Law / Agricultural business. Registering as self employed in Poland. [18]


How does that work, if I may ask? How can their driving a taxi income not be taxed or be flat-taxed as farm income?

History / ORP Orzeł Polish submarine in Estonian Press [10]

They've looked for it before, I don't know what new tech they have now that makes them think they can find it, but anyway. (Last fruitless search was I think 2008 or 2009.)

Apologies to Polish readers, it should be Orzeł not Orzel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORP_Orze%C5%82_(1938)

History / ORP Orzeł Polish submarine in Estonian Press [10]

Merged: Poland to search again for its lost WW2 submarine, ORP Orzel


cnsnews.com/news/article/poland-search-its-famous-wwii-submarine

Love / Observations and experiences so far about Polish women [93]

The very, very few Britons here either run firms or are or were management for some huge multinationals. I am surprised to hear they're looking at women of any age, because all the management ones I know of are spoken for and married to Poles or other nationalities and have been posted here for whatever reason on big salaries. But if they are single and overlooking you, it could just be they assume you're not available. So, if they're single and you're interested, just ask one out straight, "Hard day here, fancy coming for a coffee/beer with me, I could really use some company to chill out with." OK, you'll sound a bit American and cheesy, but better to try and see than wonder. Otherwise, get on over to the UK, because many cities have so many surplus men that you'll be in a relationship before you leave Stansted.

Work / Salary for a senior software engineer in Poland [195]

So, here's an extract from the official info:

Real Estate / Property dispute (hired apartment contract in Poland) [12]

As far as I know, anyone who is legally working or living in Poland qualifies for free legal help there. The person can be an alien (or even a martian).

Real Estate / Property dispute (hired apartment contract in Poland) [12]


Go to the free legal advice service in your town. Search for porad biuro obywatelskich (advice bureau for citizens/people) in your location. Take some ID, ie residency registration or passport. An appointment is free, although you may have to queue for some hours but you can sometimes simply return for a particular appointment time.

Work / Salary for an experienced professional in an MNC (Lodz / Warsaw - Poland) [5]

Yes, interesting advice there if anyone should ever find they're in the exact same spot as the OP was just 4 years ago.

Life / Do Polish Barbers secretly hate their clients? [7]

Anyone know of an English-speaking barber or unisex salon stylist that's not expensive in Wro? My existing one has started to race along and not bother much any more despite nice tips

:(
Consequently, I look like a dish scrubbing brush within a few days of each cut.

Work / Salary for a senior software engineer in Poland [195]

If you're going to be working at the place that's hiring a lot (let's just say there's a colour in the name of the office building name) then they start their day at 8 or 8.30 and AFAIK some leave at 4, some at 5 or later of course. As for deductions, a lot goes in tax and national insurance (called ZUS). Something like 40 per cent parts company with some workers. I don't know if VAT comes into it, but probably not as an employee (someone else might know).

Love / Observations and experiences so far about Polish women [93]

In the UK? Unless your workplace is full of very young men, chavs or fusspots over 30, are you kidding? There is huge demand for women 30-40 in the UK in most cities. You need to socialise more widely or join a dating website.

Work / Salary for a senior software engineer in Poland [195]

Apartment will be closer to 2200-2500 per month including modest bills.

Is the 10900 for a 30-hour or 35-hour week, if I may ask?

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Thanks but I am very far from convinced. There is a slight chance commercials are being bought but it's not res and it's not 37K. I prefer the embassy as a source of info rather than a commercial enterprise and a pretty obscure one at that with no numbers and no detail. You should note the article appears to be sayingbuy now or miss the boat, foreign money's coming! That should say plenty to one's inner voice.

There's not one jot more reason to believe 37K Brits here having read that. I still reckon it's 4000 and probably will remain there or fall as the country's economic situation looks to be heading for choppier waters. Looks like it's a credit driven respite if anything now. Anecdotally, locally, things are far from buoyant. And recruiting programmers from overseas as is happening here adds to the impression of cost cutting galore to stay afloat.

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Link to this stat please? Of residential property to live in? Or commercial buildings? Or lets to rent out? It is indeed fairly common for flats to be owned by Poles in the UK and let out, but private Britons are definitely not buying res property in anything other than the smallest of trickles. British owned developers? Hmm, well perhaps there's 1 or 2.

Highly unlikely from the agents I spoke to (dozens) not one mentioned buyers from the UK. They cited Germans, Italians, Spanish, Norwegians. There are very few Brits here in this city, between 100 and 150 max from my enquiries, and almost none are owner occupiers.

There's no way 37000 Brits live in Poland. It's more like 4000.

Having googled, it seems the British Emb in Warsaw said 2500 in 2007, so if one imagines the number was really double that back then, I'd still doubt it would leap from 5K to 37K in 7 years. There's very little in the way of financially viable job opps for anyone from the UK etc even if they have programming skills, as wages are 1/3 or 1/4 or worse. The only Brits here usually are entrepreneurs and managers of big multinationals on UK money while posted here, plus of course a few with ties who make ends meet with family businesses giving them work or a measly income from teaching or whatever.

theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/12/poland.helenpidd

Real Estate / What is the Rent for 1 Bed Room Flat in Wroclaw & what is the security Deposit? [8]

domy.pl/en

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Yes, that's also what I was hinting at, and yes again the price of used cars in PL is rather high. I think I'll stick my neck out and say 50% more has been my experience generally, occasionally pretty much double.

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Maybe it's true and there are thousands here because I'm certainly seeing something of a real increase in British number-plates on cars as I wait at bus stops and survey the passing traffic! (Or maybe it's more like in anticipation of a relaxation in the regulations about legalising right hand drive cars from January.)

