My parents immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1972. They immigrated legally and were sponsored by my father’s sister. They eventually got Canadian citizenship, and never renounced their Polish citizenship.

I was born in Canada. I am in my 30’s and I now live in the United States and I have a green card. According to what I have read, I am a Polish citizen, simply because my parents are Polish citizens. The only problem is that I do not have proof of my Polish citizenship. I have never had a Polish passport in my name, although I was entered in my mother's Polish passport as a child. According to the Polish Consulate in Washington DC, this not sufficient to prove Polish citizenship for a person of legal age.

It is my understanding that I first need to get a Polish birth certificate. A relative in Warsaw is handling this for me. My Canadian long-form birth certificate needed to be legalized by the Polish consulate in Montreal. This gets presented to the Civil Office in Warsaw, and since my parents were Polish, I get a Polish birth certificate that states that I was born in Canada. (seems strange to me, but I'll go with it)

The next step, I was told, is to get proof of my Polish citizenship using the Polish birth certificate. They wanted a copy of my Canadian passport, and my parent’s Polish marriage certificate for this. Once I get the proof of Polish Citizenship, I can get a Polish Passport, and this will prove my Polish citizenship.

I sent the copies to Warsaw, and now they want to know “Why do you want Polish citizenship?” This question makes no sense to me. According to Polish law, I already HAVE citizenship, I just don’t have proof, so why would they ask this silly question? What is an appropriate answer? I believe other countries in Europe have a similar law that grants citizenship to children of citizens. Has anyone been through something like this?

Help!