Life / I am moving to Warsaw. (Could anyone tell me about life there?) [49]

Use search.

USA, Canada / Are prices for Laptops, Cell Phones or Tablets in Poland cheaper than in the US? [18]

In Poland is 23% vat in USA some 6% or lower sales tax so that's basic price difference explanation.

News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]


No it's not. It's Belgium or Luxembourg.

Law / Polish Visa, Work Permit, Residency for Spouse of Polish Citizen [69]

Here they write that foreigner can buy a flat if he has permit to stay, but to buy a house he must reside for longer than 5 years in Poland.

The same website explains procedure of obtaining residence permit: migrant.info.pl/Residence_permit_for_a_fixed_period.html

Law / Moving to Poland - How do I get the Polish Identity Card [17]

Sometimes it's good to have more than one passport (that equals citizenship). On this forum was writing Syrian guy who could escape civil war to Poland only because his grandmother was Polish and his mother has Polish passport. But to admit it's quite extreme situation and you will not need it most likely. But then don't say in offices that you're Polish, because they will require Polish id.

Law / Moving to Poland - How do I get the Polish Identity Card [17]

When I reached 18 I went to major of the city where I was registered/zameldowany - "Urząd miasta" and applied for ID. I think that you can do the same. Having your Polish passport with you should help.

News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]


More important than ranking of the countries is real result. And here foreign investments per capita in Poland are lower than in: Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia. So in my opinion perhaps Poland is high in ranking, but when it comes to investing in Eastern Europe, then neighbors get bigger share.

News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]


No, Poles want to earn a lot, but they welcome any company giving jobs. Let them come and fight and then maybe will have to fight with salary level. Anyway Asian Tigers grew so fast not because foreign companies invested High Tech there, but they created high tech by them self with proper support of government.


So many that there are no unemployed programmers and salaries in IT have been one the fastest growing in last years.

News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]


That's only because Poland is few times bigger than Czechs and Hungary. If you checked direct investments per capita then it's actually lower than these countries.

News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]

Poland 34th in Prosperity Ranking by Legatum Institute* commenting Poles are amazed that the country is placed next to Italy and Kuwait.
" The Prosperity Index is distinctive in that it is the only global measurement of prosperity based on both income and wellbeing."

prosperity.com/#!/ranking
prosperity.com/#!/country/POL

*The Legatum Institute: "The Legatum Institute is an independent policy, advisory and advocacy organisation within the Legatum group of companies based in London, United Kingdom.[1] The Institute researches and promotes the principles that drive the creation of global prosperity and the expansion of human liberty. The Institute undertakes original and collaborative research and publishes case studies and ancillary literature. Recent initiatives include the launch of the Legatum Prosperity Index,[2] which measures prosperity across countries as a combination of material wealth and life satisfaction. The 2012 index expanded from 110 to 142 countries and the ranking is led by Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand."

Life / I am moving to Warsaw. (Could anyone tell me about life there?) [49]

watch some polish movies with eng subtitlies: amazon.co.uk/English-Subtitles-Polish-Film-TV/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A905009031%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A5339680 31

Or Polish channel for Poles living abroad: "TV Polonia" All movies there are subtitled I've heard. But you have to wait for them.

tvpolonia.com/en/ - official website

here is free schedule: teleman.pl/program-tv/stacje/TVP-Polonia

Here you can watch online, but only when there are open slots: weeb.tv/online/tvp-polonia

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]

It's very underdeveloped, but from what I hear it's changing.

Work / Poland Onsite - Oracle Pl SQL / experienced Developer salary? [12]

tiny.cc/zarobki - page 11

Administrator Baz Danych:
Woj. Mazowieckie / Woj. Małopolskie / Woj. Dolnośląskie
[7 000 4 500 15 000] [6 000 4 000 12 000] [5 000 3 000 12 000]
Woj. Śląskie / Woj. Pomorskie Woj. / Wielkopolskie
[6 000 4 500 10 000] [5 500 3 500 12 000] [5 000 3 000 12 000]

that's gross salary, net is 2/3 of it. Minimum cost of living in big Polish city in studio apartment is 1500zł. 1000zł for student, when living in dormitory or just a room.

I've just noticed that you're programmer, not database administrator, so you should look at the line "Programista SQL"

News / Car theft in Warsaw (the most popular cars among car thieves in Poland) [54]

Interesting image showing number of stolen cars in regions of Poland from Janury to the end of Septembr this year.



differences are huge.

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]


2010 I was visiting the city (Piotrkowska, Rynek, Manufaktura). 2011 Dworzec PKS and airport. 2013 international bus station. Sorry but not everything was renovated :) Some places indeed, but they look like patches.

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]


£ódź has quite a bad opinion in Poland. It's because many jobs there were in sewing and after 1990 this industry collapsed. It had big unemployment for a long time, because of which many families suffered. Now many dysfunctional families live there. In big part in the city center. Because they are poor and bad government of the rulers, many beautiful houses are in really bad shape. That's also reason for higher crime rate than in other cities. So it's nothing strange that people leave this city. But £ódź is not shrinking so much as they write. Big part is statistics, which doesn't count people who move to suburbs.

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]

what i meant by not using agencies is that it's not popular to use agency which will find a job for you in Poland. Agencies which I know work for the company, they advertise jobs and perhaps filter CVs. Anyway all jobs available are online and agency wouldn't help a lot, especially when you start working career. I don't know any where you could just go and say that you search for a job, except if it's work abroad, or temporary.

