Moving to Poland has never been easier for US citizens. With simplified visa processes, work flexibility, and exclusive support, our US FastTrack program ensures you hit the ground running in Poland—whether as a freelancer, teacher, or digital nomad.
As a US citizen, you’ll unlock unique privileges through our US FastTrack program, making your move to Poland smoother and faster. Enjoy visa-free travel across Europe with exclusive bilateral agreements, allowing you to explore destinations like Paris, Rome, and Berlin with ease.
Moving to a new country can be challenging, but the US FastTrack program makes it simple for US citizens. From visa assistance to personalized relocation support, we’re here to help you settle in Poland with ease
Poland is a gorgeous country filled with medieval castles and town squares, breathtaking mountains and lakes, picturesque cobblestone streets, and culture and nightlife that puts much of Western Europe to shame. Oh yeah, and did we mention... it’s affordable.
Not only is the country incredibly beautiful and full of culture, but it also ranks as one of the most livable countries in Europe. The infrastructure is modern and developed, the streets are safe and crime-free, and the population of major cities is largely proficient in English.
Poland's teaching job market is perhaps the biggest and fastest growing in Europe, with more and more language schools opening every day and looking for qualified teachers.
Just a warning: Many people come to Poland to teach for a semester and end up staying for years. It's just one of those places!
Poland is an incredibly affordable country for all. However, it is incredibly important to be realistic and keep in mind the costs of living. Nobody likes surprises, so below you’ll find the average cost of living in Poland. To make life even easier, English Wizards offers installment plans on all programs & addons.
Rent in Poland can be as low as €200 per month for a room in a shared flat.
A private apartment in a big city like Warsaw will cost between €500 and €700 per month.
It’s generally advised to budget €150 to €550 for a few weeks of temporary accommodation in a hotel or hostel when you first arrive so that you have time to see potential apartments and attend our Orientation Week. Also, keep in mind that most landlords will require a deposit of 1-2 month’s rent before moving in.
Public transport is excellent in Poland, so there’s no need to have a car. A monthly pass is around €25.
A mobile phone plan costs less than €8 per month, and home internet plans start at €15 per month.
After housing and commuting costs, a reasonable budget for living and having fun in Poland is between €300 and €800 per month, depending on your spending habits.
Personal Income Tax in Poland is between 6% and 19%, depending on your income level and line of work. Most English teachers, as well as those in most creative professions, pay the lowest tier of income taxes.
If you are required to pay into Poland’s social security and national healthcare system, the cost of this is between 300 and 850 PLN (about €70 to €200) per month. In return, you’ll receive full access to public healthcare and social services in Poland and the entire European Union.
English Wizards takes care of accounting, invoicing, and tax management for our teachers, who are hired on freelance contracts.
Our ongoing monthly fee for this service is 350 PLN (about €70) per month. This includes and covers:
You are also welcome to utilize the services of your own accountant; however, this rate is fairly standard for the Polish market. Feel free to read more about the administrative costs of being a freelancer on our blog.
For teachers hired on employment contracts, administration is managed by the school, so there is no additional cost, though the tax rate on this type of contract is considerably higher.
To join either the freelance teaching or digital nomad pathways and be fully legal to live and work in Poland, non-EU citizens are required to have:
Absolutely!
English Wizards is happy to offer flexible installment payment options. A non-refundable down payment of €500 is due upon registration; however, the remaining balance can be split into installments. Add-ons (such as travel medical insurance and accommodation) can also be paid for as part of your plan.
We recommend splitting your payments into 6 monthly installments; however, we are happy to offer custom payment plans to suit your financial needs. Keep in mind, however, that all installments must be paid at least 1 month prior to your arrival.
You also add onto your installment plan things like; Job Gaurantee for Teachers €295 or a 6 month virtual address for €195.
For Americans, the visa process is incredibly fast and can be done in as little as 2-4 weeks. Citizens of visa-free countries (e.g., Canada) can also travel to Poland visa-free and submit all the paperwork after arrival; however, this is a more tricky process.
English Wizards offers 2 options for freelancers and others (teachers included!) looking to work in Poland to obtain permission to work (and thus, be eligible to apply for a work visa:
For a full outline of the costs, benefits and drawbacks for each of the above pathways, click the link below, download our full informational here.
