Life / I'm English, but I really like some Polish names. Can I use them for my baby girl? [25]

I image that the village will rise up against you and your other half and following a hilarious chase through the town's land (involving pitchforks and oil lamps and the odd blood-thirsty hound) they may very well lynch you and your fair lady from the oldest oak tree in said town's land unless you and her retract the offensive name from the town's birth register.

Or in reality......no, nobody will care........except the grandparents.......grandparents are always a wee bit annoyed when a new arrival isn't called after them ^_^

Then again, the kid might get bullied for having a weirdly-spelt version of Sophia for a name, but so what, it'll toughen her up for the eventuality of life being one crushing defeat followed by the next.........unless you live in a place that's pretty multi-culture'd then nobody will care coz there'll already be an abundance of mad names in school.


Like Beyonce and Chantelle :P

Or Nigel, Nigel's a lovely name...with a name like Nigel a kid living in Poland would have to grow up to become a professional UFC fighter......or a priest :(

Language / Thank you note/letter to a professor in Polish [14]

You're making it awful difficult on yourself mate, hand over a bottle of vodka and say 'dzieki'.

I know from my time being a teacher here, I never wanted thank you notes booze is far more appreciated..or chocolate. As much as your effort is commendable, she'll read the note and bin it as soon as you walk out the door.

Law / Bringing a brand new car from UK to Poland [22]


Good thinkin Batman :)

Law / Bringing a brand new car from UK to Poland [22]

One problem you'll have is trying to overtake trucks on the road coz you won't see oncoming traffic.

Poles drive very fast and Poland has the highest road deaths per population in the EU, thousands die every year mainly due to bad driving habits and drink driving. I've driven a fair amount all over Europe and by far the worst, most careless, non-law abiding drivers I've encountered are found here....no I've never driven in Russia before you point out they are worse.

Speed limits are seen as minimum-speed targets, stopping for pedestrians doesn't exist and a car's road-worthiness is a philosophy that doesn't compute for a huge amount of people.... a Polish equivalent of an 'MOT' annual stamp can be exchanged for a bottle of vodka.

A UK-reg car doesn't stick out here, many Poles living in the UK drive them home when they return for holidays/time off etc.

You're neighbours will just think you're a Pole that's returned to Gdansk.

I think you're nuts to drive here with a RHD (for not being able to see oncoming traffic while over taking) but your car (probably) won't be nicked or damaged. It won't necessarily be targeted just coz it has a yellow reg plate on the back. Then again, if you end up living in a rough kip overrun with Lechia Gdansk hooligans then yea, you and your motor could be. So choose where you're going to live carefully.

Another worry would be the warranty, if something goes wrong will the company you're leasing from cough up for services to be done here? Or would you have to transport it back to England yourself? Also a mechanic here, if he had to do some work would charge quite a bit extra for 2 reasons, a) you're a rich Westerner (in his eyes) so he can rip you off and b) parts for RHDs as you know aren't the same as ones for LHDs so they're going to cost more for him to get and install.

Couldn't a mate take over your car for the 6 months and you could split the charges?

Work / Two job offers in Poland, which one should I take? [12]

Tax rate depends on different things........are they hiring you as a consultant, i.e will you have to register as self-employed (tax rate is lower)

So for argument sake, let's say it's 20%
That's 3600 after tax is paid.
Minus your rent, leave you only 2200, that's pretty crap mate. I wouldn't bother coming to Poland for that.
Maybe lower your rent by trying to live with someone else?

The only good thing is that your CV in the future will say that you have foreign experience, but the money they are offering isn't good.

Re: Chinese lessons, you might get a few students, maybe a handful every week and that should pay for your groceries, best thing to do would be to put some ads up on websites and see if anyone is interested before you come. Check out if the university in Poznan offers a Chinese language course, you may get some of those students who could be interested in having more practice with a native-speaker.

Add them to: gumtree.pl, korkuj.pl and e-korepetycje.net/.

Best of luck making your decision :)

Work / Two job offers in Poland, which one should I take? [12]


That's really helpful............. no wonder this forum is deader than disco when posters are son friendly and welcoming to new members.

OP, go to Poznan, Lodz is a boring dump, Poznana at least looks pretty and has a bit of culture about it, Lodz is just an industrial hole.

Work / Is 6500PLN/month enough for 2 people from India to live on in Wroclaw? [40]

Yes you do ;)

6500 is a good salary for one person, but shared over 2 it's pretty bad, that's only 3250 each. That's pretty crap.
I was on far less when I moved here, but living was a struggle, if the OP wants to have a better standard of living then I strongly suggest that you sort out a work permit for your missus.

