Polish Citizenship

As many of you may know, citizenship in countries such as the United States are governed by place of birth. If you are born on the territory, one automatically gains citizenship to that country. The status quo in most European countries, however awards citizenship to children by birthright. Essentially, if one or both parents have that nations citizenship, then the child, too, gets citizenship. There are, of course, certain nuances within the laws each country establishes for itself. Here are the rules for Polish Citizenship, as established by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Citizenship Act of February 15, 1962, and provided by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland.

By Birth:

Child who was born or found within the territory of the Republic of Poland acquires citizenship if both parents are not known, whose citizenship cannot be established, or who are stateless.

By Descent:

Child acquires citizenship regardless of the country of birth, if both parents are citizens of Poland or at least one of parents is Polish citizen and the other one is either not known or whose citizenship cannot be established, or who is stateless.

Child, one of whose parents is a citizen of a foreign country acquires Polish citizenship by birth. However the parents by affidavit executed before proper Polish authorities within three months after the birth of the child can choose foreign citizenship for the child if the laws of the foreign country grant the child citizenship based on descent from the foreign parent. Polish citizenship can be granted to that child if he/she after turning 16, but before 6 months to the legal age executes an affidavit expressing the will of becoming the citizen before proper Polish authorities.

By Naturalization:

Citizenship can be granted by the President of the Republic of Poland. An Alien is eligible to apply for the citizenship if he has resided in Poland as a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years. The granting of the citizenship can be subjected to submission of the evidence of the loss or renunciation of foreign citizenship. Marriage to a Polish national does not affect citizenship of both parties.

Loss of Citizenship:

INVOLUNTARY: The Constitution prohibits an involuntary loss of Polish citizenship.

VOLUNTARY: A Polish citizen may gain foreign citizenship with full effect under Polish law once he/she receives a permission to renounce Polish citizenship granted by the President of the Republic of Poland. The loss of citizenship is effective on a date it is granted; therefore Polish citizens with only promissory citizenship in a foreign state would become stateless until they acquire that citizenship. The process of voluntary renunciation of citizenship may be done in Poland or through the nearest Polish consulate.

Dual Citizenship:

Polish law does not recognize dual citizenship of its citizens. While Polish law does not forbid Polish citizen from becoming the citizen of a foreign state by birth or naturalization, Polish authorities shall recognize that national as a Polish citizen only.

Though it does not explicitely stated, there is reason to believe that citizenship can be passed on to a limited number of generations not living in the motherland. Also, a Polish passport may not be the easiest thing to come by if you are not fluent in the Polish language. The benefits of a Polish passport, however, will show themselves once Poland joins the European Union, allowing its citizens to work in other countries of the EU.

Contact Information:

Any and all questions should be directed to a Consulate of the Republic of Poland serving your home region. In the USA, the contact information is:

CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
233 Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10016
phone: (646) 237 2100
fax: (646) 237 2105
E-mail: kgrpny@aol.com
Office Hours: 8:00AM - 4PM M-F
Open to Public: 8:30AM - 2:30PM,
Consular Jurisdiction Extends To: Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont.

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND, CONSULAR DIVISION
2224 Wyoming Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
phone: (202) 234 3800 fax: (202) 328 2152
E-mail: polconsul.dc@ioip.com
Office Hours: 9AM - 4PM M-F
Open to Public: 9AM - 1PM, Wed.: 1PM - 4PM
Consular Jurisdiction Extends To: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and Overseas Territories.

CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
1530 North Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60610
phone: (312) 337 8166 fax: (312) 337 7841
E-mail: polcon@interaccess.com
Office Hours: 8:30AM - 4:30PM M-F
Open to Public: 9AM - 2:30PM,
Consular Jurisdiction Extends To: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin.

CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
12400 Wilshire Boulevard, suite 555
Los Angeles, CA 90025
phone: (310) 442-8500
fax: (310) 442 8515
e-mail: consulplla@consulplla.org
Office Hours: 9AM - 4PM M-F
Open to Public: 9AM - 2PM,
Consular Jurisdiction Extends To: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

If you live in country besides the USA, or have your primary citizenship from a country besides the USA, you may find a general listing of Polish Diplomatic Missions across the globe at Polish Diplomatic Missions.