CAN I GET THE POLISH CITIZENSHIP AND THE EU PASSPORT?

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Feb 24, 10, 16:47 #1

Hello: I need some information about to get EU passport.
My Grand Father was born in Poland, and went out for the 1 war, he arrived in Colombia, married with my Grand Mother in Colombia, my mother was born in Colombia.
Iwant to know if i can get the Polish citizenship and EU passport, and what i have to o to get it.
I know that my Mother should to do the process too.
Thank you very much for the help.

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Feb 24, 10, 16:55 #2

Most probably you can, but it can be a long-winded process

You will need to prove he was Polish, i.e. You will need his birth certificate and your parents' certificates, these will all need to be translated into Polish. There are also a few caveats:

- Your grandfather must never of renounced his Polish citizenship or served in another state's army
- Your grandparents must not of renounced your mother's citizenship.
- If he left before 1962 there can be some complications, outlined in the wikipedia article below.

I also believe you need to be living in Poland and need a reason to want Polish citizenship. I have done the same process and I have similar circumstances to you, but I live in Poland and I'm already an EU citizen. They also asked me my reasons for wanting to live in Poland and I also had to prove I had the means to be here.

For more information, read this article which gives a list of all the requirements:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_nationality_law

delphiandomineThreads: 42 Posts: 9,954 Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended]	Feb 24, 10, 17:03 #3
tonywob: I also believe you need to be living in Poland and need a reason to want Polish citizenship. No, not at all. There's no need to be resident in Poland to claim Polish citizenship.

inkrakow	Feb 24, 10, 17:24 #4
delphiandomine: tonywob: I also believe you need to be living in Poland and need a reason to want Polish citizenship. No, not at all. There's no need to be resident in Poland to claim Polish citizenship. I can confirm this.

tonywobThreads: 7 Posts: 51 Joined: Jun 14, 09 ♂	Feb 24, 10, 18:11 #5
delphiandomine: No, not at all. There's no need to be resident in Poland to claim Polish citizenship. I think I only needed to show proof because at the time I was only applying for residency and not citizenship. They noticed my surname was Polish, and since then they decided I could get citizenship instead. However, on the forms I had to fill out, it asked me why I wanted citizenship, etc..

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Feb 24, 10, 18:13 #6

tonywob:

I think I only needed to show proof because at the time I was only applying for residency and not citizenship.

Yep, of course, there's an obligation to be in the country before you can apply for residency. There are some exceptions, but generally speaking, you need to be here first.

tonywob:

They noticed my surname was Polish, and since then they decided I could get citizenship instead.

Technically, they should have refused an application for residency if they felt that you were likely to hold Polish citizenship - it is actually an offence under Polish law to identify yourself to the Polish State using a foreign document.

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Edited by: tonywob Feb 24, 10, 18:27 #7

inkrakow:

I can confirm this.

Did you go through the same process, and were you successful? I'm curious as I don't have all the required documentation, so I'm still awaiting their decision.

delphiandomine:

Technically, they should have refused an application for residency if they felt that you were likely to hold Polish citizenship - it is actually an offence under Polish law to identify yourself to the Polish State using a foreign document.

Well I haven't yet been given either, and they weren't aware of it until after I had been to the office and handed in all the forms. I received a letter two weeks later telling me that I'm probably Polish already, etc...

ANITA9Threads: 2 Posts: 8 Joined: Feb 24, 10 ♀	Feb 24, 10, 20:30 #8
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION AND I SHOULD TO CONTINUE WITH THIS, AND FINDING MY FAMILY IN POLAND, MY GRAND DAD WENT OUT IN 1 WAR JUST WITH 1 SISTER, HIS FAMILY WAS IN POLAND. HAVE A NICE DAY

ungarThreads: 1 Posts: 12 Joined: Jun 4, 08 ♂	Feb 24, 10, 21:24 #9
What do you do ,if your granparents were born before WWi on Polish territory(Kresy) and you have no documents left and you only an approximate area of their birth? Can you get a document from an archive in present Ukraine (I,E;copy of birth certificate) in order to get citizenship?Any alternatives?

