Got a Job Offer in Poland but a 3 month Visa and Probation Period concerns me

Hi Everyone, I am from India and I got a Job offer from a company in Poland with around 1500$ salary but the company is asking me to bear all the relocation and traveling cost & also get a visa to stay in Poland upto 3 months after which company will help in getting the work permit which is a bit concerning as I have heard that most of the companies sponsor visa from their side. There is one more concern that the Company has a 3 month probation period during which they will assess my performance which is also a concern as most of the companies offer permanent contracts or long enough contracts for overseas jobs.

So I want your suggestions -:

1. Is the Salary good enough as I am a single guy with not very high needs ?
2. Does the Company always offers the working visa or is it a common enough practice for the employee to get a visa on his own ?

3. Does the Company offers permanent contract or long enough contracts like 2-3 years or is it a common practice of offering a 3 month contract for overseas employees ?

I am still in negotiations with the company and dont want to get stuck as it is not easy to leave my current job and relocate to Europe ?

Hi! 3 month-probation period is completely normal (and in a lot of countries for top management it's even 6 months). How can an employer give you a firm contract unless you pass the probation period? Maybe, you'll quit during said probation period because you don't like the job, the conditions, the environment....

As to 1,500/month (gross or clear?) although nothing to be exciting about, it's livable in Poland if you consider that only 10% of employees make that or above (70% earn 2,700 ZL or less). Sure you won't live as "cheaply" as most Poles do but 1,500 should cover your basic expenses (but don't count on vacations abroad and frequent plane tickets home!).

It depends upon your cv but no hard to say that in western Europe or the USA/Canada/Australia... you could expect a much better deal...

but what about the visa, should it not be the company sending me the visa instead of me applying for the visa . . . . . I cannot just come from India to Poland for just 3 months

Of course, it would not make any sense ;) but probably the employer wants to go ahead with the visa once probation period finished successfully (logical). Besides, 1,500 dollars, although higher than what 90% of Poles make is nothing special and probably not worth the effort and the move.

I "like" when I read people who say "I don't have many needs" but trust me, living in poverty (or very tight) leads to frustration very quickly and when abroad it becomes unbearable.

Unless you are desperate, maybe not worth it or maybe you see Poland as an entrance door to further west...

PS: you know, when changing jobs and more especially when crossing half the world, there are always BIG risks (you don't like the job, you don't like the place, you may miss another much better opportunity...) and that's life.

Agree. 2000 dollars is the very minimum that would make a move worth considering, and even that is lousy by western standards, and that only for a young, single male.

Your time would be better spent exploring better opportunities in richer countries.

Lets say that the opportunity is good enough for me and I am very keen on the move inspite of the salary being not so high . . . . .there is one thing I want to ask, my employer says to get a work permit in Poland it is important to stay for minimum 2 months and that I have to individually apply for the work permit . . .. . is it true ? what i have seen normally is that companies take care of work permit even before the employee arrives in the company but in this case I have to individually apply for the work permit and that even after living there for 2 months ? is there such law in Poland ? can anyone please guide me in this, I am completely lost

God knows why why you think there is anything attractive about this offer. It's terrible. You would be much better off staying in India. Forget about Poland and concentrate either on building up your qualifications at home in India, or looking for better opportunities in countries that are richer than Poland.

Quite interesting how our resident experts keep talking around the actual question and keep coming back to the salary topic. I think it has been established that the OP will be able to live on the offered 1500 USD per month.

The question now is whether or not the OP has to get the work permit himself without the assistance of the employer. No, that is impossible! Why? Because the work permit is issued only for this particularly company. You can not just apply for a work permit yourself and then get a visa.

So yes, it is the employer's responsibility to sort this out for you @ Blade

What kind of company is it? How big? Do they employ many foreigners?

I ask because the one thing I would find worrying is that they tell you to just simply get a work permit yourself and come to Poland. That indicates that their HR / Recruitment is either not up to date or just simply useless. Not a very good start.

Thank you JollyRomek but let me clarify first. Company is not asking me to get a work permit on my own, they are asking me to come to poland by getting a tourist visa and after Im here they will apply for my work permit. What I want to ask is that is this necessary in order to obtain work permit that I have to apply myself that also from within Poland, can't the company apply for my work permit on my behalf before my arrival in Poland ?

Yes they can and in fact, they should!

I received offer from polish startup company ( 3 years old). They are asking me to join them with following steps.
1. 1st Contract with British Service company ( for 5-6 months ) and work remotely from India.
2. After 2 months of probation period they will apply for my work visa for Poland.
3. Once I get they work visa, they will provide work contract directly with us that will be effective when you receive the visa.

And lastly they are saying that till the point i don't have Polish Visa we cannot invite me to Poland.

Now my question is
Q1. Without knowing company / people / and work at start what are they expecting from me to contribute remotely during probation period?
Q.2 What could be thought process behind such probation period?
Q.3 Can I still ask them to arrange my travel on "SOME VISA?" at start for 2 weeks to get to know them / work initially and then contribute remotely during probation?

Sorry, but it sounds like they are hiring you for their center in India with no intention of ever transferring you to Poland. They are holding out "Poland" as a carrot to get you to take the job and work hard in hope of a reward that will never come. Doesn't sound like a company I would want to work for. It's a borderline scam, if you think of it.

Forget about Poland. It no longer offers anything that could benefit a person from India. It is difficult to get into, wages are poor, cost of living relative to wages is high, there is no Indian community to speak of, and it is not an effective "foot in the back door" to the richer countries that you really want to move to. Concentrate on finding a job in those richer countries instead of wasting time going through the back door.

I think you forgot To mention the caste system

these are obviously all questions for the guys who are looking to employ you - you need to arrange a Skype call with them and go over those issues.

Being honest Dom I am just as happy to have hard-working clever Indians here in Poland who pay their taxes - we need some people to help fund the 500+ and all the other giveaways

And so am I. I am not at all against immigration. Quite the opposite. I think you've misread my intentions. What I am against is the elaborate system of employment and education scams that take advantage of poor third-worlders using Poland as bait, as if it were some type of magic back door to the countries that they really want to get into. As in this case.

If you read my posts, they usually can be summarized as "If you want to get into the UK or other richer country, then don't waste your time with Poland. You'll have better luck staying at home and trying from there, with the help of your network", or "Diplomas from Polish universities for courses taught in English are almost always worthless on the international job market. If you can't afford to study in a richer country, then you're much better off studying at a good school at home than in Poland".

Truth be told though, very few Indians are interested in immigrating to Poland long term. Very few of those that come to study are interested in actually studying. Of those Indians (and other third-worlders) that do come, most are gone in a couple of years, and extremely few are left after five years. I don't blame them, though, as wages and living conditions are far, far better for Indians and other third-worlders in the UK and the other richer countries, and will remain so far into the forseeable future. So it is little wonder that they are enticed by promises of Poland being some magic backdoor and that this makes them vulnerable to scam artists.

Ask yourself this: How many of the third-worlders who post here would have any interest whatsoever in Poland if they didn't perceive it as a back door to the UK and other richer countries?

I'm not going to ask myself that because I have no interest in the answer. You impute an awful lot about the guy on the basis of a few lines of questions and the odd bit of poor grammar. If he wants to use it a back door (and is there a front door ?) then that is no skin off my nose.