Marija Jakubowycz
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Marija Jakubowycz
Marija Jakubowycz

Marija Jakubowycz came to Poland in 2001 from a village near Ternopil in Ukraine in search of a job. She was going to stay in Poland for a month, but she has been living in our county for as long as 13 years now. In the beginning Marija went through a baptism of fire, working as a cleaning lady, a carer for a sick lady and a child…  Numbers of various jobs! For the last 8 years, she has worked as a teacher of Russian and Ukrainian, and a translator. In 2009, she set up the Ternopilska Foundation. She uses her skills and experiences in social work and volunteering for the benefit of Ukrainians. She feels best among books, in libraries and bookshops. Her long-standing dream is to read together with others. She likes Turkish coffee and Ukrainian poppy-seed cakes (Ukrainian: palanyci z makom). She likes travelling and visiting foreign countries but  also wants to explore as many corners of Ukraine as possible.  

I would like to start with some positive aspects but the first sentence goes as follows...

Unfortunately, a Polish employer is not willing to employ a foreigner and fulfil all standards of law. They do not have to be and indeed are not bad themselves nor are they a horror of a foreigner. However, complicated legal rules and disproportionately high costs of the employment cause the employers to look for easier ways of documenting all situations that take place in their firms or companies.

 

How is a foreigner supposed to act when they were employed on an oral contract basis (the law allows also for such a form of employment) by an employer that is not willing to apply for a work permit, submit a declaration, register them for social security, pay obligatory financial contributions to the ZUS (ZUS – ZakładUbezpieczeńSpołecznych, Social Insurance Institution), or pay the income tax? All those matters should be documented and, more importantly, they should require frequent contacts between an employer and some public administration institutions.

Let us step back for a moment: why should employers bother with some complications related to employing foreigners when they have to face almost as many formalities when they want to employ NON-foreigners?

My advice for all foreigners who want to document their employment and residence is to apply the most popular solution – take maximum responsibility for the contact with public administration and accounting services, being aware of the future costs of employment and willing to cover some of them on one’s own.

Below, I provide a practical example.

Ms N. has been working for some family for years: she does the cleaning, she cooks, takes children to school and picks them up. She likes her job and does not complain about her earnings. However, after a few years she learns more about regular employment and the possibility of obtaining permanent residence on the basis of the several years of employment. What is she supposed to do?

- She should find the information about the costs of the regular employment.

- She should find the information about the proceedings and formalities in public institutions.

- She should find the information about the institutions that deal with work permits, social security register, or residence permits, and find local institutions, to which she should apply.

- She should collect all mentioned information and be aware that she can do that on her own, authorized by her employer.

- Only then can Ms N. talk with the family for which she works about her wish to take up regular employment; she can tell them that she is aware of all proceedings and that she can deal with them on her own.

The success in solving the case is guaranteed.

Knowledge about everything that concerns public administration is also an invaluable asset for a foreigner, to their benefit for many years of their residence in Poland.

Should you have any additional questions or need the models of documents, authorizations, or help with filling them in – I offer my help; my e-mail address: . While working with foreigners and public administration authorities, I prepared the models of various useful documents and I am willing to share them.

Some important rules concerning applying for a work permit:

  • An application for a work permit should be submitted by an employer or an authorized person (it can be a future employee, a foreigner). The cost of the authorization – no costs. The authorization should be signed by an employer.
  • An employer cannot hire a foreigner if a foreigner does not have a valid work permit that was issued for the firm of the given employer. In accordance with the law, a work permit is now personal, both for an employer and a future employee.
  • The information that is provided in an application for a work permit is essential for the possible future procedure of applying for a temporary or permanent residence permit or a long-term resident status. The employment should strictly follow the criteria that were indicated in the permit, e.g. a post and salary. Note! The salary can be changed for the higher (and not the lower) value. However, it is impossible to change a post!
  • The validity of a work permit can be prolonged for 2 years if an application is submitted at least 30 days before the expiration of a permit.
  • The most popular type of a work permit for foreigners concerns a foreigner that works in Poland and is employed by an employer whose firm is located on the territory of the Republic of Poland.
  • The copies of a foreigner’s and employer’s documents are necessary to submit an application (in some provinces, it is necessary to present the originals of documents). The originals HAVE TO be available for inspection with the application.
  • The originals of the authorization are necessary to submit an application.
  • The documents that are signed by an employer have to be signed in accordance with the form of representation of the company. It is verified with the valid register in the National Court Register (KRS – KrajowyRejestrSądowy) or with another document that confirms the legal status and the nature of the activity.
  • The institution that is responsible for issuing decisions concerning work permits for foreigners is the provincial administration office (UrządWojewódzki) according to the address of a firm or an employer’s place of residence.
  • Obtaining a work permit takes place in two stages:
    a) A labour market test and a consultation with a district employment office (PowiatowyUrządPracy) about the possibility of meeting the requirements of a given job offer (from 7 to 14 days after the submission of an offer).
    b) Obtaining a work permit (3-4 weeks after the submission of an application).
  • In some cases it is possible to obtain a work permit without conducting a labour market test. But this issue will be the topic of the next article, containing examples and the description of all proceedings.

