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[redsoxfan]

OK, I've been trying to register a business with my friend for at least a year now. (We're both from the States.) Our Kafka-esque struggle has nearly reached its end, as our business is now registered as of yesterday. Two problems:

First, my partner managed to accidentally stay 4 days too long on his umpteenth tourist visa. He went to Germany yesterday for his final tourist visa stamp, and cannot return to Poland for 6 months. This on the same day as our biz was registered. Has anyone similarly received such treatment and got around it somehow? Our lawyer is working on some solution; namely that there are some special circumstances that ought to warrent an exception. The special circumstances in this case are that it took them 3 months to register the biz when they said it'd take 3 weeks.

Second, although Americans are allowed to stay in Poland for, I believe, 180 days a year, the Polish authorities seem to have no problem with loading our passports up with stamps. Apparently they don't really care. But I'm concerned that when I go to apply for my karta pobytu (residence card), even though I have a valid 3 month tourist stamp, they're going to say that I've already been here too long. In such a case, not only would I not get a karta pobytu, but I might also be kicked out for 6 months. Has anyone (non-EU citizens, that is) got a karta pobytu after having been in Poland for more than 6 months? Or similarly, has anyone been denied a karta pobytu for such a reason?

Thanks

[svenhassel]

no

[freudling1000]

Sounds like poor planning and now it is a mess. Who knows. Just pay people off and hope for the best.

[redsoxfan]

Our business was supposed to be registered several months ago, but the sole judge (yes, a spolka komandatowa must be approved by a judge) who was assigned to our case (yes, it's treated as a court case) was on vacation. When she came back, she was so overloaded with work (because the summer is the busiest time for business registration) that it took several months to finalize things. Complete mess. This is the EU? Anyway, my partner shouldn't have needed another stamp on his passport, and the weeks slipped by, and...well, he screwed up. That situation has actually been resolved, though not by, let's say, "normal means."

As far as bribing goes, Poland has largely done away with that system, though it's failed to put a working system in its stead. We spent about 4000 zl to register the business, and about 3000 zl/month each for living expenses while we waited, so in total, we probably spent 25,000 zl to register the business. In the States, you can register a business on the web. It takes a short amount of time, and maybe costs 25 bucks.

The upshot: things are pretty cool now--we should have our NIP number tomorrow (so in a couple weeks, probably), then we're open for business. We're teaching in-company classes, by the way.