Polish citizenship | Polish passport

How to get Polish citizenship and a Polish passport?

Why do immigration lawyers exist at all? Because they have a lot of work to do – in every country, all around the world. Even if we have an old Polish passport belonging to our ancestors, there are much more aspects that are important for us to be given Polish citizenship – military service completed abroad, jobs our ancestors did abroad, time when our ancestors left Poland, time when our ancestors acquired foreign citizenship, marriages with foreign citizens – all these details are crucial, if we want to get Polish citizenship and a Polish passport. Polish law is very complex in this matter – even though only few acts (Polish Citizenship Acts) bring regulations to this issue. Even 10 provisions from these Acts combined with 10 another provisions from other Acts can result in hundreds and hundreds of problems – but also – in hundreds of opportunities at the same time…. And that is why the help of a Polish lawyer could be crucial.

To confirm our Polish citizenship we have to draw up a really fine application and get ready for all procedures the best we can. When we want to confirm our Polish citizenship and get a Polish passport we need to be prepared for the situation when our application is rejected by Polish authorities and Polish courts… And, if that is the case – it will be extremely hard to appeal against such a decision and – in some cases – it will be almost impossible.

So, speaking frankly, Yes – a Polish law office that specializes in the Polish citizenship law and knows how to deal with cases when people want to get a Polish passport, is really the best option possible.

Polish citizenship – why do we need good lawyer

Polish embassies do not provide any special assistance for people who want to apply there (by Polish consulates) – and it is OK, because Polish embassies do not have to offer help to all applicants – they only have to complete formalities. What is more, if we report our case to a Polish embassy, we will also have to pay some consular fees. And will take us money and much, much time to understand everything we need to know to start.

Situation is even more clear if we do not have any Polish documents – because to prepare for such a case we have to be sure that material we bring before a competent authority or the court in Poland will be enough to prove that our ancestors had Polish citizenship (if we only prove that they lived in Poland, we will not succeed…). Polish archives could keep many documents about our ancestors – these documents only need to be found and you are ready to use them during the procedure.

Procedure of acquiring Polish citizenship is not the same in every case – for example, Polish citizens who emigrated to Argentina and other Spanish – speaking countries could run into different problems than those likely to happen in Brasil (for example, there was an obligatory military service to be done in Brasil – and that was not the case in USA). Also, there were many different waves of emigration from Poland – for example, children from the Jewish communities who now want to apply for Polish citizenship could have problems with jobs their ancestors did in the past (or with army service). Sometimes, that could be the main reason their parents/grandparents lost Polish citizenship in the past.

Polish citizenship – mistakes people made

There were also situations when applicants thought that they were right candidates and the entire procedure will be a piece of cake – and suddenly realized that they did not have all the documentation required – and got negative decisions in the end (Polish authorities stated that they are not Polish citizens). The possibility of getting a Polish passport is no longer available for them.

Of course, a situation of people who do not have any Polish documents is another story. But even in these cases the procedure is possible after a deep and careful search in Polish archives. But it is also a hard task sometimes to find appropriate documents that let us be sure that we will get confirmation of Polish citizenship.

All these issues related to Polish citizenship and a Polish passport are only a small part of all the problems we can meet during the process. And that is the best reason why specialized legal assistance (good lawyer) may be really necessary.

What should we do if we are descendants of Polish emigrants who settled in Australia and we want to obtain the Polish citizenship and get a Polish passport? First of all, we have to confirm our Polish citizenship. So, we have to find proofs of our Polish ancestry. We would need to check what documents are required to start the procedure (requirements) or ask a professional law office that specializes in a Polish citizenship confirmation procedure to help us with that matter. We must bear in mind that procedure carried out by the embassy involves some costs, and professional assistance can save our time and is not so much expensive. What is more – with professional help we can spend less time needed to complete the Polish citizenship confirmation procedure.

Polish citizenship – administrative courts

Many people ignore that our case could receive a negative decision and then a procedure in Polish administrative courts would be needed. It is not true if somebody tells us that there is no need for legal assistance in the Polish citizenship procedure – only certified legal advisor could represent us in courts (of course, we can do it ourselves before Polish court – but to proceed we really need to know the Polish law, language and procedural details). Sometimes, even in simple cases we can receive negative decisions, because we forget about some minor details. In such case, legal assistance would be really important.

If we finally get the confirmation of Polish citizenship, we can apply for a Polish passport. To start it, we have to prepare Polish versions of some required documents (vital records). Then, we can only wait for our Polish passport – which will open doors to the whole European Union and will give us many benefits.

Polish passports issued since June 29 2009 have been provided with fingerprint data as the second biometric feature after the facial image. The documents are personalized by the Document Personalization Center of the Ministry of Interior and Administration.