But fast goggling prove that they exists, for example: lobohr.pl/dla-pracownika/outsourcing

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]


We don't use agencies in Poland. You should apply to the companies yourself. Check offers advertised here:

praca.pl/lodz.html
pracuj.pl/praca/%C5%82%C3%B3d%C5%BA;wp
gazetapraca.pl/szukaj/m-%C5%82%C3%B3d%C5%BA
tablica.pl/praca/lodz/
praca.money.pl/praca-lodz-m1.html
pl.indeed.com/Praca-w-%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA,-%C5%82%C3%B3dzk ie
gumtree.pl/fp-oferty-pracy/lodzkie/c8l3200004

and apply. Headhunters search for professionals, but they're payed by company.
Create your profile in goldenline.pl and linkedin.com and write £ódź as current location, then maybe some headhunters will contact you if you're professional which they need.

Work / Is it hard to get a work permit in Poland? [43]


don't they have higher salaries in South Korea than in Poland? If so, then probably they're not just cheap labor.

Work / I'm a Vietnamese Student. I plan to study in Poznan for BA and find a part time job [5]

According to this ranking: perspektywy.pl/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=779:kierunki-ekonomiczne&Itemid=230

Poznań has the best Economic University after Warsaw. So I would suggest you to stay there. Poznań is also one of the most attractive cities in Poland (architecture, jobs). If you move to the cheaper city you can save on rent and pub prices only, but If you can get dormitory in Poznań then you will not pay much for accommodation anyway. (dorms are cheaper in Poznań than renting on free market, but in every big city they cost around the same.)

Here they say that dorm prices are 400zł.

To compare University of £ódź (17th place in the ranking and 3rd largest city in Poland):
eksoc.uni.lodz.pl/studies/bachelors-studies/economics/ #nav

dorms for 350 pln (with cheap apartments on free market):
iso.uni.lodz.pl/informacje/getting-living-in-lodz

Work / I'm a Vietnamese Student. I plan to study in Poznan for BA and find a part time job [5]

Poznan belongs to few more expensive cities in Poland. For example £ódź, Białystok, Rzeszów, Lublin, Olsztyn are cheaper. You can live with 1000pln per months. I think that student dorms prices in Poznan start from 300zł per month. About tuition fee you should read university's website, not ask here. Don't count on finding any part time job. You would need to know Polish for that. The school I think is one of better in Poland.

Law / To get Temporary Residence in Poland is very difficult even though I'm married to a Polish citizen!! [11]

google "adwokat poznań" and browser websites which have English version.

Travel / Can anyone help me find the cheapest way to get from Warsaw to Vienna? [13]


I had the same impression when living in Greece for one year. Now I miss Greek weather. Not many people emigrate to Poland, because for not EU citizens it's usually the same hard to get working Visa for Poland as for Germany and because of lower unemployment there and more advance economy it's easier to find a job with only English language knowledge in western Europe than in Poland. Not to mention low salaries.

Recently foreigners started coming work in Poland, because of recent outsourcing boom and extreme level of unemployment in southern Europe. But the number is small and they are mostly EU citizens.

Polish press wrote that in last years many Israeli started claiming Polish passport through ancestors (thousands each year). But they use it rather to work in the west or just for easier travel possibilities than for working in Poland.

I've also read that Poland is presented unfavorable to Israelis, so when combining that with lower salaries it's not strange that people don't immigrate here.

Work / RELOCATING TO GDYNIA, Poland - salary question [42]

There is new report about outsourcing in Poland. I paste here information about salaries:


tiny.cc/outsourcing-pdf (page 6)

Work / I am a recently graduated, non EU resident looking for work in Poland. Advice please? [4]

What you've just written about good earning prospects for biomedical engineers is not about Poland?

Law / International student from Poland traveling to Norway on Karta Pobytu? [54]

In another topic he asks exact same question about going to UK. But maybe another friend. It is possible.

Law / International student from Poland traveling to Norway on Karta Pobytu? [54]

Sobieski is right. When watching authors past posts you will see that he was searching for the cheapest travel way from Gdynia to Warsaw and has 1500USD in his bank account. Why then would he travel as a tourist to the most expensive tourist destination in the world - Norway :)

Work / RELOCATING TO GDYNIA, Poland - salary question [42]

troll, I exactly specified that it's gross, so if you mix it with net, then it's your problem. Here is 3 years old salaries distribution graph:

img.sadistic.pl/pics/fd4f5724b008.png

Work / RELOCATING TO GDYNIA, Poland - salary question [42]


and few weeks ago:


https://polishforums.com/work/living-katowice-programmer-pln-enough-68348/#msg1404170

bad day?

Work / RELOCATING TO GDYNIA, Poland - salary question [42]

Then give it a try. You will not be financially worse than in Greece and living in a different country is great experience. Perhaps you can negotiate at least 5000 gross or relocation bonus.

For salaries look at this report: tiny.cc/hays-pdf starting from page 19. Look at Woj. Pomorskie (it's region where Gdynia is). "Najczęściej oferowane" means median. Call Center Agent with foreign language is only 3000 gross. But if you fit into some job from page 21 then pay is much better. You can relate to this report while speaking with your company. It's from 2011, so now it should be little bit higher.