More Nationalities Eligible for Business Harbor Program

• Eligibility requirements.
  • Nationals of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.
    • Must be sponsored by a Polish IT company to be eligible (it is expected that the program will be broadened to permit applications based on qualifications without sponsorship in the future).
    • Do not need to hold a technology-related secondary professional degree or relevant professional experience.
  • Belarussian nationals. These nationals, who were already eligible for the program, must meet the below requirements:
    • Have a technology-related secondary professional degree (or higher);
    • Have at least one year of professional experience in the IT field; or
    • Sponsorship a Polish IT company participating in the Poland Business Harbor program (if applying under this option, there is no need not demonstrate education or professional experience qualifications).
• General entry requirements. Visa holders must also meet entry requirements to Poland such as sufficient funds to cover their stay and proof of health insurance coverage.

Successful applicants benefit from the ability to work without a work permit during the duration of their work visa, and a visa application process that takes two to seven months faster to process than under other options in Poland. Applicants can also sponsor their spouse and children as dependents under the program.

The Poland Business Harbor program was created to facilitate entry and labor market access for Belarussian nationals, for both humanitarian and economic purposes.

Nationals of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine already benefited from an expedited work permission option via the Special Permission category.

Considering the heavy work permit and visa processing delays in Poland’s immigration system over the last few years, Fragomen expects that Polish authorities will continue to explore nationality- and/or category-based facilitations to alleviate the most acute pressures.