Table of Contents
Part 3
What is the Process for Applying for Polish citizenship by Descent?
Part 4
How do you obtain a Polish Passport after receiving your Polish Citizenship Confirmation?
Part 5
Are there other ways of gaining Poland Citizenship if you do not qualify for Polish Citizenship by Descent?
Part 6
What is the PolandPassport.com Process of Acquiring Polish Citizenship by Descent
See the other Parts of our Series:
For those questions that are not covered here, please send me an email. We will assess your situation individually and will inform you of your chances of success. There is no obligation on your part to proceed with any of our services. We only charge our clients for successful outcomes and always will evaluate your personal situation without obligation or cost and with the utmost in confidentiality.
We are known as passionate advocates for our clients and we deliver ‘concierge’ level of customer care. The quest for Poland citizenship by descent is easier when you can count on partners like PolandPassport.com to help!
Neil Kaplan, Founder
PolandPassport.com
Los Angeles and Warsaw
neil@polandpassport.com
January 2021
Part 3
What is the Process for Applying for Polish citizenship by Descent?
To confirm Polish citizenship each person needs to provide evidence to Polish authorities that the ancestor had Polish citizenship in the first place. To do that each applying person (or designee) needs to do a search in the Polish archives in Poland. There are many different archives, some are geographically based - others, for example, that have immigration records or military service records. Proving this provenance can be a complex process.
No foreign documents are considered proof of citizenship. Only documents made in Poland by Polish authorities are sufficient. (There are exceptions for areas that are in parts of today’s Ukraine or Belarus in areas that used to be part of Poland.)
About 90% of our clients need some additional, original documents from the Polish archives beyond what they have in order to prove their case.
After finding the correct documents in Poland, then all foreign documents must be translated into Polish by a translator with special accreditation.
You must have a physical representative in Poland during this process.
When that is complete then, the citizenship application must be filled out in Polish and must prove the connection between the Polish ancestor and each person applying for citizenship by descent.
Typically, you must defend the application before the Governor's Office in Warsaw and must pass the burden of proof that the citizenship wasn't lost or renounced by any of the persons applying or any family member along the hereditary chain including the ancestor. Rules about loss of citizenship are complex. Proving that someone never gave up their citizenship is frequently the longest and most time intensive part of the process - especially in larger countries (ie. US and Canada) that have a large number of far-flung consulates.
In a complex case, that will sometimes require meetings at the Governor's office and a variety of legal motions.
A successful applicant will receive a formal citizenship declaration which is a physical document attesting to citizenship.
After a decision confirming citizenship is issued, the new citizen must apply for a Polish version of vital records to be issued by Polish Civil Records Office (in other words, a Polish birth certificate and marriage certificate). That stage is often overlooked and is critical. Mistakes in application or inconsistencies in these documents may lead to inability to obtain your passport.
This is a prerequisite to obtaining a Polish passport and there is no possibility to apply for the document without Polish vital records. We have seen many frustrated people who actually have been declared citizens but cannot obtain passports through complexities in this area. This is an area where we have deep knowledge.
Finally, passport forms must be filled out in Polish and taken, IN PERSON, to a local consulate in order to submit your passport application.
Helping our clients through this complex process is what we do.
If you do qualify, helping our Clients through this complex process is what we do. We are known for the outstanding quality of our legal work in Poland and our ‘concierge’ level of customer care worldwide.
How long does it take to obtain Polish citizenship by descent?
If you have all the required documentation, confirmation citizenship can take around a year (sometimes more, sometimes less). Timing can vary significantly if more research for documents needs to be done. Because of Brexit, the queue is particularly long right now. There is often significant variability on timing of cases. Beware of anyone who assure you that this can be done in a shorter timeframe.
Will I need to go to Poland to obtain Polish citizen by descent?
No. If you are a Polish citizen by descent, there is no residency requirement nor are you required to go to Poland at any time during or after this process.
Is it possible to do all the work myself and not hire counsel to help in obtaining Polish citizenship by descent?
You can do this yourself via your local consulate. It can be extremely challenging.
As an example: There are many opportunities for error and delay in the process that is particularly filled with Polish law, Polish regulations and, of course, Polish bureaucracy.
A significant percentage of our firm’s clients come to us after unsuccessfully attempting to doing this themselves.
Part 4
How do you obtain a Polish Passport after receiving your Polish Citizenship Confirmation?
A successful applicant will receive a formal citizenship declaration which is a physical document attesting to citizenship.
After a decision confirming citizenship is issued, the new citizen must apply for a Polish version of vital records to be issued by Polish Civil Records Office (in other words, a Polish birth certificate and marriage certificate). That stage is often overlooked and is critical. Mistakes in application or inconsistencies in these documents may lead to inability to obtain your passport.
This is a prerequisite to obtaining a Polish passport and there is no possibility to apply for the document without Polish vital records. We have seen many frustrated people who actually have been declared citizens but cannot obtain passports through complexities in this area. This is an area where we have deep knowledge.
To apply for a Polish passport you need to be a citizen of Poland. You also need to have your birth certificate registered in Poland and you need to have a PESEL number (a Polish identification number similar to the US Social Security number). After your citizenship is confirmed, you then fill out your passport application (in Polish of course) which you will need to submit to a Polish consulate or embassy.