InW also gives some sound advice, some people will not want to rent to you coz you're a foreigner. Plus Poland is still pretty racist and isn't as open to non-whites as much as other Western and Central European countries. The streets aren't violent or anything like that but I've seen people make monkey noise at black people on the street.

The langauge barrier will be a big problem. Polish is an incredibly difficult language. You will be working so you may make some English speaking friends from work, but if your wife can't get a work permit, she's going to feel very isolated very quickly. And we all know mate, if your missus ain't happy then the sh!t hits the fan pretty quickly.


Minimum, especially if you're going to be travelling by car, or renting in the city centre or have any aspirations of saving some money and taking it back to India.

Food / Where can I buy California raisins, or natural raisins in Poland? [8]


Good jaysus! Is American chocolate that bad?

Work / Is 6500PLN/month enough for 2 people from India to live on in Wroclaw? [40]

You will struggle on that money for 2 people, you will have to live frugally and you probably won't get much enjoyment out of living just on the breadline.

Your partner needs to get a job that pays between 2500-3000 to lift up your living standard a bit.

Travel / Visiting Poland (Krakow), want advice on local customs and people [4]

Krakow is a tourist hub, almost everyone you'll come into contact with will speak English and even if you try to speak in broken Polish they're more likely to reply in English.

Train stations are safe, unless you run into some football hooligans......but they usually have Police escorts so you'll be fine.

The only violence I've ever seen in Krakow was British stag parties fighting amongst themselves, you'll be fine.

Life / Problems with receiving overseas SMS messages from my Heyah SIM card [9]

Polsyr
PKO

Life / Problems with receiving overseas SMS messages from my Heyah SIM card [9]

Polsyr
Naw, I've changed my number a few times with my bank (pre-pay, then personal bill phone, then to a work phone), did it all over the phone.

Life / Problems with receiving overseas SMS messages from my Heyah SIM card [9]

Why don't you just get your bank to text your new number?

News / New Polish gambling law - outlawing gambling except in casinos [34]

They don't.

Betfaq & Ladbrokes don't allow customers from Poland, but with a handy VPN I can use these exchanges. Betfair allows Polish customers though.
The problem may be that they don't allow you to deposit with a credit card that isn't from the UK.......but you can just use Skrill or Paypal and put in a made up UK address.

Law / Certificate of no impediment - Single Status - UK Getting Married in Poland [24]

Telling should be enough.
The address should be the address of the Church.........at least it was for me, best thing to do is ask the priest who is marrying you.

Food / Polish equivalent of Parmesan cheese? [6]

You can get Gran Padano in Lidl, it's a wee bit stronger though.

Love / Polish girls don't go for one night stands, is it true? [56]


You may have steak every day waiting for you at home, but everyone loves to indulge in an hamburger now and again ;)


No, the Irish and Scots and Manx are Gaelic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic

Law / Preferred online store for purchasing Electronics Item in Poland [22]

oleole.pl is good too, I think they are owned by RTV...but the stuff is a wee bit cheaper.

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]

Better to play is safe and get the document that the Depart of Foreign Affairs gives.

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]


AFAIK the Chuch will accept it....but as usual, it depends on the priest. Personally, since I live here, I had to go to Warsaw, fill out a document and get it signed by an representative of the ambassador.

Then I had to attend a 20 minute interview in my local Urząd office to confirm that we were not cousins, or adopted siblings, and of sound body and mind.....a strange 20 minutes.

I did some more digging re: Letter of Freedom...... Civil Letter of Freedom, Certificate de Coutume or a Nulla Osta....ok, so the first 2 are the same, they are civil documents saying you are not married, the Nulla Osta, that's what the priest gives you...however, as Harry points out, it's not technically a legal document, and it's only a document that is used in the Church.

However, when getting married in a Polish Catholic Church, then you are also 'state' married, so it should be enough.....however, it may not....if not then you need the 'Civil Letter of Freedom'

Ireland, under normal circumstances, does not issue such documents........why have a document to prove that someone isn't married? The precedence is to have a document that proves that someone is married :D

Anyway Slan, here's what you need to do:


from [citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/getting_married/getting_married_abroad.html].

So, you either call the embassy in Warsaw if you live here, or get in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs if you're living back in Ireland :)

Law / British man Marrying Polish Woman in POLAND [29]

First congrats.

