flash news
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the suspension of participation in the programme "Poland. Business Harbour" as of 26 January 2024.
The purpose of the programme was to facilitate the relocation of IT professionals to Poland, especially from Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia, through a simplified process of obtaining visas.
According to the latest announcements from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, the government has initiated preparations to amend the so-called 'Special Act for Ukrainian Citizens' to extend its validity for another six months, until September 2024.
Concurrently, amendments to the current regulations are expected, with a focus on new assistance rules for Ukrainian citizens residing in Poland. These adjustments aim to align with the current situation and needs in the Polish and European markets.
On 22 January 2024, a draft regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy amending the regulation on maximum permissible concentrations and intensities of factors harmful to health in the working environment was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre.
The amendment provides for:
- Introduction of new values of maximum permissible concentrations for certain harmful factors,
- Extension with new chemicals of the List of values of maximum permissible concentrations of chemical and dust factors harmful to health in the working environment.
Currently, foreigners who are not covered by the Law on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens in Connection with the Armed Conflict in Ukraine and who belong to the category of displaced persons listed in the EU Council's Executive Decision on the Existence of a Massive Inflow of Displaced Persons from Ukraine can enjoy temporary protection in Poland. This gives them a number of rights, including the right to work and stay in Poland. Confirmation of the exercise of temporary protection is a certificate issued by the Office for Foreigners.
On January 16, a Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration amending a regulation on visas for foreigners was published in the Journal of Laws. According to the new regulation, visa stickers of foreigners who obtain visas to exercise their rights under the Pole Card will bear code "23" instead of code "18", which was previously applicable in such cases.
On 11 January, another bill was published on the Government Legislation Centre’s website. It is intended to implement Directive 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (Whistleblowing Directive).