October-November 2014, MarijaJakubowycz

Translation: Alicja Kosim

 

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"R" like registration of residence

R like registration of residence

The law has many faces – the theory may be helpful while dealing with them. However, the thing that encouraged me to write this article was the everyday experience of Foundation Ternopilska concerning registration of residence. Step by step, I will write how to register your place of stay in Poland.

When the registration of residence of a foreigner is necessary?

In order to receive PESEL number. Similar numerical identifications function in any country, where tax and evidence data of its citizens is collected and stored.

PESEL is given to a foreigner after two weeks, after registration of a stay for a period longer than 3 months – it may concern 92, 95, 100 or more days. If the stay is shorter than 3 months – PESEL number will not be given.

Why this article is concerned so much with PESEL, when it was meant to provide information about registration of residence? For a foreigner the registration of residence, as I have mentioned above, is the only way to receive PESEL number. Having such identification number makes the life in Poland easier.

We will be asked to provide our PESEL number in following institutions and situations:

- bank

- clinic

- ZUS (Social Insurance Institution)

- tax office

- in a hospital, on ER

- when signing an agreement with employer

- university, higher education institution

If we do not have the PESEL number, we are obliged to present international passport, but still not all institutions are allowed to identify a person on the basis of this document, as the number of the passport may change, just like a surname – PESEL is always the same.

When the registration of residence is helpful?

- when applying for a residence card

- when registering as an unemployed

- for the sense of stability in a foreign country

When the registration of residence is substituted by other documents?

Very important institution for us foreigners is the Office for Foreigners, located in Voivodeship Offices. When applying for a residence card, it is necessary to deliver all the required documents certifying our stay in Poland, and providing certain place of residence. The department demands one of the following documents: confirmation of registration, rent contract, lending contract, deed of ownership of the apartment we live in. It is worth to obtain one of the documents required by the institution, but do not panic if you are not able to get the registration of residence or the rent contract.

I am emphasizing the moderation because in case of registration of residence the good will of the flat owner is crucial – if the owner does not want to register our stay there is nothing much we can do. Owner of the apartment has such right and registration of residence of the others is a right, not duty.

If the department insists on the certification of registration of residence, it’s worth to write a declaration: “I declare that the owner of the apartment I currently reside, has not assented to my registration of residence.” This should be enough to make our case carry on.

Registration – step by step

You would like to register your place of residence but you are convinced that it’s complicated and time consuming. I’ll prove you wrong – there is nothing easier.

You are no longer obliged to deregister your previous place of residence. Now all the formalities may be solved in the office. The whole procedure of registration of residence takes 10 minutes – you only need to collect necessary documents. You may already have some of them:

  1. Personal ID – probably it’s in your wallet
  2. Filled out registration of residence form – collectible in the office
  3. Birth certificate (a certified copy) – applies to minors. If you have such document at home, take it with you. You don’t own one? Doesn’t matter, we can handle this without it.
  4. Document certifying the legal basis of the place of residence (original – available for inspection).

What else you should know? (Changes from January 1, 2013)

  1. The time for notification of the registration of residence has extended to 30 days.
  2. You don’t have to register your stay up to 3 months.
  3. All formalities concerning registration of residence may be commissioned to your assignee.
  4. You won’t pay a penalty fee for not registering in term.
  5. Registration of residence for a period exceeding 3 months for foreigners and citizens of European Union and their relatives (close family). Foreigners, citizens of European Union member countries, citizens of EFTA member countries, or citizens of Swiss Confederation and relatives of such foreigner residing on the territory of Republic of Poland are obliged to register the place of residence lasting more than 3 months, 30 days at the latest, counting from the day of arrival in this place.

