Opening a Company in Poland | a Step by Step Guide for Foreigners

For many people starting your own company may sound like a dream coming true: suddenly you become your own boss, there are no more fixed working hours and you choose the projects you want to work on. However, it is always somewhat challenging – no fixed income, dealing with competitors, tax office, tons of paperwork... And it is even a bigger challenge if you are a foreigner and you want to open your company in Poland.

But don’t worry – we’ve prepared a step by step guide to how you can start your own business in Poland.

First of all, you need to know what types of companies exist in Poland.

The most basic form of conducting business activity is individual business activity, in Polish: jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza.

There are also other forms of conducting business activity:

• Spółki osobowe (Partnerships):
  • Spółka cywilna (Civil law partnership)
  • Spółka jawna (Registered partnership)
  • Spółka komandytowa (Limited partnership)
  • Spółka partnerska (Professional partnership)
  • Spółka komandytowo-akcyjna (Limited joint-stock partnership)
• Spółki kapitałowe (Companies / Corporations):
  • Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością (Limited liability company)
  • Spółka akcyjna (Joint stock company)

Not every foreigner has the right to choose from any of the companies from the list. The following groups of foreigners may undertake economic activities under the same rules as Polish citizens:

• citizens of the European Union
• citizens of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein)
• citizens of countries which signed agreements on economic freedom with the European Community (for example Switzerland)
• foreigners from outside of European Union who hold:
  • permanent residence permit
  • long-term resident’s EC residence permit
  • temporary residence permit for family members of foreigners
  • temporary residence permit for the purpose of undertaking higher education
  • temporary residence permit & are married with a Polish citizen

What if you do not have any of the above mentioned residence permits?
You can still open one of the following types of companies:

• Limited partnerships
• Limited joint-stock partnerships
• Limited liability companies
• Joint-stock companies

…and to do that, you do not need any residence permit – you do not even need to live in Poland, as you can open them via Internet.

More information will follow! If you have any questions – contact us, and we will help you clear any doubts you may have.

If you want to receive more information about positions available in Poland for Spanish speakers, subscribe to our newsletter here and follow us on Facebook!