Once you’ve obtained permission to work using one of the above pathways, your next step is to go to your nearest Polish embassy and get a visa (Type-D), or if you are already in Poland, go to the Immigration Office to obtain a Temporary Residence Permit (TRC). For more information on these procedures and how we can help you, click here to download our basic guide.
Got more questions? Shoot us an email back and we’ll get back to you ASAP. There’s no such thing as too many questions when it comes to moving abroad!
Yes!
No matter which pathway you choose, you’ll have the same freelance work visa giving you access to the Polish market, so go for gold!
In most cases, yes, you can!
If you have a residence permit in the country you’re currently based in, and that country has a Polish embassy, then you might be able to get a visa there, but we can’t guarantee that. Contact your nearest Polish consulate or embassy to find out.
Yes, assuming you meet the rest of the eligibility requirements. A bachelor’s degree is not required for the US Fast Track.
There are no age restrictions. Age discrimination is illegal in the European Union.
Poland does not require health checks for any visa applications, so there are no medical restrictions. As a self-employed person, you may (depending on your country of origin) be covered by Poland’s national healthcare system through your taxes, and thus from a healthcare point of view, Poland will treat you just like one of its own citizens.
We also recommend looking into the private healthcare plans that we offer if you are concerned about the availability of medical services in Poland.
When it comes to finding work & our placement programs, if you do not have any medical conditions that will impact on your abiltiy to perform the work, your reliability or without detriment to others then please apply!
Those that are wheelchair bound, we truly sympathise with you however Poland’s schools are not known for having great accessibiliy options.
Absolutely! Poland never separates families.
Our standard visa assistance includes assistance for any dependent family members (minor children or non-working spouses) who wish to join you.
Note that this visa will not allow the family member to work. If your family member is also intent on working in Poland, he/she can apply for a freelance visa through us as well!
As this visa is (partially) designed for professionals coming to Poland to seek freelance job opportunities, there is no level of income you must have when applying at the embassy. However, if you are applying without an existing source of income, you will be asked to show that you have enough funds to support yourself as you seek work (usually a few thousand euros is sufficient).
In order to guarantee a comfortable standard of living and the smooth renewal of your visa should you decide to stay longer, we don’t recommend coming if you are not earning (or capable of earning) above 5000 PLN (about 1200 EUR/USD) per month.
On this visa, you will become a tax resident of Poland, meaning you will have to pay and file monthly taxes and (depending on your nationality and visa category) social security. However, our accounting team can process all of our taxes through our payroll system, so you’ll never have to deal directly with the tax office.
Income tax for freelancers in Poland is between 5% and 19%, depending on your type of work (English teachers and others working in education pay the lowest amount). For those covered by Poland’s national healthcare and social security system, social security is charged at a flat rate of between 350 and 700 PLN per month.
For managing taxes, our accounting service costs 350 PLN per month. You are of course welcome to find your own accountant; however, our prices and services are very competitive in comparison to what others offer in the Polish market.
Yes, it is possible, and in fact, it is very common in Poland.
Many companies in Poland, especially in the education, tech, and creative industries, hire full-time staff on freelance contracts (often called “B2B” or “business-to-business” contracts in Poland). About half of the freelancers on our program work exclusively for one company
That being said, since you are a freelancer, there is technically no way for a company to stop you from working another job on the side. The most they can do is threaten to fire you if they find out, as they have no power to cancel your visa or work permit.
If the company does want to hire you on an employment contract rather than a freelance contract, this is possible, of course, but it would require modifying your visa (normally the company takes care of this), and you would lose your above-mentioned privilege to change jobs as a freelancer.
Freelancers paying social security are insured by Poland’s public healthcare system (NFZ) and can utilize free public healthcare services in the entire European Union using a European Health Insurance Card. If you’re coming on the Support Package, our Polish-speaking staff will help you obtain this.
Poland has facilitated bilateral social security agreements with all European Union countries many other countries including the United States, Canada, and Australia, which will allow you to receive your social security benefits in your home country when you reach retirement age.
Absolutely!
All EU-issued visas are valid for travel in the entire Schengen Area, which includes all EU countries except Ireland. Furthermore, a number of other nearby countries such as Albania, Georgia, and Serbia, also accept EU-issued visas.
Maybe spend the winter up in Swedish Lapland with Santa Claus or the summer baking in the sun on the Greek islands? Europe is your oyster!
You must be earning (or capable of earning) above the legal minimum wage in Poland, which as of 2024, is 4700 PLN per month (about €1100).
