Working versus Studying in Poland

I am American and I'm in the military living in Germany at the moment, but will be getting out next September and want more than anything to settle down with my girlfriend in Wrocław. I have a lot of credits from attending American universities but I haven't finished. My job in the military is working as a computer networking technician, and while I have some experience, I don't have any certifications. My ultimate goal is to be able to settle down permanently in Poland. I am looking for some advice on how to best start this process, should I apply for a visa to work in Poland and try to get a job, or should I try to finish my schooling and apply for a student visa and try to go to a university there before searching for employment? As of right now my Polish is not so great but I am studying very intensively and hopefully by the time I want to move there I should be close to fluent or at the very least good enough to get a job. Also, I don't even really care about the type of job I get initially, I just want a "foothold" first and then later I can look for something better. Any advice?

If you marry her then that's not a problem. Without that you need some permission but that's not impossible to get. University... honestly I doubt that any here will recognize that and let you get degree here faster. Job ? There always... teaching English.

Yes I know that getting married will solve the staying in the country problem but it won't help any if I can't get a job. It does seem like teaching English is something a lot of people opt for as a job. Is it because there is such a demand for it or because they can't get anything else?

Grzegorz is right, most Universities in Poland will not recognize any partial college work you have completed in the United States. I had a semesters worth of credits from the University of North Carolina, and when I got accepted in Warsaw University they told me those credits are worth nothing.

For starters, you should most certainly make the language a priority. Also, I would assume that if you where to gain some sort of certification, or perhaps an Associates Degree, some of the larger schools would be more apt to take your previous schooling into consideration. Warsaw University, for example, offers undergraduate work such as a BA program (in english) for Philosophy, as well as a Masters program for Psychology. These are organized in the way they are for US schools, so they would be more compatable with your previous US schooling.

They also offer many Graduate programs in english for MA, so if you where to get a BA in the US you may be able to continue on to your MA in Poland. I would suggest calling several of the larger schools and simply asking.

Thanks for the advice. Actually I do have an associates degree in information technology/computer telecommunications, whatever you want to call it. I don't know if any of this would apply to another degree or not. To be quite frank I wouldn't even really care about having to start over in school. My main concern is being able to stay in Poland and having some source of income to support me.