Foreigners other than mentioned before residing on the territory of Republic of Poland are obliged to register the place of residence 4 days at the latest, counting from the day of arrival, if the stay is longer than 3 months. But if the stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland does not exceed 14 days, there is no such obligation.

Source and more information: Ministry of the Interior

By Marija Jakubowycz (October 2014)

 

 

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I have a fear of state institutions…

I have a fear of state institutions…

While writing an article about foreigners and Polish public offices together with my friend from Ukraine, I decided to show how Ukrainian public office workers treat their customers. A rhetorical question asked by me friend working for a non-governmental organisation gives an idea of what dealing with administrative matters means for Poles: “Is it also so difficult to do anything in public offices there in Ukraine?”

Anything that concerns dealing with administrative matters creates negative emotions in most of people. Such is also the attitude of many, if not all, foreigners who come to Poland. I will not write, however, about what waits in store for them in Poland; I will write about the Ukrainian experience which has shaped the consciousness and beliefs also of those who begin new lives in new countries with a negative attitude towards public offices.

And the ever-helpful Janusz Weiss from the first channel of the Polish radio, always striking a chord with the spirit of the times with his programme “Everything you don’t know and are not afraid to ask” addressed to a Polish citizen in a public office (and here comes this fear again…).

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I’m leaving the country… What to take with me?

I’m leaving the country… What to take with me? 

A flower is not always able to blossom there where it springs up …

I’m leaving now…

There may be some moments in our life when we have to move to a new distant place. On the emerging horizon, expectedly or unexpectedly, there appears a non-touristic trip, full of emotions and attractions. It’s only the beginning of our new life in a foreign country. Circumstances force us to leave our cosy old house and build a nest for ourselves in an unknown new place. What to take and not to take on this trip to a new world? Let’s think about that.

 

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Leaving Ukraine? Oh my gosh! Where to start?

Such is human nature that one always wants more money and believes that there is a better world elsewhere… I think this quality manifests itself particularly strongly among Ukrainians  –  it is better OVER THERE… Many people think that their problems revolve around day-to-day living and money. But when they leave the country, it turns out that the problem lies in themselves – in their hang-ups, stereotypes, behaviours, beliefs, emotions and laziness…

Once…

…as a child, when I lived in a small village in the Subcarpathian region of Ukraine, I saw many of my friends’ parents go abroad to earn some money and leave their kids under the care of their grandparents. Those parents seemed to me to be extremely courageous people, almost supermen, because their children stood out with their new clothes, shoes and toys which were quite extraordinary for us. The neighbours who stayed put at home were jealous of those people and often judged them, when family fell apart because they could not bear separation (or maybe that separation was the final part of a break-up caused by weak family ties, a lack of love and understanding). Judging and criticising, devoid of any sympathy, were especially harsh towards the children who got into trouble in the absence of their parents.  

When someone didn’t fare well abroad and died there, people generally sympathised with the family. When someone was not successful abroad and came back home, he or she was mocked. People gossiped about everyone, also about young women who must have turned to prostitution or other immoral trade, because there was certainly no other possibility for them to earn money.

A village like mine always listens out for scraps of new information and gossips  –  someone comes back for holidays from abroad and the village looks at him carefully, judges, criticizes and eagerly receives the latest news.  And no matter what those wage earners said, no matter how frank, authentic and complicated their feelings, experiences or stories of adaptation to life in a foreign country were, others still considered them lucky devils who had hit the jackpot.  Problems do not exist, money is the only visible thing. Those who came back only to take their family abroad and bid farewell to the village were considered the luckiest.

What is it like there?

Travel, so the saying goes, broadens the mind. But this is sometimes only at a huge cost. The situation of Ukrainian female migrants is perceived primarily from the vantage point of the considerable benefits that the host societies reap from their work. In comparison with local service providers, they are cheap labour. Migrants do not burden the budget of the host country with the obligations of the citizens towards their employees. Moreover, getting familiar with Poland and its people, migrants do more for bringing closer the two countries and building their mutual understanding than grand-scale political enterprises. If migrants draw pleasant experiences from their stay in Poland, they will become the country’s ambassadors in Ukraine. One of the biggest problems migrants encounter is flat rental. Female migrants often undertake work with accommodation provided, frequently as 24-hour carers for the infirm. This results in their isolation and heavy dependence on the employers. Female migrants often have little awareness of their rights, do not demand to have their work registered and may be misled as to the consequences of illegal work, or work for an employer different than the one named in the application for a work permit in Poland.

