Off-Topic / How do Polish people operate? what makes them tick? [103]

There's only one conclusion to this thread : The poster known as "Havok" was sacked from his toilet cleaning job.

Work / Moving to Poland: is 100 000 PLN good for a start? [12]


Pretty much, unless you have certain skills that are in demand. Generally speaking, there's no work here for someone who hasn't already got several years work experience in a professional capacity. Even language schools are getting ridiculously fussy about who they employ - it's not a case of stepping off the plane and straight into a school.

For what it's worth, I know several foreigners who don't speak Polish, who are working in decent jobs here. But all of them were recruited with work experience n a very professional capacity - for instance, SAP specialists.

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]

Depends where you live.

In Poznan or Wroclaw, someone earning such a salary will inevitably flatshare. But if you earn this in a small town, you can live quite comfortably.

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]

Correct, no way.

Can't recall the latest figures, but it's around 3,600zl a month now.

Work / Salary expectations in Poland [373]


Seems quite reasonable for your first year.

Ignore what you read on here - you can get a flat for around 1,000zl if you look around, and ignore most of the rubbish online about prices - for someone in your situation, 4000zl a month will be fine as a fresh graduate.

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]


It's about as true as your imagined IT job.

Tell you what though - why don't you quote some of these laws? Or are you just, as everyone knows, Just Another Dumb Polack?

Law / Polish law on child smacking now vs. pre 2010 [7]


Or in plain English - nothing that leaves a mark?

The UK law actually seems pretty sensible - the act itself isn't prohibited, but leave any sort of mark and you'll get prosecuted for it.


I think it's still in force - when you look at it, the actual laws passed by the Communists were terribly progressive for the time. I actually know one lawyer who praises a lot of the PRL law as it's written, simply for being detailed and very clear.

Love / American marrying Polish woman in Poland - Church problems [79]


Yeah, that's quite normal - a good question would be over whether or not the Catholic Church would recognise an annulment made by a non-Catholic church? The answer must be in canon law somewhere.... as far as I can tell - the RCC is demanding that they go through the RCC annulment process regardless.


Sorry pal, but I actually had a rather in-depth discussion with a priest in recent weeks concerning this very issue - the RCC considers marriage to be binding regardless of who performs it. Check canon law - but that's too difficult, isn't it?


And you think a few (more than a few, really - more like 20-30k) wouldn't get a blind eye turned to past issues, provided the paperwork was correct?

There's plenty of mysterious high profile annulments in the RCC - nothing new there.

Law / Polish law on child smacking now vs. pre 2010 [7]


Yeah, according to people who feel the need to overpower children.


Because the Communist era laws, as written, provided a hell of a lot of protection and were somewhat ahead of their Western counterparts.

Law / Polish law on child smacking now vs. pre 2010 [7]

There are plenty of Communist era laws still in force, so that's not much of a surprise.

But I cannot imagine it was legal to use a belt in 2009 - that much, I can tell you for free.

If your partner speaks Polish, then ask on forum prawne.

Love / American marrying Polish woman in Poland - Church problems [79]


Make that four.


I'm not so sure you know - it was told to me (not being Catholic) that any marriage before God disqualifies you in their eyes.

Probably depends on the interpretation of the priest that's handling the licence, anyway.

USA, Canada / U.S. Citizen to Study in Poland on U.S. Passport for Over 3 Months? Problems? [46]


They're speaking nonsense. There's no such thing as it being worthless - either you can be claimed as a Polish citizen (and thus, requiring you to obtain Polish documents when in Poland) or you can't be. The only way to absolve your obligations as a Polish citizen is to renounce Polish citizenship.

For what it's worth - you're far more likely to get hassle on the Eastern border (where documents are routinely thoroughly scrutinised) than at the airports.


You don't need to bribe anyone, nor do you need to go to Warsaw (citizenship is handled by the provinces). Just come to Poland, with all the documentation you have (parents birth certificates, your birth certificates, etc) and sort out citizenship when here. It'll be much faster and easier than doing it through the US consulate.


It's worth a try if you fancy sitting around in Krakovets/Shegyni, left behind by the trip after being refused re-entry.

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]

You really are talking nonsense. When were you last in Poland, if ever?

