Polish citizenship & papers

I'm an Australian citizen and I'm investigating any possibility of getting Polish citizenship, but I think it's not very likely.

My paternal great great grandfather was born in Prussia in 1843 (in a part that became Poland after WWII), he left in 1873 (we think), my great grandfather was born in Australia in 1874. My paternal great great grandmother was born in Linken, Prussia (now Poland) in about 1846. As all of this was when Poland technically didn't exist, I assume they were all Prussian citizens??? or German? As far as I know they never obtained any other citizenship after arriving in Australia. My grandfather, my father and I were all born in Australia.

I am guessing that there is probably no chance of me getting Polish citizenship, given that it was all so long ago, and that the ancestors who came from Poland lived there when it was controlled by other countries. But I've seen a few posts from people saying they got citizenship because a grandparent or great grandparent was Polish, so possibly could my father get Polish citizenship (or confirm it) and then me?

Also I'm trying to find more documentation about these ancestors. Does anyone know where I can get records of things in Poland so long ago? In Australia or somewhere in Europe, as I currently live in the Netherlands.

Thanks very much for your help!

 

Re: Polish citizenship & papers

Unfortunately if none of your ancestors ever got Polish citizenship, then you are not entitled to hold Polish citizenship by virtue of blood relation.
One way of getting Polish citizenship is to reside permanently in Poland for a period of 5 years and then apply for naturalization as a foreigner, but you will probably have to renounce your Australian citizenship.

 

Re: Polish citizenship & papers

Try the following websites:

http://www.jewishgen.org/JRI-PL/jriplweb.htm

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... search.asp

With the first site I was able to trace my family records five generatios back.

 

Re: Polish citizenship & papers

Try the following websites:

http://www.jewishgen.org/JRI-PL/jriplweb.htm

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... search.asp

With the first site I was able to trace my family records five generatios back.

 

Can anyone suggest a lawyer in Warsaw that is specialized in citizenship?

Regards

 

I’m recently married to a polish man, Am I entitled to dual citizenship by obtaining the polish citizenship? And what are the procedures that I should follow? And do I need to register my marriage in the Polish embassy located in my country where I currently live with my husband?

 

I assume your ancestors are not Polish ancestors.

Marriage in and of itself does not qualify you for citizenship. You would have to apply for citizenship in Poland, and there is a residency requirement for that as well. You cannot do this through an Embassy or a Consulate.

 

accepted documents

Would my mother's Polish birth certificate and her U.S. naturalization certificate stating that she's from Poland be sufficient to prove Polish citizenship?

Thanks,
jacob

 

curious george,

wondering if you can help

After 2 (very long) years, i have finally been given my polish citizenship!

I have now been told that i will have to apply for a Polish ID number (wait time 1 month)

Once i have that number i have to apply for a polish id card which i will have to wait 1 month for as well!

Only after i have both of these, can i apply for a polish passport which is obviously going to take at least a month or two as well!

All up another wait of about 4 months (approx)

Do you know if i really need these numbers and id cards before i can apply for my passport. If so, do they really take a month each to get?

Thanks in advance

 

I applied for my PESEL number and my passport at the same time. I assume that they handle the 2 step process internally, and the sum total is probably the same amount of time as doing one at a time.

Although a PESEL number is a requirement to get a passport, I'm not sure why they are requiring that you do it 2 seperate steps.

They did not ask me to apply for a Polish ID card at all. But I had my Polish birth certificate to include with the passport application.

Do you have your Polish birth certificate? If not, they may want you to get a Polish ID card instead.

If you already have your Polish birth certifcate, then I am very surprised that they asked for you to apply for a Polish ID card.

 

Re: accepted documents

In my opinion, and from what I've gathered through numerous conversations with the consulate is, that is not enough evidence to prove citizenship, but it is enough collateral for the Polish authorities to begin the investigation on your case. I think you should try for it.

 

Re: My situation

Hi there,
Im trying to find out if I can obtain a Polish Passport, as I want to leave Australia to live / work in Poland.

I still have family / relatives in Krakow, will this help????

Ive just started looking in to it, and the Polish Embassy in Australia said they doubted whether or not I would be able to do so????