Once…

...I left my village, too. I realized that my village could not offer me any life opportunities, so I emigrated to Kiev to work and study there.  Although, strictly speaking, Kiev is not abroad, it was inaccessible for my friends from the village. My rose-tinted glasses got broken after a month or so, when I took a job at McDonald’s to somehow survive. During my first week there, I had to clean the toilets. Later I became a cashier, which was only psychically lighter work. A toilet stood for me as a symbol of my debasement, a phase in my life that I was starting to leave behind. The city did not accept me and I felt strange.  Every day, every minute ‒ challenges and trials. Within the boundaries of the same country, the same worldview, I had heard so many times that my inborn industriousness, typical of West Ukraine, “did not allow inhabitants of Kiev to have some rest and live peacefully, but stole their jobs.” It hurt at first, but later I started to take it as a compliment.

What is it like there?

I was walking through Warsaw on a Sunday afternoon and talking on the mobile phone in Ukrainian, when suddenly a young man stopped in front of me and started a conversation: you are from the East, you’ve come here to steal work from people like me.  I looked carefully at my interlocutor – he was wasted and staggered. I replied that I did not steal work from anyone, least of all from him. My another memory goes back to 2003, when, together with my employer, I first applied for a work permit. Both then and now, over 10 years later, the Polish law required and requires an employer who takes on a foreigner to obtain the opinion of a storoste stating that there is no suitable candidate for the job among Polish citizens. Only after obtaining such an opinion can the employer take on the foreigner. The validity of such opinions and the procedure of applying for them has raised questions and caused misunderstandings. Governments keep changing and ruling coalitions are being formed in most unbelievable combinations. Poland is free, but not Polish employers – before taking on an employer, they have to test the labour market in order to obtain the opinion of a storost stating that he or she accepts this candidate, and not another one. My employer wanted to take me on as a babysitter for her several-month-old son, but she was required by the procedure for obtaining an opinion to hold an interview with the unemployed people registered in the employment agency in Wołomin. During the course of 2 weeks, only one woman put herself up as a candidate for a babysitter.  She must have been drunk the previous day because she had weary eyes and smelt of alcohol. She did not need a job from my employer (God forbid!),  but rather her signature on a letter of referral from the employment agency stating that she was present at the interview with the employer and did not meet her expectations. The Agency  received the necessary papers, while my employer got the opinion of a staroste. And after we had completed several other procedures, discriminating me as a foreigner, our little Jurek got a loving babysitter.  

Once…

... I rented a room in Kiev from a woman who went to Germany to work. In a frank conversation, in which I got rid of naive fantasies acquired in my village, I realized what obstacles she had to overcome to survive in a foreign country as a divorcee with a child. She worked as a cleaning lady at several houses, studied, paid sky-high taxes and experienced having her rights limited, all at the same time…  Such was her situation until she had completed her studies, got a better job, a permanent residence permit and, finally, citizenship. Despite all the difficulties, she managed to turn the corner and got back on her feet. She developed a more positive view of life. She invited me to come to her place in Germany, but I was afraid. I knew already then that a new city and a new country meant primarily tremendous adaptation, cultural and financial challenges. I had only just began to adapt to life in the capital of my country.

What is it like there?

Prolonged isolation accompanied by separation from family and familiar environment is psychologically straining, leads to depression, deepens helplessness and confusion. Some time ago, I  encouraged people on Internet forums and conferences to set up hostels where migrant workers could at the same time be independent and stay in touch with other migrants, gaining knowledge and skills useful in finding a safe and legal job. Working on grey market, migrants are exposed to abuse on the part of their employers and stand a lesser chance of gaining positive experiences with Poles. This also contributes to the strengthening of organized groups who reap profits from illegal employment, issuing fictitious invitations and employing migrants illegally. Therefore, it is in the interest of the host country to create conditions in which migrants would be aware of their rights and how to assert them as well as would see the benefits of legal residence and employment. There are no hostels for migrant workers in Poland at the moment. Migrants come to Poland at their own risk and look for a job on their own. It is common practice, however, in the industrial, food and agricultural sectors to provide accommodation near the workplace. As for agriculture, the conditions are uneven, but as for manufacturing plants, there are well-functioning hostels for migrants across the country – they are cheap or even free. Employers often invite married couples if  they can offer only a family room.  After all, it is common knowledge that family ties strengthen good relations between the employer and the employee.

And what’s the conclusion? To go or not to go??

Authors – two women from Ukraine. Written down and commented by Marija Jakubowycz    

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