A Polish work permit arrives in two to three months; the visa that turns it into a worker on site can take longer, because appointment slots in the Philippines are released in scheduled batches and the Embassy has said it cannot add capacity. Employers who plan the visa as a formality lose start dates; employers who plan it as the critical path keep them. This page describes the current procedure and the method we use.
D-type national visa applications for Poland are accepted only in person at the BLS International visa application centres in Metro Manila (Makati) and Cebu, booked through the BLS Poland appointment portal between six months and fifteen days before the intended travel date. Appointment slots are released by the Embassy according to published schedules and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; the Embassy has stated — notice of 3 December 2024, repeated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 January 2025 — that it has no possibility to add further appointment capacity, and that no commercial visa agency can secure a slot. On the appointment date the applicant presents the original work permit (or promise of a permit) from the voivodeship office, a letter from the employer on company letterhead stating the name, the position and the requested length of the visa with an original signature, proof of qualifications and experience, and the standard set of form, photograph, passport, travel insurance, proof of funds, accommodation and flight. The decision takes 15 days, extendable to 30, plus five days where the Office for Foreigners is consulted; the fee follows the consular table.
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.
In January 2025 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement on work visas for Philippine nationals: 6,183 had been issued in 2024, the Ministry did not plan to increase appointment slots in the Philippines in 2025, and any offer to 'arrange' an appointment or a visa for payment was an abuse of the law to be reported. Demand from Polish employers — the Philippines was the largest source of Polish work permits in 2024 — exceeds that capacity, which is why permits are issued faster than visas, why released slots are taken within minutes, and why a worker can hold a valid permit for months before a date is secured.
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.
The decision itself takes 15 days (up to 30). Getting the appointment is the variable: slots at the BLS centres are released per the Embassy's published schedule, first come, first served, and the Embassy has said it cannot add capacity. We plan one to four months for the visa after the permit.
No. No commercial visa agency can secure a slot, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs treats offers to 'arrange' appointments as an abuse of law. The booking is made in the worker's own BLS account; we make sure it is complete and ready at the moment of release.
A letter on letterhead with the worker's name, the position and the requested visa length, bearing an original signature, plus the original work permit; we draft the letter for your signature.
The application cannot proceed on it. We monitor permit validity against the release schedule and file an extension or a new application early when needed.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.