How state institutions work in Poland during COVID-19 quarantine

 Quarantine in Poland influenced on the work of many state institutions, on which the entire sector of small and medium-sized enterprises depends. In this article we want to inform you about the innovations and the format in which many financial and administrative institutions in Poland are currently working, as well as to familiarize you with the procedures that can be performed remotely due to quarantine caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

 First of all, we should begin from the process of registration a new company in Poland. This process is by no means suspended and you will not have to postpone all your plans for  other time. Issuing an electronic signature remotely is also possible. For doing this it is enough to notarize the signature on the application in the country of residence, and send us the original document to complete the procedure for issuing an electronic signature. The National Court Register (KRS) offers to register all companies through the S24 online system, where you can find models of many documents required for registration. By signing all the documents with an electronic signature, you also send them through the portal for registration. The deadline for a court to make a decision on registering a company is up to 24 hours, but in fact delays are possible due to KRS's limited work.

Changing the data in the KRS registry for a company that was registered through S24, and from the moment of registration did not make changes in paper form, it is also possible online in this system.

A valid extract the KRS Register - on the website https://www.gov.pl/web/sprawiedliwosc/krajowy-rejestr-sadowy you need to select the necessary section. Odpis informacji aktualnych can be downloaded and printed by yourself and this document will have legal force as a document with a seal, however, outside of Poland, nevertheless, it is not recognized as an official document due to the absence of any signatures or seals of workers of the Register. If you still need a KRS seal, you need to fill out wniosek o wydanie odpisu and send it with the payment confirmation to the KRS. Prepared and signed by Register worker extract should be done up to 7 days.

The next important thing is, of course, the Tax Authority. In this institution, almost everything is done and is being served remotely at the moment. If you received a request from the Tax Office to submit company documents, you may send them in the form of a scan to the email of the Inspector responsible for your company, or by traditional post. Submission and correction of submitted declarations is possible through online forms or with the help of an accountant.

Social Insurance (ZUS) is also an important organization when you’re doing business in Poland. Even before quarantine, they introduced an online system where you, as a social insurance payer can watch the processes regarding your payments. At the moment, this is the main way to request or receive documents from ZUS. If you need statement about your payments in ZUS for showing in another institutions, it is necessary to fill out the EWZ-2 form and send it to ZUS through their portal. They promise to send the answer in electronic form to your office in 7 days. If you need paper form with the signature and seal of ZUS, the above-mentioned application must be sent by post, but the wait for a response can be delayed up to 14 days.

There are situations in which a foreigner who wants to open a company in Poland is asked for a criminal record in Poland. In this case, you must register in the online system of the State Register of Criminal Records. You also need to create a personal account, enter all the requested data and then you will have the opportunity to choose the service that is needed. If you receive a certificate of good conduct, you simply select the appropriate field and send an application for the issuance of such a document.

In addition, we want to talk about the banking system. At the moment, before going to the bank, you need to check which banks are open. Personal accounts for individuals can be opened online. In this case, some banks provide identification service by a courier who will arrive and pick up copies of documents from you and verify the document, confirming the signature (this applies only to Poland residents). Since there are quite a lot of banks in Poland, we ask you to familiarize yourself with the bank's offers before going to the branch.

Also, there is a big demand on the services of an apostille. At the moment, the government agency that doing apostille works only remotely – via post service. To receive apostilled documents, it is necessary to fill out the appropriate application (indicate the number of documents, their description and in which country they will be used), attach a payment confirmation and send it to the address of the institution together with the documents. For apostille, in this way, you could wait up to 1 month. This procedure cannot be speeded up.

 As for notaries, sworn translators and accountants - everything is individual. Due to official information notaries may serve no more than two people in office at one time, many of them work at home and generally do not appoint any personal meetings. In this situation, our company is ready to help you with temporary difficulties. Everyone is trying to optimize their work processes and help each other, we urge you not to be upset and continue to work! Positive attitude is a big half of success!