HankaThreads: - Posts: 4 Joined: Aug 30, 09 ♀	Feb 24, 10, 21:49 #10
Anita, go to the Polish Embassy web page of Colombia. They will have all the detail as to whom may apply and what the requirements are. If you need to replay to me in Spanish I am fluent in that language. Best of luck Hanka

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Feb 24, 10, 22:00 #11

tonywob:

Well I haven't yet been given either, and they weren't aware of it until after I had been to the office and handed in all the forms. I received a letter two weeks later telling me that I'm probably Polish already, etc...

What you should do is probably work out for certain if you are actually a Polish citizen or not - and go from there. If you are, then it should be quite easy to sort out if you're already in Poland - don't let them dictate the pace because they'll drag their heels.

ungar:

What do you do ,if your granparents were born before WWi on Polish territory(Kresy) and you have no documents left and you only an approximate area of their birth?

Depends on what they did during/after WW1. There was no Poland before WW1, so if they left before the rebirth of the Polish nation - you won't have any entitlement to citizenship at all.

ANITA9:

MY GRAND DAD WENT OUT IN 1 WAR JUST WITH 1 SISTER, HIS FAMILY WAS IN POLAND.

Do you mean he left Poland in WW1? If so, he wasn't born in Poland - Poland didn't exist before WW1. You'll have no entitlement to Polish citizenship in that case.

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Feb 24, 10, 22:04 #12

Ungar, I am assuming your grandparents are emigrants from the area of the Austro-Hugarian territory named (Galjcia) Galicia and what is consider certain part taken by presently Ukrenia. If your grandparents were Catholics I know the church was able to save their registration books by moving them to a different Archidiocese Archives. There is an address to where you can write to them in Warsaw.
My other suggestion is, if your grandparents left Poland by reasons of either two wars you might be able to have the Red Cross to assist you. You must contact the headquater office in the area/state where you live. They do an "international tracing" in cases for people were separated do to catastrophic circunstances.
Best of luck,
Hanka

jedenThreads: - Posts: 297 Joined: Nov 30, 09 ♂	Edited by: jeden Feb 24, 10, 22:37 #13
There is no EU passport. Every citizen of Country in EU is an EU citizen

AmathystThreads: 30 Posts: 3,968 Joined: Nov 10, 06 ♀	Feb 24, 10, 23:46 #14
jeden: Every citizen of Country in EU is an EU citizen Im a British Citizen, not an EU Citizen - EU is not a country! There is no such thing as an EU passport, each country still has its own identity cards or passports.

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Edited by: convex Feb 25, 10, 00:08 #15
Amathyst: Im a British Citizen, not an EU Citizen - EU is not a country! You became an EU citizen when your government decided to cede its sovereignty by signing the Maastricht Treaty. Nigel Farage is a BAMF

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Feb 25, 10, 00:16 #16

convex:

when your government decided to cede its sovereignty

This is not strictly true, as Lisbon has now introduced a formal exit mechanism for the first time - and international law experts have always said that any country could simply repeal the piece of legislation that established their membership of the EU. The EU is exceptionally difficult to categorise because it's not sovereign, yet countries have devolved decision making to it. But the member states are still fully sovereign and nothing will change there for at least 50 years.

I'm wondering at the minute what the Franco-German axis are planning next in terms of integration though - there is clear political will in quite a few countries for deeper and deeper integration.

Bella 98	Mar 15, 10, 22:12 #17
Hi there,I am married with a polish citizen for 3 years then I was wondering if I could get the polish passport?

Grzegorz_Threads: 81 Posts: 6,213 Joined: Nov 16, 06 ♂	Mar 15, 10, 22:22 #18
Bella 98: I am married with a polish citizen for 3 years then I was wondering if I could get the polish passport? Do you live in Poland ? I think you would have to live in Poland for 2 or 3 years...

AmathystThreads: 30 Posts: 3,968 Joined: Nov 10, 06 ♀	Mar 15, 10, 22:34 #19
convex: You became an EU citizen when your government decided to cede its sovereignty by signing the Maastricht Treaty. Wrong. My passport says "British Citizen" Not EU citizen - We still have our own currency and our own laws...

Bella 98	Mar 15, 10, 22:35 #20
No I don't live in Poland. And then that's the unique way?

AmathystThreads: 30 Posts: 3,968 Joined: Nov 10, 06 ♀	Mar 15, 10, 22:50 #21
Bella 98: And then that's the unique way? Generally you have to live in a country to gain citizenship with no breaks for a certain period of time, maybe its different from where ever you come from?

