In short: a lease agreement with a foreign tenant requires no special permission and no special form — you let the property on exactly the same terms as to a Polish citizen. The differences show up in the details: identifying a tenant without a PESEL number, registration deadlines counted in days, and — most importantly — the fact that under an occasional lease a foreign tenant usually has no Polish property to name as the place they would move out to. That single field decides whether your security is real or merely looks real.
Can you rent an apartment to a foreigner?
Yes. No provision makes letting a flat to a foreign national conditional on a permit, an official consent or the tenant's citizenship. Nor does the landlord have any duty to examine the legal basis of the tenant's stay in Poland or any liability for it — a lease is a civil-law contract, not part of the immigration procedure.
It is worth remembering, though, that for the tenant the agreement is often a document needed elsewhere: to confirm a place of residence or to fulfil the registration obligation. That is why the lease should be complete and clear — what it must contain regardless of the tenant's citizenship is covered in the guide on how to screen a tenant before signing.
Identifying a tenant without a PESEL number
A standard set of party details refers to a PESEL number and a Polish ID card. A foreign tenant often has neither — and that is not an obstacle. The agreement simply needs details that identify the person unambiguously:
- first name and surname exactly as in the travel document,
- citizenship and date of birth,
- passport or residence card series and number, together with its validity period,
- PESEL number if one has been assigned, and an address for correspondence.
Many foreigners living in Poland already have a PESEL number — data of foreigners residing in Poland is kept in the PESEL register (Art. 7(1)(3) of the Population Registration Act), and people granted temporary protection after 2022 hold one with the UKR status. Ask for the residence document not in order to assess its validity, but because its expiry date sets a sensible horizon for the lease — and it matters directly for registration (see below).
Occasional lease with a foreign tenant — the "other property" problem
Three documents are attached to an occasional lease agreement (Art. 19a(2) of the Tenant Protection Act):
- the tenant's declaration in the form of a notarial deed, submitting to enforcement of the obligation to vacate the property,
- the tenant's indication of another property where they will be able to live if enforcement takes place,
- a statement by the owner of that other property consenting to the tenant living there — at the landlord's request with a notarially certified signature.
Point two is the heart of the problem. The Act does not expressly require the indicated property to be in Poland — but a Polish court enforcement officer acts only within the territory of Poland. An address in Kyiv, Manila or Berlin fills the field and provides no real security: if it ever came to enforcement, there would be nowhere to carry out the obligation to vacate. Formally the agreement is valid; in practice the whole advantage of an occasional lease disappears.
There is also an obligation few people remember: if the tenant loses the possibility of living in the indicated property, they have 21 days to name another one together with its owner's statement (Art. 19a(3)). If they fail to do so, you may terminate the agreement with at least seven days' notice (Art. 19d(5)). With a tenant from abroad, whose "fallback property" is often a friend's flat, this scenario is realistic — it is worth repeating that duty in the body of the lease.
The rest of the regime works exactly as with a Polish tenant: a fixed term of up to 10 years, written form on pain of nullity (Art. 19a(6)), and a notary's fee capped at 1/10 of the minimum wage — with the 2026 minimum wage of PLN 4,806 gross that is at most PLN 480.60 (Art. 19a(7)). What this form of tenancy involves is described in the comparison of an occasional lease and a standard lease, and the documents and deadlines are covered under occasional lease agreement.
What to do when there is no Polish move-out address
Four realistic options, with an honest note on the weakness of each:
- A third party's property in Poland — a relative, a friend, an employer. It requires a statement from the owner of that property (Art. 19a(2)(3)), preferably with a notarially certified signature. Weakness: such consent is often declaratory and can disappear along with the relationship between the tenant and the person who signed it — hence the importance of the duty under Art. 19a(3).
- A larger deposit — under an occasional lease the Act allows a deposit of up to six times the monthly rent (Art. 19a(4)), which is lower than under a standard tenancy, where the cap is twelve times (Art. 6(1)). The deposit is returned within one month of the property being vacated, after deducting the landlord's claims (Art. 19a(5)). Weakness: money covers arrears but does not shorten the road to recovering the flat.
