Law / I have overstayed my visa and been banned from Poland. Is leaving Schengen zone and coming back a solution? [10]


Not as easy as that Harry. From my colleague's experience and what I found out the UK ,while not being a Schengen member, share such information and vice-versa with Schengen states.

He has visa free entry to the UK but upon arrival and noticing his schengen visa- UKBA will almost certainly check if he has any overstays.

6 months is a very light penalty indeed! Going back to Ozi and coming back might be expensive for him.
If he was in a long term relationship and his girl would support him then the application for leniency would be a good shot.
It would also mean a lot of paperwork. Other than that, if he can't come up with a good plan, it's not a good idea to overstay.

He just has to admit that he got off with a light penalty and if he makes it worse he could be banned for 10years.

Life / Emigrate / Immigrate to Poland? I don't need to work. [33]


You sound like a very cautious person but I don't think you are likely to get good answers from here.
Judging by the replies ,so far, you should ask yourself what the average age of members on this forum is.
At 49- I guess it's something you've thoroughly thought through.
There are many sides to Polish reality and most of it is very difficult to grasp.
Living here alone will take you a long time, that is if you don't throw in the towel sooner, to really understand life and live

as a local. If you have family connections and work hard on your language skills you stand a very good chance.
My mate is 61 this year and is thinking of retiring here but letting out his house in Cheltenham
and see if he can adjust to life in Polska. He is been coming here for the past 15years and admits that
it will be hard for him even though he would like to retire here. Among other things he worries about are:
Healthcare and living next to neighbours who sometimes burn tyres to heat their house.
Coming down here, to see if you can make it, for a couple of years before you permanently settle-
sounds like a very good idea indeed.
Good luck!

Law / If I gain Citizenship of Poland, does this mean I lose my French Citizenship? [18]


Far from the truth. Theoretically everything sounds easy with EU laws realistically, especially in Poland, there is
still a long way to go. Six years ago I was told by a bank worker in PKO Bank that I couldn't open an account

because I didn't have a permanent residence card for E.U citizens.
Had I not gone to another city, where the workers at least understood the E.U laws, I wouldn't have opened a bank account.

Then when it comes to buying land or property, by the time they try to interpret the E.U laws in the responsible government offices

you would have given up already. Simply because it is a nightmare.
When it comes to land, property and taxes there is an advantage of having Polish Citizenship if you reside here permanently.
The right to live and work are the only E.U laws that seem to be clearly understood in all the E.U countries.
As for the rest - the responsible officials couldn't be bothered. But the problem of interpreting E.U laws is not only confined to Poland

almost every E.U country has the same problem.

Study / Opinion required on teaching standards of Polands technology universities [11]


Your post is by far the best I have seen on this forum regarding this issue.
I am even suprised you didn't get any stick from the lot that would normally jump at such an opportunity.
To the OP your chances are better if you enrol at a Uni in the UK if you can't go to the States.
There are some really good Tech Unis in India which collaborate with many well known Unis in the world.
I wonder why you would choose to study for a Bachelor's in Poland, if after that you are planning to study for a Master's in the States.

A good example I like to give is about websites in Poland,they can be institutions, government departments or even private companies, most of them show

multilingual options but when you choose any of the other languages you find out that the info there is far less than what you have in Polish.

Same applies as the courses offered in English at most Universities- speak to the students there and you will here a lot of discrepancies!
Always remember that tertiary education is not about quantity but quality.

Law / Any advantage to citizenship of Poland if already have EU residency? [20]


It certainly will. A Polish couple in my area waited for more than 2 years to finally take their little one home.
Adoption laws in Poland are some of the strictest in the world.
If you are a foreigner then it's even more complicated.
By the time you get to the eligibility process and background checks, considering that you have been quite normadic, you will most certainly give up.

The amount of paperwork is staggering to say the least.
You must provide both original and translated copies for all the documents required.
Dealing with Polish Government Departments while abroad is a nightmare and should be avoided.
In your case a very good lawyer would come in handy.
It is achievable but you will need to do a lot of research.
Good luck!

