Sorry to say that, but if your father recieved USSR citizenship prior to 1951 then he really lost his polish citizenship.

As in 1951 citizenship act
Article 4: a person is not considered a Polish citizen, even if on August 31, 1939, he or she would have Polish citizenship, but now live in a foreign country and regularly:
1) Following the changes in the borders of Poland, became a citizen of another state
2) has national Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian.
3) has German nationality, (unless the spouse of such a person has Polish citizenship and resides in Poland).

In 1958 there was a repatriation agreement http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/8/21/00015038.pdf that would have given his polish citizenship back. That is what they are talking about.

 

no, he didn't - it's a mistery of how they get ussr passport. At least there wasn't any formal procedure for sure. At least we can say that it was given on 1958 as a result of the agreement.

thank you for this document. For me there is nothing mentioned that it's ultimate ie if person for some reason didn't apply then he lost polish citizenship.

Will speak to lawyers. Will try to let all you know the final result.

Thanks a lot for everyone. And good luck!

 

From wikipedia:
in 1951[3], Poland revoked its citizenship for all inhabitants (including ethnic Poles) of the former Polish territories east of the Curzon line that had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. Those individuals had been naturalized as Soviet citizens and later, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, acquired the citizenship of one of the resulting countries: Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, or Russia. Polish citizenship was also revoked for citizens of Germany who were residing outside Poland, unless they had a Polish spouse who was resident in Poland.

At the end of the WWII there were agreements about the territorries and people that was taken by each state (USSR/Poland). In the end Poles who remained in USSR territories got USSR citizenship.

in 1951 (not 1958) the poles that were living in USSR lost polish citizenship because of the "new" polish citizenship act . (including my grandparents)

People who were repatriated in 1958 were given back their citizenships. the list of people is here: (also includes my grandparents)
http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/index.php?l=en&mode=showzesp&zespoly_id=1207

I don't think you got what i was trying to say in my first post... They are actually telling you thar your father lost his citizenship in 1951. In 1958 he had the opportunity of getting it back. but he did not.



DWWD

 

dwwd, 1951 act applied only to polish citizen who lived in Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, or Russia ie "for all inhabitants (including ethnic Poles) of the former Polish territories east of the Curzon line that had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945" - the keyword is "annexed"

 

The Act of 1951 generally says that anyone who accepted citizenship of a country other than Poland before the date of its ratification, you automatically lost citizenship.

With that said,and based on what you've said, maybe you can request a document regarding your parent who's Polish from where they became a citizen. They may not have a record of him officially requesting citizenship, because as you said, it's a mystery how he got a USSR passport. You can then use the letter saying they did not acquire citizenship (formally) and you would be set. (They also likely ask for their your grandparents as well).

 

For those of you who had to do it, how long did it take the receive your Polish birth certificate after submitted the translated version of your regular birth certificate? I submitted mine through the consulate in NYC in early June, and still have nothing.

 

I went to Warsaw (from London) last month to register my birth as the London Consulate had told me it would take around 6 months to do it through them. The people at the office in Warsaw seemed to think that the London Consulate had exaggerated the 6 month turn around when completing the process through the consulate, but your wait seems to suggest that the London Consulate is right! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

My birth certificate was ready in Warsaw within a month and I returned this week to collect it. I guess you live a little further away though so it isn't as easy for you to get there!

Good luck with it.

 

Can anyone suggest a lawyer in Poland whom they have dealt with and felt they were reliable and reasonably priced for the Confirmation of Polish Citizenship?

I cannot figure out who to choose or who to avoid.

Feel free to send me the information by private message if you do not want to post the information.

Thank you,
Alice Cohen

 

Just as a comparison, it took 2 months to get mine via the consulate in Tel Aviv. I was told 2-3 months.

 

How much do the consulates in the US charge to register birth certificates? And has anyone done it through the consulate in LA? Also, when registering birth documents, does a copy of citizenship confirmation or something like that also need to be submitted? thanks

 

Just wanted to say thanks to all the people that contribute on this forum. Was able to get my grandfather's polish confimation February 2nd. Still waiting for my mother's confirmation (they were filed at the same time). From what I've read on here, I'm thinking that maybe they were processed in two different places, as my grandfather's was filed based on his last address in Poland, but maybe my mother's has to go to Warsaw (hence it being longer)? (grandfather was born in Poland, mother was born in DP camp outside of Poland).

Also, can't recommend Piotrowski highly enough. Very helpful and responsive. After getting completely effed over and somewhat swindled my Charksy, I wish I had come here first.

 

Hi,
I've been reading all three threads, and have one very quick question.
How long does it take to find out the case workers name when the documents have been submitted?

Briefly, my mother and I are applying to get our confirmation of citizenship. I was born in Aus, but my mother was born in Poland in 1937 (have her birth certificate), to parents that were born and married in Poland (have their birth and marriage certificates). My grandfather was part of the Polish army under British control that was fighting in France in WW2 (have a letter from the British ministry of defense, stating polish regiment, polish nationality, etc). I can trace back the relatives that were Polish for 6 generations (documented). Anyway, my grandparents broke up (not divorced), and my grandmother moved to Australia with her boyfriend in 1949 (have the immigration documents in Aus and the German internment camp). I have a copy of my mother's alien registration card, which has the number of her Polish passport (but she was a child, and hasn't seen the passport at all). My grandmother never became an Aussie citizen, but my mother did in the late 60s (have the certificate). There is a fiddley bit, where my grandmother decided to use her boyfriends surname as my mother's surname on some documents (not all). And where she decided to change my mother's birth date to either Jan 1 or Jan 11. But we have every document and can track how the changes took place. A researcher has agreed that she has more than enough proof that my mother is a Polish citizen, it's a slam dunk.

