My apologizes I know I read that they Polish citizens do not need visas but I guess I posted the wrong link. According to this link

http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp ... eid=382699

visas ended March 1, 2008 and "To guard against abuse of older passports, by January 2009, travelers from Poland and Lithuania will be required to carry a more secure e-passport for visa-free travel."

 

Re: Documents for Polish Citizenship

Having sent my confirmation 10 months ago it was great to read your difficult success story and congratulations on your confirmation.

Would you be willing to email the contact information for your lawyer?

If so please email it to polish.citizenship08@gmail.com

 

Re: My situation

Please check www.polish-citizenship.pl
You can find there any useful information about applying for polish citizenship and polish passport.

 

I need to know where to search for some documents.

My Grandparents came from East Galicia. For those who don't know between ~1918-1939 this was under Polish rule. West Galicia is now southern Poland and East is now western Ukraine.

I have my granms passport (1930) and it is polish but I have very little info for my granps. I would like to gather more info for my granps because of the blood line goes through men.

Now because he was Polish when they left and was a polish citizen would his birth documents etc be the property of Poland and I should look to polish archives or because the geography is now Ukraine would I look in the Ukraine?

 

Well over 6 months and 17 pages since the last time I posted, I see you all have been quite busy!

I've still been in the research process of trying to obtain basically whatever I can on my own, at least as far as records within the US are concerned. I received a nice 25-page response from US Immigration yesterday in the mail that included many documents, though none of which will specifically prove my grandmother's citizenship. I'm still waiting on documents pertaining to my grandfather.

The plus side is that I finally have some more information related to where my grandmother is from, districts, etc, that I didn't have before (& will hopefully help narrow down my search significantly). Also included in the packet was her marriage certificate, in German, and another document that appears to be Polish, with some translations in English, that seems to be a certificate of birth & baptism as necessary for marriage in Germany in 1946.

Unfortunately I do not have the documents on hand at the moment but I was excited to get back into the process now that I have some new leads. I'll post more later when I can give exact info, and perhaps someone out there may recognize some of the locations I found.

As much as I'm trying to do a lot of the legwork myself, I really do believe I will end up utilizing an attorney. Any personal experiences with particular lawfirms would be greatly appreciated! I've seen a few posts but in general, most of these were vague (yes I had a good experience, this person charges a lot for just an evaluation, etc). I'm looking for info such as how often they communicate with you, what is and is not included in the fees, etc.

Thanks all and a BIG thanks to the regulars who continue to provide informative advice.

 

susano, the US provided all of this to you? my grandparents came into NYC, however NOT through ellis island. my great aunt said they came in via "army ships", whatever that means. anyway, who can I contact in NY to find the same info you found?

thanks!

Mike

 

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/ ... 18190aRCRD

I submitted requests to USCIS about 6 months ago to get basically any information they have on my grandparents. I'm still waiting on records about my grandfather.

My grandparents arrived at a NY Port but did not go through Ellis Island either (at least not to my knowledge...). I've basically been submitting requests for anything I can get my hands on at this point. I've also done a substantial amount of research online though information is limited. It did, however, eventually lead me to find their Alien Registration Numbers, which was especially helpful when submitting requests to USCIS. I see they now have officially changed it to a fee-for-service, though prior to August it was free. I'm surprised my grandmother's records only took 6 months based upon the length of time I've heard from others on this forum.

If you do a search on my name here you can view my previous posts (there aren't many and they are all on this thread). Some of the information I posted might point in the right direction as to where to start looking. Let me know if I can help at all -- I'm still trying to figure it all out myself! Good luck

 

I was recently put in touch with a man who was born in Poland, actually near where my grandmother was born, in 1922. He was forced to leave the country in a similar manner that my family was. He said that passports weren't issued and the only identification he was required was his birth certificate (which he no longer has). I found this really interesting since I know it has been repeated many times that a passport is clear proof of citizenship (obviously). However, if passports weren't being issued regularly or people were forcibly removed from their country, what else constitutes proof?

I continue to ask this question and I apologize for being redundant but I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone. I've submitted questions to several of the consulates, several attorney offices, in the hopes that someone might have an answer. I know that if you can prove their parents were citizens, then you prove that they themselves were citizens. But how was citizenship granted in 1918 when Poland became an independent state? Was it automatically granted to people living on Polish territory? I was reading some info on the Treaty of Versailles pertaining to Germans living in Poland at the time of independence and the issue of citizenship. I have to research more but if anyone has knowledge of this point in history, that would be especially helpful.

