Law / Does anyone have experience of getting a karta pobytu from Krakow? [13]

Thanks for the info. I just found [mazowsze.uw.gov.pl/news.php?id=8934] this link that from my understanding means I need: the form filled out (they have the link), photocopies like you say of my passport, photocopies of my local temporary registration.

When the weather warms up a bit I'll get myself up to Krakow and have a go.

Thanks a lot for the info.

Ben

News / John Cleese in polish advertise [30]

Actually if anyone here has TVN Lingua channel (on N telewizja is ch. 46) they are re-running the Fawlty Towers series at the moment.

Love / Starosta & Staroscina - Polish wedding tradition [10]

My Polish wife (who has a master's degree in Polish and specialised in tradition and folklore) seems to think what your girlfriend is telling you is a load of rubbish.

The Starosta is someone chosen by the Groom to help make sure the hospitality side of the wedding runs OK, his chief job is to keep the vodka flowing. It is often the Best Man but doesn't need to be.

The Staroscina is chosen by the Bride. Again this is often the chief bridesmaid but doesn't need to be. Her role isn't so important but similarly is there to help with the entertainment. It's true that she's the 'partner' of the Starosta, but her duties are typically to dance with him a bit, go for photos with him and the newly-weds and generally entertain the guests.

The only time we can think of when she should kiss the Starosta is during some traditional games or dances, or when the Starosta and Groom arrive at the venue at the start. At no time would lip-kissing be expected, a peck on the cheek would suffice.

Life / Currency format, date format, time format in Poland [5]

if you are talking about the decimal point they use the comma - e.g. 2,5 for 2 and a half.

Love / Starosta & Staroscina - Polish wedding tradition [10]

that's true, Polish weddings can get a bit rowdy! But even so no-one would have made her do anything she didn't want to do.

But Magdalena has a brilliant idea there about the wedding DVD.

Law / Do EU members need RESIDENCE CARD IN POLAND [29]

My experience of local registration is here: zameldowanie search.

I know that lots of people don't bother registering though - effectively they are here just as 'tourists'. Technically illegal but I don't see how anyone can prove they have been here longer than 3 months.

Because I haven't had the chance to go to Krakow and get my karta pobytu yet I just keep re-registering locally every 3 months. I asked about getting a karta pobytu on this forum just the other day in fact: karta pobytu in krakow

Love / Starosta & Staroscina - Polish wedding tradition [10]

Sometimes I think I live in la-la land, this is certainly a crazy country and Polish weddings are famous.

Yes you can be put in awkward situations, I have been in some myself at drunken Polish functions. But you can always laugh/drink/joke your way out of something if you want to.

I think the original point is was she forced to kiss some guy for a prolonged period - I am personally sceptical but of course that's just my opinion. I think your comment about asking for the video is the best way to resolve the OP's concern.

Love / Starosta & Staroscina - Polish wedding tradition [10]

I'm afraid I disagree with you there. I don't know about you, but speaking for myself if I was put in that situation there is no way I would do something like that knowing the reaction I could/would expect from my wife. Of course you could duck out of it. It's a bunch of drunken guests not the gestapo or the spanish inqusition.

Yes I agree with you though about her mentioning this fact to start with. Of course there could be many reasons for that but if I start going into that too then we'll never finish this thread ... :-)

UK, Ireland / Question for Polish people working in UK? [15]

Hi Michal

I am curious - what do you see as wrong with the EU expansion?

My view is that the Poles go where the work is, if loads of them have gone to the UK then obviously there is/was a demand there for workers and that helps the British economy at the end of the day. Also all these people living there are paying rent, consuming beer and spending money, again helping the economy.

I personally am glad the EU has expanded. This makes trade between EU countries easier - again this benefits Britain. As a Brit myself it has also made life a lot easier for me to 'go the other way' and emigrate to Poland.

Australia / Can Polish Citizens work / travel in Australia? [9]

British passport holders such as you also need a visa to work in Oz. You don't mention which visa you have got or are going to get...

If you are going on an Australian Working Holiday Visa that allows you to be in Oz for 12 months and do temporary work then no, Poles are not entitled to that visa.

Law / Does anyone have experience of getting a karta pobytu from Krakow? [13]

well today I went to Kraków and applied for my karta pobytu. What a joke this system is. I have blogged about it here in case anyone else has to do the same in Krakow again.

[british-in-poland.blogspot.com/2008/03/5-year-registration-karta-pobytu.html] - Polish residence card - karta pobytu from Krakow

Work / I'm moving to poland; I got sick of the London lifestyle. Find work? [27]

Hi

I did exactly the same as you 2 years ago - tired of London so moved my stuff (4 van trips) to Poland where we now have a house.

I reckon each van trip cost about £300 in fuel and ferry tickets. Cheaper than a UK removal company and doing it myself meant nothing got lost or broken. I didn't know any Polish people who were able to help but that could be another good option.

I tried to register a right hand drive van in Poland and you can't - it's not allowed because you won't pass the technical inspection. But you can drive your UK car over here if you keep your UK plates. See here: [british-in-poland.blogspot.com/2008/02/english-cars-in-poland.html] - English cars in Poland.

As has already been said, the only way is to convert the vehicle to LHD, but that is so expensive (new dashboard and other parts... not to mention the labour) that it's just not worth it.

Selling your car here will be difficult - again, who wants to buy a car they can't register? Either buy a crap van before you come (which is what I did) and scrap it when you are done with it, or plan to drive back to the UK one last time to sell it.

I have blogged all about this, driving in Poland, importing UK motorbikes, registration etc.. on my blog if you are interested - british-in-poland.blogspot.com.

