Polish Citizenship Confirmation process
01
How can Polish citizenship be passed from one generation to another?
Polish citizenship is passed by the right of blood. If one of the parents holds Polish citizenship, it is passed to the child irrespective of whether the child was born in Poland or abroad. Therefore, if you know that your grandfather and/or grandmother was a Polish citizen there is a good chance that you do too. This means that your Polish grandparent passed Polish citizenship to your parent, and your parent also passed it to you. This is assuming, of course, that you and any of your ancestors have not lost your Polish citizenship. If you need assistance in checking if you qualify for Polish citizenship by descent, contact us for a free eligibility assessment.
02
Is a birth certificate enough to prove someone is Polish?
Being born in Poland does not make one Polish citizen. Therefore, a Polish birth certificate only proves the fact that someone was born in Poland, but it does not confirm he or she was a Polish citizen. It is necessary to additionally prove that a person resided in Poland, held Polish ids, etc. If you have a Polish birth certificate of your parent or grandparent, this is already a good starting point to find further documents and evidence. We can extract a lot of valuable information from a Polish birth certificate, which will enable us to search for the right documents confirming the Polish citizenship of your ancestors.
03
How can I acquire Polish citizenship? What are the ways of becoming a Polish citizen?
You can get Polish citizenship via the following ways:
- By descent where at least one of the parents is a Polish citizen. The birth can be either within Poland or outside of Poland as Polish citizenship is passed via right of blood.
- By adoption, if the child is under 16.
- By Presidential ‘granting’. Polish citizenship can be granted to any foreigner by the President of Poland with no restrictions or conditions on the foreigner’s request.
- By Naturalization. Polish citizenship application by naturalization is lodged with respect to Voivod and it is possible for those living in Poland. Rules are complex and we can assist with the process directly in Poland.
04
Do I need to speak Polish to confirm my Polish citizenship by descent?
There is no requirement to speak Polish to be able to confirm your Polish citizenship. However, the application with the Polish Government needs to be submitted in the Polish language, all official documents, forms, statements, and archival records must be translated into Polish by a sworn translator, and this is what we can organize for you. Therefore, if you plan to prepare your application yourself, you will need to have very good Polish language writing skills. That’s the part we can do on your behalf.
Keep in mind that all communication with the Voivodeship Office which is conducting your case for Polish citizenship confirmation is in Polish. You may be called upon for additional evidence or information and attach further statements to support your Polish citizenship claim. If you started the process on your own and have problems completing it, we can also help you. If you grant us the authority to act on your behalf in Poland and access your file, our Polish Citizenship Expert can take care of all the additional requests, manage the communication with your case manager and finalize your case.
05
Do I need to travel to Poland or live in Poland for a certain period of time to claim my Polish citizenship by descent?
You are not required to go to Poland at any time during or after the process of Polish citizenship confirmation. We will manage your Polish citizenship application remotely on your behalf. We will give you details on what is needed from your side and provide all necessary assistance in obtaining the required documents. We are based in Poland and we handle all activities and processes with Polish Authorities on your behalf from Poland. Once you are the lucky owner of a Polish passport, the only thing you need to remember is to renew it every 10 years, and you can do this at the nearest Polish Consulate.
06
What documents do I need to confirm my Polish citizenship by descent?
Each Polish citizenship case is assessed individually, and we prepare a list of individual documents for each applicant. While communicating with you, we will ask for many details about you and your family to get as much information as possible. Based on that list of required documents will be created and sent to you. This way we can ensure your case will be well prepared and successful. A list of required foreign documents depends primarily on the period of emigration of your ancestors. If your ancestors emigrated between 1920 and 1951, the list of documents will be longer due to the Polish citizenship laws that were in force at that time. It is necessary to confirm evidence of foreign naturalization or foreign army service to prove that Polish citizenship was kept through generations and not lost by any of your family members. In addition, the number of documents will also depend on how many generations back we must go through to prove your direct lineal kinship to the last person that emigrated from Poland and was a Polish citizen.
When it comes to documents confirming Polish citizenship, a birth certificate is a good start, but it does not prove one’s Polish citizenship. Documents such as residential records, expired Polish ids, Polish passports, or Polish army services documents among others are great proof. In case you do not have any of these, we can conduct research across archives and locate them in Poland for you.
07
Why should I confirm my Polish citizenship, become Polish citizen and obtain Polish passport?
- You will become a Polish citizen, but in addition to that also a European Citizen.
- You can travel freely within Europe (Schengen zone border-free area) and not only.
- You can live anywhere within the EU.
