EU Blue card Vs TRC
Updated: 1 day ago
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What are the benefits of holding a Blue Card in Poland?
Work Authorization: As a Blue Card holder, you have the right to work in highly qualified occupations corresponding to your qualifications.
Family Reunification: You can bring your immediate family members (spouse and children) to Poland, and they can obtain residence permits.
Social Security: You're entitled to social security benefits, including healthcare, pensions, and unemployment benefits.
Path to Permanent Residence: After 5 years of continuous residence, you can apply for permanent residence in Poland.
As you see, the Bluecard and TRC look the same. But the backside of both cards, if you translate them, then we can find below:
TRC: Polish
TRC: English
Blue Card: Polish
Recent experience: Eight months ago, one of our Indian IT employees got TRC. He thought it was an “EU Blue Card, " so he didn’t check it.
He was laid off from the company on 1 August. When he went to submit a “Change of employer” application in the Urzad office (TRC Office), he learned that he was holding a TRC, not a blue card.
Benifits of Blue Card:
https://www.gov.pl/web/gov/skorzystajcie-z-urlopow-rodzicielskich --parental leave
Blue Card vs TRC Poland - Benefits, application process and Documents needed Part 1
Feature | EU Blue Card | Temporary Residence Card (TRC) |
Validity Period | Up to 3 years | Typically shorter |
Family Employment Access | Yes | Limited; may require separate permits |
Pathway to Permanent Residency | Higher chances | Lower chances |
Job Mobility | Transferable within EU | Generally restricted |
Eligibility Criteria | Higher education or extensive experience | Varies by personal circumstances |
List of benefits of Blue card over TRC:-
Access to the Labour market for Spouse
Validity of 3 Years, depending on the Job Contract
In the case of an unemployment grace period of 3 months while in TRC, its 30 days (If the candidate applies for “unemployment benefit” then a Blue card holder 6 months and a TRC holder 3 months can stay in Poland for a Job search.)
Chances of PR are higher in the Blue card over TRC
In some cases, it can also be transferred to another EU country
Income TAX:- 12% on income between 30,000 to 120000 PLN/Annum and 32% on income above 120000 PLN
You can get all related formats and application form formats from here. https://infoopt.pl/?msclkid=731b1cbec...
An IT professional lost his job in Poland. He applied for an “unemployment benefit” and extended his stay to the next three months (TRC holder 3 months, Bluecard holder 6 months).
Queries:
1)How can I check if my Blue Card is active at any time?
2) How long will it be active after the last working day?
3) Is it possible to travel back with this Blue Card after 90 days (if I have a new work permit or offer letter), or is a new visa needed?
You can send an email to the border security help desk below and get an answer. You can also call them.
The border Security help desk will confirm it for you.
Materials to download
EU Blue Card:
After two years of the decision date for the EU Blue card, no work permit is required. Only the “Change of Employer” form should be submitted to the Urząd Miasta office.
The EU Blue card provides for a three-year tenure. During the first two years, we can change companies twice. After two years, there is no limit on job changes.
1. EU Blue card provided company
2. Second Company
3. Third Company
EU Blue card holder Dependent TRC doesn’t require a work permit from day one.
For EU Blue card holders' job changes, there are no limitations such as “designation and salary must be higher than the previous job.” The limit for the Blue card that should be maintained is 10 K PLN gross. (as per https://infoopt.pl/).
What if I lost my TRC or EU Blue Card in Poland?
If you lose your TRC or EU Blue Card in Poland, first file a complaint at the police station. Then, check Lost & Found services both online and offline. If the card is still not found, visit the Urzad office to apply for a duplicate card. Submit a loss of card form and send it to the courier for an appointment, which may take up to two months. After submission, you will receive the card within a month.
First we have to give a complaint in the Police Station. In Kraków Lubicz we can give.
Second, we can check Lost & Found Online and Offline counters.
Still, if you didn’t find/get the card, then visit the Urzad office and apply for a duplicate card.
Then, we had to submit a form for loss of card and send it to the courier for an appointment to submit the documents. It seems that it will take almost two months to get the appointment.
After submission, we will get the card within a month.
application Form:
https://przybysz.duw.pl/en/foreigners-stay/issuing-replacing-a-residence-card/
What if I lost my TRC or EU Blue Card in India?
With help of your TRC Decision letter and other documents apply for Visa.
Once reached Poland, Go to the TRC office and apply for duplicate TRC.
Question:
I lost my residence card after a security check in India. What to do with that?
Answer:
First check in Aiport lost and found website.
To obtain a duplicate residence permit (RP) after losing it, you should:
1. File a First Information Report (FIR) with the airport police. (Where the card is lost, under that area police station).
2. Apply for a Poland Visa in VFS under “National Others” for 91 days.
3. Email Urzad with a scanned copy of the FIR and explain the situation.
4. If you have applied for your TRC through an agency or lawyer, please inform them for quicker processing.
5. Be aware that Urzad always prints two cards. Usually, they give you one card and keep one card for them. In case of emergency, your agency or lawyer can inform Urzad that your card is lost, and you can get that duplicate card within one month.
6. Ensure you use a visa for re-entry and include a cover letter detailing the reason for the duplicate request along with the FIR copy.
Getting a duplicate card should not take long once these steps are followed.
Do Schengen visa holders get TRC in Poland?
Currently, there is a delay in student visas. Due to this delay, students are unable to join their universities on time.
