Karty stałego pobytu (permanent residence card) for EU citizen in Poland

I have not worked in Poland since I arrived . ( just over 3 years ago )
I have made sure that I am here for at least 6 months a year
And draw income from savings
I will perhaps soon start actually paying myself from my UK company and declaring it to the Polish skarbowy.
When i first arrived I filled out one of those registeration forms for Europe citizens

In 2 years from now I'll be able to prove I've been here for 5 years six months each yr in a row.

As I understand ....since im an eu citizen and not working it is usually required in an eu state , that I also have health insurance for the periods when I am not working

I've taken advice from the local foreigners office and from two lawyers who both say that as an eu citizen applying for residents in the above circumstances - having not worked at all won't be a problem.

Additionally .... whilst i haven't had health insurance I have had and will continue to make sure that I have had a UK EHIC card valid for the period .taking me upto 5 years.

I have been advised ...

1. The ehic card will be considered as valid as far as the requirement for health insurance is concerned since the card offers the fall back to provision of treatment on the Polish eqv.of NHS - the treatment potentially paid for by the UK NHS.

For the while I. Am in Poland i also regularly return to the UK and continue paying UK taxes on my UK company....

Although being in Poland for the full 5 years ( 6 months a yr) and not working at all - I have been concerned about the requirement for insurance cover for health .

My concerns have however been addressed .

I've been told that not only will the EHIC card prove sufficient for the issue of the permanent residence card for eu citizen ,,,, but that when it comes to applying , I will not even be asked to prove cover anyway.

It seems in Poland that there is one rule for karty stały pobytu for eu citizens - and one for anyone non eu

As a brit im still an eu citizen and would be covered under the arrangements being considered as part of the Brexit deall

Are my concerns regarding having had health insurance as a non worker ( albeit eu citizen) valid - or am I right to be assured by lawyers that I have spoken to and even the local immigration dept itself ,that health insurance is not going to be an issue anyway - and not even going to be asked for when I do apply for PR -even if I haven't actually worked for any of the five years

And if it is going to be required - a valid EHIC card issued by a state other than Poland and having been valid for the full 5 years ive been here will suffice.

For non eu citizens they get problems I know ( 10 months in Poland each yr as opposed to 6 month )
Last three years history of work etc....

For eu citizens different story.
It seems Poland is quite forgiving for them.

So you have a tax liability for the interest in your savings accounts. You need to get that sorted before applying for anything.


If you're here for more than 6 months a year, the UK company will be deemed to be effectively controlled from Poland and thus will fall under Polish taxation regardless of the physical residence of the company.

You need to get advice from a tax specialist as to your exact situation and potential liabilities at this point. 5 years of unpaid tax and possible ZUS liabilities in Poland could be eyewatering, and they will certainly question your sources of income if you claim to have been here for 5 years living off savings. The tax office is consulted as part of every application for permanent residency, and in this specific case, you're going to set off alarm bells.

By the way, they have access to the UK databases, and it will be easy for them to query with HMRC as to whether you've been paying tax in the UK while claiming to be resident in PL.

Thats a bit alarmist but you probably do need to see a tax specialist

Regarding the interest - there shouldn't be much if any to pay since you gave with holding tax on interest is 20% - higher than the Polish rate. But you don't necessarily need to make a declaration - interest has specific rules, discuss it with an accountant and they will tell you what you should file

Your UK company should pay UK corporation tax if it is a limited company - if it's a sole trader then as said above then consult a tax accountant.

They do have access to other countries tax databases - but unless you are stashing millions in a VAT fraud I wouldn't worry so much about that, I have rarely met anyone in a tax office he speaks good English and not that many who would be confident using a computer for a difficult task.

I wouldn't wait to settle those issues before working on your health insurance questions - doing things sequentially in Poland doesn't make sense as the bureaucracy can take very long.

No idea about your health insurance questions, speak to a specialist. The only thing I would say is don't rely on any Brexit arrangements being in place because the UK government hasn't really started work on any of the complicated issues yet.

Maybe park a bit of your business in Poland - register a business and pay the minimum suits for you and then you will at least be sure of some health coverage. That depends if you can afford the 1200 zloty a month