- You can work anywhere within the EU and some non-EU countries like Norway, Switzerland among others.
- You can pass it to your children and grandchildren and so on.
- Your spouse, despite not being a Polish citizen, gets equal rights to yours to work and reside in Europe.
- Once you are a Polish citizen you can study for free at many public universities or get reduced fees.
- You get the benefits of double citizenship and you can use whichever passport is more convenient while applying for visas or entering countries outside Europe (e.g. Asia).
08
What are the next steps after I get Polish Citizenship Confirmation and after I receive my Polish citizenship certificate?
Once you are confirmed Polish citizen you will be issued with Polish Citizenship certificate and Polish vital records. You will receive all the above in the original. The next step for you is to apply for a Polish passport at the nearest Polish Consulate General. The reason you have to do it in person is that you are required to leave your fingerprints since the Polish passport is biometric. We can help you with filling out all the required forms and assist in booking a Polish passport application appointment.
Once your Polish passport is issued to you, you can start using the benefits of being a Polish citizen, traveling, living, and working within the European Union. Remember that you can now pass Polish citizenship on to your children too! Congratulations!
09
I confirmed my Polish citizenship 20 years ago, but I have never applied for my Polish passport. Do I need to go through the process again?
Most likely the Polish Consulate will require the most recent Polish citizenship certificate, but this new procedure will be easier and should not take a lot of time. Your Polish citizenship has already been confirmed, so now they will only check whether you did not lose it during these 20 years, e.g. by renouncing it. This means that the Polish Government will not analyze the Polish citizenship status of your ancestors and you will not need to provide any documents confirming your ancestors were of Polish descent, since it has already been proven. You will again need to lodge an application with the Polish Government and provide a couple of personal documents to prove your identity. If you need assistance with this process, please do get in touch and our Polish Citizenship Experts will be able to help you.
10
Does my Polish citizenship confirmation and Polish citizenship certificate work for my siblings?
Yes! But they must go through the Polish citizenship application individually and get their Polish citizenship certificate. The same would apply to your children and other family members of Polish descent that are related via blood to the same Polish ancestor and you. However, their process will require less documentation because after your consent we can use documents and information from your case. Please note that if several members of your family go through the process with us, we will be able to give you a family discount. One of our Polish Citizenship Experts will be dedicated to your family case and will carry out the process of confirming your ancestral Polish citizenship on your behalf.
11
I know that my family has my Polish grandfather's Polish documents, but they are afraid to send originals not to lose them. What can I do in this situation?
In the first place, we would like to see all the Polish documents you and your family have in digital form, so it will be sufficient if you send us photos/or scans of them via email. In case some of them will be needed during the Polish citizenship proceedings and you are unable to send originals to us, you may certify copies of them with the nearest Polish Consulate General. We will give you all the necessary assistance and information in what form the documents will be accepted. We can assure you we take very good care of all the original Polish documents of our clients that are being sent to us. They never leave our possession; we show them to the Polish government clerk or certify copies in Poland and we keep them safe. We always return them at the end of the process along with other documents which are not kept by the Polish institutions. We will give you all the details of what is needed, what will be kept in Poland and what will be returned to you.
12
I have some Polish documents from my great-grandmother. I do not know if they are sufficient to confirm my Polish citizenship by descent.
Please email scans or photos of all the documents you possess related to your Polish ancestors. We will review them and get back to you with our feedback. Our consultation to assess your eligibility for Polish citizenship is free of charge, so you do not need to worry about any initial cost.
If the Polish documents you have are sufficient, we will offer you confirmation of your Polish citizenship right away. If not, we will establish an action plan to search for additional required documents that will be needed to confirm your Polish citizenship. Often our customers do not realize what great documents they have because they are in Polish and sometimes in Russian. We will be happy to translate them for you during our analysis. There is a chance that you will learn something new about your Polish ancestors. Also, feel free to send us scans of any documents of your ancestors that you have, as they may contain information and details we need. When analyzing eligibility for Polish citizenship confirmation, the more information, and documents we have, the better for your Polish citizenship case.
13
What do I need to do to start the Polish citizenship process?
You need to determine after which of your Polish ancestors you can confirm your Polish citizenship e.g. your paternal grandfather. You need only one Polish ancestor to focus on and to confirm your Polish citizenship by descent. Later on, you need to verify if further descendants of that person (your other ascendants) also held Polish citizenship e.g. your father who was the son of a Polish grandfather. You have to prove that the possession of Polish citizenship was continuous among your ascendants in a straight line linking you to a person about whom you know that she or he had Polish citizenship. It is also important to prove that none of your Polish ascendants lost Polish citizenship due to any events that took place in their life e.g., marriage to a foreigner before 1951 in case of a woman, service in a foreign army before 1951 or helding public position before 1951. Our Polish Citizenship Expert will consult your case free of charge, will ask questions which help us to determine if you are eligible to confirm your Polish citizenship and will be able to analyse all information about your Polish ancestors and his or her descendants.
