application stage.

Two jobs instead of one

You can add salaries together. If you work for two employers, the threshold is met when the pay in their annexes adds up to at least the minimum (art. 114 ust. 4b). Each employer fills in its own annex, and the decision lists the conditions separately for each (art. 118 ust. 2).

The flip side: losing either job has to be reported to the voivode in writing within 15 working days (art. 121 ust. 1). If what's left falls below the minimum, you'll need a new job and a permit change.

Umowa o pracę or umowa zlecenie?

Both work, and the threshold is the same. The contract must be in writing and signed before you start (art. 5 of the Act of 20 March 2025 on employing foreigners).

An umowa zlecenie (civil-law contract of mandate) has two extra points. The hourly rate cannot go below 31.40 PLN gross, the separate minimum for civil-law contracts. And the annex must state your weekly hours: the Mazowiecki office lists missing hours, and "an hourly rate without the number of hours", among the most common errors. The inspector has to multiply hours by rate and see a monthly total.

Switching from a zlecenie to an umowa o pracę needs no permit change; the employer just notifies the voivode within 15 working days (art. 119). Going the other way changes the contract type recorded in your decision, which means a change application for 220 PLN.

What the inspector checks

When your case reaches the pay review, an inspector at the Wydział Spraw Cudzoziemców (Foreigners' Department) looks at:

1. Whether Annex 1 matches the contract: job title, hours, amount, contract type.
2. Whether the monthly amount reaches the minimum wage and the pay for comparable jobs.
3. For a zlecenie: whether weekly hours are given and hours times rate reach the threshold.
4. Whether the employer owes ZUS or tax and has registered all staff with ZUS (art. 117 pkt 1 lit. h-j).
5. Whether the employer runs a real business and can afford your salary (art. 117a). A company set up mainly to bring foreigners in will be refused.

Anything missing is requested by a formal letter (wezwanie) giving at least 14 days (art. 106f). In renewal cases we regularly see requests for payslips, the PIT-11 annual tax statement and ZUS contribution records: the inspector wants to see the declared pay was actually paid. If your employer pays late, sort it out before you file; here is how to recover unpaid wages through PIP.

What if my pay is cut while the card is valid?

The decision records your najniższe wynagrodzenie, the lowest pay, as a floor for the permit's whole validity (art. 118 ust. 1 pkt 3). A raise needs nothing. More hours with a proportional raise needs no change either (art. 119).

A cut is different. If your pay goes down and the permit isn't changed, the voivode revokes it (art. 122 pkt 1). Applying for a change with pay below the minimum is pointless: the voivode may refuse, and with a new employer must refuse (art. 120 ust. 4 pkt 4 and ust. 6). Our article on the karta pobytu tied to an employer lists the other conditions you're bound by.

Renewals follow the same logic: the next application is judged against the minimum in force on the decision date. Timing is covered in when to apply for a renewal.

Is the requirement gross or net?

Gross. Both the minimum wage and the figure in the annex are before tax and contributions. 4,806 PLN gross is the threshold; around 3,606 PLN net is what lands in your account.

Can I apply below the minimum if my pay goes up later?

No. The condition is checked against the annex and the contract, and since 5 March 2026 the 440 PLN stamp duty is not refunded after a refusal (art. 113c). Amendment first, application second. If you've already been refused, you have 14 days to appeal; our piece on karta pobytu refusals covers what to put in it.

Typical situations

Composites, details changed.

Example one. A forklift operator on an umowa zlecenie works 120 hours a month at 35 PLN: 4,200 PLN. The hourly rate beats the civil-law minimum, but the monthly total falls short of 4,806 PLN. To pass, the annex needs at least 138 hours (138 × 35 = 4,830 PLN), and 142 hours (4,970 PLN) if the decision comes after 1 January 2027.

Example two. A worker on three-quarter time earns 3,700 PLN gross. Under the Labour Code that's fine, above the proportional minimum of 3,604.50 PLN. For the card it's 1,106 PLN a month short: full time, a second job with its own annex, or a raise.

If you work through an agency, the user employer changes and the 18-month cap come on top of the pay rules; see the karta pobytu through a temp agency.

This is an overview; for your own situation, get an individual assessment from a lawyer.

We check your contract and Annex 1 before filing and see the karta pobytu through to a decision, from 2000 PLN: send us your details.