Law / Polish divorce - there is next to no help available from the law! [11]

I am going to jump in on this one.
To the O.P I just want to say : I feel you man, hang in there!
Divorce in a foreign country is a very traumatic experience.
However, here is my two cents on this based on my experience living in this country.
First of all guys, before you get married to anyone of a different nationality it is always good to do a thorough
research on eventualities no matter how crazy it may seem. It is second nature that families in Poland will stick to their own
in a divorce situation- in other words this is when their true colours will show!
When you get married for the right reasons it is always good that both partners speak each other's language.
If your common language is English then the other half will have to learn Polish.
After marriage it is advisable that both parties should adopt each other's nationalities no matter how cumbersome it might turn out to be.
Then do the same for the children after they are born it's easier and much better when they have both your nationalities.
Then if it ends up in divorce there is no partner who is going to feel like he or she has the upper hand.

Work / Does any one know how much film editors make in Poland? [7]

It is good to note that when you are outside Poland that kind of information is hard to get.
mandy.com does not provide such information about the film industry in Poland- it's mainly for the UK industry.
If they do, I can assure you that is is not accurate. They can only provide a few names of production companies.
It worth to note that the film industry in this country is not that big at all. Even here in Poland that information is quite difficult to get.

A colleague told me that CGI is done mainly by the established production companies who actually employ people to do that.
These people are employees and mostly earn peanuts compared to other countries.
He mentioned that the ones who earn a decent salary are the senior ones or the ones who are established freelancers.
He also mentioned that freelancing doesn't pay much for starters as it is quite difficult to establish yourself and to get regular work.

Law / Ways of getting Permanent residency in Poland [101]


Perhaps you would care to read this from your province:
poznan.uw.gov.pl/nadanie-obywatelstwa-polskiego


I can second that. A colleague from Argentina recently got his: no family connections whatsoever had been living and working in the country for more than 6years.

Told me the only problem he faced was the application going through the Ministry of Internal Affairs before it got to the President's office- he had worked in Luxembourg before so they wanted to know

if he owed the Luxembourg revenue office any money or if he was wanted by the courts.
Going through the President's office is just a formality, from what he told me, and it took almost 8 weeks for the decision to be passed.

News / What is wrong with Poland that Poles emigrate? [167]

The way I read this topic, despite how sensitive it is on this forum, is that maybe the O.P wants an explanation
from Polish people as to how bad it really is: the reason why they are emigrating to the UK in droves.
It is purely economics: cost of living getting higher while the wages are not improving.
This is what being a member of the E.U ,as a relatively poor European country, brings in Europe as a whole.
It's not only Poland. I have been lucky enough to have travelled and spoken to ordinary people in all the A8 countries.
The story that resonates everywhere you go is that of poor wages.
Governments are not worried about improving the standards of living for their citizens.
In a way they actually like the fact that young educated people are leaving to go and work abroad in manual jobs
because most of them send money back home. The last time I checked it was almost £1bn every year.
And believe me that money, judging by the number of houses being built every year, goes a long way here in Poland.
If the difference in wages was not like minimum wage in Poland £300 (but living expenses very high) and UK almost £1000
then most people would not think of leaving.
Ask the South Koreans and Hong Kongers- they also have huge problems in trying to control economic migrants coming from other
Asian countries.

Food / PIZZA & KETCHUP served only in Poland? [159]

It has puzzled me ever since I have been here.
That together with the big burgers that are filled with grated cabbage.
Considering that most of the popular ketchup brands in the country contain little to no real tomato puree in them-
this says a lot about the quality of food in Poland. With pizzeria's and most restaurants it is right to say that if you don't know much about them, cosidering the

rampant use of substandard ingredients, just walk away.