Helping our clients through this process in a structured, detailed process in the core of what we do.
Usually two visits to a Polish Consulate or Embassy are required to obtain a passport. An application for a new passport must be submitted in person.
During the first visit the application is filed and fingerprints are taken. The second visit includes picking up the passport. Some consulates allow delivery by registered mail in lieu of the second appointment, if that is an option at your consulate, additional payment will be required. You have to ask if the mailing option is available.
What types of Polish passports are there?
Passports are valid for 10 years for adults, 5 years for children and gets you expedited exit and entry at EU airports. It’s a huge time saver.
In an emergency, you can apply for an interim Polish passport, valid for 12 months and produced by the Polish consulate locally. In urgent cases, the interim passport can be issued within 24 hours.
How do I apply for a Polish passport for my child?
The child must also go through the process of being declared a citizen first. This does not happen ‘automatically’.
Both parents must be present to submit the passport application, unless there is a court decision restricting parental authority. For complicated cases, please ask us.
How long does it take to get a Polish passport after obtaining Polish citizenship?
Typical processing time is around 2 months but varies at different consulates around the world. Emergency passports can be generated more quickly.
Part 5
Are there other ways of gaining Poland Citizenship if you do not qualify for Polish Citizenship by Descent?
If you are not eligible for Polish citizenship by descent through the normal channels, there is a process whereby you can appeal directly to the President of Poland for an exemption. The President of Poland may grant Polish citizenship to any foreigner. The process is called “Granting.”
The Granting procedure has no requirements, except for a few documents that are necessary.
Please remember that the application must be completed in Polish and all the documents you will submit with it (like your birth certificate) needs to be translated or transcribed to Polish by a translator with special accreditation. Chances for obtaining citizenship by granting is difficult to predict. The President of Poland is not obligated to grant citizenship to anyone. A well prepared case, professionally done, has the highest chance of success.
PolandPassport.com does handle some of these applications on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about this process.
Part 6
What is the PolandPassport.com Process of Acquiring Polish Citizenship by Descent?
Our business helps our clients gain Polish citizenship by descent and helps them with the process of obtaining their passports.
How does the PolandPassport.com process work?
Here is what happens if you proceed:
We will assess your situation individually. There is never an obligation on your part to proceed with any of our services.
We’ll need some information about yourself and your family with our short qualification quiz. We will send you an email, often asking for more detailed family tree information, and then we will give you our assessment of your eligibility.
Your first steps toward a Poland Passport and an EU passport:
Step 1: Fill out the qualification quiz on PolandPassport.com asking basic information about yourself and your family.
Step 2: We evaluate your quiz to assess eligibility and the likelihood of success. After this evaluation (usually completed within a few days), we will send you an email informing you if you might qualify for Polish citizenship. A detailed explanation of our services will follow in the confirmation email. We may email you to ask some more questions. There is never an obligation to proceed.
Step 3: If you like what we have to say, hire us and we will do everything we can to untangle the complicated process for you and make becoming a Polish citizen as smooth as possible.
About 90% of our clients need some additional, original documents from the Polish archives beyond what they have in order to prove their case.
Do you only work with US clients?
No. We have clients from many countries.
Can I do this myself?
Here are some of the issues that you may face in tackling this on your own. About 20% of our clients are ‘do-it-yourself’ returnees.
First, you will need the help of a Polish consulate or embassy and someone in Poland. There will be a variety of fees involved throughout the process (all of which are covered in our fee).
Local consulates and embassies often send your applications back to Poland where they are reviewed via diplomatic mail and the frequency of how long that takes is variable, so you will not know how long your application will sit without progress.
You will likely need to have a representative in Poland to receive correspondence in the event that the Governor's Office issues a request for documents or clarifications in your case – this happens frequently and can also cause long delays.
With all due respect to the hard working government officials in consulates around the world, the knowledge and experience in these offices can be variable regarding citizenship law and we sometimes do talk to people who have been given conflicting or inaccurate information.
Confirmation of citizenship is not enough to obtain a passport. You also have to go through a procedure to transcribe your birth certificate in the Polish Civil Records office. (This entire process including the issuance of the certificate is also included in our fees).
Timing becomes an issue again here as it can take a long time to get the document to Poland via the consulate, and if there are any doubts or questions (which happens frequently) you would have to wait for the civil records office to contact your representative or have the communication routed again through the consulate. Again, everything in Polish, of course.
Our process is typically much faster as we have a team in Warsaw that visits the Governor's office weekly (our office is just a few blocks away). Our Los Angeles office is convenient to a consulate as well and we are there multiple times each month.
We have a legal team with experience to plan your application, researchers to track down archival documents needed to support your application, attorneys to defend your application in Poland, and document specialists to help track down the documents you will need to complete the “chain” of ancestry between you and your Polish ancestor. Many of these functions simply cannot be performed by a consulate or embassy.
If you are not sure if you qualify for Poland citizenship by Descent, take our short quiz. We will evaluate for you free of charge. Your Polish passport may be closer than you think!