Some of your documents have a 90 day time period on them, your confirmation, baptism certs should be dated from the day your priest gave them to you, if they aren't the Polish authorities will not accept them, they must be stamped/dated....and the date cannot be longer than 90 days before the wedding.

You will need to get them all, translated by a 'sworn translator' before sending them. Getting them translated by your Polish buddy/missus won't be good enough. Call a few translation services in Ireland and they'll be able to sort you out for a small fee, it needs to be a sworn translator because they must stamp it with the stamp they received when they finished their education.......or something like that....Polish bureaucracy loves things that are stamped! :D

The Church won't send them, you must send them, it's your wedding after all.

Photocopy every single thing and send them either by registered post or courier.
You should send everything approx 2months before the wedding.......but you may need to book the church up to a year in advance (depending if it's in a rural or urban area)

You also need a 'letter of freedom' from your local priest, it's a document that says you're not already married, this also must be dated no longer than 90 days before the wedding. If your priest is being a prat, you can also get it from your solicitor, I found this thread on a crappy forum that might help: mrs2be.ie/wedding-forum/wedding-discussion/topic5781.html but just search, 'where to get a letter of freedom' and you'll be grand.....

Do you live in Ireland or in Poland? If you live in Poland, this involves going to the embassy in Warsaw and getting a document signed by an embassy representative, but in Ireland it's far easier.

g'luck

Love / Polish girls don't go for one night stands, is it true? [56]

Of course some Polish girls want one night stands, go to a big city, go to a niteclub, hook up, get laid, same as any other European city.

Polish girls don't dress as slutty as Western European girls for sure. The only problem is that being single in Poland for a woman is a fate worse than death, so it's hard to find many single girls on a night out.

Many would rather be dating an idiotic beetroot-munching villager named Waldek who just about has the mental capacity to stick lego bricks together than to attend a social event as a single lady.

Anyway, fear not, go out get a few beers and get chatting to some chicks, the fact that your a foreigner and willing to chat up a girl will score you extra points.

Law / Can I drive my wife's car in Poland on a GB licence? [7]

It's good to check with your provider.
Before my auld lad come over for a visit a year or 2 ago I called mine to make sure too and they said it was fine so long as he had my permission to drive the car.

Life / Are there any Muslim areas in Poland? [173]

Why do you want a place without alcohol, just because you have chosen not to drink, should that mean that others cannot too?
Maybe mate you need to become more tolerant of people who wish to drink.

Love / Why should I support my partners sister and boyfriend? [23]


I'm not English, I know little of English law.......but it would be difficult to prove the agreed time frame. It would be his word against theirs.

Love / My Polish wife's mom is asking for money [11]

Politely tell them to find the nearest, highest cliff....within cycling distance, of course, and to take a long running jump over the edge.

Love / Why should I support my partners sister and boyfriend? [23]


They are EU citizens, immigration wouldn't be able to do anything.


They had his consent at the beginning.

Love / Why should I support my partners sister and boyfriend? [23]


You might want to learn the slang definition of 'missus' LOL


That has zero to do with this thread. Of are you so old-skool that you actually believe that people must be married before they procreate? Lol


It says that nowhere in the OP, no need to make things up and put words in his mouth.


You know that how? Dude is working and paying his rent, seems like he's on top of his finances to me.
Also, he went on the booze with his buddy one night, hardly a drinking problem.


How utterly condescending of you. Bit of empathy wouldn't go astray for a change mate.


What the OP wrote about is hardly an everyday situation, the way I see it he handled the situation to the best of his ability, at least he though he was doing the right thing and he got taken advantage of by some ungrateful scrotes for trying to be helpful.

Love / Why should I support my partners sister and boyfriend? [23]


Jebus, Dom, that's really fookin nasty of you, where does the OP say he's not wanting to have a baby with his missus? He's clearly mad into this girl.

Cop yourself on lad, and quit being nasty to new posters all the time, it's tiresome.

OP, you got used, learn from it and don't let it happen again. Maybe her sister is OK and her boyfriend is the douchebag here, wouldn't surprise me, it's usually the case.

You won't look like a d!ck to her family and anyway, sure so what even if you do? They live in Poland and you're safe away from them in the UK. To Hell with them, the most important people in this situation are your kid, your missus and yourself.

Law / Poland's ZUS - how much to register and later deregister? [17]

Best of luck man, but ask for a 2nd opinion in case I'm wrong :)