EN
The article presents the results of survey researches on labor emigration after and before the accession of Poland to EU. The surveys were carried out in Bialystok among dif erent categories of respondents. The obtained results proved that migration is a selective process already at the stage of emigration - plans. Most often the choice of emigration - strategies was declared by young respondents (under 30) engaged in services or unemployed, more frequently males. The possibility of labor emigration was rarely considered by older persons, pensioners, teachers, clerks and executives. The survey of 2003 shows a high degree of support for labor emigration, even among respondents without personal migration plans. Therefore, the increase of the emigration flow after the accession could not be a surprise.