Double Polish-American citizenship?

So what's up with this double-citizenship of Poles? You can have both American and Polish citizenship at the same time, right?

What do you need two citizenships for? Are you ashamed to be a Pole?

I think Poles are privilidged to be able to have more than one citizenship. Think about it this way: you go on vacation to India, you show your American passport (since Indians love America :); when you go to Europe, you are a Polish citizen. It works for me!

Yes, you can have both - American and Polish citizenship. But in Poland you are treated as a Pole on the basis of the Polish law.

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polish citizenship - DO NOT SPAM

just as everyone else. you don't have to be a citizen to have that 'privilage'


actually, i am pretty sure that it's illegal to have double citizenships in the usa unless of course you are an israeli. nowadays the double citizenship is not enforced much.

Yes, you can have both citizenship. But..
When here in USA the gavernment does not care about your Polish citizenship. You are american for them.
The same in Poland. You are Pole for them.
Everywhere else it's up to you what you want to be. The only advice is that US ambassy is muuuuuccchhh beter than th Polish one. Everywhere.

No that's not true. It's been raised a few times on this forum I think if you do a search.

You can have both Polish & US citizenship. The only caveat is that, while you are in the US you are under US laws regarding say extradition, then while in Poland (or travelling on a PL passport) extradition laws would apply based on those in Poland.


I agree 100%. The PL emabassy in the US is horrible, slow, gives out inaccurate info.

janek, ben, krak,

it's not really legal to have dual citizenship, per se, but the law is somewhat iffy on this and the state department sure could stick it to one if they felt like it. overall it is allowed though:

travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html
richw.org/dualcit/faq.html#noway
richw.org/dualcit/policies.html#infodual

google

well I read your links and it doesn't say that it's illegal either. My understanding is that it used to be illegal and most of those rules were thrown out by the supreme court. It seems that US policy is that dual nationality is not recommended but is permitted.

In the first you link you gave it reads as though you only have the potential to lose US citizenship if you had intent on losing it when asked.

or moved to another land (where one holds the alternate citizenship) and took up residence.

yeah, it's vague for sure and thus something potentially bad for those holding multiple citizenships. the state dept. could still give one trouble and even though high court has struck down some cases, one would have to have a load of money to be able to uphold one's rights against negative proceedings from the state dept.

be aware of possibilities, that's all.

I was born and raised in chicago, but when my father passed he left his land to my brother and me. In poland they told me that for me to do anything on that land i need proof of citizenship, well my father was born in poland and i was born in USA.

They told me i need to get a Polish citizenship. I have done all the paper work and crap they wanted, sent everything off and they wont even give me a call back when i call wanting to know when i will get my documentation.

By being born to a Polish citizen, you autmatically have polish citzenship. What type of paperwork did you file? Did you submit it at the PL consulate in downtown Chicago?

Wait time for a PL passport (given all papers were submitted correctly, correct style photo & fees) takes from 6mo -1 yr.

You can call Warsaw to ask them to check on your file. Best to call in early am hours (Warsaw time that is).

If your father had a home, that could be transfered without PL citizenship. If he had just land, you need a pesel # (similar to our US social security #) to complete the transfer.

Both my parents were born in Poland, while both my brothers and i were born in the US.
I know that there is a way for us to get dual citizenship, but I don't know how. Does anyone know the procedures? Where do I get the paperwork for it? From the Embassy?

Also what types of documentation do we need to provide from our parents?
I know that this is a long process, and I think we need to file one at a time, rather then all at the same time. And since I'm the youngest (so will probably be the last one to file) I want to get things moving for my brothers.

Any help would be great!
Thanks!

US law allowed for a double citizenship (polish-american). It is impossible in Poland, where you can have only one citizenshp : polish or american. If you was born in US you have an american citizenship. In Poland a Polish citizenship you can have by naturalization. You can ask in Polish Embassy or in polish consulate.

Of course you can have dual citizenship in Poland - all this means is that when in Poland you get treated exactly like a Pole would: you can't appeal to your US/British/whatever Embassy for help if you get into trouble.


You need originals of your parents' birth certificates, you need to get your own birth registered in Poland and a copy of your Polish birth certificate, you need to get your Polish citizenship confirmed by Warsaw and then you need to fill in the form, pay the money, submit the photos and you should get a passport. Your nearest consulate will be able to steer you through it and it takes months (around 12 in my case).