Law / Permit of residence in Warsaw? [32]

yes, i'm dutch. interesting. maybe for me, but more likely for a friend of mine. i tried to contact you, but it says i have to post three useful messages first... hope this one is counted as useful

For those who are interested. I found out where it is: Dluga 5, in the old city center.
This is a rather good description:

cpe.sggw.pl/socrates/students/comingtopoland/index-e.html

News / Poland turning into a religious state? Polish politic and Church. [96]

The same happened in Ukraine... the new government made religion a mandatory subject. There are probably some macro-political reasons for that. I think this is not a good development. It's interesting to know more about different religions, but this is usually not the intention of such specific courses to young children.

Travel / Would i be able to part with lose Euros in Poland? [7]

There are exchange offices all around, with very good rates! Better than the big banks use when you withdraw money from your account with a card. So it's even better to bring cash (well, not dollars of course now they're loosing their value every second you have them in your pockets...)

Travel / Krakow's Weather [8]

It's snowing today. Rather cold, but not extremely cold. If you need any further advise, just let me know. I'm in Kraków.

Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

And if you don't need telephone and TV? Only Internet. Would Chello still be best? Any other options?

Besides Chello (from UPC), there is “Aster”: 50 Zloty for 58 TV chanels and 58 Zloty for Internet (758 kb/sec during day, 1.5mbit/sec during night – faster options are available, but more expensive). For only the Internet option it is 63 Zloty. Installation costs are 19 Zloty. BUT, if you want it for less than two years, it is more expensive: 109 Zloty per month for Internet only!

Law / Permit of residence in Warsaw? [32]

OK, I went to Dluga 5, and this is much more complicated than it looks like. The worst is that you have to ask someone from Warsaw to go with you to an office (if this person lives in the center of Warsaw: Nowa Grotska 47 or so). Why this is needed is not clear to me. I do not know anyone in Warsaw that well that I dare to ask to accompany me. So this is a problem. Nevertheless, the office was really helpful and EU citizens are handled with in a special part of the building (room 42) - you have to get a number with "A" at the entrance.

In any case, here is what you need (websites listed above are wrong):
- 3 Copies of your passport
- 3 Copies of the form they give you in Dluga 5
- Get registered accompanied by someone who lives in Warsaw in the office of the neighborhood this person lives in.
- A translated proof of health care insurance (approved by a sworn-in translator)
- 1 Copy of your credit card (bring it with you!) or other proof of having enough funds

Life / Public Transport in Warsaw [33]

What is the best ticket to buy if you are for 1 year in Warsaw and travel at average once a day? Single ticket is 2.4 Zloty (this is only a one way ticket - valid in metro, bus and tram). A day ticket is 7.2 Zloty (so already pays off if you take the public transport 3 times in one day).

I also read something about 30 day tickets and 90 day tickets, but I don't know how much they cost and about how they work (if they can only be bought at the beginning of the month and if they are valid everywhere and always). Can someone help me/us out?

Thanks!

Life / Public Transport in Warsaw [33]

Thanks!! I got one now... 166 Zloty for the 90 days one – you have to write your name on it and an identification number. Next you just move it in front of the machine inside the tram. It starts from the moment when you buy/use (I don’t know) it. This is the (blue) one only for Warsaw, for 90 days. There’s also another card for a larger area.

Life / TV / Internet provider and stores (Warsaw area) [21]

Thanks! I didn't know that. So, in the end I chose Chello (from UPC): 99 Zloty per month (69 for internet -unlimited bandwith, 2mb/s pobierania (don't know what that is??), 384kb/s wysylania (??)- and 50% discount on the television connection which is 60 Zloty). They give the 1st month for free. It's a 16 month contract. If you break it before - which I might need to do :( - it's 420 Zloty. 9.99 Zloty installation costs. Nothing should be paid to the installation person - they contact you later by email for the payment. They were very friendly on the phone, and much better reacheable than Aster, even on a Sunday. But UPC seems a bit less responsive to email than Aster (they called me back immediately after I sent them an email).