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Mar 15, 10, 23:14 #22

Amathyst:

Wrong. My passport says "British Citizen" Not EU citizen - We still have our own currency and our own laws...

And sovereignty - no matter what people say, the UK parliament can repeal the various EU acts and leave the EU immediately if it so wishes to do so.

(though your passport, just like mine, says European Union on it too)

To be honest, the only way that the EU debate will be solved in the UK will be to have a referendum with a clear mandate - win or lose, the government for the next 20 years must abide by the result.

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Edited by: Amathyst Mar 15, 10, 23:57 #23

delphiandomine:

(though your passport, just like mine, says European Union on it too)

Never really noticed it, but yes you are correct...The old one says European Community..wonder why that changed? But It still clearly states United Kondom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...It doesnt just say European Union...thats really my point, some people (generally those who are after a passport) say they want a EU passport and this simply does not exist (yet!)

I will also note, on the most important page (all of my personal information) it doesnt say anything about the EU it just states United Kondom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

delphiandomine:

And sovereignty - no matter what people say, the UK parliament can repeal the various EU acts and leave the EU immediately if it so wishes to do so.

I know they can, they are repealing or actually I should say debating at present about the new acts that the EU want to impose with regards to Assylum seekers....Im also looking forward to the next debate on the common fisheries policy...which has ruined the livelihoods of many a fisherman up and down the cost of Britain..

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Edited by: asik Mar 16, 10, 01:07 #24

Bella 98:

Hi there,I am married with a polish citizen for 3 years then I was wondering if I could get the polish passport?

You need to posses Polish citizenship to be able to apply for Polish passport.
In your situation:

"Citizenship by naturalisation

A person may be naturalised as a Polish citizen after 5 years residence in Poland with a permanent residence permit. That person will most likely be required to renounce any other citizenship held."

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_nationality_law

Grzegorz_Threads: 81 Posts: 6,213 Joined: Nov 16, 06 ♂	Mar 16, 10, 21:05 #25
asik: A person may be naturalised as a Polish citizen after 5 years residence in Poland In case of people married to Poles It is less than 5 years... probably 2 or 3 ... If she doesn't live in Poland I think she can apply anyway but there probably would be tonnes of papers requaried and the outcome would be uncertain...

mu0mu0muThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: May 26, 10 ♂	May 26, 10, 15:35 #26
My grandparent emmigrated to the US to escape the holocaust. Is it possible to get a polish passport and use it to work in other EU countries without living in Poland?

nincompoop_notThreads: 4 Posts: 229 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♀	May 26, 10, 16:03 #27
so now we'll have plenty of Polish citizens who's never been to Poland, can't speak Polish and have American accent When claiming citizenship in the UK one has to pass the 'life test' at least... Poland of course is hundreds years behind again

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May 26, 10, 16:15 #28

mu0mu0mu:

My grandparent emmigrated to the US to escape the holocaust. Is it possible to get a polish passport and use it to work in other EU countries without living in Poland?

Whether or not you can confirm citizenship depends on several factors, not least of which are date(s) of emigration.

Once Polish citizenship is confirmed, one can generally live, work and play throughout the Union, with few exceptions.

I just completed the process of confirming my Polish citizenship and I do believe this to be fairly accurate information.

MEMBER ♂

May 26, 10, 16:49 #29

richasis:

with few exceptions.

Yes, for example to work legally in any country within the EU, you need to register and get a tax number so that they can accurately work out how much tax you owe. Obviously you can fly under the radar, but if you need medical assistance or run into trouble it can be better in the long run to have registered. Depending the country this can be very easy or very hard. Any Polish people I have worked with in the UK have had no problem going to the JobCentre and getting an NI number, but, in Poland for example, getting a NIP number is a tad more difficult. Lots of paperwork, but, if you have a Polish friend to help, it's easy enough.

delphiandomineThreads: 42 Posts: 9,954 Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended]	May 26, 10, 16:55 #30
nincompoop_not: so now we'll have plenty of Polish citizens who's never been to Poland, can't speak Polish and have American accent Don't forget that they'll all vote for Kaczynski because, you know, he's TRUE POLISH just like them. They know nothing about the country, they don't speak the language and they think it's still like Babcia's 1930's Poland. Yuck. It makes me sick.

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