Life / Questions about Torun? [18]


It's a fantastic radio station, very cosmopolitan and attracts the attention of the European Union now and again. I believe the ex Prime Minister of Poland is a huge fan.

Study / From India, hotel management courses and studying in Poland [29]


I've told you time and time again about this issue.

1. No. You can't. Poznań is not so diverse. For an Indian national, your only hope is to find an employer which will want you for your English speaking abilities. But language schools are out, so your only hope is call centres - and there aren't many!

2. 5zl an hour, cash in hand. You might get as much as 7-8zl if you're lucky, but I doubt it as you don't know the Polish language. I know someone that can offer you employment for 5zl an hour plus commission if you're interested? You'd be looking at potentially around 25zl an hour if you're good enough - but he won't be able to offer you more than 5zl an hour guaranteed.

3. No. You'll need a visa for other countries. You might be able to get the C+D visa, but that will require extra proof regarding funds/etc.

Work / Advice needed ELS-Bell Szczecin (is it dodgy?) [45]

It's not as simple as that - ZUS for employees is different than for self employed. In theory, the employers contribution is 20% and the individual's contribution is 17% - but there appears to be all sorts of scams to get around this.

And for the first two years of self employment, ZUS is around 330zl a month (or even less if you have a contract somewhere which pays ZUS for you!) - so the 800zl figure is a bit inaccurate in this respect.

And let's not forget that ZUS can be written off against tax.[/quote]

Actually, the average UK wage is just under 25K as of last April. Might have gone down a little bit as a result of the 'crisis', but won't be less than 21.5K.


Dodgy thing to do if the Polish tax man catches up with you, especially if you're resident in Poland for more than 185 days at a time and thus classed as Polish resident. Fair enough, there's no way for them to check based on your passport - but it would be very easy for them to ask you to produce bank statements to find out what you've been doing over the last while.


It's really not that much money in the grand scheme of things, even in Poland. One million PLN is where it might be seen seriously - but I'm not suprised that they only gave you a year's residence permit if you only invested 100,000PLN into the country. Another way of looking at it is that it's 25K EUR - which really isn't that much money.


No it's not. It is the responsibility of the individual to sort out a valid zameldowanie, not the school or indeed anyone else. I'd actually be interested to know how a school is supposed to sort it out for you if you're staying somewhere entirely unrelated to the school?


And people accept this? I'd be straight to the taxman to complain that they're withholding taxes and not paying them!

Work / Advice needed ELS-Bell Szczecin (is it dodgy?) [45]


Yes you will, as he's EU and the 5 year temporary residence is what's given as the norm to EU citizens after the first 3 months zameldowanie.

To be fair, 100K in PLN isn't really that much - it's only 20,000GBP.

Real Estate / Renting flats in Poland [13]


People...buy 'designer apartments' in Katowice?

Work / Advice needed ELS-Bell Szczecin (is it dodgy?) [45]


Okay, let's work this out..

2417PLN for 96 hours = 25.17zl an hour net. That's really awful money - granted, Szczecin is no Warsaw/Krakow or even Wroclaw, but Szczecin's not such a small place. I know of Polish teachers getting that in smalltown Wielkopolska!

I assume this is for 'proper' teaching that requires preparation, too? If so, it's absolutely dreadful - as a new teacher, you'll find it harder as you won't be able to wing it, so you could easily find yourself working for less than 20PLN/net an hour. And for that, what's the point when you could teach a 'method' and get paid money for turning up 5/10 minutes before and reading a book?


32PLN an hour is a bit more realistic (if it's net!), but still on the low side if you've got to prepare lessons on top. If it's a 'method' school, then 32PLN/net isn't so bad - but I don't think Bell is?


That's not so much a big deal, as it takes any hassle out of it for you. As an EU citizen, there's little they can do to you - certainly any threats to revoke your registration can be laughed at.

Steer clear is my advice - the money is literally mickey mouse money, and while I don't believe the claims that you can make 50zl/net easily in Poland, it shouldn't be difficult to pick up something that'll pay you 35zl/net in Szczecin.

If I remeber rightly, aren't Bell schools notorious for paying absolutely ridiculous wages?