Law / Permit of residence in Warsaw? [32]

Hm... next step... I heard I need a NIP and PESEL. Where can I get those???

Law / Permit of residence in Warsaw? [32]

Ha ha, yes, cheap, and also a poor student ;-) Lawyer would be very nice, though :) - I hate arranging these things - already the 5th country I live in in 10 years and again and again the same fuss... for rich businessmen and diplomats it's easy, cause they hire lawyers - I think it should be easy for more normal Europeans as well. Hope my comments help for the next one in this situation (thanks, Carley, for the hints!):

- NIP is relatively easy to get. At Lindleya 14 (the street is a bit difficult to find, but very close to the central station - side street of Nowogrotska). You just fill-out the form you can get at the ground floor. Basically you only need your new address. And they will send you the NIP in one month :(

- PESEL - this is more complicated. At Nowa Grotska 47 (you have to take letter "F") -sorry, I didn't mention this step yet- you show your passport and apartment rental contract (the lady was very friendly and I did not have to bring anybody at all, as they told me I had to, at Dluga 5) and you get a tiny piece of paper with dates on it. For 3 months only. This you have to take back to Dluga (I didn't do this yet). Then after 3 months you can get a more permanent permit of residence :)

Cheers!

Life / Warsaw - most boring capital in Europe, after Brussels - comments? [78]

"Surprisingly Warsaw residents didn't themselves think their city was so bad to live in, mostly it was foreign visitors." And this is exactly why I like Warsaw very much (more than Kraków where I lived for five months). Kraków is very nice, especially for tourist and students. But to me (in my thirties and not merely in Poland for a long weekend) Warsaw is a very pleasant place. OK, maybe not that beautiful esthetically- but fun, and easier to integrate than in Kraków, frankly speaking. And much more international (if you omit Erasmus students and stack parties ;), which is also a positive virtue in my opinion.

News / East vs. West Poland: dividing voivodeships [7]

Thanks for confirming! :)

News / East vs. West Poland: dividing voivodeships [7]

Hi Seanus, thanks for your comment!! OK, I'll move Slask to the "west group". Best wishes, and thank you all again for the comments - this is indeed a very useful site, celinski!!

Law / Permit of residence in Warsaw? [32]

Ha ha, yes these stupid language sensitivities... never understood them. Yes, of course Dutch is similar to German!! (I'm "very" Dutch, so I am "allowed to" say) Difference... German is a bit more useful - but also not very much ;) And ... yes, also sensitive... Russian is a bit similar to Polish - very similar grammar and many words are practically the same. But I'm not Polish, so I'm not "allowed to" say, sorry!

So, the story of the permit of residence is not over yet. After 3 months I should have gone back and, yes, have a sheet signed by my landlord/landlady. Only then they will give you your PESEL. It will last 3 weeks or so before they give it to you.

Real Estate / Real estate agency in Poland (that does not target foreigners) [14]

Thanks for the sites! Wow... a small studio already costs 100,000 euro... that's more expensive than Amsterdam, I think. I'll probably have to wait till the housing market collapses :(

Life / How long can I survive with 60.000 zloty in Poland? [13]

Depends on where you go in Poland and how you want to live. For Warsaw, living alone, I guess you need about 3000 a month to live well. For a village in the country side, 1000 might be enough. Yes, usual wages for shop attendants, etc are only a bit more than 1000. In general I think for two years 60,000 PLN is more than enough!

News / Political coalitions Poland? [4]

Thanks for the feedback!!

Language / Good books about polish grammar? (online purchase) [19]

Merged: Polish on-line bookseller?

Does someone know a good online bookseller in Poland? Amazon.de and amazon.com don't "ship" several books to Poland. The only alternative I found so far has a very small collection: bookmaster.pl

I need several academic and non-academic books in English.

Language / Good books about polish grammar? (online purchase) [19]

Great!!! Thank you very much, Esek! :)