Poland offers graduates a one-time nine-month stay to look for work

The graduate route has a specific purpose

Graduates of Polish higher education who need time to look for employment or prepare a business can apply for a one-time temporary residence permit lasting nine months. The Office for Foreigners’ graduate guidance describes an existing route for third-country nationals, rather than a new November concession. Applicants must act directly after graduation while they are legally resident in Poland.

The Office’s guidance requires evidence of health insurance, an address in Poland and sufficient money for subsistence and the return journey. Its graduate route is distinct from the separate exemption from work permits for people who have completed full-time studies. A diploma can therefore matter in two different ways: as evidence for this residence application and, where the full-time condition is met, as evidence concerning access to employment.

A person whose current immigration permission is expiring should identify the appropriate next residence basis instead of assuming graduation renews it.

Use the current online filing procedure

The Office for Foreigners’ Basic Information about MOS is the authoritative resource for the submission method introduced on 27 April 2026. The relevant residence applications now go through the online Case Handling Module. Applicants create a new account and personally log in through login.gov.pl; an account from the former system does not transfer automatically.

The application requires an electronic signature, such as a trusted profile or a qualified electronic signature. The general instructions call for a digital photograph, copies of every page of the valid travel document, and payment evidence. Access to MOS itself is free; the Office lists the standard residence-card issuance charge as PLN 100, separate from the relevant permit stamp duty.

After correctly signing and sending the application, save the Official Confirmation of Receipt. Provincial officials subsequently arrange fingerprints, signature and inspection of the original passport. Older graduate pages still describing a paper or in-person application should be read alongside this newer national procedure. An online submission does not remove the later personal-appearance requirement.

Keep evidence of an actual job search

The Gdańsk provincial graduate checklist helps applicants understand the substantive supporting documents. Besides the diploma, it asks for evidence of active job seeking, such as applications sent to employers or interview confirmations, together with health insurance, financial resources and accommodation evidence. These records show the purpose for which the person wants the nine-month stay.

That provincial page is dated 2 April 2026 and contains filing instructions written before the new MOS launch. Use its supporting-document checklist with the newer electronic submission guidance, rather than mailing the old form. Applicants should follow any further request from the province handling their case, including the specific deadline stated in that request.

The graduate permit is not described as a renewable sequence of nine-month job-search stays. Planning the following residence application remains necessary if the person wants to remain longer.

Document the funds and the return journey

Gdańsk’s separate financial-resources guidance explains the currently published subsistence benchmarks: PLN 1,010 monthly for a person maintaining a single-person household, or PLN 823 for each member of a shared family household. Its graduate checklist asks for resources covering nine months as well as return travel. These are evidence requirements, not a promise that every application meeting a simple multiplication will succeed.

The financial guidance lists return-journey amounts of PLN 200 for a neighbouring country, PLN 500 for a European country and PLN 2,500 for a non-European third country. Examples of acceptable evidence include a scholarship award or a bank statement confirming available resources; certain bank and employment certificates must have been issued within the month before application. Use that resource to prepare recent evidence and ask the provincial office how the calculation applies to the household.

Match employment plans to lawful residence

NAWA’s official Work and Internships page reinforces the central distinction: graduates of full-time Polish higher education can work without a separate work permit, but still need a lawful basis to remain in the country. Non-EU and non-EEA graduates should check both questions before accepting that their student arrangements continue unchanged.

The same resource points readers to university career offices for vacancies, internships and recruitment support. Those services help with the job search; they cannot grant immigration permission. There is no new common November deadline in the cited resources. The practical deadline depends on the individual’s lawful stay, so prepare the appropriate application before that permission runs out.