Can a foreigner open a JDG in Poland? Who can, and how, in 2026

Yes, many foreigners can. Citizens of the EU, the EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), Switzerland and the USA can open a JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, Poland’s sole trader business) on exactly the same terms as Poles. Other foreigners can only if they hold one of the residence statuses the law lists. Anyone else can do business in Poland only through a company.

Who can open a JDG, and who cannot

The rule is in article 4 of the Foreign Entrepreneurs Act. For non-EU citizens it is a closed list: if your status is not on it, CEIDG (the public register of sole traders) refuses the application.

The list also covers a few rarer permits, such as those for holders of EU long-term resident status from another EU country. While you wait for a new permit, you keep the right only if you had it through a listed temporary permit (or marriage to a Pole) immediately before applying.

Watch out: “I’m legal here, so I can switch to B2B” is the most common mistake. B2B means invoicing a client from your own business instead of being employed. An employee on a work permit cannot simply open a JDG and invoice the same employer.

UK citizens are not named in the Polish list. If you are covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, ask the biznes.gov.pl help centre (801 055 088) whether it gives you JDG rights before you apply.

For Ukrainians: since 5 March 2026 a new JDG needs PESEL status UKR with temporary protection, a CUKR card, or a status from the table. A JDG opened before that date continues while your stay is legal. The details are in running a business in Poland as a Ukrainian.

Not on the list? Use a company

You can still own and run a company: a sp. z o.o. (limited liability company), a limited partnership or a joint-stock company. A sp. z o.o. needs at least 5,000 PLN of share capital, and the court fee is 250 PLN if you register online through S24 (the government’s company registration system) with its standard articles of association, or 500 PLN otherwise. JDG or sp. z o.o. compares the two.

Does a JDG get you a residence card?

No. Registering a business gives you no right to stay.

• EU citizens do not need a permit. If you stay over 3 months, you register your residence with the voivode (the regional government office) in person, at the latest the day after those 3 months end. Being self-employed in Poland is one of the grounds for staying.
• Non-EU citizens can apply for a temporary residence permit for business activity (Foreigners Act, art. 142). It is not given for the business alone. In the tax year before you apply, the business must have made an income (profit after costs, not turnover) of at least 12 times the average monthly gross wage in its voivodeship, or employed 2 people full time on indefinite contracts for at least a year. Failing that, it must show it has the means or plans to get there. You also need health insurance, a stable income and somewhere to live.

The 2025 regional wages had not been published by 24 September 2026, so which year’s figure a voivode applies to your case is unclear. Ask the voivodeship office. How long decisions really take is not published either.

This permit gives JDG rights in one case: when it is granted to continue a JDG already in CEIDG. So someone who opened a JDG on a student permit can apply for it to keep that business going after their studies. A business permit granted for your own company does not let you open a JDG.

What you need before you apply

A PESEL (the 11-digit personal number). You get one automatically when you register your address (meldunek, registering where you live): EU, EEA and Swiss citizens within 30 days of arriving at the address, other foreigners by the 4th day. You can also ask any municipal office for one, stating the legal reason you need it. It is free. Unless you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen (or a UK citizen covered by the Brexit agreement), you must apply in person.

The date that matters is 1 November 2026:

If you are already registered without a PESEL, you must add one (or the EU identifier) by 1 June 2030, or your entry is struck off. Whether every municipal office accepts the new CEIDG rule as your reason for needing a PESEL is not yet confirmed in practice.

A way to sign in. Online filing needs a profil zaufany (trusted profile), a Polish e-ID card or a qualified e-signature. A trusted profile is free for anyone aged 13 or over with a PESEL. You confirm it through a bank, in person, or on a video call with an official, and it lasts 3 years. See Profil Zaufany, mObywatel and other government logins.

Proof of your status, if you are not an EU, EEA, Swiss or US citizen: your residence card, Karta Polaka or permit decision, attached to the online application. Without it, the application is rejected as incomplete.

Addresses. Your home address can be abroad and is not published. The address for official letters is public and can be in Poland or elsewhere in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. A fixed place of business is optional, must be in Poland, and needs a legal title such as a lease.

A bank account is optional on the form. A business account is up to the bank, and in practice banks ask for NIP, REGON and often PESEL. Only accounts marked as business accounts appear on the VAT white list (the tax office’s public list of VAT payers and their accounts).

Filling in the CEIDG form

Registration is free at biznes.gov.pl (the government’s business portal) or in the mObywatel app (the government’s ID app); use biznes.gov.pl if you are insured abroad or give a foreign address for letters. One application also gets you a NIP (tax number) and a REGON (statistics number) and passes your data to ZUS.

The choices that matter:

• PKD codes (activity codes). One main code and as many extra ones as you need, from the PKD 2025 list. Most programmers use 62.10.B. See PKD codes in 2026.
• Tax form. The general tax scale applies unless you choose the 19% flat tax or ryczałt (lump-sum tax), by the 20th of the month after your first revenue.
• Insurance. Tick ZUS, KRUS (farmers only) or Jestem ubezpieczony za granicą (I am insured abroad). The last one is only for people with an A1 certificate (the EU form showing which country insures you), or an equivalent document, from another country, for example because they also have a job there. If you tick it, you must take the A1 to your ZUS branch; if you don’t, ZUS will require you to register and pay contributions in Poland. Insured in your home country explains who qualifies.
• e-Doręczenia (the official electronic mailbox). Every business in CEIDG must have one from 1 October 2026. Give your email and accept the terms in section 22.1, and the public provider sets it up free.
• Tax office. If you live in Poland, it is the office for your home address. If you live abroad, it is the office for non-residents in the voivodeship of your fixed place of business.

For most people the entry appears by the next business day. For foreigners, biznes.gov.pl warns it “can take up to 30 days”, usually about 7, while your status is checked.

Your first week and first month

You may start trading on the day you file. Then:

What ZUS costs you depends on the stage. Citizenship does not matter, and a business you ran earlier in another EU country, under that country’s insurance, does not block the preferential rate.

The health contribution is due at every stage, unless you are insured abroad: from 432.54 PLN a month on the general scale or flat tax (February 2026 to January 2027) and from 498.35 PLN on ryczałt (2026). Ulga na start and preferential ZUS has the conditions.

Keep your records from day one

Keep every invoice, receipt and bank statement from the first month, filed by month. If you later apply for a business residence permit, the tax returns built from those records are what show the income. Komplet, our free Mac app, reads your PDF invoices and receipts, files them into year and month folders, and packages each month for your accountant.

What to do next

1. Check your status against the table. If it is not there, look at a sp. z o.o.
2. Get a PESEL, ideally before 1 November 2026, and a trusted profile.
3. Decide your PKD code, tax form and where you are insured.
4. File in CEIDG with your proof of status and an email for e-Doręczenia.
5. Register with ZUS within 7 days (or, if you are insured abroad, take your A1 to ZUS instead).
6. Register for VAT-UE before your first EU business client or foreign purchase.