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Country playbook · PL

Hiring Thai workers in Poland

Welders and construction crews, on a route that got simpler in 2025.

Welders (ISO 9606)Fitters & fabricatorsConstruction crewsFactory operators

Minimum wage 2026

4,806 PLN

≈ €1,125 gross/mo, from 1 Jan 2026

Typical welder pay

6,000-9,000 PLN

≈ €1,400-2,100 gross/mo

Work permit validity

up to 3 years

Type A, renewable

Signed order → on site

≈ 3-4 months

Longer in Warsaw, where permits queue

Poland is the shortest, most predictable route for Thai industrial labour into the EU. Since the June 2025 reform, the old labour-market test is gone, temp-agency leasing is allowed, and welders sit in exactly the shortage band the system is built to fill. Here is how a placement actually works - with the numbers and the rules, not slogans.

The visa route

Type A work permit (+ national D visa)

The Polish employer applies to the voivode for a Type A permit tied to the job. Since the new Act on the employment of foreigners took effect on 1 June 2025, the process is materially lighter than it was.

No labour-market test

The starosta (labour-market) opinion is abolished. You can hire a Thai worker as long as the profession is not on the region’s “protected professions” list - welders and most industrial trades are not. That removes the old requirement to advertise the vacancy first.

Employer applies, worker doesn’t

The employer files the permit application with the voivode, with the job offer, proof of the worker’s qualifications, and the terms of employment. Since 1 December 2025 the government fee is 200 PLN for a permit of up to 3 months and 400 PLN for a longer one.

Pay floor is fixed by law

The salary cannot be below the national minimum (4,806 PLN gross/mo in 2026) and cannot be lower than what comparable Polish employees earn for the same work. This is checked at permit stage.

New employer duties (2025)

A signed contract, with a copy in Polish, has to be uploaded before the worker starts. You notify the authorities of changes (residence, working hours, termination) and keep employment data for two years. Applications are electronic only, through praca.gov.pl.

Then the visa

With the permit, the worker applies for a national (type D) work visa in Thailand. We run the Thai-side DOE process and the Polish permit at the same time, so the two bureaucracies overlap instead of queuing.

What the pay looks like

The employer pays the worker a normal Polish gross salary; workers never pay a recruitment fee (S.1968 charges the employer an all-in fee, confirmed per order). Ranges below are market indicative for 2025-2026.

Role	Gross / month	≈ EUR	Notes
Welder MAG/135	6,000-7,500 PLN	≈ €1,400-1,760	Structural steel, high output
Welder TIG/141	6,500-9,000 PLN	≈ €1,520-2,110	Stainless / pipe, precision
Fitter / fabricator	5,500-7,000 PLN	≈ €1,290-1,640	-
Construction / general	4,806-6,000 PLN	≈ €1,125-1,400	At or above statutory minimum

Shown in PLN with an approximate EUR at ~4.27 PLN/€. Rate moves - EUR is indicative.

Certification we test for

For welders we test to EN ISO 9606-1 - the standard that qualifies the individual welder, not just the shop. A certificate states exactly what a welder is cleared to do, so you know before arrival, not after.

Process: 135 (MAG), 141 (TIG), 111 (MMA) - matched to your work
Scope: material group, plate vs pipe, thickness, diameter, welding position (PF/PC/PE)
EN 1090 governs your fabrication shop; your welders still each need EN ISO 9606 - we supply that side
ASME IX on request for piping / pressure-vessel and oil-and-gas work

What you provide

Your side of the checklist

A signed demand letter with roles, headcount and terms (we draft it)

A Polish employment contract at or above the legal pay floor

The Type A permit application filed with your voivode (we prepare the pack)

Registered accommodation for the workers (we check it meets standard)

A workplace ready for an ISO 9606 trade test on arrival, if you want to re-verify

Your notifications set up (residence, hours, termination) per the 2025 rules

Everything else - Thai-side DOE processing, selection, testing, visas, flights, onboarding - is on us.

Sources

Market figures are indicative and current to 2025-2026; visa rules change - we confirm the exact route, timeline and cost for your order in a fixed quote. Company facts (DOE licence, guarantees) are from the S.1968 profile.

This page is written for employers. We do not place job seekers and do not accept applications from candidates: S.1968 Europe is the European representation of S1968 Manpower Co., Ltd., a Thai overseas-employment agency licensed by the Thai Department of Employment (licence Tor.1250/2565), and every worker is recruited under that licence in Thailand.

Guides for this market

Country guide12 min readHiring Thai welders in Poland: the 2026 employer guidePermits without a labour-market test, ISO 9606 certification in Bangkok, and a realistic 3-4 month timeline.Read the guide

Profession guide13 min readHiring Thai spa and massage therapists in Europe: the certificate, the protected title and the job you registerA Wat Pho certificate is one of three different Thai qualifications, and none of them is a European licence. What decides your file is how the position is worded - here is where the line falls, country by country.Read the guide

Country guide12 min readHiring a Thai massage therapist in Poland: the medical register, the permit queue and what 2025 changedPoland dropped its labour-market test in 2025, and no district has used its new power to block an occupation. The hard parts are elsewhere: a medical register a Thai certificate cannot enter, a permit fee that quadrupled, and a Warsaw queue that runs for months.Read the guide

Profession guide12 min readHiring Thai chefs in Europe: what the Thai certificate proves and where a cook can actually goGermany has a visa written for specialty cooks, but it allows two per restaurant and four years per cook. Poland, Czechia, Croatia and Romania take Thai cooks on ordinary permits. What a Thai skill certificate proves, and what each country asks of your kitchen.Read the guide

Regulation10 min readThe Single Permit recast: what changed in May 2026, and where it has not landed yetNinety-day decisions, the right to change employer, a grace period for unemployment. The deadline passed on 21 May 2026 and in July the Commission sent formal notices to seventeen member states, Poland and Germany among them. What applies where, and what to plan on.Read the guide

Ethics12 min readWho pays for recruitment: what the 2026 rules actually require of the employerThe EU's due-diligence law got much smaller in 2026 and probably does not reach your company. Three other things do. A straight account of which rules apply, what the worker must never be charged, and what it costs you.Read the guide

Process guide10 min readAlready found your Thai worker? What Thailand still requires before departureA Thai worker you found yourself can travel legally, but not by simply boarding a plane. Thailand allows five routes abroad, bars foreign employers from recruiting on its soil, and checks workers at the airport. The two routes that fit a named hire, and what each costs.Read the guide

Other markets we cover

Czechia Germany Romania Croatia Finland & Norway

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