Hello everyone!
I am a rising junior in college who is majoring in International Studies and will be studying abroad in Europe for the Spring and Fall 2014 semesters, and hopefully I will find some way to stay somewhere overseas in the summer. I've always considered myself half Polish, and today I started casually looking into what it would take to become a Polish citizen.

(I've considered myself half Polish since both sets of my Dad's grandparents immigrated to the US- my grandparent's first language was Polish.)

Turns out, they came here in the late 1880's, the exception being my great-grandfather who came in the early 1910's.

From my basic research, this means that I cannot claim citizenship, correct? All my ancestors came from Krakow/just outside of Krakow, if I track down the evidence that they lived in what is now Poland would that make a difference? I just wanted to confirm this with people who are familiar with the topic before I email the embassy and embarrass myself! Thanks for help!

 

That's what I was afraid of. Thank you for the help!

 

Thanks for checking up! I wish I had better news but unfortunately I really doubt I an claim citizenship. I put off/gave up looking into it a few months ago. Here's what I remember off the top of my head.

Turns out my great-great grandfather came in through Baltimore, which closed to immigration sometime around WWI, I think it was towards the end/just after. So there was a small window of possibility there, but there were some laws that pretty much eliminated that! Something about people who left after 1918 automatically lost citizenship and it couldn't be passed down or regained until another law was passed in the early 2000's and then the person that left had to be the one to file to regain citizenship.

(Should mention that my grandparents don't really remember much about their parents emigrating here, dates/spelling of names/etc. I think they might have papers somewhere but I don't have access to them and they were unsure as to why I would want them. They are in their late 80's.)

So if I interpreted everything correctly there is no chance at all, but it was still pretty fascinating to learn about! Makes me want to visit Poland even more.