Law / To get Temporary Residence in Poland is very difficult even though I'm married to a Polish citizen!! [11]


Sounds very strange and I bet you in another Province they will not bother you with all that.
You and your husband need to explain to them that in the country where he got divorced they retain the original marriage certificate.
It sounds almost absurd that they demand a document that has been annulled.
A divorce certificate is the only document that proves a person having been married in the past.
They will ask for originals because it's too expensive for them to verify foreign documents.
It is also possible to apply with a written document giving reason why you can not produce the original documents.
The onus is on your husband- he has to make things happen!
If you are in this together for genuine reasons you will need guts made out of steel.
All the best to you.

Life / Is this a common way to be treated as a guest in Poland? [8]

Looking at the time the OP wrote this post- no wonder it's not the shortest!
Maybe you could tell us what you expected from this particular visit.
It's certainly not normal to be treated in such a way but if you wanted some quality time with the girl alone,
you could have at least proposed to go to some interesting place together.
As to how 18 year old girls behave, I have no idea but I'm sure there will be some people on here young enough to

explain if that's a normal behaviour or not..

Work / 3500 PLN gross - not happy with my salary (working in Warsaw for an international company) [55]


A Dutch colleague was discussing a similar situation with us. The guy has all the qualifications plus 3 years working experience in call centres doing troubleshooting. He was offered 4000zl to start with and when the permanent contract came( which is said to be a rarity these days) it came to a staggering 4700zl.

He decided to consider other options and ,as far as I know, his love affair with Poland has come to an end.
This might just be international companies taking advantage of the fact that when they move here, as a cheaper location, they should get everything cheaper- including the labour as well!

Life / Immigration in Poland and being surrounded by a monoculture? [134]


m2s
To the OP: why did you and many million educated young Poles decide to leave Poland??
You may find that the answer lies in your reasons to leave Poland.
Monoculture, as i understand it here on this forum, means either people of mixed race or non caucasian.
As long as people are allowed to live in countries they choose to- there will always be "monoculture"
As for economic refugees flooding Poland- I'm sure you know very well, wherever u're in the world right now, that it will not happen.

Poland is a country that has benefited from emigration and there will never be more coming in than there are going out.
One good statistic is that the government of Poland does not even know how many of its citizens live in Chicago and the UK in total.

They can only give an estimation. But judging by the fact that almost every street in Poland has a person or people that have left for Chicago, Germany or UK- there

are many families that have been split up by economic migration.

Life / Poland's Environment, recycling [79]

When i started living here i was happy that there were garbage containers for plastic, glass and cans.
The one for glass was made out of fibre glass and the ones for plastic and cans were made out of wire.
It didn't take long before all the other containers were removed by the municipality, citing that the transportation costs were
higher than what they got for recycling, so it was back to land filling again.
Most of the changes that are forced by EU regulations are far beyond the realities of everyday life here in Poland.
In the end the government is forced to punish people, who are struggling on meagre wages, by increasing the taxes.
Very sad story. In a way i feel like change in this country, which is meant to close the gap between poor EU countries and rich EU countries,

is coming faster than what ordinary people can manage.

Travel / Names and checking - a question for regular Ryanair passengers. [8]

Thanks a lot Ziutek, you've saved my friends €280!
I have no clue how budget airlines operate. On the other hand, is it really legal to charge passengers, who don't have boarding passes but have

valid ID or passports on them, surchages at the airport?

Law / Karta Pobytu - Residence Card - Problem with address [13]

In this case Warszawette u're spot on. Most landlords who hide their rental earnings in order to evade taxes will not sign zameldowanie for their tenants.

In most cases landlords will eventually get rid of such tenants coz of the suspicion it might raise. Most landlords in Poland don't like tenants who ask too

many official documents.This has got nothing to do with whether u're a foreigner or not -it is the harsh reality in Poland!
In other cases they prefer the 2 lease agreement system: one official and one not official.
So, to BlockeeR your days in that flat are already numbered. If you keep on asking him to sign the zameldowanie he is going to ask you to leave.