According to the Council Regulation (EC) No. 2252/2004, biometric passports issued in all Schengen countries on June 292009 and thereafter must contain fingerprints to supplement the facial image.

And there is one more issue: we have to be very careful if we start the Polish citizenship confirmation procedure. For example – some companies advertise, that they have “99% success rate” with dealing with such cases. It does not mean that they are good – it just means that they deal only with the easiest cases possible. Because the most challenging cases ends in administrative courts good lawyers can attempt to fight also in cases that are risky (of course, it is necessary to inform clients about their true chances) – but for many people Polish citizenship and Polish passport are worth it.

Polish citizenship

The greatest “boom” for the Polish citizenship took place in Israel. It was caused by various reasons – many Israelis lost their properties in Poland, situation in the Middle East is unstable and many descendants of emigrants from Poland just want to secure the future for the next generations. Also, travelling with a Polish passport seems to be more secure in many parts of world. However, also people with Polish ancestors from other countries like Australia seek to confirm their Polish citizenship.

How many Australians can apply for Polish citizenship?

As it was counted, about 52,000 Australian residents declared they were born in Poland. But number of people who can apply for the Polish citizenship and Polish passport is even larger. It is enough to have one parent who can obtain the Polish citizenship to get a Polish passport. Even people whose parents were born in Australia can submit their applications. Polish citizenship is heritable, number of generations is not important. So, for example – if one Polish emigrant arrived to Australia in 1929 and now his grandchildren want to renew connections to grandfather’s country – they could do it! If grandfather or his children did not renounced the Polish citizenship, and if any other circumstances that can bring about losing the Polish citizenship did not happen – the way to get a Polish passport is open to you. Of course, to obtain the Polish citizenship, certain person must “confirm” his/her Polish roots and provide documents for that. Sometimes, it is hard because many of Polish emigrants just did not think about securing their old Polish documents. Still, sometimes everything could be fixed and these documents, especially of Polish citizens who left Poland after the Second World War, could be found in Polish archives.

Polish citizenship and Polish passport

A lot of Poles emigrated to Australia and became Australian citizens. All this process started before the Second War and continued thereafter. Today, all these Polish emigrants have a new opportunity to renew they connections with old country, confirm their Polish citizenship and get a Polish passport. This process do not have to be long – our law office try to help Polish emigrants who seek the confirmation of Polish citizenship and need fast procedures.

Ways to acqurie Polish citizenship

So, a person who received a negative decision has only a short time to appeal – if appeal will not be filed in that time – chances to get the confirmation of Polish citizenship are lost for ever. Moreover, procedures carried out through Polish embassies also involves some costs – finally, when we count time spent on minor details and for “paperwork”, we could realize that such a procedure was even more expensive than a professional legal assistance.

Obtaining Polish citizenship is not the only occasion to renew a contact with old motherland. Polish citizenship and Polish passport also open doors to the whole European Union. It is a perfect occasion for businessmen with Polish roots to benefit from many privileges common for citizens of countries that are member states of the European Union. European freedoms (free movement of goods, free movement of capital, free movement of services, free movement of persons) are very important for all people who want to run their business activity on these territories. By confirming their Polish citizenship, they would have access to all these opportunities.

What is more – children of Polish emigrants would have opportunity to benefit from education possibilities offered by European schools and universities.

Polish citizenship – procedure

For people who are interested in confirming the Polish citizenship, a law office situated in Poland is the best option. It is easy to explain why – knowledge of the Polish law and good understanding of Polish bureaucracy are the most necessary elements to proceed entrusted cases quickly and professionally and obtain the confirmation of Polish citizenship fast. A direct procedure in Poland is also the best way to reduce costs – which could be increased by foreign offices. Now, we do not have to visit our attorney personally – what is more – such “visits” take our time on things that could be explained to us by telephone, emails and other new ways of communication. Australian lawyer will not help us to solve problems that must be dealt with directly in Poland – he would have to use other attorney in Poland – what will have an impact on time and also on price. And nobody today want to pay more for professional service that is required. That is why ordering services directly, without proxies, is the best solution. Ordering foreign website in other country will cost us sometimes hundreds of dollars. Ordering such service directly in that country, without help of companies from our country, will reduce prices sometimes by 100% or even more… Legal services today works exactly the same.

Our law office offers not only the Polish citizenship. We help clients to get PESEL (personal identification number) which is required to get a Polish passport. For people who do not have some old Polish documents that would be necessary to confirm their Polish citizenship, we search for these documents in Polish archives. We also help Australian citizens to get work permissions in Poland and offer a full legal assistance with all administrative procedures in Poland.

Every year more and more Polish emigrants and their descendants apply for the Polish citizenship and Polish passport. It is really worth it.