It took me over 10 years to gather all that info and to make my mother's life a coherent story. So, everything was sent in (stamped, notarized, apostilled, witnessed at the Polish consulate in The Hague) to a company that specializes in submitting these confirmation of citizenship forms (they check and double check that everything is complete. have someone stand in the lines in warsaw. do additional research if necessary. etc). Now I'm just waiting. They said they're waiting to find out the caseworkers name. I was told it usually takes them a month to know the caseworker's name, and then it's 4-6 weeks after that the case is decided on.

It's been over 7 weeks now. It's bugging me. Any advice?

 

As far as I'm aware, doing it through the consulate you will not find out the case worker's name (though I'm sure you could request it). In any case, if it's only been 3 weeks, you have a lot more time ahead of you, I hate to say.

 

seven weeks.

it wasn't done through the consulte, but through an organization that specializes in polish passports and confirmation of citizenship.

it's frustrating because i have more proof than you can poke a stick at. i have birth certificates, marriage certificates, baptism certificates, army records, school records, land ownership titles, death certificates, ship manifestos, immigration documents galore. i have old passport numbers (though not the actual passport). not just for my mother and grand parents, but for great grandparents, great great grand parents etc. i understand that people apply with incomplete forms, and with out evidence, things not signed, and that these cases need more time to go over...

but how long did it take people to find out their case worker's name?

 

Hi:
I'm lifting this from my posting from last May. Bottom line: you have to be very patient, and expect the unexpected. My confirmation took about 6 months from its submission date. One can never dismiss the "human factor" in a process like this.
Good luck.

"I thought I had a pretty straightforward case with strong evidence. What I wasn't prepared for were the "intangibles" relating to the discretion of the caseworker processing my case. Let's call her pani Ropucha (toad) just for fun.

Well into the process, Pani R. began requesting all sorts of "supplementary" information that had absolutely no bearing on the confirmation process through my mother (ex. she wanted info/documents about my father). She also got fixated on getting my mom's birth certificate (which proves nothing about a person's citizenship), even though I had supplied her with my mom's expired Polish passport. She was unreasonable from beginning to end. She was basically flouting her power and making matters more difficult and complicated than they needed to be.

When my lawyer inquired about timelines, Pani R. retorted that the slow administrative processing by the Canadian consulate in Montreal (I live in Toronto btw) were responsible for the delays. My lawyer contacted me in late March and asked me to make some local inquiries. I naturally called the Toronto consulate (my family has lived in Toronto for 60 years) and asked about protocals and processing of inquiries from Warsaw. An incredibly helpful and kind lady at the consulate answered all my questions, expressed some thinly veiled dismay at Pani R.'s breach of protocal and set me straight. Next, I wrote a firmly worded letter to the general "info" mailbox in Montreal asking politely that they turn their attention to my case, and which had been before them since late January. I fully expected my letter to "vanish" into the ethernet....imagine my surprise when I received a firmly worded letter from the Vice-Consul that same afternoon detailing their speedy response a day after receiving the inquiry in January.

Can you say "pulapka" (trap)?? We had caught Pani R. in a gigantic lie. ::))
My lawyer wrote a series of very strongly worded letters to the head of the Ministry in charge, and anyone else that would listen. MAGICALLY, a week later, my lawyer was notified that my citizenship, my brother's and my nephew's were ready for pick up. My mother's citizenship was NOT among them. Yes, you read that right. My citizenship was confirmed without first confirming my mom's.

Pani R., having had her knuckles firmly rapped by powers higher up, continues to be a gigantic pain in the butt and has fabricated some crazy story about how my mom's case needs further investigation or "evidence". She cannot deny my mother's citizenship (having granted Polish citizenship to her children), but she can delay granting it pretty much indefinitely. Evil woman. Slimy toad.

Me? I got what I needed out of the process and am grateful to my lawyer for all his hard work. I just wanted people to know that there are clerks like Pani R. out there, that are spiteful and difficult to deal with, that can complicate matters or draw them out unnecessarily."

 

Where was your mother born? (in fact, tell me where was her birth certificate issued).

This is the place that her citizenship will be confirmed.

Tell me that and i will try to find out where you should call... and you have to hope they speak english ;-)

DWWD

 

also, would their applications get split up? The mother being processed in the region where she was born vetticus' being sent to Warsaw since place of birth was outside of the country?

 

Exactly.

And this is very good - usually small towns have very little work to be done... and, if you call you end up speakig with someone who can actually help you instead of a secretary.

DWWD

 

Pinetrees, don't know why Chicago consulate won't make you a certified copy of your US passport. I was able to get it done in the consular section of the Washington DC embassy.

I understand them not certifying other US documents since they're not familiar with them but they ought to be able to see that the US PP you're presenting is genuine.

 

To sister 2010, I had started the process with Charsky (now deceased and his firm out of business.)
Needing another lawyer I contacted both Luskasz Piotrowski and Krzystof Banek. Both replied quickly and quoted a fair and similar price to finish the job.

I went with Piotrowski, basically because I had read news reports that he had done a lot of work for Charsky and not got paid ( when Charsky had started out, he farmed out the work to Piot.)

Piotr. did a great job, answered my questions etc. and I recommend him wholeheartedly.