Thanks
Susan

 

Polish Citizenship

Isn't it incredible how a Polish passport is more valuable than a US passport?

1. Job Opportunity: It is easier to get a good job in the EU (England, Ireland and the Netherlands) than in most American states today. Also, the Americans have gotten themselves into an $11 trillion deficit from all the wasteful military escapades.

2. Universal healthcare and education: Polish citizens get universal healthcare in all EU states and tuition free universities while Americans have to dig deep into their pockets for expensive health insurance and sky rocketing US university tuition.

How the tables of the world have turned!!!

 

Hey everyone,

Well after the standard four month wait, I've finally had my letter from the Consulate in London to say my new Polish passport is ready for collection.......wow....seems like only yesterday I was hunting for a Polish lawyer, and getting all the documents together to send over to Poland.

Nearly 2 1/2 years down the line and all is done, and as I will be getting married in Poland in June, I will probably get an ID card application sorted as well.

So, next Thursday, its a trip to London on the train to collect the newpassport

 

Congratulations! I know the feeling when I got the letter from the Polish consulate in London at the beginning of 2006 telling me that my passport was ready for collection... Well done!

 

Congratulations Duane! Must be a huge relief to finally get your passport.

Question -- I saw in previous posts that you used Piotr Staczek for legal services...what did you think of him? I know your case was probably significantly simpler than mine (your father's citizenship was already declared, correct?), but I'm curious to know what you thought of his competency on the process & how efficient his services were.

So far Staczek communicates with me the most frequently and is more than willing to answer all of my questions (outside of legal opinions of course). ICharsky has yet to even respond to my first email. Krzysztof Banek only responded by asking me to send him copies of any German documents I had for my grandparents along with $50 transferred to his account. He may be the cheapest but, unless it's an issue with the language barrier, it just seemed a little odd to me and didn't leave me feeling comfortable. I'd much rather hand over $400 to Staczek for a legal opinion, who actually answers my questions directly AND regularly stays in contact, than someone who ignores everything I said and expects me to just hand over copies of my grandparents documents no questions asked. (Maybe I'm just being paranoid...)

Anyway, Staczek gave me the following breakdown of fees in case anyone is interested in doing business with him:

Initial Legal opinion: 1220 PLN (incl. VAT)
-- just to determine likelihood of confirming citizenship

First Instance Admin Proceedings: 3660 PLN (incl. VAT)
-- this does NOT include the cost of certified translations, duty stamps, searching state archives, etc.

In the case of an appeal: 3660 PLN (incl. VAT)
-- So far he claims he's had no clients require an appeal to a decision as the decision was in line with his original legal opinion on the issue of citizenship.

In U.S. $ that works out to approx. $400 for the legal opinion, $1200 for the first proceedings + fees for the extras listed above. So overall that's around $2K - $2.5K minimum.
Edit: I'm also including the fees for the application, etc.

Based upon what I've researched, and assuming there is no need for an appeal, this actually seems like a reasonable pricing schedule. Opinions anyone?[/i]

 

Hi Susano,

yeah a big relief, sometimes it seemed like it would take forever. London's only 1 1/2 hrs away for me, so got my train ticket, but probably will have a few smiling sessions to myself on the way

Overall, I think Piotr Stazcek's service's were very good. Like you say he keeps in regular contact, I e-mailed him quite a lot when i didn't here anything for a while or just further simple questions, and he always responded.

I think I paid around a similar figure to what you have been quoted, maybe a bit less considering I started the process just over two years ago. But as you have mentioned, there are the additional costs of getting documents notarised etc. (I had to go to London on two seperate occassions to get documents stamped with an Apostille at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

Yes, I supplied information about my fathers citizenship, notarised copies of his ID card and passport, amongst other documents, so that probably went in my favour.

Just so glad it is all done now.....phew

 

The one luxury I do have in this whole process is the Polish Consulate is only a few blocks from my office (and a short subway ride from my apt) so when (IF?) my citizenship is recognized, going to get my passport will (hopefully) be the least stressful part.

