Expertseminar LABOUR MIGRATION IN THE BALTIC SEA COUNTRIES: TRENDS AND PROSPECTS 25 April 2013 Constitutional Hall, Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, Gedimino av. 53, Vilnius

1. Liberal Immigration Policy?
Case of Ukrainian Workers on the
Polish Labour Market
Dr Maciej Duszczyk
Institute of Social Policy
Centre of Migration Research
University of Warsaw

2. Specific situation of Poland
• Poland is still an emigration country.
• At the same time the number of immigrants interested in
taking employment in Poland has been growing on year-to-
year basis. This concerns in particular Ukrainians taking
seasonal jobs.
• Far-reaching liberalization of regulations governing labor
immigrations taking place from 2007 to 2009.
• Conclusion: Poland is in the first stage of transforming from
typical emigration country into an emigration-immigration
one.

3. Employment of Foreigners
Two options
Work permit Declaration of Employers
Work permit: Based on labour market test (max. two weeks).
Declaration: The instrument allowing for employment of nationals
originating from five states (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova and
Georgia) for the maximum of six months within a twelfth months
period, without a permit and only on the basis of a declaration of a
potential employer.
Conclusion: Presently the rules of foreigners' employment in Polish
labour market may be deemed as easy to follow for both employers
and foreigners.

4. Work permits from 2004 to 2012
Year Number of applications Number of issued permits
New Extended Total
2004 18 325 6 971 5 410 12 381
2005 16 921 5 905 4 399 10 304
2006 14 181 6 629 4 125 10 754
2007 16 024 7 667 4 486 12 153
2008 25 500 12 390 5 632 18 022
2009ˣ 29 392 20 806 8 534 29 340
2010 37 121 N.A.ˣˣ N.A.ˣˣ 32 126
2011 42 268 32 519 8 289 40 808
2012 41 619 30 062 9 082 39 144
Source: own compilation based on the data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.
ˣ The act on employment promotion and labour market institutions, which liberalized
the rules governing issuing of work permits, entered into force on 1st February 2009.
ˣˣ The are no data for 2010 due to change of reporting forms

5. Work permits issued to citizens of the member states of
the eastern Partnership (type A permits)
Year Country
Ukraine Belarus Moldova Georgia Azerbaijan Armenia
2007 3 851 855 971 62 21 304
2008 5 400 1 325 1 218 109 19 441
2009 9 504 1 669 601 143 37 619
2010 13 150 1 958 682 95 45 452
2011 18 523 1 385 1 042 173 53 465
2012 19 375 1 723 609 171 70 433
Source: own compilation based on the data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

6. Number of declarations on the intention to entrust employment to
foreigners with breakdown into nationalities from 2007 to 2011.
Year Nationality
Ukraine Belarus Russia Moldova Georgia Total
2007 20 260 1 347 190 0 0 21 797
2008 142 960 12 606 1 147 0 0 156 713
2009 180 133 4 860 674 2 747 0 188 414
2010 169 490 3 623 595 5 912 453 180 073
2011 239 646 4 370 963 13 024 1 774 259 777
2012 223 671 7 636 1 624 9 421 1 384 243 736
Source: own compilation based on the data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

7. Year-to-year changes (in per cent) in the number of declarations, by nationality
(2008- 2011)

8. Conclusions
• Poland still records a definite prevalence of emigration
over immigration.
• Over 50 per cent of employed foreigners in Poland are
Ukrainians (90 per cent in declarations).
• For this reason it makes a lot of sense to see
employment of foreigners in Poland in relation to
specific Polish - Ukrainian relations.
• Polish legislation is quite liberal, but is oriented on
sesonal employment of Ukrainians in agriculture and
construction sectors.
• Given the current situation in the labour market and
the scale and structure of immigration to Poland as
presented in this presentation, I do not expect a
fundamental change of the picture of immigration.