3. Short history
• According to the legend the first Pole was an
immigrant!
• He came to our land with Czech and Rus, that
means he was a newcomer- immigrant from
the East.
4. • About fifteen century Roma and Armenians
people from Turkey and Persia came to our
territory.
• Present-day immigration and the presence of
foreigners in Poland is nothing new in our lands.
• People are moving, migrating, looking for new
places for themselves.
• Some of them find this living space in Poland.
• So it was, it is, and it will be!
5. • The first immigrants who arrived in our region were
Jews- two brothers whom king Jagiello let to settle in
our town.
• They used to live in the suburbs because Krosno was a
very important trade center.
• With the influx of Jews the first synagogue was built in
our town.
• In 1900 in the county 6254 Jews lived-7,5%
• In 1921 in the county 4861 Jews lived- 6%.
• At the beginning of September 1939 in addition there
were 500 Jews deported from the territory of the Reich
and the refugees from the West.
6. Despite of this fact the phenomenon of immigration of foreigners
to Poland is a relatively new. It was not until several years - with
the start of the transformation of political system and the opening
of the borders in 1989.
The purposes of immigration are different: a business, work,
study, in connection with the marriage of a Polish citizen or because
of persecution in the country of origin.
The main countries from which immigrants are recruited in Poland
are those ones, which belong to the former Soviet Union, mainly
Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
7. We are able to identify three main categories of
migrations :
• family migration,
• migration for work,
• return migration.
10. As can be seen on Figure 1 interest in working in Poland is still growing, and
especially dynamic growth in the number of authorizations is taking place since 2008.
The second graph indicates high and relatively stable interest in the work of the
temporary migrants from Ukraine to Poland.
11. A relatively large group of immigrants comes from developed
countries: Germany, the United States, France , Great Britain
and Vietnam. Every third immigrant in Poland comes from a
country, which is our neighbour, for example, in the region
where we live- Podkarpacie - the majority of immigrants come
from Ukraine.
12. There are two main characteristic features for immigrants living
in Poland.
Firstly, they are usually very well educated (more than 36% have
completed higher education), and they are rather young. Most of
immigrants live in the big towns.
It's because of the fact, that they are full of factories, universities
and restaurants, and these places are connected with their work.
13. Employment of foreigners in Poland is still a marginal
phenomenon. The most popular professions are artists,
sportsmen and doctors practicing unconventional medicine.
The largest group among immigrants in Poland are Ukrainians
and people from Vietnam. According to data from the National
Census 2002, Ukrainians were up to 20% of non-Polish
nationality residences, and from Vietnam-about 4%.
14. For Ukrainians, Poland is attractive as a place of employment,
because it's very close to Poland and it's rather easy to come
here- they need visa, but it's for free.
Other important reasons why the Ukrainians choose our country
as the place for living and working is higher salary than in their
own country, similar culture habits and language.
15. In turn the people from Vietnam are the second large group in
Poland, despite of the fact that Vietnam is for us a distant
country both geographically and culturally. This probably was a
consequence of close political and economic relations between
Poland and Vietnam in the PRL .The second wave of immigration
flowed from Vietnam after the turn of the political system in
1989, it had much more economical character.
16. As regards the sector of employment of Ukrainians, they are the
most common trade, agriculture, construction and household
services - in the case of illegal employment - industry, education
(mainly teachers of foreign languages) and trade - based on
formal employment.
17. The situation is completely different in the case of Vietnamese.
They are - and this regardless of legal status - only in two
industries: trade and catering (restaurants and bars with
Vietnamese cuisine.)
18. „We do not want it easier for immigrants”
According to two-thirds of the Polish people
government should reduce the number of workers
from the East. Compared to 1945, this number has
increased significantly. Under the influence of the
crisis more and more people in Poland perceive a
work of Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians in
Poland as a bad deal for the public employees and
the condition of the Polish economy.
19. To sum up Poland is a country with strong traditions of
emigration. At the same time, our country is not seen as
attractive destination point for immigrants. Therefore, the
phenomenon of immigration reaches a small scale and does not
have a big influence on our live.
20. “All the people are born free as far as their dignity and
human rights are concerned. They are endowed with
free mind and conscience and they should treat other
people in the brotherly spirit” – The Common Declaration
of Human Rights On the basis of this Declaration, foreigners in
Poland have a right:
• -to be treated equally ,
• -to have their dignity respected ,
• - to live, to be free and safe,
• - to profess their religion, views and opinion,
• - to educate,
• - to have a family life,
• - to work and to be properly paid for it,
• - to unite and to participate in cultural and social life
All in all, international law gives every man the right to be
treated with dignity and this law concerns all the people
regardless of their ethnicity and their status in law.
21. The rights of immigrants in Poland:
The Right to Work
Polish law requires that foreigners need permission to work legally in
Poland. Yet, there are exceptions to that; foreigners who do not need
that permission are:
• - refugees and people with supplemental protection who have
permission to stay in Poland for limited time,
• - spouses of Polish citizens who have the right to live in Poland,
• - citizens with valid Polish card,
• - people who apply for a refugee status and their spouses,
• - people delegated to work in Poland by foreign institutions.
The Right to Health Protection.
• All foreigners who pay their insurance premium have access to
health care in Poland.
The right to Education.
• All the children in Poland under the age of 18 have a right to
education. Education in Poland is obligatory till the age of 18.
22. Polish Citizenship
Person who wants to get Polish citizenship should get:
• - an application to Polish President,
• - a copy of valid passport
• - a copy of a birth certificate
• - a copy of marriage certificate
• - curriculum vitae,
• - a declaration to get citizenship
• - a document that confirms that a person does not
possess Polish citizenship
• - current photos
• - a mover of proposal must know Polish law.
Polish citizenship can be granted to a foreigner who has
lived in Poland for 5 years. The decision about the
citizenship can be done by the President of Poland.
