Polish passport holders get lots of privileges and benefits along with it. Apart from having free access to over 180 countries around the world, you get free and unlimited access to the European Union. In other words, you and your family can live in Europe without any time limits and work here without a need for a visa.
Your Polish ancestry can get you Polish citizenship
If you have Polish ancestry and know that at least one of your Polish ancestors left Poland after 1920, this is already great. Now, it’s a matter of proving they were Polish by locating the documents in Poland issued by the Polish government such as residential records, vital records, documents confirming service in the Polish army among others. It is also necessary to prove that your Polish ancestors and any of their descendants linking them to you, did not lose Polish citizenship.
What if you don’t have any documents proving your Polish citizenship?
Here we can offer research towards locating records and evidence needed to support your Polish citizenship claim. If you have absolutely no records, but have a good number of details about your Polish ancestors such as date and place of birth, full name, parents’ names etc. in most cases this is already a good enough base to search archives and civil registry offices in Poland. Try to talk to your family members who may know more. See if there is anything in the archives in the country of your origin, such as naturalization records, petition for naturalization, immigration documents, passengers’ lists. They may contain precious information for us to confirm your eligibility and commence research in Poland on your behalf.
Polish citizenship confirmation process
Polish citizenship is passed via ‘the right of blood’. Once your eligibility for Polish citizenship by descent is confirmed, it is necessary to lodge your citizenship application to get an official document confirming your Polish citizenship. You need to present documents confirming your lineage, documents proving your ancestor was a Polish citizen, and documents confirming that Polish citizenship was not lost by your Polish ancestors and any of his or her descendants all the way to you.
Once you are issued with your Polish citizenship confirmation, and have your vital records registered in Poland such as birth and marriage certificates, the last step for you is to apply for your Polish passport. This needs to happen in person at the Polish Consulate general since a Polish passport is biometric and you are required to leave your fingerprints. This is just formality and after a couple of weeks, your passport will be issued to you!
Polish citizenship for my children
If you are eligible for Polish citizenship by descent, so are your children and grandchildren etc. You can lodge your citizenship application at the same time to make it smooth for them to apply for a Polish passport later in the process. Please keep in mind you can skip generations in the process, what that means, your children can apply for Polish citizenship without you going through the process, but they still need to prove lineage to your ancestors via you, by presenting your birth certificate.
