How to get a Polish Passport: Citizenship, Ancestry & More
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Want to know how to get a Polish Passport?
It’s a relatively simple process, but it’s made harder by the fact that Poland’s borders have changed so much in the last 150 years.
Many people claim citizenship and get a passport based on their parents’ or grandparents’ location of birth.
However, solid documentation is needed for that to actually work.
If you don’t have that documentation or are looking for other ways to get a Polish Passport or become a Polish citizen, this article will tell you everything you need to know.
The Polish Nationality Law
The Polish Nationality law is the law that allows individuals to become a citizen of Poland.
Citizenship by birth
Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship immediately, regardless of birthplace.
Citizenship can be granted to ‘foundlings’ (children of unknown parents) when their identity cannot be established, or when they turn 16 (with their consent)
Citizenship by adoption
Citizenship can be acquired through the adoption of a minor by a Polish citizen.
Option 1: Citizenship by descent
If you want a Polish passport and you weren’t born here, the descent is the easiest avenue to explore.
I have a Polish parent
As above, you get Polish citizenship (and a passport) by proving your relation to that Polish citizen.
Polish partitions, descent and citizenships
Due to the Polish borders changing a lot over the last 150 years, where Poland is located has changed a lot, and therefore the definition of ‘Poland’ has changed.
Not all ethnic Poles were able to claim citizenship if their birthplace wasn’t Polish at the time of their passport application.
For example, a person born in Gdańsk/Danzig in 1910 cannot claim Polish citizenship today – and therefore, their ancestor cannot, either.
Those that had left Polish lands before the country became independent in 1918 are unable to become citizens.
A break in citizenship
If your parent gave up their Polish citizenship and became naturalised in another country before 1951, you are unable to use their former citizenship as a method of getting a Polish passport.
Option 2: Naturalisation
Poland’s naturalisation laws were revised in 2009.
A foreigner can become a Polish citizen by:
Presidential grant
A foreigner can apply to become a Polish citizen by applying for a presidential grant.
You can apply for a Presidental citizenship grant at your local government office in Poland, or at an embassy or consulate. Your current visa/residence permit must be valid for at least 6 months after the date of your application.
Applications can be made in any language but must be accompanied by a sworn translation into Polish. If you can’t communicate in Polish, you must attend your application meeting with a translator.
Important to note:
- Decisions are final and cannot be appealed
- Justifications don’t have to be given
Learn more about a Presidential citizenship grant here.
Naturalisation by recognition
You can apply for naturalisation if you:
- ask for it
- have a Polish B1 language diploma
- are not deemed a risk to national security
…and meet one of the following:
- Lived in Poland for the last 3 years as a permanent resident
- have stable and regular income
- rent or own a property or house
- Lived in Poland, legally, for the last 10 years,
- have permanent resident status
- have stable and regular income
- rent or own a property or house
- Lived in Poland for the last 2 years as a permanent resident
- Lived in Poland for the last 2 years as a permanent resident,
- Lived in Poland for the last 2 years as a refugee.
- Lived in Poland for the last 2 years as a repatriate.
Naturalisation by marriage
Marriage to a Pole isn’t enough to claim citizenship and a passport.
Firstly, the foreigner must apply for a temporary residence permit based on the marriage, and then apply with permanent residence based on the marriage.
Once permanent Polish residence based on marriage is obtained, you need to stay married to the Polish citizen for 3 years and have stayed in Poland legally and uninterrupted for 2 years before you can apply for Polish citizenship based on marriage.
Your Polish language skills must be certified, too.
Citizenship before 1961
Special laws apply in the following situations:
No dual citizen policy
Between 1918 and 1951, any Pole that acquired another citizenship automatically lost their Polish citizenship.
Polish lands that became Soviet
In 1951, Poland revoked the citizenship of inhabitants east of the Curzon line.
This meant that Poles on former Polish lands now annexed by the Soviet Union lost their citizenship. Upon the USSR’s collapse in 1992, these citizens had to become citizens of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania.
Foreign military or public service
Before 1961, Polish citizenship was lost if you served in a foreign military or took public office in another country.
Polish-German dual citizens
Germans that held Polish citizenship had their passports cancelled and citizenship revoked unless they had a Polish citizen as a partner who was also living in Poland.
Poles emigrating to Israel
Polish citizens that emigrated to Israel between 1958 and 1984 and because Israeli citizens based on the Israeli ‘Law of Return”, automatically lost their Polish citizenship. These people and their descendants may be eligible for Polish citizenship.
Communist Poland’s expulsion of Jews
In 1968, the Polish Communist Party forced out over 15,000 Polish Jews who had their passports destroyed and replaced with a ‘travel document’. This document forbade them from ever returning to Poland. Their property was seized and became the property of the state. Most of these Holocaust survivors then emigrated to Sweden, Israel, the USA or Denmark.
Currently, the Polish government will return citizenship for Polish Jews that were expelled from Poland as a result of this policy.
Take a test:
Polaron is a fantastic company that helps people find ways to obtain European passports based on their family’s roots.
Meet the criteria?
If you meet the criteria to become a Polish citizen and get a Polish passport, the best thing to do is to contact your closest consulate or embassy.
If you’re in Poland, then it will pay to visit your closes immigration office or speak to an immigration lawyer.
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