Are you considering emigrating to Poland for work or study, or already preparing for your move? Are you curious about what it’s like to move to a foreign country?

I moved to Warsaw almost a year ago for a postdoctoral research job. During my time here I’ve learned a lot; some things the easy way, others the hard way, but overall my experience living in Poland has been very rewarding. Poland is a country filled with friendly people, a rich history, and a lot of opportunities. There is a significant community of foreigners in most major cities, and a lot of people speak English, though sometimes reluctantly.

In this post I’ll share some of the things I wish I knew before moving to Poland, and some other useful advice I’ve acquired during my time here so far. It’s a long one, so I hope you find some of it useful!

1. Before Arriving
   1. Visa application
   2. Temporary place to stay
   3. Regular travel stuff
2. The First Week
   1. Polish phone number
   2. Bank account
   3. Healthcare
3. The Next Few Weeks
   1. Apartment hunting
   2. Get a PESEL & register your residence
   3. Start applying for temporary residence
   4. Find useful places
   5. Have fun and explore!
4. Language
   1. Useful apps
   2. How to learn Polish
   3. Useful vocabulary to get started
5. Transport
   1. Local public transport
   2. Intercity trains and buses
   3. Taxis and bikes
6. Polish Bureaucracy For Dummies
   1. Don’t panic, but make it so
   2. Befriend the Sekretariat
   3. Original copies
   4. Stamped and Signed
   5. Please take a ticket
7. Closing Remarks

Before Arriving

Visa application

This section only applies to those who are unlucky enough to need a visa to work or study in Poland (thanks, Brexit). Carefully check which visa you need, which documents you need, and try to book an appointment around 4-6 months before you need the visa in your hand. If there are no appointments, keep checking back at random times. At the time of writing, it’s only possible to see the actual form if there is an appointment available, and it’s only in Polish.

Pro-Tip: If you manage to select a time and then realise you don’t have all the information you need to complete the form, save a copy of the webpage in the original Polish. Then you can use this to ask for help from your employer or university, and try again in a few days.

Bonus for Brits: Struggling to find the UK option under U, or G, or B? In Polish, it’s filed under W for Wielka Brytania. It took me longer than I care to admit to figure this one out.

Temporary place to stay

You’ll need this whether or not you are applying for a visa. I’d recommend finding somewhere for a minimum of 3 weeks, but give yourself 4-5 to reduce some of the pressure of finding and signing for an apartment.

Regular travel stuff

Make sure you have a way to spend money, are covered by travel insurance, and look into the logistics of getting from the airport to your accommodation ahead of time. If you have any important documents that are relevant to your visa application or job (e.g. my employer needed to see my PhD certificate), make sure to bring the originals with you.

The First Week

The first week after you first arrive in Poland might be quite intense, but it’s worth getting a lot of the setup done ASAP to prevent it dragging on for too long. You may already have a checklist, or your employer/university might have provided something, but there could be some things that you or they have overlooked. Here are some of the most important things, from my experience.

Polish phone number

Even if you have a foreign SIM card you can use in Poland, it’s essential that you get a Polish phone number. It’s used as a form of verification for a surprising number of things, including banking and buying tickets on mobile. You can buy a pay-as-you-go SIM in most newsagents and Żabka stores, or for a contract you can go directly to a mobile provider’s shop (e.g. Orange, T-Mobile).

Pro-Tip: If, like me, you’d like to keep both your existing SIM and new Polish SIM in your phone, but there is only enough space for one, you can get an e-SIM. For this, you usually need to have a contract (typically min. 2 years).

Bank account

Once you have a phone number, you can more easily open a bank account. The best way to do this is to calmly set aside an hour, go to a major branch of a major bank, take a ticket and wait until someone who speaks English can help you. You’ll definitely need your ID, a Polish phone number, and visa if applicable. As a foreigner they might choose to use your foreign address as the main one, and Polish address as a correspondence one, which is easy to change later if you don’t have an apartment contract yet. They will ask for your PESEL, but if you don’t have one yet they should assign you a temporary one.

Pro-Tip: ATMs in Poland that do not belong to your bank typically charge you for cash withdrawals. Choosing a popular bank, like PKO Bank Polski, mBank, Bank Pekeo or Millennium Bank, makes it easier to withdraw cash or find a branch if you need to ask for help in a pinch.