Work / Advice needed ELS-Bell Szczecin (is it dodgy?) [45]


Hmm. Does it explicitly state that the salary is net?


How many hours? Any more than 70 hours a month for that salary and you're being ripped off. I'd also make sure that any additional time (meetings, etc) is adequately compensated.


Easiest way is to ask the school for proof that the tax has been paid and then take it to the tax office and ask if the tax has indeed been paid.


I'd be interested to know how they'll process it when it's the responsibility of the individual.

To be honest, I'd be inclined to steer well clear - usually if something sounds like a scam, then it probably is.

Life / Polish Residency - Zameldowanie to be abolished? [49]


Yep, but you'll have to wait for 3 months to apply for the residence paper, so it's not really a problem :)

By the way, when you go back for the second zameldowanie, tell them that you've been out of Poland (even if you haven't). I had problems with the dragon telling me that I should apply for the 5 year permit and that she couldn't give me another 3 months registration because I hadn't left Poland - so I told her that in fact, I had left during the last 3 months.

(the truth was that I'd left for 15 minutes to fool around in Germany, but :D)

Life / Polish Residency - Zameldowanie to be abolished? [49]


Aha, I can tell you exactly what they want in Poznan.

You need 4 copies of your passport, 3 copies of the application form, proof of health insurance (ie, the UK EHIC card is enough for them), a copy of a Polish bank statement for the last 3 months, the previous and current zameldowanie (you have to be here for 3 months and then apply for the 5 year residence permit, so back to the Urząd Miasta) and some sort of work - *but* - this can be as simple as someone writing a letter saying that they intend to give you work. They don't actually have to promise you it, an intention is enough - or you can give them a contract.

It's actually easier than getting the zameldowanie, at least in Poznan :)

Real Estate / Renting flats in Poland [13]

Hearing tales of woe from people who fell for 'GET RICH QUICK' flats in £ódż is rather funny...

Life / Internet Problems in Poland, need help connecting. [26]


Actually, he's right. INEA need you to set the MAC address with them for each unique port/IP address, so yes, it does need to be assigned.

Real Estate / Renting flats in Poland [13]


You're 19 years old and you want to rent flats?

Clearly a rather rubbish troll.

Life / Internet Problems in Poland, need help connecting. [26]

Of course :D

Might be worth phoning the landlord up and asking them who the cable company is there :P

Work / Questions regarding visa (a bit specific situation) [13]


Don't pay a lawyer, as Harry says, just get a Polish person to help you out with the translations and so on. A lawyer wil just take a ridiculous amount of money off you for very little - it should be pretty easy to find an American in Poznan that's gone through the entire nonsense before.

Life / Internet Problems in Poland, need help connecting. [26]


Aha, that definitely explains why the internet wasn't working!

inea.pl/strony/1/i/194.php

Everything you need to know is on there - but I can't help because we just use an ethernet switch with INEA that just passes the connection through. But it should be pretty straightforward, I guess :)

Life / Internet Problems in Poland, need help connecting. [26]

Aha, no, I know what the problem (probably) is.

My cable company (INEA) makes you pay for each connection seperately - you get one connection 'free' with the internet, and every subsequent connection costs 5zl on top of the rental. They're tied to the MAC address of the network adapter, so it's per computer as opposed to per network port.

The symptoms described are exactly the same - you can connect, but nothing works and it's a local connection only.

Genealogy / DNA Test Poland [29]

Ignoring all ethical and moral questions, does the Polish court have any form of juristriction over you whatsoever? If not (as in, you don't have any property/money/investments in Poland) - then stop paying money, inform the Irish authorities that you suspect that there's fraud taking place re Child Benefit money and let her know that unless she cooperates with a DNA test, no more money will be forthcoming.

You're in a position of strength, use it!

There's very little she could realistically do if you stop the payments - she'd have to get you through an Irish court, which doesn't sound too likely.

Travel / Driving to Russia via Poland Info on Ukraine Border [30]


Officially, you need insurance to cross the border. If you don't have it, you can't cross in a car - unless you buy the ridiculously overpriced insurance from the agent at the actual border. You could've probably got away with a smaller bribe than $30US, or just bought the insurance at the border.

