In October 2026, Polish special services carried out a series of raids against two criminal groups that were selling Polish documents. According to the investigation, a total of 160 fictitious companies were involved. The groups issued forged residence permits and fake job invitations.

Key Indicators

Mazovia Group: The "Premium" Segment

The Silesian division of the Border Guard, the Central Anticorruption Bureau, and the National Prosecutor's Office in Katowice carried out an operation against an organized criminal group in Mazovia Voivodeship. From 2020 to 2024, the group was engaged in the illegal legalization of foreign nationals in Poland and other Schengen Area countries. The information was reported by the KRS.pl portal, the TVN television channel, and other media outlets.

The core of the group comprised 11 detainees. Among them were citizens of Russia and other former Soviet states.

The group's headquarters were located in office premises of a higher education institution in Mazovia Voivodeship. Some participants had direct access to the higher education system. The prosecutor issued an official ban on their participation in examination committees.

Scheme mechanism:

• The organizers registered a network of more than 30 fictitious companies. On paper, they conducted commercial activity, but in practice they produced no goods.
• Fictitious employment contracts were issued through these companies.
• Applications for temporary and permanent residence permits were submitted to the voivode on behalf of foreign nationals who had no legal grounds to stay in Poland.
• The average cost of processing one residence permit was 8,500 euros.
• Proceeds from the scheme exceeded 20 million zloty. The money was routed through a chain of company bank accounts, withdrawn in cash, and invested in commercial and residential real estate throughout Poland.

Results of the raid:

• six leaders of the group were taken into custody;
• five were released on substantial bail with their passports seized;
• the prosecutor's office seized the luxury real estate of the suspects.

Łódź Scheme: The Mass Segment

The second major investigation conducted under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Łódź uncovered a wholesale market for fictitious documents. The group exploited loopholes in Poland's electronic business registration system.

Stages of the group's operations:

1. "Drops" (straw persons) were brought into Poland for several days.
2. They were issued a Polish PESEL number, a SIM card, a bank account, and a "Profil Zaufany" electronic signature.
3. After this, the drops returned home, and the organizers obtained their logins and passwords.
4. Using the state web portal, 130 limited liability companies ("spółka z o.o.") were registered in the drops' names.
5. None of the 130 companies conducted any real business or paid any taxes.
6. Using digital profiles that were either purchased or stolen, the companies submitted approximately 11,500 electronic declarations to district labor offices stating their intent to employ a foreign national ("oświadczenia"). Such declarations are processed quickly, unlike work permits, which take a long time to obtain.

The group sold fictitious invitations in bulk for prices starting at 100 złoty each. Intermediaries and "helpers" resold them on Telegram for hundreds of euros. Buyers used the invitations to obtain work visas and to cross the border.

Border guards detained a 23-year-old citizen of Ukraine at the border who was attempting to enter Poland. According to the prosecutor's office, she was a key link in an international network that included citizens of Poland and Belarus.

Consequences for Foreigners

Organizers face 5 to 15 years of imprisonment for participation in an organized criminal group and money laundering.

However, the consequences also affect foreigners who obtained documents through these companies. Under Polish administrative law, once the companies are recognized as fictitious, voivodeship offices will send a complete list of foreigners who received visas, "oświadczenia," or residence permits through these firms.

Even if a person honestly believed they were obtaining a legal permit and paid intermediaries in good faith, their document was issued on the basis of false data. From a legal standpoint, this means the document was obtained by fraudulent means.

Possible consequences:

• automatic review of the case and annulment of the residence permit;
• obligation to leave the country within 30 days;
• entry into the database of undesirable persons with a ban on entry into the Schengen Area, possibly for 5 years.

Consequences for Law-Abiding Entrepreneurs and the System

The Polish government has begun reviewing its migration policy in response to these schemes. The measures include:

• tightening the migration strategy;
• abolishing simplified procedures for companies;
• having border guards conduct cross-check interviews at the border;
• more thorough verification by officials of state institutions of all entrepreneurs and the reality of each job position. According to estimates, such a check may take six months.

The author of the video material also links the complication of the procedure for obtaining Polish citizenship to these events, which he discussed in his material from October 29.

Conclusions

The October raids confirmed that schemes of fictitious legalization through paper and front companies in Poland are losing their effectiveness. The digitalization of ZUS, tax authority, and border databases makes it possible to identify companies without turnover, even if dozens of directors are registered or thousands of invitations have been issued.

Buying a "quick solution" for 8,000 euros or a forged certificate for 100 zloty can lead to the cancellation of a residence permit and the loss of years of lawful employment in the country. Foreigners should verify employers and data in official registries before submitting documents.