Life / Pepper Spray in Poland? [36]


Well, that would probably put you through to something like Yellow Pages. for the UK, it's 999 for all emergency services, and you'll be asked which service you want, ie police, ambulance, fire or lifeguard. 112 (not 119) also gets you through to the emergency operator. (119 is for Japan & Korea primarily)

matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-to-dial-911-around-the-world/

Life / Pepper Spray in Poland? [36]


Your guess would not necessarily be correct in the UK. I am not a Pole and I don't know Polish law. However, I do know that in certain circumstances in some countries the carrying of the article you mentioned would be construed as an offensive weapon. The fact that the can label reads fly spray is not a get out of jail card.

You can find this info in many places, but it's quite clear here (I have no connection to the source whatsoever)


(source: norriewaite)

Work / 100,000 PLN (per year) in Krakow - Is it enough for a couple to survive on? [18]


You said


That doesn't sound like a cheap diner, but anyway, yeah you'll be fine if you want to go to a semi-fast food place for dinner, sort of like a UK truckers' café or semi fast food sort of place, like a gyros, then 50zl a head should buy something just about if you choose wisely.

If on the other hand you meant a dinner at a proper restaurant, and we're not talking with its own orchestra or smartly dressed waiters, just a normal one that people go to but that isn't a gyros, then 50zl won't go far at all, budget for 100 min. For a fancy shmancy impressive one btw, you're talking 250zl+ a head anyway and more likely 400 to plus whatever wine you choose etc.

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Thanks Harry.

Gosh I have to chuckle when I read the low statistic for several of the nationalities here! 100% wrong, for sure. I don't know how they calculate the data but it seems to be very, very wide of the mark for several if not all nationalities. If they're the 2012 figures, they weren't even right then, IMO.

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]


It all sounds a bit Pete Tong, doesn't it. Whilst I have noticed a few more British accents here of late, they number <10. So that doesn't really account for the implication of thousands. If there were, the shops would stock more British lines of food, I think. They certainly stock a lot of lines for other communities whose presence is much more numerous, but sadly not much in the way of British food for the simple reason that there aren't many of us here.

Life / 37020 British expats in Poland [25]

Or on the other hand did they just add a digit by mistake, for example is it 3720 instead of 37020?
4000 I'd agree with, because it seems to be something like 75 to 150 in each major city (very rough, unscientific estimate based on various scraps of info, admittedly)

Work / 100,000 PLN (per year) in Krakow - Is it enough for a couple to survive on? [18]


Well, tak, JR. Typical menu when taking one's spouse or significant other would come to well over 50zl unless exercising very obvious budgetary restraint and you'd need some excuses, such as

"Soup shmoop. If you've tasted one you've tasted them all. Let's go straight to the main course."
"No, no, a starter would just fill us up and spoil the main course, darling!"
"No dear, I heard the [insert name of dish] isn't too good here, try the [insert name] it's cheaper I mean much nicer."

"Dessert? We can share!"
"Coffee - who needs it?! Plenty at home! Tap water will do? ...What, tap water's not available?!"



Exactly what I want to say - nail hit.

Work / 100,000 PLN (per year) in Krakow - Is it enough for a couple to survive on? [18]



Yes, snap. Same here in Wro. 50zl each in Wro is almost what people spend at a supermarket café for a quick lunch plus a drink and small dessert.

Cheapest places here are 6zl small soup or special offer soup in some places, 10-20zl usual serving of soup, 30-50zl pretty typical main course, 10zl typical modest dessert, 10zl coffee.

People earning here about 1000 after tax per week then have to spend at least 20 a day on a modest lunch, plus a drink of 5-10. Not cheap at all, despite there being eateries everywhere you look.

50zl a head per week would only be a realistic budget at McKings'.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Still seeing the same flats at the same prices, hanging around now for what must be best part of a year. One or two developers in the better areas have cut prices to what I think are the lowest I can remember, sub 300K for one of them, and am pretty sure they were 350K a few months ago.

Elsewhere, some reasonable value creeping in to some parts of the city but still hard to really see how they're affordable to anyone but managers.

Given that I'm seeing the same apartments unsold many, many, many moons later, it doesn't look buoyant for apparently unrealistically priced property in some areas. Of course, being Xmas, that could be a factor now for greater stagnation.

Work / Average salary to live&work in Wrocław? Local Credit Suisse opinions. [33]

You're Wrocław's outstanding remunerating employer are you? Must be a path beaten to your front door then. If you read Monitor's comments about salaries, I concur fully with that, and my knowledge of local salaries was sharpened considerably in the past 3 months. Despite some wage growth, the wage suggested by Pau86 is not inferior. Quite the opposite. As you pay so much, perhaps he should apply to your firm, so maybe PM him with your better offer and fight it out with CS.

As for whether that salary is viable, that's open to debate, I agree. Poland is more expensive than people realise. It would be a case of cutting one's cloth according to one's means rather than lavish.

Work / Average salary to live&work in Wrocław? Local Credit Suisse opinions. [33]

You obviously know fairly little about local wages.

Work / Average salary to live&work in Wrocław? Local Credit Suisse opinions. [33]


Because we're not short of JFCs here, that's why.
In the UK, we're short of early morning sandwich makers and cleaners in hotels, and so many foreign nationals take those roles. We're also short of some specialist app developers in Ireland and maybe the UK, ditto. We would not likely, in the UK, recruit abroad whether in Spain or Singapore or Paris or Las Vegas for a junior financial controller when we have our own. Even if it's for Spanish or Mandarin language skills, I can assure you there are plenty of Poles who speak Spanish. I hear them on the bus, and yes they are Poles. I'm almost positive that in the length and breadth of Poland there's a JFC who can speak Spanish and would like to increase their wages by working in a big city. There's probably even one somewhere who can speak Mandarin, because this is not a tiny island.