The question about how long it takes to acquire Polish citizenship by descent is asked pretty often by our clients. Obviously, everyone would like to plan ahead and get a straightforward answer. In some other cases our clients have things already planned in Europe, such as they are starting a job or university, or they need to sort out some legal things in Poland.
In Poland, citizenship is a legal institution regulated by administrative law, and the latter, from the most general perspective, belongs to the public law branch, unlike, for instance, civil or commercial law, which constitute private law.
If you have Polish ancestry and you wonder if you are eligible to get your Polish citizenship by descent, there is an easy way to do it. You first need to establish if you are eligible to confirm your Polish citizenship by descent and prove that Polish citizenship was held by one of your ancestors, and then to establish it was not lost by any of your family members related by blood all the way to you.
You could say that the difference between citizenship and nationality is an invention of philosophers. In 1941 it caused an extremely important political dispute, impacting the fate of many Poles, who after the outbreak of the Second World War were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in the east.
Citizenship is a legal institution, which means that it is shaped by law. The legal norms that define citizenship are most often referred to as citizenship laws. Laws on citizenship are understood as legal regulations devoted to the issues of having, acquiring and losing citizenship, as well as the procedures and bodies responsible for resolving issues related to Polish citizenship.
During World War II, several hundred thousand Poles were deported into far away Russian territory. Russia occupied the eastern part of Poland and imprisoned many people. After the Sikorski-Majski Agreement was signed in July 1941, many Polish citizens were released from the camps in Siberia. Poles began their journey towards the places where the Polish Army was formed under the command of General Wladyslaw Anders as they could count on Polish soldiers help.
Official foreign documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, citizenship certificates, or military service certificates among others, have a special evidentiary power in proceedings concerning the Polish citizenship confirmation.
The great population movements shortly before, during, and as a result of World War II largely involved the Jewish population: those fleeing the Holocaust, but also Holocaust survivors who, for various reasons, decided or were forced to leave their previous homes.
The establishment of the borders of the Polish state after World War II and the consequent shape of the country can without much exaggeration be called an unprecedented event in the modern history of Europe.
Polish Citizenship is a very beneficial and strong citizenship to have. Along with it, you get rights to reside, travel, work and study not only in Poland but in the whole European Union.
Grant of Polish citizenship, commonly called naturalization, is one of the ways of acquiring Polish citizenship by foreigner. According to Article 18 of the current Act on Polish Citizenship, the President of the Republic of Poland may grant Polish citizenship to any foreigner upon foreigner’s request.
If you are British citizen, you may wonder how to keep European Union citizenship after Brexit and have easy access to the EU job market, freedom of travel across the Schengen Zone. If you have Polish roots, your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were born in Poland, there is a chance you too have acquired Polish citizenship.
Under the current regulations, there is only one way of losing Polish citizenship – renunciation of Polish citizenship. Polish citizen who renounces Polish citizenship loses Polish citizenship after receiving the consent of the President of the Republic of Poland after acceptance of application for renunciation of Polish citizenship.
The history of Polish-British migration relations is relatively short. It was not until the end of the 19th century that a phenomenon that could be described as a migration wave took place. Of course, Poles have been traveling to Britain for hundreds of years, but never before on such a scale.
France is not only the Eiffel Tower, cheese and wine. It’s also a great history, monuments, art and probably one of the most beautiful sounding language in the world. Let’s be honest – everything sounds better in French right?
Discover endless possibilities working, studying and living in Europe with European Citizenship.
We have vast experience, education and most of all knowledge about Polish citizenship law and regulations so we can assure you, you will be in good and professional hands.
Barbara Cebula
Polish Citizenship Specialist