14
Do I need to engage a Polish Lawyer or Polish Attorney to represent me in Poland in the process of my Polish citizenship confirmation?
It is not necessary to engage a Polish lawyer or Polish advocate in Poland to confirm your Polish citizenship. Confirmation of Polish citizenship does not take place through a court process, but as part of an administrative proceeding before a public administration body. It is therefore important to engage someone familiar with the Polish citizenship process and law. In Poland, in addition to a strictly legal education, there is also a university course – Administration – which educates future civil servants of state administration bodies. Administration graduates, apart from knowledge of such areas of law as civil or criminal, receive special training in administrative law and procedure. Our Polish Citizenship Experts have administrative education, over 10 years of work experience and, most importantly, we have worked for the Voivodeship Office and know the process inside out. We know what is required in terms of evidence to see your application through. Our consultation to determine your eligibility for Polish citizenship is free of charge, so you do not have to worry about any upfront costs in case you are unsure if you qualify for Polish citizenship.
15
I have received Polish citizenship - is there anything else to do?
Obtaining confirmation of Polish citizenship is the most important stage of the entire process, but to enjoy the privileges of being a fully-fledged Polish citizen you still need to complete certain formalities.
First, you need to obtain Polish duplicates of your civil status certificates in original, i.e. birth and marriage certificates. In our broad spectrum of services, we offer to take care of those documents for our clients, as well as to conduct a transcription of their vital records in Poland, on their behalf. In this respect, our service is comprehensive, comprising both Polish citizenship confirmation and transcription of civil status records.
Secondly, you must apply for a Polish passport – you must submit the application in person. A Polish passport is biometric, and to obtain it, you need to leave your fingerprints.
With a Polish passport, you can enjoy all the rights of a Polish citizen and at the same time a citizen of the European Union.
16
What will happen to my citizenship after obtaining Polish citizenship?
When you receive confirmation of Polish citizenship under Polish law and the laws of most countries, you do not lose your original citizenship unless you formally renounce it with the consent of the authorities under the laws of each country. If you have dual citizenship (Polish citizenship and another country), when planning to come to Poland, it is advisable to check in advance that your Polish passport is valid. According to the regulations, a person who invokes Polish citizenship during the passport check should present a valid Polish travel document (Polish passport, Polish identity card – in case of travel to Schengen countries).
The Border Guard informs that if despite holding Polish citizenship, a person who is at the same time a citizen of another country decides to present a travel document issued by the authorities of that country, he/she should bear in mind that in such a situation the requirements to be met by third-country nationals when crossing the Polish border will apply to them. For example, the duration of the permitted stay in the Republic of Poland will be limited (i.e. 90 days within a 180-day period), exceeding which will be considered an infringement of the law resulting in sanctions.
17
How do I get Polish citizenship by descent?
If you have Polish ancestry and know that at least one of your ancestors was Polish, likely you are eligible for Polish citizenship by descent. It is important to first confirm if your ancestor was Polish citizen in first place and then check if Polish citizenship was not lost by any of his or her descendants (including him or her) all the way to you.
To start it is important to confirm your Polish ancestor left Poland or Polish territory after 20th of January 1920 and support your application with evidence proving it e.g. Polish passport, document confirming residency in Poland after 1920 issued by Polish Authorities.
Another question is to check all the events and facts in your Polish ancestor’s life and his or her descendants that could possibly impact Polish citizenship. We will prepare a list of questions that will allow us to initially assess your case and confirm your eligibility for Polish citizenship by descent and the first step is absolutely free of charge. Contact us for a free consultation via our CONTACT FORM
Speak to our consultants about Your Polish Citizenship.
Live in Europe with no limits.
- Send us a query
Fill in a simple contact form with your and your family details and we will get back to you to book a FREE consultation.
- We guide and advise
We will help you pick the best strategy and manage your application on your behalf. You will be informed about every step in the process. You do not need to speak Polish. You do not need to travel to Poland.
- Enjoy Polish passport
Once you are a confirmed Polish citizen, you can apply for your Polish passport on your own! Do that at the nearest Polish Consulate General or Polish Embassy with Consular services, we’ll show you how.