Thanks for the feedback on Staczek. It's frustrating trying to get a response from pretty much anyone else -- particularly Charsky's firm considering his practice specializes in this. I'd like to get a quote from him as well but I may just go forward with Staczek given that I'm already building a relationship there and he's actually in Poland. Did you have to pay the fees up front or did he bill you for services rendered?

-Susan

 

Hi,

Yes I paid up front. Like you were quoted, I paid the first sum to determine if I was eligble to acquire citizenship, then the second larger payment to carry out the whole process of getting the confirmation of citizenship.

 

Do you happen to remember how long it took him to form a legal opinion on your case?

 

Hi Susano,

06 Dec 2006
Sent enquiry e-mail to Mr Stazcek.

07 Dec 2006
Mr Stazcek replied stating he deals with this sort of case, he asked for basic info about my father and his citizenship etc.

07 Dec 2006
Replied to Mr Stazcek with information requested.

08 Dec 2006
Mr Stazcek replied stating he is ready to asisst me with my case, the first process being to register my birth certificate in Warsaw.
Fee for administrative procedure - 390 Euro's
Fee for legal assistance to apply for confirmation of citizenship - 690 Euro's

Acceptance of the offer would result in a list of documents needed to be submitted in Warsaw and a sample power of attorney for him to act on my behalf.

 

Well people,

Been to the Polish Consulate in London today, and now the proud owner of a Polish Passport......

 

POLAND: Grandfather's birth certificate-- ?

Wow! Some of you are picking up shiny new Polish passports... what a great "New Year" for you! And inspiring for the rest of us.

I hope to have the same news report relatively soon, as I intend to submit my application for Confirmation of Citizenship in Warsaw pretty soon. Which is why I came to Poland for Christmas - and stayed. I'm American (for now), but Grandpa was born in Poland. And never left. And never renounced. So I think I have a pretty strong case to get "confirmed" that I'm Polish. Or at least, for my Dad to get his Confirmation, then me.

So with this morning's trip back to the Urzad Stanu Cywilnego (Vital Statistics office) to pick up the birth certificate we ordered for Grandpa yesterday, I thought I was finished with my document gathering...

... but we did not get a birth certificate! Drats!

I think the glitch was a name change, thanks to those funky years when Poland was run by other countries. In a musty old logbook record of Grandpa's birth, (hand-written in fancy old script, in Russian), our last name appears one way (complete with "-ski" ending) .... but later on, by the time Grandpa gets married, the family name is a new shorter, sleeker version. (I like the original better- where do I apply to change it back? Ha ha, just kidding).

And now, nobody wants to write up Gramps' birth certificate...perhaps because it would have to bridge two different last names? I think what the Urzad man said was that he will make a birth certificate for us IF we produce the marriage document for Grandpa's parents... Which is my great-grandparents, folks, married sometime around 1850. This was quite a blow to my confidence. The only thing we know about Great-Gramps is the town where he was born, birth date, death date, wife's name. Of course I will ask my aunt to make some phone calls come Monday, starting with his birth town.. but this goes back a long way, with weak information... Can we find what we need?

So does anybody have any experience convincing Warsaw of your ancestor's citizenship withOUT a birth certificate? If yes, what other documents covered it? Curious George, are you still here? Again, there are no emigration records, as Grandpa never sailed anywhere.

Does anybody know how we find out if Grandpa ever had a [Polish] passport? Maybe he did! But we know he never left Poland, cuz he got very sick and died at a young age, in this house as a matter of fact.

I have his death certificate, all typed up from the local church; and his marriage certificate (three different versions now, thanks to some very mixed messages at two different Urzad Stanu Cywilnego's today).. but no Birth Certificate!! {Stomping my feet in frustration}.

But I'm not actually sure what transpired at Town Hall today, since I don't speak Polish (which is proving to be an enormously awful impediment) and my elderly [Polish] Aunt - who is handling all these negotations and phone calls for me - does not speak English. And all the smart cousins who speak both languages are away at University, not hanging out in this backwater village. I won't even find out the details of what transpired today (or more importantly, what to DO about it!), until tomorrow afternoon when a University cousin comes home to do laundry. (Some things are the same anywhere in the world).

Thanks for any help. It's cold here in snowy Poland. But the pierogis, yum yum! Just like Grandma used to make...

-tina
PS - Feel free to email me direct: celtdancer@yahoo.com.

 

Re: POLAND: Grandfather's birth certificate-- ?

Does he have a Polish passport (current or expired)?