Do you have any info that may be able to help me or put me on to somebody who can????
Cheers,
Look forward to hearing from you.....

 

I know I'm not the first to say this, but this whole thread is extraordinarily impressive with how informative it is and with its breadth. Thanks, everyone, for helping out, it's helped me a lot.

Though it pains me to be another one of those people asking for help, after days of research, I'm trying to piece together my documents to begin submitting applications, but I'm still confused about a variety of things, and kind of having trouble figuring out where to start.

First, my information: my grandfather was born in Poland in 1917, left for America in 1949, and was naturalized as an American in 1955, and never joined the Army, so I know that my father, and therefore I, have Polish citizenship. For my grandfather, we have an original Certificate of Naturalization issued in 1955 and a couple of original letters to U.S. agencies detailing the circumstances of his emigrating from Poland. I also found online a copy of the passenger list of the ship he immigrated on, with what I strongly suspect is his Polish passport number, even though we don't actually have a copy of his (now-expired) passport. By contacting the USCIS, we could obtain another copy of my grandfather's Certificate of Naturalization.

One note of importance: It's possible, though we don't know for sure, that my grandfather had an original wife and kids in Poland who all perished in World War II before he came to America, where he married my grandmother and had my father. Would that have any effect on or cause any problems with my or my father's applications?

First, I need to register my father's birth, my parents' marriage, and then my birth with Poland, right? And for that, I'll need certified copies with apostilles of all those American documents, translated, and then sent to Poland.

Second, I'll need copies of both of our passports. I assume I need to request those to be certified from somewhere also, right?

Third... all right, even looking through all my notes, I'm lost already.

I have all the copies of instructions that have been posted in the forum so far, but situation is slightly different in that grandfather is the one who was Polish, so I need to obtain my father's proof of citizenship before we can get to mine. While time isn't really an obstacle, I would prefer it done more quickly rather than more slowly, but having looked into various lawyers, some of their fees seem prohibitively high.

If anyone could help me with a list of instructions, like what to do first or etc., I would be really grateful. Unsurprisingly, the consulate has not been that helpful.

 

Have you read the post I put together a while back? Here is the link to the instructions I put together:
http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_33969.htm#33969

I realize that digging through this thread for the juicy parts can be a little unwieldy, so here is my collection of "The Best Of Polish Citizenship Thread":

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_34456.htm#34456

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_35580.htm#35580

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_37013.htm#37013

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_37659.htm#37659

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_38256.htm#38256

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/sutra_38382.htm#38382

 

That tool does not allow people to easily point to a specific post witin a thread, nor does it allow a member to share thier bookmarks with other readers on the forum, both features which I needed here.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

yeah i'm not sure why i was given that order.

i've been told that apparently everyone who has an id card had until the 31st December 2007 to change it as they were bringing in a new id card. If you didn't renew before that date there was a fine?

I'm not sure if that is 100% correct?

Apparently you can travel around freely within europe on the id card anyway. I'll just have to wait a little longer for the passport

 

The ID Cards are compulsory ONLY if you reside in Poland. Otherwise you can use your passport to travel. If you go to Poland just for a short visit, you don't have to get and ID Card unless you want it.

 

My situation is as follows:

My grandfather was born in Krakow in 1898. I don't have any records of his birth. He married my grandmother in Italy in 1946 and I have a copy of the marriage certificate. He was a captain in the Polish army during WW2, and was detained by the Russians in Siberia at one point. After that, he joined with the British army to fight in northern Africa, and they eventually disbanded in Rome, which is how he met my grandmother. They left Rome for America in 1952, and they are listed on passenger ship records as such. My father was born in Brooklyn in 1955, but he never applied for Polish citizenship or had his birth recorded. He died in 2002 so he can't actively apply for citizenship now.

My questions are:

1. What documentation do I need to register my birth, and eventually apply for citizenship? I have my own birth certificate, as well as my father's birth certificate.
2. Is it recommended that I hire a lawyer in Poland to perform the transactions for me? I am corresponding with someone in Warsaw with a common last name, likely a cousin, who has offered to help, but I do not want to impose if it is difficult.

Thanks for any help. The hard part seems to be if I need to secure a copy of my grandfather's birth records or proof of citizenship, since nobody in my small family has these things.