Real Estate / What is a "jard" [10]

it is called an "are" in English:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are

but of course nobody has ever heard of it as we don't use ares in English speaking countries.

Travel / Snow tyres in Poland... legal or reccomended? [25]

if anyone is interested I wrote about this very topic here: britishinpoland.com/blog/2008/03/summer-and-winter-tyres/. I usually shop around online to get the best tyres and then take them to my local garage to get them changed over.

Life / Can you keep a right hand drive car in Poland? [57]

fantastic info - very interesting! Nice one.

Life / Deadly Roads - "Are polish roads really THAT dangerous?" [139]


I don't follow your argument. You are hearing about accidents all over town. I am talking about one 200 metre stretch of road. I think that an accident in one place every 2 or 3 months is very high and I am surprised that the council or road department or whoever hasn't done anything about it.

Life / Deadly Roads - "Are polish roads really THAT dangerous?" [139]


I live on a main road and there is a car accident in front of my house on average every 2 or 3 months. So I would say yes.

Life / Satellite type connections in flat in Poland [18]

probably cable TV for the block. You should check with your building manager.

Life / Paying bribes in Poland - necessity or a luxury? [41]

on the subject of bribes - I saw a poster in the reception of a police station here that was an anti-police-corruption type poster. Had a picture of a load of officers with a slogan along the lines of 'we don't take bribes!' Made me wonder to myself how big a problem police corruption must be if it warrants a poster campaign...

I wish I had taken a picture of that poster because now I can't find any pictures of it on the internet...

Life / Is it expensive to give birth in Poland? [26]

My wife gave birth in Poland and I blogged about it here: britishinpoland.com/blog/2008/06/giving-birth-in-poland/

Our experience tends to go with what Wroclaw Boy is saying. We didn't bribe anybody at first and the duty doctor didn't step outside his office. Once my parents-in-law arrived at the hospital and felt that my wife wasn't been given enough care, 500zl later and the Doctor magically appeared and then couldn't do enough for us.

I got the impression that we would have been looked after to a sufficient standard without any 'łapówki' but a few sheckle made a big difference.

UK, Ireland / Passed theory in UK, failed driving. Possible to take driving test in PL? [23]


Given that Ireland is an EU member country, I guess so.

Law / Buying, Registering, Insuring a NEW Car in PL is a NIGHTMARE [22]

Yes the landlord should let you do your zameldowanie. Even a hotel is supposed to do it if you are going to stay there for more than a few days.

I can't see zameldowanie being abolished any time soon...

Good luck though!

Law / Buying, Registering, Insuring a NEW Car in PL is a NIGHTMARE [22]

so it sounds like you didn't have a 'zameldowanie'? i.e. that you weren't registered to live at the flat you were renting.

I told you you needed your zameldowanie in my first post.

This proves you have an address to which the vehicle can be registered.

Life / TP - Telekomunikacja Polska SA (phone/Internet company in Poland) [19]

I thought TP was the national provider?

Because in the UK you can get your phone and internet from people other than British Telecom but BT still own the cables to your door. So whenever you have a problem your provider still has to chase up BT to fix it.

Is it not the same in Poland with TP?

Life / TP - Telekomunikacja Polska SA (phone/Internet company in Poland) [19]

TP are a bunch of cowboys. 7 days is nothing. I was without my Internet for nearly 3 months! Everytime my wife called up we were told a different story. We wrote letters to complain and the funniest thing was that we got two different replies from two different people saying two different things. The letters were dated 3 days apart. At that point we gave up on them - it's just not possible to deal with people like that without losing your sanity. Clearly they have no clue what they are doing there. Luckily my neighbour let me use his internet during this time.

I plan to never ever move house or change my internet provider in the hope that I never have to go through this all again...

Law / Starting a Business In Poland - what should I know? [28]

Thanks, appreciate it. Actually I have just started recording a series of podcasts and am looking for victims to interview.

If you or anyone else is interested please PM me.

The idea is to interview a range of expats living in Poland to give people a feel for what life is like here, advice etc.. Its in the form of a skype/phone call which I record and then edit.

