Recently, the issue of intercultural relations between immigrants and the host society has been widely discussed. Taking into account the increasing spatial mobility of non-EU foreigners, it seems highly important to examine their relations with the host community on the local level. This article presents the results of the qualitative study conducted in the first quarter of 2014 in the Lesznowola municipality (Mazowieckie province, Piaseczno district) in Poland. It aims at analysing the situation of the Vietnam-ese community and its engagement in the local life of the municipality and examine attitudes of both Vietnamese and Poles towards prospects for granting local voting rights to migrants in Poland. Through several years of successful business and social cooperation, the Vietnamese immigrants have become a recognisable part of the social landscape of the municipality. The degree of social and political par-ticipation at the local level on the part of the Vietnamese community has also increased, which can be observed, for example, through such practical indicator as cooperation with local educational institu-tions. Therefore, we can argue that the Vietnamese community has been transforming itself from a marginalised and self-sufficient homogeneous group into more and more self-aware and active socio-political group of actors.

In this article I will attempt to answer the question of why systemic solutions to (social) problems of Polish economic migrants fail to be instituted in Poland by means of social negotiations. Therefore, while emphasising the social dimension of Polish migration, I briefly present its specificity and point to some associated threats. Referring to the category labelled as social problem, I demonstrate the nature of obstacles which prevent a debate on Polish migration in the area of social negotiations from taking root on public ground in Poland. I also refer to the mechanisms of degradation of the public sphere as those which are preventing the development of systemic solutions to the problems of Polish migrant workers by means of social negotiations.