Polish construction has lost its Ukrainian labour pool to the war and to Germany, and the Philippines supplies tradesmen who have built the Gulf's cities for forty years. This page covers which trades a Polish contractor can bring, how the crew is structured and tested, what the sites require, and the one calendar fact — the Manila visa queue — that decides mobilisation.
A Polish contractor applies for the work permit type A as the employer for each tradesman — formwork and finishing carpenters, masons and bricklayers, steel fixers, concrete workers, plasterers, tilers, painters, electricians, plumbers and scaffolders — with no labour-market test and no restriction list in force, and deploys the crew across its own projects. What it may not do is lend the crew to a subcontractor under a service contract: the 2025 Act allows a foreigner to work for another entity only as a temporary worker of a registered temporary work agency, and refuses permits that would do otherwise. Plant operators come as general construction workers and obtain the Polish qualifications for excavators, cranes and lifting equipment after arrival.
Since 1 June 2025 a Polish employer hires a Filipino on a work permit type A applied for electronically through praca.gov.pl at the voivodeship office for the place of work: no labour-market test, no starosta opinion, pay at least the statutory minimum and not lower than comparable employees, a written contract before work begins in a language the worker understands, a validity of up to three years, a fee of PLN 400 for work longer than three months (PLN 200 for up to three months) since 1 December 2025 (Regulation of 20 November 2025, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1622). The statutory decision time is one month (two in complex cases); the national average in practice has lengthened to about 81 days in April 2026, and it varies by voivodeship. With the permit the worker applies for a national visa D through the Embassy's visa application centres in the Philippines — where appointment capacity, not the permit, is the real bottleneck of the Polish route — and, once in Poland, may switch to a temporary residence and work permit filed only through the MOS system since 27 April 2026. The declaration route (oświadczenie) that makes Poland fast for Ukrainians is not available to Philippine nationals.
That the Manila visa calendar, not the voivode, sets mobilisation; that housing is a condition of retention; that the contractor must be the employer and may not lend the crew; and that trade certificates from the Philippines are evidence of training, with Polish plant and lifting qualifications obtained after arrival. Contractors who plan on those terms get crews that stay for the permit's three years.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Prague, which has handled labour matters for Poland since December 2021, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, the Act on Foreigners, the voivode's practice in force, the Polish Embassy in Manila's appointment rules, Polish labour law and Philippine DMW rules.
Any — there is no labour-market test and no restriction list in force: carpenters, masons, steel fixers, plasterers, tilers, painters, electricians, plumbers, scaffolders. Plant operators obtain Polish equipment qualifications after arrival.
Only if the subcontractor is the employer on the permit or a KRAZ temporary work agency stands between you. Lending your employees under a service contract is refused under the 2025 Act.
First cohort in four to seven months; the full crew over two to three further months as visa appointments are secured at the scheduled releases.
As evidence of training; Polish qualifications for plant, cranes and lifting equipment are obtained in Poland after arrival.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.