Just 13,500 of them, however, were able to visit Poland using this visa between September 2020 and September 2023, prompting authorities to wonder where the beneficiaries had gone, according to EU Helpers.
According to Rzeczpospolita, the government of Belarus introduced the Poland.Business Harbour program for its people in September 2020. At that time, the government began providing a quick visa application process for those working in the IT sector, their families, and small- and medium-sized business owners.
In July 2021, the program was expanded to include citizens of Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, everyone who qualifies can work under the program without obtaining a work permit.
Apart from the aforementioned, information procured by Rzeczpospolita from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that the nation grants this particular kind of special work permit to citizens of many nations, with a list of as many as 44 countries.
The organizations haven't been able to reveal the precise number of workers who entered the nation as a result of the scheme, though.
Speaking on the subject, Marcin Graczyk, a spokesman for the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, stated that they are not in charge of visa applications and that they are unable to provide more details regarding the quantity of foreign nationals who are now residing in Poland.Visas for Business Harbour.
According to the same, the companies have registered about 83,000 individuals who have moved to the nation since the program's start.
However, Rzeczpospolita found that just 1 in 7 foreign nationals with a special work visa moved to Poland over this 3-year period.
According to the Border Guard Headquarters, 1,114 foreign nationals entered Poland with this kind of visa in 2020. According to the same, roughly 6,600 and 3,300 foreign nationals entered the nation in 2021 and 2022, respectively, using special work visas.
According to the Border Guard Headquarters, 13,500 foreign nationals entered Poland with special work permits between January and September of 2023.
This data indicates that a far less number of IT specialists and business owners than anticipated arrived in Poland after receiving a special work visa.
A tax counselor who was speaking on the subject stated that the numbers could not be explained by the possibility that some of them had resigned. Furthermore, SoDA vice president Konrad Weiske stated that the issue must be resolved as quickly as possible.