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IS WARSAW FOREIGN-FRIENDLY? SOURCE: MORIZON
Although in the eyes of foreigners who live in the Polish capital Warsaw is yet to become an international metropolis, it is already regarded as a thriving city which has a lot to offer. What particularly appeals to expatriates is career prospects and a high standard of living. But do they actually feel at home there? Warsaw is a trade and cultural centre, which entices Polish and foreign investors to open up their businesses there. That surely results in a growing number of foreigners coming to live in the city. While Krakรณw is mostly visited by foreign tourists, it is rather an apartment than a hotel that foreign visitors are looking for in Warsaw. We wanted to hear from Warsaw expats themselves what they actually think about the Polish capital. Is it really that easy to fall in love with it? And is it easy to love the city as much as the locals do, even if you are not a Polish citizen? FOREI GNERS I N WARSAW ? WHO ARE THEY? As the capital city, Warsaw naturally attracts the highest number of foreigners of all the Polish cities. According to the City Council?s statistics, there are 22 thousand
foreigners living in Warsaw. It is believed though that the actual number may be even 3 times higher. Every fourth immigrant who live in the Polish capital comes from Ukraine, every eighth and sixteenth one comes from Vietnam and Belarus accordingly. There are also a significant number of Russians and Chinese. When it comes to the EU countries, there are many French, German or British citizens. 56% of those who took part in our survey are expats working in Warsaw. The next 24% of the respondents are students; 17% of the surveyees are self-employed. Every third expat has lived in the capital for more than 3 years while the others live there for a little shorter (26% declare to live in Warsaw for at least a year, 25% less than a year and 7% less than 3 months).
Credit: Unsplash/Kamil Gliwinski
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