- Institutional lease — the only form that requires no indication of another property at all: the attachment is the notarial deed alone, in which the tenant submits to enforcement and acknowledges that no social tenancy or temporary accommodation is available to them (Art. 19f(3)). The fundamental weakness: it is available only to landlords running a business in the letting of premises (Art. 19f(1)) — for the owner of a single flat that is a change of model, not a formality.
- A standard lease with eyes open — if no sensible security can be built, it is more honest to sign a standard agreement than to pay a notary for a construction that will not work. The compensation is then careful tenant screening, a handover report and a deposit.
Language of the agreement and service of documents
A lease between private individuals does not have to be drawn up in any particular language, but proceedings before a Polish court are conducted in Polish — a foreign-language document then has to be translated. The safest arrangement is two columns: a binding Polish version alongside a working translation, with a clear clause stating which version prevails in case of discrepancy. The declaration submitting to enforcement is drawn up by a notary anyway — and if the tenant's command of Polish is insufficient, the notary will require an interpreter.
The second practical point is service. Put the tenant's e-mail address in the agreement, together with a clause that letters sent to the address of the property are deemed served — after a foreign tenant moves out, an "uncollected letter" can be a bigger problem than ending the tenancy itself.
Reporting to the tax office and taxation
Nothing changes here: under an occasional lease the owner reports the agreement to the head of the tax office within 14 days of the start of the tenancy (Art. 19b(1)), and without that report the fast-track route to recovering the property does not apply (Art. 19b(3)). The tenant's citizenship is irrelevant — the procedure and a ready-made letter are described in the article on reporting an occasional lease to the tax office. Rental income is settled exactly as with a Polish tenant.
Registration of a foreign tenant — deadlines counted in days
This is where the differences are largest and surprise both sides (Population Registration Act, consolidated text: Dz.U. 2026 item 384):
- citizens of the EU, EFTA/EEA or Switzerland and their family members — registration by the 30th day from arrival (Art. 41(1)–(2a)),
- all other foreigners — by the fourth day from arrival (Art. 41(3)),
- exemption from the registration obligation where the stay in Poland does not exceed 30 days (Art. 42(2)),
- the declared period of temporary residence may not exceed the period of lawful stay resulting from the residence document (Art. 41(4)) — which is why the expiry date on a residence card can matter more than the end date of the lease.
The landlord's role is exactly the same as with a Polish tenant: confirming the fact of residence rather than "granting consent", and registration gives the tenant no rights to the property. The details — including what you can put in the lease and how deregistration works — are in the article on registering a tenant in a rented apartment.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner enter into an occasional lease agreement?
Yes — the Act does not restrict who may be the tenant. The restriction applies to the landlord, who must be a natural person not running a business in the letting of premises (Art. 19a(1)). The practical problem is naming another property where the tenant would live if enforcement took place.
Can a property abroad be named as the move-out address?
The Act does not prohibit it, but enforcement of the obligation to vacate is carried out by a Polish enforcement officer within Poland. Naming a foreign address ticks the box without creating real security — with a tenant from abroad, consider a third party's property in Poland or a different form of agreement.
Does the lease have to be in Polish?
There is no such requirement for an agreement between private individuals, but in a dispute before a Polish court a foreign-language document has to be translated. The simplest solution is a bilingual version with a clause stating which language prevails.
Is the landlord responsible for the legality of the tenant's stay?
No. A lease is a civil-law contract and the landlord is not an authority checking the basis of anyone's stay. It is worth knowing the validity period of the residence document, though — it caps the declared registration period (Art. 41(4) of the Population Registration Act) and suggests a sensible term for the lease.
Based on the Act of 21 June 2001 on the Protection of Tenants' Rights, the Municipal Housing Stock and on Amendments to the Civil Code (consolidated text: Dz.U. 2023 item 725) and the Population Registration Act of 24 September 2010 (consolidated text: Dz.U. 2026 item 384). This article is informational and does not replace legal advice.