If a student obtains a Schengen visa, can they apply for TRC once they arrive in Poland?
Response:
Schengen visa (C) is a short term visa (up to 90 days) while national visa (D) is a long term visa (up to 1 year). The main issue when applying for TRC is not the length of the visa (the main issue is to apply for TRC before legal stay based on visa expires) but the purpose for which it was issued (tourism/visiting/studies etc). Legally there is no direct prohibition to apply for student TRC with for example tourist visa, yet there were instances where visa was being cancelled when purpose of visa and TRC were not aligned (justification being - the purpose of issuing visa was not aligned with true reasons for coming to Poland). We only saw such situation as exception yet there may be such a risk.
Clarification: One of our Group members confirmed that the Tourist Visa should be in Poland only. In other EU countries, a Schengen visa won’t work for applying for Poland TRC.
EU Blue Card Required Documents:
| DOCUMENTS |
1 | Passport of applicant |
2 | 4 biometric passport picture of applicant- Color biometric photographs about dimensions 35 x of 45 mm |
3 | List of travels within 5 years, including country name and in/out dates (stated: month and year). |
4 | Previous visits to Poland (with the corresponding description: month/year for in and out) |
5 | The last date of crossing the Polish border |
6 | Rental Agreement - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
7 | Address Registration (if applicable) - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
8 | ZUS ZUA, RCA, IMIR for the last 3 months, please ask your employer for it; |
9 | PESEL number- if applicable |
10 | Your current decision and Residence Card (if applicable)- copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
11 | Your employment contract - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
12 | Work permit (if applicable) - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
13 | University diplomas and supplements (if applicable) - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
14 | Work experience certificates, other skills/language certificates (if applicable) - copy first and original on the day of submitting the application; |
Optional Experience Letter format:
This is to certify that Mr. NAME (Employee Code#) was working with COMPANY NAME from to.
He was designated as “”
Minimum number of hours worked per week – 45
His Roles and Responsibilities include –
To get appointment, follow the same TRC process.
Work – high qualifications (blue card) Necessary documents
Documents confirming the possession of health insurance
An employment contract, concluded for at least 1 year.
Confirmation of higher professional qualifications (diploma after at least 3 years of study in a field related to the current job) or 5 years of experience in a given profession;
Documents confirming having a stable and regular source of income cannot be lower than PLN 10,733.22 gross per month.
Who have completed 5 years of stay in Poland can Invite people to come here.
Those people will get a Government Invitation Letter. For that, they have to go to one Government office.
The office will attest to your invitation, which becomes a legal documentation invitation letter for the visa office in India.
https://www.gov.pl/web/uw-podlaski/zaproszenie-cudzoziemca
WHO CAN APPLY FOR AN INVITATION?
Invitations may be issued by:
a foreigner residing legally
and continuously for at least 5 years in the territory of the Republic of Poland immediately before the issuance of the invitation or holding a permanent residence permit or a long-term resident's EU residence permit or;
https://infoopt.pl/zapraszajacy-wpis-do-ewidencji-zaproszen/
in person at the Delegation in Nowy Sącz (address below, room 19) , Monday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Tuesday – Friday 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Query:
Does anyone know why few people are getting the blue card decision as a post-to-home, and few people are collecting it from the office?
Answer:
From September 10 onwards, the process has changed. Now, they send an SMS to applicants to book an appointment to receive a decision from the office with a deadline. If someone does not book an appointment, then after the deadline passes, they send it by Poczta Polska, and the applicant has to collect it from the Poczta Polska office by showing his passport.
Categories of foreigners who can work without a permit in Poland
Open Saturday:
https://infoopt.pl/wydarzenie-dzien-otwarty-info-opt-10/
https://infoopt.pl/?s=Dzie%C5%84+otwarty
As part of the event it will be possible to:
attaching documents to ongoing cases;
obtaining information regarding the legalization of stay and work;
obtaining free assistance in preparing the application,
submitting an application for a temporary, permanent or long-term EU residence permit by third-country nationals (appointment booking required).
Booking an appointment to submit an application during the INFO.OPT Open Day
Please send an email with the necessary data to rezerwacja.opt@muw.pl . In the title of the message, please enter "Legalization of stay - Open day 18/01".
Please provide the following information in the email:
name and surname,
date of birth,
citizenship,
telephone number,
basis for legal stay (e.g. visa, visa-free travel),
validity of legal stay,
purpose of stay (e.g. work, stay with husband, permanent stay)
Query: I came to Poland, Krakow, in 2022. At that time, my company gave me a work permit for 3 years, and later, I got a TRC. My TRC will expire in 8 months, and my work permit in 2 months. Now, do I need to renew my work permit along with my TRC renewal?
Answer:
First, once we get a work permit and Visa, we don’t need to renew our work permits again. The company will provide a Contract (3 years or uninterrupted/Unlimited); based on it, we can apply for TRC. Once you receive the TRC, that is your Work Permit and Visa. Before 6 of your TRC expiry date, start the TRC renewal process. Because TRC renewal nowadays takes 8 month’s time. Even getting a biometrics appointment takes 3 to 4 months. Those who applied in Jan 2025 got it in May 2025. Feb it is in June.
Detailed information and with clarity to the point
Well put.
Is the point about path to Permanent Residency correct? So if someone has a EU Blue Card continuously for 5 year, is he/she eligible from PR?
Well explanation.