Though this minimum is usually not checked at the point of the visa application, you will encounter tax and residence problems down the line if you are regularly earning less than this.
Indeed!
This visa does not limit you to one job, one employer, or one profession.
Not usually!
Many freelancers obtain their visa in their home country first, and then travel to Poland to find work or begin working.
Not at all! English Wizards helps all of those who wish to come to Poland to work as a freelancer. We take care of the immigration & arrival support.
As Poland is a member of the border-free Schengen Area, your Polish freelance visa will allow you to travel to all EU countries, except Ireland. However, this freedom only allows for visits; you can only live and work in Poland.
That being said, you can work remotely for clients based anywhere in the world. So if you find a job offer in Germany or France that will allow you to work remotely as a freelance contractor, that’s absolutely allowed as long as you’re living and paying taxes in Poland.
No. We are not a recruitment agency and cannot guarantee that a company will offer you a job. Although we’ll offer you a lot of support, your ability to find work will ultimately be up to your skillset, qualifications, ability, and determination to seek jobs and interview successfully. Unless you are a teacher looking for full-time work and get accepted to our placement program with a job guarantee.
As in most of the world, the majority of well-paying jobs that you’ll be to find as an English-speaking professional will be found in major cities. Finding a job in a smaller city or town will be considerably harder if you don’t speak Polish, not only because English proficiency drops drastically outside of the major cities, but also because there are fewer international companies that operate in English setting up shop in small towns.
That being said, since the pandemic, more and more companies in Poland are offering “fully remote” jobs. So, while your company might be based in Warsaw and you might have to go in for a meeting a few times a year, you’ll be free to live anywhere in the country with a job like this.
Also, an exception exists for English teachers. Language schools in smaller cities and towns are often very desperate to attract teachers to move from the big cities to their towns, and offer pay that’s on par, or often even better, than what schools in the major cities pay.
There is no limit to this.
You can work full-time for one company, or an hour here and an hour there for dozens of companies or individual clients.
Not at all!
“Freelance” is merely a tax distinction. It means that you’ll be working as a contractor and filing taxes yourself. It has nothing to do with the stability of your work, your hours, or your pay.
While many on this visa do operate as “traditional” freelancers and have numerous clients, the majority of freelancers are working full-time for a single company and receiving a fixed monthly salary or close to that.
In most cases, no.
As you will be paying taxes in Poland classified as a resident here for tax purposes, most countries will not require you to pay taxes. Poland has signed double tax treaties with over 30 countries which can further ensure that you won’t be ‘double taxed.’
With all this being said, we are not able to advise on tax matters outside of Poland. If you’re unsure about how this can affect your tax situation at home, we recommend contacting a tax advisor in your home country.
Sadly not.
This is an “active income” visa, which means that your income must come from active sources, or in other words, working for client(s). Of course, if you do have a pension or other passive income, that’s great and not an issue, but that income cannot be used to meet any tax or income requirements in Poland under this visa.
The majority of freelancers that have come to Poland have ended up working in the following industries: Teaching, programming, software development, graphic design, content creator / influencer, web designer, content writer, social media / marketing specialist, business consultant. Whilst it is possible to work in other industries, we ask that you contact us to be 100% sure it will be permitted under this class of visa.
“The links to high-value blog posts already make the book worth it, never mind the amazing insight and context provided by Shawn. Must buy for #CodeNewbies looking to break in or senior engineers looking to grow!”
Peter was amazing! He shared wonderful tips, made the most out of our call, and was very attentive and kind! I'm still speechless about it!
Parikshit it honestly one of my favorite grown mentors. He is a wealth of knowledge, loves teaching and the most important part of all, he genuinely want to help and wants to see you succeed! It is always a pleasure to connect with him! I have truly learned so much in such a short amount of time!
“The links to high-value blog posts already make the book worth it, never mind the amazing insight and context provided by Shawn. Must buy for #CodeNewbies looking to break in or senior engineers looking to grow!”
Peter was amazing! He shared wonderful tips, made the most out of our call, and was very attentive and kind! I'm still speechless about it!
Parikshit it honestly one of my favorite grown mentors. He is a wealth of knowledge, loves teaching and the most important part of all, he genuinely want to help and wants to see you succeed! It is always a pleasure to connect with him! I have truly learned so much in such a short amount of time!
Have any questions about our programs or want to know more about English Wizards? Fill out the form and we will get back to you in the next 24 hours.