Healthcare

Does your employer provide private health insurance? Does your employer or university give you advice on accessing different types of healthcare? Each situation is different, and it’s best to ask directly:

• Am I eligible for health insurance as an employee?
• Do I need to fill out an application form you didn’t give me yet?
• Can I have my insurance documents?
• How do I access private and/or public healthcare?

I made the mistake of assuming I’d already been given the information somewhere along the way and simply forgot it, but it turns out my employer has opt-in health insurance that they forgot to tell me about for months.

The Next Few Weeks

Apartment hunting

There are many ways to find apartments in Poland, e.g. Morizon, Otodom and Facebook groups for your city. Some landlords refuse to rent to non-Polish people, so be aware of that. Furthermore, it’s common to see the rent quoted in two parts: the main rent plus utilities.

More and more apartments are now offered on “occasional rent” contracts, which loosen some of the very strong legal protections for tenants on normal rental contracts. These contracts are fine for most people, but there is a tricky caveat for foreigners: you must provide the address of someone in Poland who could and would take you in at any time if you were evicted from the apartment. Read up on this topic carefully and ask all the questions you need. If you struggle to find someone eligible, there are ways to purchase an address.

Get a PESEL & register your residence

Your PESEL is an identifying number you’ll need for issues relating to employment, banking, residence, etc. It’s easy to obtain one by going to your District Office (Urząd Dzielnicy), taking a ticket and filling out the form to the best of your ability. They’re pretty friendly and usually speak English enough to help you. Once you have your PESEL, remember to let your employer and bank know, and it helps for signing an apartment contract. You’ll also need it for reporting your tax residence to your home country, student loan provider, etc.

Once you have your signed apartment contract, take it to the District Office and fill out the form to register your residence. Everyone (including EU citizens) must do this, and return whenever anything changes, e.g. you move, you get a new visa or residence permit. It will automatically expire when your apartment contract ends or your legal basis for stay expires, whichever is soonest.

Start applying for temporary residence

If you intend to stay in Poland longer than 6-12 months, you will need to apply for a temporary residence card (pobyt czasowy). The specific details for where to apply and what you need vary drastically depending on your basis for staying in Poland and which voivodeship you live in, so I won’t explain too much here. I will just take the opportunity that no matter what someone tells you, you should start applying for it as soon as you can! Waiting times are notoriously long, often 6-12 months and in some cases up to 24.

Pro-Tip: If your visa expires while your application is processing, you are legally allowed to remain in Poland. If you need to leave, you will not be able to return without a new visa, so plan ahead if you’re at risk of being in this situation…

Find useful places

Once you know (roughly) where you’ll live, it’s time to start trying to find your regular haunts. Hairdressers and other services can easily be booked online using Booksy. The best places to get advice on gyms and sport clubs is via Facebook groups in your area; people have probably already asked and answered your question. I’m yet to find a great source of Polish news in English, but Notes From Poland is good for summaries.

Supermarkets are relatively easy to find, though in Warsaw it can be hard to find one of a decent size. If you’re not familiar with Polish supermarket brands, here are a few to start with: Biedronka, Carrefour, Lewiatan, K&M. The convenience store Żabka can be found everywhere, and unlike the others, is allowed to be open on Sundays. The biggest supermarkets in Warsaw are typically found in the outskirts, or attached to major shopping malls like Westfield Arkadia. As a coeliac (gluten intolerant), it’s not too hard to find food in Poland and I might write about my best finds in a separate post in the future.

Pro-Tip: If you’re missing food from home, remember that your cuisine is a “world food” now and you should visit these shops, such as Kuchnie Świata. I’ll admit that I almost cried when I saw PG Tips tea and chocolate oranges.

Have fun and explore!

Socialising in a foreign country can be daunting, especially in a city as big as Warsaw. Meetup and Facebook groups are great sources of one-off and recurring events, and you can start becoming a regular at your favourites. Starting Polish classes after a week or two is another way to keep busy in the evenings, as is organising to hang out with colleagues after work or on weekends. I’d also recommend having a friend or family member visit, or going to visit someone if possible, around 3-4 weeks after moving. It’s nice to have a familiar face and/or location to help you decompress after what is quite an intense first month in Poland!