Law / Buying, Registering, Insuring a NEW Car in PL is a NIGHTMARE [22]

When I registered my (second-hand) vehicle I needed my zameldowanie and because I still didn't have my karta pobytu (at the time) they stamped in my registration booklet that my vehicle registration finished when my 3 month zameldowanie finished. Each time I repeated my 3 month zameldowanie (as my karta pobytu took ages) I had to go back and get my vehicle registration booklet updated.

One gotcha is that from the moment you are the legal registered owner of the vehicle you must have insurance that same day. It is illegal to own a vehicle and not have insurance, even if the car is not on the road. But insurance should be easy to buy - there are brokers in every town centre and I found the cheapest was actually at the post office.

Travel / Walks up the Beskids mountains [44]

Hi SeanBM

Just noticed this post - I actually live right next to the Beskids but haven't quite got around to having a look at them yet. What tracks did you do?

Law / Starting a Business In Poland - what should I know? [28]

I have a UK private limited company and I recently opened a działalność jako osoba fizyczna and so far my experiences mirror what ukpolska is saying.

It has been not particularly difficult and I have found that (maybe because I am a foreigner) the people in the Urząd Skarbowy and the ZUS people have made a real effort to help me and explain what to do.

UK, Ireland / How long before a newly arrived Pole can buy something on credit ? [24]


probably your neighbours rang up the DVLA or council to complain. I would be interested to know what happens if you ignore these letters etc.. because I don't see how they can prove how long the car has been in the UK.


but you don't have car tax in Poland. You guys only display the registration sticker here. Plus why would you pay UK car tax on a Polish registered vehicle? Not sure I have understood what you mean...?

UK, Ireland / How long before a newly arrived Pole can buy something on credit ? [24]


I did it the other way around as I moved from the UK to Poland. I asked for proof of my No Claims Discount and was going to send it in to my Polish insurer who had asked for it. In the end I didn't bother because there was some confusion about whether they needed it translated into Polish or not and car insurance is so cheap in Poland (I am paying £60 for a year 3rd party only) I just didn't bother.

UK, Ireland / How long before a newly arrived Pole can buy something on credit ? [24]

Yes. Even though under the EU insurance harmonisation rules they are not supposed to penalise you if you have an EU licence and not a UK one.

Law / Temporary health insurance for residency requirements [11]

thanks

Law / Temporary health insurance for residency requirements [11]

I'd like to know about that too please.

Cheers.

Genealogy / Last name Natkaniec [14]

To be honest with you this will be very difficult unless you speak Polish and go to these places in person...

If I were you I would get a Polish speaker to call the USC and maybe the archive as a start.

Genealogy / Last name Natkaniec [14]


I am not sure that that is the case at the state archives. From what I understand from the Krakow Archive website you can get this info by just filling out a form if it's for genealogical purposes.

archiwum.krakow.pl/menueng.php

I could be wrong though, and it could well be you are right for the USC too.

Genealogy / Last name Natkaniec [14]

I guess you would have to contact the Urząd Stanu Civilnego (office of civil affairs) in the town where he was born. Possibly and/or the state archive in Krakow.

Work / Best place to advertise for Polish IT workers [7]

oh OK. When I was in IT in london the one and only site was jobserve.com, that was the site everybody used to use.

Work / Best place to advertise for Polish IT workers [7]

Thanks for the ideas.

Is Reed not an agency? I would prefer to avoid using an agency and save myself the cost.

Meanwhile I have found jobs4it.pl which seems to be what I am after so will probably give them a go.

Thanks.

Work / NIP number - can I get this before I am employed? [13]

I don't see the problem. You go to the Urząd Skarbowy. You fill out form NIP-4. You wait one week. You get your number in the post.

At that time I had no pesel, no karta pobytu, no job and only a 3mth zameldowanie.

What problems did you have? Did they not send you the number?

Life / Applying for EU passport... [51]

I have to do it the other way around as I am already living in Poland - get my Polish birth certificate first and then do the application. Am still trying to get all my documents, translations and apostiles together for it....

Work / How hard/easy is to find a job in PL for a non-EU with european MSc.? [6]

Let me know when you come over. I would be interested in hiring you. PM me if you're interested.