Belarusians can work in Poland for six months without a work permit
“Any workers are welcome for three months, but builders are the most needed. The bottom line (of the new law) is that one can work without a permit for six months. You just need to exit Poland after three months and then re-enter again for another spell of three months,” says a representative of the Polish Foreign Ministry.
Previously, for Belarusians to work in Poland legally, they would have to obtain a work permit. That was a very complicated procedure, indeed.
Uladzimir Sakalow, an employment manager at the Minsk-based Leader Tour, says Belarusians have to spend up to three months in order to process all the necessary paperwork. The same procedure to get a job in Russia takes five days.
“It is extremely difficult to get employed in Poland, yet there are many employment opportunities there. Under the Belarus laws, we are banned from working through middlemen who are many in Poland. We are allowed to work directly with employers only,” he told the European Radio for Belarus.
Previously, a Polish employer would submit a written request to a local province governor and pay $350. Afterwards, the governor would analyze the labor market and decide whether foreign labor force was needed. The governor would then send a go-ahead to the would-be employee so that he or she could apply for a work visa. When in Poland, the employee would have to come back to the governor and receive a formal permit.
Now, life has become easier for Belarusians. All you need is to have a letter of invitation from the employer and pay EUR60 for a work visa.
The European Radio for Belarus explores whether it is that simple indeed to find a job in Poland. This reporter called several construction firms there, trying to get employed. Here are their answers:
“I think we will find something for you. Please, come. Even if we don’t have a vacancy in our firm, we cooperate with other companies and will be able to get something for you. Any workers – even for casual jobs – are needed in the construction sector”.
“As of today, we are not recruiting workers. But we will start a new construction project in 9 months. We accept Belarusians without a problem. Please, feel free to apply”.
I even managed to find a vacancy and certain sympathy to a would-be worker from Belarus at one of the most prestigious construction companies.
“Please, send your resume, photos and a letter of motivation”.
According to the Polish Ministry of Statistics, construction workers in Poland are paid at least $600 monthly. This is confirmed by Ruslan, a builder from Belarus who has worked in Warsaw for several years.
“You can get at least $600, doing casual jobs at a construction site. In Belarus, you get $300-400 for the same job. But if you are hard-working, your pay rises; slowly but on a monthly basis,” he said.
It is interesting that builders are also needed in Minsk. The pay is the same: $500-600 per month… Ina Siamionava, an official from the Labor Committee, says one get employed in Minsk even on the day of application.
Ina Siamionava: “Over 20 vacancies have been filed to the city’s employment center. Every fifth vacancy is from construction companies”.
Photo: http://studio-design.ru