If you’re looking for places to explore, check out this website for foreigners, and search for Facebook pages like Go to Warsaw which share events and helpful links with recommendations.

Language

If you don’t already speak Polish or a slavic language, you’re probably going to be intimidated by how Polish looks (why so many z’s?), sounds (why so many “sh” and “ch” sounds?) and is constructed grammatically (what are cases and why are there seven of them?!). Don’t panic! Most people are happy to switch to English if you are struggling, plus there are some great tools to help you out.

Useful apps

Google Translate Chrome Extension — Allows you to translate the content of a webpage. An absolute life-saver: many official webpages and forms either have a limited version in English or are only in Polish.

Google Translate app — Not only for typing in words, but you can also translate voice (and have a live two-language conversation), and take photos of text to translate.

How to learn Polish

I really recommend putting effort into learning Polish, especially if you plan to stay for more than one year. The amount of friction and stress you can remove for yourself by knowing only a little is incredible.

Duolingo — Polish courses on language apps typically don’t get the careful attention that other, more popular, languages do. For example, Duolingo expects you to figure out that nouns have one of three genders (without telling you the rules for how to know which is which), and throws two grammatical cases at you without explanation before you even make it past the first 10 lessons. It’s a useful tool for practice, but not learning.

Polish Language lessons — Nothing beats an in-person language class while also living in the country. I started in my first month of living in Warsaw and it’s been both fascinating and rewarding to progress from knowing nothing, to picking out a few words, to understanding whole sentences and conversations! A good teacher will also teach you aspects of Polish culture, cuisine and holiday celebrations. Some Polish language institutes offer both online and in-person classes, so you could try a semester online before you move and continue the next semester in person.

Useful vocabulary to get started

Dzień dobry: hello, literally “good day”. Everyone will say this to you, so you’ll get lots of practice with it.

Dziękuję: thank you, literally “I thank”. On behalf of a group, you’d say “dziękujemy“, we thank you. Non-obvious pronunciation tip: ę in the middle of a word is “ehn”, but at the end it is “eh”. Similarly, for ą: “ohn” in the middle, “oh” at the end.

Proszę: please, literally “I ask”. If you want to be extra polite, say poproszę.

Przepraszam, czy mówisz po angielsku? This means “I’m sorry, do you speak English?”. You can also just ask them in English, or start your conversation with “Hello!”, but it’s nice to make an effort and ask them in Polish. When practicing, don’t overlook the ó: it’s pronounced the same as “u”.

There are a lot of words you might not learn immediately in class but you’ll see or hear them a lot, and it doesn’t hurt to recognise some of them.

• Język – language
• Imię – first name
• Nazwisko – last name
• Podpis – signature
• Hasło – password
• Płacę – pay (I pay)
• Anuluj – cancel
• Pan, pani – Mr, Ms (approximately), a formal way to refer to someone in the third person.
• Wejście – entrance
• Wyjście – exit. It helps me to remember which is entrance/exit by putting them in alphabetical order, or rhyming the first syllable with ‘hey’ and ‘bye’.

Transport

Public transport is very good in Poland, and unless you live far outside a city you probably won’t need a car. Here are some suggestions, including apps and websites, that will make it easy to get around during your stay.

Local public transport

Single-journey tickets can be bought at ticket machines at most bus, tram and metro stops, or via a machine on the bus/tram itself. Remember to validate the ticket on the bus/tram, since the tickets are for a specific time period.

Jakdojade — Reliable timetables and tickets for local public transport. Google Maps is mostly accurate, but is slow to react to route changes and has left me stranded more than once. You’ll need a Polish phone number to buy tickets via this app. Fun fact: the name translates to “how do I go”.

Warsaw City Card — Very useful if you’ll use buses, trams and metro frequently. Enables you to purchase 30- or 90-day unlimited public transport tickets. Order online via the e-POP site about a week before you move, and collect in one of the POP locations. There are similar cards in Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, etc.

Pro-Tip: In cities, buses stop at every stop by default, except for request stops (na żądanie or nż) where you must press the STOP button or hold out your arm to hail the bus. Night buses exclusively stop on request.

