flighty

I am a business manager who may well be transferring from the UK to Poland and I would like some help to understand the above. I had a conviction for assault when I was much much younger (14 years ago) which was a stupid mistake I have since learned from and I am now in a respected position at a large company.

My worry is that I have heard there can be checks on this as part of the residency permit application (at the discretion of the authorities they can ask for evidence of no convictions in your home country?). My conviction was a long time ago and not serious (and it did not stop me getting a work permit for the US in the past) but I would like to know
1) will I have to declare it (in the uk I don't have to declare it as it was so long ago) or supply evidence of no convictions
2) would it affect my chances of getting a permit to stay and work in poland for 2 years

any info/advice would be appreciated!

Celtic Princess

Are you British? If so, you are an EU citizen so have the right to live and work in any EU state. You do not need to apply for a permit to do so.

Paddy23

You can work without a permit, but from what I understand you still need to register the fact that you are staying in the country (more than three months). This is what i think is the situation, but it all seems very confusing, overly so!

Celtic Princess

You are correct. EU law states that you automatically have the right to live and work in any member state but it also states that member states can require you to register/notify them that you are doing so. This is just a formality and pretty useless in my opinion as they can only turn you away in very, very extreme cases

Some countries, like here in Sweden, insist that you do register because they are obsessed with rules and order and have a complete breakdown if you don't. (Because if you don't there is actually bugger all they can do about it and non compliance is beyond their comprehension.)

And others, like Britain, couldn't care less. You can register if you really, really want to (probably for the Swedes), but whether you do or not is up to you.

Paddy23

Flighty,

I terms of your actual question, when i registered, i did not have to declare any convictions (although i dont have any). If you are getting paid in Poland and are paying polish tax etc. i think you need a PESEL number, for which you would have to register.

also, if you want to register a car, for example, you will need offical proof of address and length of stay

flighty

So is the "registering" you mention the same thing as what the polish government website calls "permit for residence" (see link)

http://www.poland.gov.pl/Permissions,1618.html

If it is the same, what questions did they ask and what information did you need? Was this recent? I feel hopful because they didn't ask you about a criminal record.

thanks for all replies - its been a weight on my mind!

Celtic Princess

No it isn't the same.

In order to register your residency as an EU citizen who already has work in Poland you are required by law to provide 2 pieces of information:

1. Valid identity card or passport
2. Confirmation of engagement from the employer or a certificate of employment.

And that is it.

EU law states that your new country cannot insist that you provide any other information or documentation other than these 2 things.

All the information you need is on the EU Commission's website here:

http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/e.../index_en.html