Indian moving to Poland has a few questions.

Dzień Dobry people! How is it going?

As the title suggests. My family and I are planning to move to Poland (Kraków) in the next couple of months and I had a few questions/concerns, Before the concerns, let me give you a little bit of background and context for y'all to get an idea about where the concerns are coming from.

Using a throwaway since my other account is active and don't want people prying into personal stuff.

So, yes. On to the background. I am in my mid 30s and have a wife and a kid. We have spent all our lives in India and by all standards are doing fairly well. I am currently in a comfortable job and my family and I lead a very comfortable (almost luxurious) life in India. I had no intentions of moving out of India ever and was very happy working for another 5-10 years before retiring comfortably and travel the world!

A few months ago I was reached out by a head hunter for a company based out of Poland. I was not very keen to move but started talking to them because they are working in an industry that is extremely interesting. The role seemed challenging and exciting as well! As I started talking with the company I was amazed by the passion everyone showed and how nice everyone was. Long story short, I was sold on the role because I thought it would be very fulfilling to solve that problem and that I had maybe some more time in my career to take a relatively riskier move.

I visited Poland for around 10 days and wow! What an awesome experience that was. The food was awesome, people were super friendly and the place was so beautiful. Granted, I visited during maybe the best time to visit Poland (Summer!) but nevertheless I was head over heals. And this is in nor just in comparison to India in general (everything looks better when looked at from that lens!) but comparison to other western/touristy countries as well!

I was getting more and more sure about the move and finally decided to go ahead when I got the offer, which was very generous and helped tilt the scales in Poland's favour.

The move the Poland seemed to make a lot of sense professionally and financially. The only grey area was family life and that is where I would need some help to clear my mind.

To learn more about living in Poland I did what everyone else does and started doing my research by visiting subreddits, watching Youtube videos and general reading up. And TBH was really surprised by the number of people who are very proud about the homogeneous populace of Poland and were against immigrants in general. I also sense a lot of hostility towards Indians in particular. This was slightly scary since it could mean that my child and wife could potentially be victims of a hate crime or general hostility? I personally am not worried about it that much but putting my family's life and well-being at risk is obviously pretty disconcerting.

Which brings me to the questions;

1.) Are people really as racist and against immigrants as much as what they seem online?

2.) Most of the perspective of expats online is through the eyes of a White person who have an inherent privilege and will be treated differently than a brown person. Is it going to be similar for a brown person as well?

3.) How do you think the experience of my child will be in school? Our child will go to an international school and I assume that they will be mostly sheltered within the school.

4.) How are minorities treated in general in local government offices and such?

5.) There seems to be some political instability within EU and also with Poland's neighbours. What's the general outlook over the next couple of years? How will it impact Poland?

I am sorry if the questions seem too generic or broad. I have gone through other similar threads and haven't got all questions answered. Am really looking forward to the move and hope these niggling concerns are cleared before that!

Hope you all have a great day and week ahead!

You've answered your own question in terms of how you'll be treated. You found people friendly. There's no reason to expect that it'll be any different when you live there.


Most people, white, brown, Polish or foreign are treated with the bare minimum of courtesy in Polish government offices.


Poland is a post-Communist, young democracy with a right wing government. Rather than worrying about the politics of the EU and Poland's neighbours, worry about Polish politics.

The problem with immigrants is that some of them are perceived to take advantage of the social system (it doesn't apply to a particular nation). In general, Poles are hard-working people who like living by the rules, and they require the same from others. Poland's outlook seems stable, but I've read here that prices tend to go up (for necessities like food or electricity), which doesn't make it as attractive as Germany or the UK, for example.

Every time they do this to you ask them if they are communists, it works for me they change their tune fast.

I used the same method in the USA in a few companies. Whenever I lacked tools or materials etc to do my job, I loudly commented: it is like communism here. Then I was provided everything immediately. Funny.

Too funny, you couldn't even afford the airfare on your budget. No employer would risk paying a UK expat under the table either. LOLOL

Of course not, when employed in the USA, it was legal with every new employer. I traveled on O1B visa and had the airfare and all transport costs paid for me. ,

Just search for threads on here for the same questions you have that hundreds of other Indian expats asked and people here answered.

If you're an Indian dude working in IT in Poland you'll be fine. It'll cost you more to get around not knowing Polish but English is common in the cities. But since you'll be making more than the average Pole you'll still be able to save money.

As far as some of your questions:


Yes, but mainly against muslims due to events in w Europe. Indians generally have a good reputation and are treated well. Just avoid drunk soccer hool looking types late at night. It's not that Poles are all racists, it's just that we prefer our own kind just like most people and don't want a bunch of migrants to come in and demand we adapt our culture, way of life, and then feed, house, etc. them and their soccer team of kids. Then we end up having terror attacks and thousands upon thousands of rapes just like our next door neighbor. **** that...


Depends on who you get. In general, 'outsiders' even Poles and other Europeans don't get the best treatment at government facilities. Especially if the person helping you is some old lady who grew up through PRL years.


I wouldn't worry about it too much. EU doesn't want Poland to leave and Poland doesn't want to leave EU.

Hello indianinpoland35,

Your story is relevant to mine now. Could you elabrate your expereince now that you are there. Also, I heard it is difficult to get visa for wife and child. Can you share your experience? Thanks much.