Intercity trains and buses

You can purchase tickets at train/bus station ticket offices, or online in advance. Not all train/bus operators make their tickets centrally available, so sometimes you’ll have to look out for a specific machine – leave plenty of time for this (looking at you, Koleje Mazowieckie). It’s usually possible to buy tickets on the train, but not all ticket inspectors speak English.

KOLEO — Timetables and tickets for trains, including long distance.

Flixbus — Intercity buses, often quite cheap.

Deutsche Bahn — Useful for specific cases, like the direct Warsaw-Berlin train.

Pro-Tip: OK, more than one tip this time. First, always try to get a seat reservation. Second, when train inspectors check your ticket, also have your ID ready. They’ll ask for both your bilet (ticket) and dokument (ID). Finally, train platforms are organised by peron (platform), which has a tor (track) on each side. You’ll typically be given the peron number, so navigate there first and check the overhead signs to see which tor your train is at.

Taxis and bikes

Uber and Bolt — The most common taxi hailing apps. It’s also quite easy to get a regular taxi, and most of these accept card payments (but make sure you have cash anyway).

Veturillo — Easy way to rent a bike in major cities. Download the app and make sure you have over 10zł loaded on your account each time you rent one.

Polish Bureaucracy For Dummies

Poland really loves its bureaucracy. Polish bureaucracy is when I had to sign my apartment contract under the watchful eyes of a notary and sworn translator, providing my parents’ full names and initialing every page of the contract by hand. Polish bureaucracy is when it takes between 6 and 24 months to process your application for a temporary residence card, which has a maximum validity of 24 months (i.e. your card could expire by the time it’s approved). Here are some lessons that I hope will make your experiences at least 1% less painful.

Don’t panic, but make it so

Things will take longer than you expect. Things will be more complicated and require more paperwork than you expect. Sometimes it’s easy and solved in five minutes. Sometimes it’s next to impossible to book an appointment for your temporary residence card because several hundred thousand people are simultaneously trying to book a handful of slots on the website every day at 8am. It’s going to be OK. Somehow. Start early, ask nicely but firmly for help, trust only the information from official sources, and seek legal advice if you need it (check the lawyer is reputable; there are a lot of scammers).

Befriend the Sekretariat

This is the place you’ll go a lot in the first few weeks of your time in Poland. In the English-speaking world I guess this would be the Human Resources department. The administrative staff here are responsible for getting you to sign contracts and forms, updating your details e.g. when your address changes or you get a PESEL, and should help you gather the documents you need when you apply for a temporary residence card. It pays off to be polite, fulfil their requests promptly and try to minimise the extra work you create for them unless it’s really important. FYI, it’s not uncommon that these staff members will go home at 3pm, so time your visits accordingly.

Original copies

Polish bureaucrats LOVE original copies. Keep your original documents safe but easily accessible, as you’ll need to bring them out time and time again.

Stamped and Signed

A fun game is to predict how many times an application of yours will be stamped, and with how many unique stamps. This is the way that they can distinguish originals from copies, usually with a signature over some of the stamps. N.B. if you’re asked to sign a document by someone over email, they mean PRINT and sign BY HAND.

Please take a ticket

Here is the typical procedure for when you go to the post office, bank, or governmental office:

1. Locate the ticket machine
2. Subtly try to Google Translate what all of the options mean
3. Get frustrated by the ambiguous translations
4. Choose the option you’re most confident about
5. Wait, and hope you don’t get sent back to take a new ticket

Perhaps this is also common in your home country, but for me it was a bit unusual. As a Brit I’m accustomed to simply waiting in line, or booking an appointment ahead of time.

Pro-Tip: If your number is far away from the current number, try predicting the time you’ll be called by logging the time each number ahead of you is called, plot it, fit a line and extrapolate to get your estimated time. Mine was pretty accurate when I was waiting in the Foreigners’ Office for nearly 4 hours!

Closing Remarks

Thanks for reading up to this point! I hope you found some of my experience helpful, and if you’re in the process of moving to Poland or another country, I wish you all the best. Moving abroad can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know the language or many people, but it can also be extremely rewarding.

If you have any questions, or more advice you think I should have mentioned, please comment it below. Do widzenia!