Residence Permit for an Australian in Poland. Applying for another one..

Hrvatska is another nice place to migrate for the winter...

If you are in love, marry your boyfriend,then your status will change.

Very quickly...as long as you're not deported first...

He just asked me if I was ready to get married if worse came to worst...

Check with a lawyer, if there's already a decision to deport you, it might not matter if you're married or not...

If anything, a quickie marriage will make them more determined to deport you....

My best guess (without knowing the officials involved but knowing something of the mentality of Polish bureaucrats) is that you'll get a very stern talking to and talking down to, but they might offer a roadmap to legality. The residency and visa rules were not written to expell economically productive westerners and enforcement tends to take that it into account. Not fair (for some others) but it might work in your favor.

The best thing is to work out several possible strategies depending on how things work out and play it by ear (if that seems possible).They may be looking for reasons/justification to let you stay.

On the other hand, the particular local officials might think there's no need for non-EU English teachers anymore and be looking for a halfway good reason to kick you out. There's no way to know ahead of time.

My advice is also to make sure you have a _qualified_ interpreter (not someone whose English is sort of okay who will misinterpret things for you and may get you in more trouble than you are already). It would be better if you thought you could work things out in Polish alone (IME a foreigner who can go through the bureaucracy on their own is more favorably regarded than one who can't) but if that isn't feasible then bring someone who knows what they're doing. Theoretically they may be obliged to supply an interpreter but you're better off not pointing that out.

lol, was he on one knee at the time.

Just wanted to chime in on that count. I'm an American married to a Pole, and from what I was told at the immigration office after a lot of asking around is that I don't need a work permit since I have a Karta based on marriage. I *just* went through the process to get my second iteration of the Karta (the two-year one) as my first one (valid for only one year) expires next month. All is approved and well and no problems (I pick up the new card Friday), however I'm not sure if my school got a work permit for me or not... I don't _think_ they did but I'll ask and repost with the info.

Just *make sure* your card is based on marriage. There's nothing on the card itself that indicates whether it was based on marriage or employment, so you'll have to examine the approval/judgement notice that was given to you just before you got it for details. Otherwise hit the dreaded information room D and ask the nice people there.

I went in today! It's not over yet. Will fill y'all in when I get their decision...

All sorted, finally! As always, bitter sweet...

So what'd you do? Fill us in on the dirty details.

We want to hear the happy ending story...