I'm not sure if the border crossing you used can be crossed on foot - if it could be, then the sensible thing to do is to cross on foot, pick up the insurance, cross back and then drive across. Tedious, but it's what people do at Medyka. The other trick is to purchase the shortest insurance possible at the border, then to buy longer insurance from the insurance offices just over the border.

Law / Business setup in Poland [36]

I seem to recall that in theory, there's a possibility of extending the visa-free period if you're awaiting a decision...am I speaking bollocks, or is this true?

Work / Teaching english as a private tutor [8]

I'm not so convinced that he'll find a job in a school - he's just too young to be taken seriously. When you consider that most schools are dealing with adults, it's going to be very hard for him to be taken as credible, especially without a degree and any teaching experience.

Life / Taking action against landlords / landladies [10]


As far as I remeber, a contract in English is valid if both parties agree - so this is definitely in your favour.


Yep, there's bound to be someone interested in the story there.

How did you pay for the flat? Make sure to prepare all the documentation before going to the tax office, as it'll lend weight to your claims.

What I'd also be inclined to do is to call the landlord up before you go and ask them for proof of the payments that you've made (make up some excuse). If you can get something from them that's signed confirming the payments, all the better - let them hang themselves, after all.

But make sure that your own tax affairs are in order.

Law / It is impossible to get temporary residency in Poland [23]

It sounds like utter garbage, but it's worth a try - the worst case is that you'll have to just wait out the 3 months local registration first. You'll also have to get your landlord (well, owners) of the property to agree to the registration - which is often a problem!

But as an EU citizen, you are theoretically obliged to register, but there's no consequence if you don't.

Law / Business setup in Poland [36]


Not now. You have to start the process within 45 days, so you're out of time.


You can't make it work now, unless you gain residency in another Schengen country.

Essentially, with Schengen, you can be in the zone for a maximum of 90 days out of every 180 day period. Doesn't matter which 90 days (you can live alternate weeks in Poland and Ukraine for instance) - but you're strictly limited to 90 days stay out of every 180 day period since your first entry.

Leaving for a few days doesn't work anymore. You used to be able to simply hop across the border, but the rules changed with Schengen which makes it significantly tougher for non-EU citizens. You can try it, but you'll still be technically illegal and run the very real risk of being denied entry at the border. They check my passport thoroughly (and I'm EU) - so they're bound to check yours much much closer.


You need to sort out the residency situation first. Because you're over the 45 day limit, you won't be able to start a business - really, you should have done this when you first came to Poland. Unfortunately, you'll have to return home for 4.5 months.

Whatever you do, don't overstay.

Work / Teaching english as a private tutor [8]


There's your age to consider - among Polish people that I know, none of them would take a teacher who hasn't finished university or is at least slightly older. Judging by your 'just finished high school' comment - you'll likely find that people will look at you as just being too young.

Perhaps you might find a niche teaching children - but this is very demanding.

Do you speak the language?

Life / What is assumption day in Poland? [18]

A completely bloody pointless one, that's what it is :/

Law / It is impossible to get temporary residency in Poland [23]

I don't know Warsaw very well, but isn't Długa the office for the Voivode?

You'll need to obtain the 3 month zameldowanie first from the district office before you can get the 5 year stamp. Have you done this? Without this, you won't be allowed to apply for the 5 year stay regardless of what your tenancy agreement says.


There is one system, but because it's administered at Voivoideship level rather than at National level, you might find that some areas demand more than others. But the basic requirements are the same throughout Poland.

Life / Polish health care system, my experience. [32]


Even the UK NHS is now insisting that people bring their card when accessing the NHS, which they didn't do before.

Life / Polish health care system, my experience. [32]


How much did they take off you today?

Feedback / Private Messages - way of telling if the message has been read [15]


Fantastic, thank you very much :)

Law / Business setup in Poland [36]

Then you're in trouble. You *have* to apply for the residence permit within 45 days - and seeing as you'll be on 46 days by Monday, you'll be out of time, even if you start a business here. You might be able to get away with it if you apply on Monday, but it's not a given as the regulations explictly say 45 days.

You'll have to leave the Schengen zone and re-enter after the 180th day of your first entry and proceed from there. Border runs won't work - you have to make sure that you comply with the terms of the Schengen stamp, which is 90 days access out of every 180.