Sorry I can't comment about getting work here because I haven't tried and don't have any experience of that.

Good luck with everything though!


I think another reason used cars are more expensive is simply because of supply and demand - quite simply more people in Poland want to buy old cars and therefore they hold their value better.

As a result of this it becomes profitable to buy used cars from France/Germany/Italy and import them - especially damaged cars which Poles can then repair.

You will see lots of Polish cars towing trailers back from France or Germany with crashed wrecks on the back - anyone been on the E40 motorway lately?

I have a cousin who makes money on the side by buying motorbikes in the UK and cars in Germany, bringing them here to Poland and selling them on.

Work / I'm moving to poland; I got sick of the London lifestyle. Find work? [27]


It's the same system - importing any vehicle you need to pay VAT at the urząd skarbowy. If you owned the vehicle abroad and used it there when you were living there then you don't pay tax as long as you write a declaration that that was the case (just a flat fee of 160 złoty).

If you just bought the car abroad and didn't live/use it there then you will need the receipt from when you bought it. I don't know what the tax rate is though.

There is a thread (in German though) in detail about bringing cars from Germany here:

polenimpott.de/polen-forum-viewtopic_2427-13.html
polenimpott.de/polen-forum-viewtopic_2427-13.html

Hope that helps.

Work / I'm moving to poland; I got sick of the London lifestyle. Find work? [27]

you could keep the car in Germany but in Germany they also have the system where you have to be registered to an address (anmeldung). Like in Poland, to register the car you need to show them your residence registration. I guess it could work if you have a property there or family there or had a trusted friend...

If you are going to go back and forth in the UK for MOT's then you don't necessarily even need a left hooker, although I guess it makes sense to get one if you find one.

Regarding insurance - I presume you are talking about fully comp? Because you could just get 3rd party only insurance with any company and it will be valid across the entire EU.

Work / I'm moving to poland; I got sick of the London lifestyle. Find work? [27]

Yes - exactly. Sorry when I meant "want to buy old cars" I really meant more that they don't have as much money for newer cars like other countries...

Language / Confusion about genitive plural [30]

Thanks for the quick answers.


Yeah I guess that sums it up - nothing is regular or predicatable in Polish (at least that's how it seems).

Thanks again.

Life / Moving to Poland next year, want to bring my Nissan Skyline [46]

No you can't register a RHD car in Poland. The only workaround I can think of is to register it in another EU country where you are allowed to register RHD vehicles (such as the UK where we drive on the left anyway, or possibly France where they drive on the right but I believe allow RHDs to be registered). You would then have to return there annually to keep the documents up to date (e.g. technical inspection).

That would be a lot of hassle and expense though as other people have already said....

Life / Moving to Poland next year, want to bring my Nissan Skyline [46]


No. You can't register it period. I know because I tried to do it myself with my RHD van from England. I have blogged about it here.

If you know someone who has registered a RHD vehicle in Poland in the last 3 years then get them to post on here how they did it because under the current rules it's not possible.

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

do you care about fully comp insurance or fire and theft? If not then your UK insurer already covers you for the legally required minimum of 3rd party only. All insurance bought in the EU is valid for the legal minimum in all other EU countries.

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

Yeah I wasn't prepared to keep driving back for the MOT so I sold my UK vehicle and bought a Polish one.
Interesting point about the tax. I guess if you don't pay you will get the instant fine, and if you declare the vehicle off-road you would get in trouble when you come off the ferry.

But if you can send me the details I will put them on my blog as i have lots of articles about this sort of stuff.

Cheers.

UK, Ireland / Maddogs and Englishmen. [18]


Probably a few like that, I know there are a lot of us teaching English over here, but there is also another group of people (such as myself) who are self-employed or who have started businesses here with a view to taking advantage of the growing economy. I hope I don't therefore fall in to the category of no real ambition and no prospect of an increase in income!

Life / When to greet strangers in Poland or not.. [30]


Maybe my point wasn't clear - what I am getting at is how comes Poles say hello to each other specifically (and bizarrely to me) at the doctors, but apparently nowhere else.

Life / When to greet strangers in Poland or not.. [30]


Ha ha. Well spotted. It's because my Grandfather was Polish. He came to London after WW2. Like my parents though I was born and raised in the UK. I have just found out that this means apparently I am 'Polish' too.

Language / misleading differences between Polish and English languages [92]


I would take offence too and I am from London. I think that calling someone a cock when not intended as an insult is probably very regional to where you are from. I have heard of it before though - is that from Lancashire? (Or whereever Coronation Street is set anyway...)

Study / Polish Language School Scams? Clarity Required! [28]


There is some info on this website about it:

British Embassy - employment

britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1175584237202

It says "Subject to certain conditions, the remuneration of a visiting professor, teacher or researcher will not be taxed in the country visited for a period not exceeding two years".

There is a link there to more detail about it but I was too lazy to read it...

Life / How will I be treated in Poland by Polish people? I'm an English person. [26]

I've lived in southern Poland for about 18 months now and have not had anything but good experiences from people.

It can get a bit tiring hearing the same response when they realise you're English though - either they are really keen to know what made you want to come to Poland and you have to explain that the UK really isn't paved with gold and that higher wages means higher costs of living, or if they are middle-aged women they end up twisting your ear for 10 minutes telling you all about their son/daughter in Ireland and what he/she's been doing there for the last 3 years....

Having said that I haven't lived in/near any big cities, so maybe an Englishmen here is more of a novelty.

Language / misleading differences between Polish and English languages [92]

When my Mum came over from the UK to visit recently she was in a shop and said "super duper" whilst looking at some of the products, meaning "very good" or "great".

I explained to her that "super dupa" means something a little different in Polish....