Sad but true!!
You could try signing a lease agreement with a real estate agent or landlords who have registered companies.
Most of them will require a huge deposit and other fees before you can sign the minimum lease agreement which, in most cases, is 2 years.

UK, Ireland / Calling a friend from UK to Poland. Cheap option? [13]


Had the same problem a while ago and called their call centre. Their explanation was that the problem was with the network in Poland.
Then there are other dirty tricks done by some networks when u're calling to another EU country.
They are supposed to charge a certain amount which was imposed by the EU Commission( Mrs Viviane Reding) for roaming within the 27 member nations: 0,29 Euro pm calling,

0,08 Euro receiving and 0,09 Euro for texts as of July 2012 and further reductions to be done yearly.
This actually turns out to be much cheaper than making a local call or sending a local text for example: T-Mobile pay as you go charges 0,62zł to send a text to the UK but if you're roaming in the UK and send a text to Poland you only pay 0,52zł.

The Networks will explore all the loop holes to recover what they feel is a loss in the EU roaming charges.


This is how they afford to offer you cheap international calls. What they do is direct the call to their Polish land line number and the call comes to you from that number

hence the person calling is charged equivalent to a local call in Poland. One of the tricks brought about by cheap international call providers but still quite controversial

and some Mobile Network providers will block such if it comes up in their networks.

Law / Paperwork needed in Marriage in Poland!! [13]


For sure it is not but the time frame he is talking about might not be ideal for him.
In Warsaw you'll need to find an office that is not very busy.
September is quite a busy month for civil marriages but your partner can ask around to find an earlier date.
If she finds someone understanding I'm sure you can get married during your 2 week holiday.
All the best.

Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

Might as well include RTV EURO AGD, NEONETand MEDIA EXPERT to that list.
In my neighbourhood i was strongly adviced to avoid them and i'm glad i heeded the advice.


I have always wondered: aren't they just like the rest?
Would love to hear from those that have had their cases resolved by them.


How effective is e-sąd?

Law / how does the legal system work in poland? [25]

Whistle-blowing is quite common then on the other hand being summoned up in court as a witness is something that is well and truly dreaded.

Life / Ideas for constructive Immigration methods for Poland. [30]

What i have learned about such sensitive topics is this: If u read too much about what they say in a media that has certain interests or against certain things they can always deceive u into believing their ideas. Some of us would give Japan as a good example of a country that has managed immigration well but if u have lived there u will realise that it is far from the truth. I wouldn't blame people who read about such things in a media that wants u to believe in that. Having lived in Tokyo also as an immigrant or expat, whatever you wanna call it, i saw a country struggling with such issues just like any other. There are many illegals from other Asian countries like The Philippines and Thailand living in Japan.

As to what is good for Poland: unfortunately they might just have to do with anything that comes here just to have people working for the pensioners.

Most young people have left and are still leaving for other countries and it has helped Poland very well. Just go to the airports and shopping malls towards Christmas or look at the new houses being built around your neighbourhood u will see what i am talking about.

Law / Best inexpensive new car? [23]


Voila! And u have yourself another sales pitch. Just wonder what else they will come up with.

Law / Best inexpensive new car? [23]


Never been the gullible type but what does the small print say about this 7 year warranty on these Kia cars?

Law / Turkish citizen. Civil marriage in Poland - Urgent [25]

Here is what happened last year to someone i know.
They got married in a small town: population about 40 000 people.
He had his letter of no impediment but the birthcertificate wasn't the full version: the one with his mother's maiden name.
So, when the birthcertificate finally came through, his letter of no impediment was about to expire in 2 weeks time and the guy in the USC

office married them a week before it expired.
I want to emphasize ,however, that he was the understanding type and it doesn't normally happen like this.
The minimum period, as far as i know, is one month. It's almost certain that they will give u a date that is one month from the day u register.

The registry part requires both parties to be there that's how they interpret the requirement.
As for documents in a foreign language: they require them to be translated by a person who is certified to translate from that original language into Polish.

Good luck to you.