Drugs are usually punished quite severely (no chance of a 'mandat' for drugs), hate crimes are prosecuted routinely, bribing the police at the ordinary citizen level is more or less impossible these days, workers have ridiculously strong rights (wages might be low, but the protection of workers is far higher than in most countries), children and women's rights are rarely abused, etc etc.

Really, is cleaning the toilets of rich Americans causing you to be so bitter?

USA, Canada / Going back to the Old Country of Poland after more than 25 years! (from USA) [249]


Clearly, you can't read. I know toilet cleaning doesn't require reading skills, but still.

All day tickets are 44zl - or what, about $15? And for a family ticket, it's 88zl - or about $30. And that's at the weekend, when it's obviously more expensive. Going by your measure, 88zl on an average family salary in Wroclaw of around 10k is really nothing.


Nah, I'd say you're the one that must be nuts - after all, you seem to spend every waking hour on here telling everyone how much Poland sucks. Just like a typical Polack - never lived here, never been here and in great denial about his ancestry.

USA, Canada / U.S. Citizen to Study in Poland on U.S. Passport for Over 3 Months? Problems? [46]


There's no such thing as "resetting" the time. In fact, by doing this, you open yourself up to the possibility of having a lot of trouble at the border - and you really don't want to have to deal with complicated matters on the Eastern border.

Don't be fooled by the presence of stamps in your passport - according to Schengen law, these are informational only - to assist both border control and yourself with ascertaining when you crossed the border. Anyway, as a Polish citizen (or at least, someone who can be claimed as such) - these limits won't apply. However, you really are causing more trouble than it's worth by going to Ukraine for the sake of a passport stamp.

If you want to do things properly, come to Poland with all the paperwork that proves your right to Polish citizenship and start the process here. Everything can be done quite quickly when in-country - and you should get your Polish ID card pretty quickly - certainly before the 3 months expires.

Work / Teaching English in Krakow. Is there still enough work? [9]

Krakow is flooded with natives. You'll be competing against backpackers who are willing to work for buttons - and while there's always well paying work out there, that work goes to people "in the know". The fact that you need a work permit also puts you at a massive disadvantage.

Love / Goal: Meet a nice Polish girl! [60]


I can tell you that no-one is going to bat an eyelid at an American accent in Warsaw - they're everywhere.

News / Failures of Poland and Tusk`s government [191]

Medical Polish? no way :o

I could probably get there, but with a fever and a sore throat, I didn't want to even speak English, let alone Polish!

USA, Canada / U.S. Citizen to Study in Poland on U.S. Passport for Over 3 Months? Problems? [46]

Uh, wouldn't it just be easier to sort out the Polish documents from within Poland?

The whole process to get a Polish ID card (which, as a Polish citizen, is obligatory for you to carry within Poland) should take about 6 weeks maximum.

News / Failures of Poland and Tusk`s government [191]


It can be hit or miss really - I went last night to the all night doctor, no queue, and the doctor spoke English. So - from that side of things - no complaints here.


Polls are actually showing the opposite - PO are maintaining their low 40% ratings - which they've had for years now. In fact, it seems that the only thing affecting PO is the SLD - even when the polls have showed PO only getting high 30's - those votes have been transferred to the SLD, not PO - and are probably the result of young people. The same young people will more than likely vote PO simply to keep PiS out.


To be honest, after the years of dodgy subsidies to shipyards, it was about time that the plug was pulled anyway. Even before the European Commission got involved, they were only surviving because the Government let them. It's exactly the same situation with Ciegelski in Poznan - it should be allowed to die, but it won't die because of sentimental reasons rather than pragmatic reasons.

Anyway, as this thread is about failures - the big one is education. PO have spectacularly failed to reform the education sector properly - and the situation in 2011 is exactly the same as in 2007 - the sector is riddled with nepotism and dinosaurs who are more interested in their own pockets than anything else. The situation where directors/deans are elected, rather than being professionals trained for the job is one great example.

UK, Ireland / A South African moving to Poland with Polish wife- we live in London. Excited and scared. [27]


18/32% at the moment. The thing with the flat tax is that it isn't open for all business types - and as I recall, with the flat tax, you don't have the ability to dock off everything in sight too.


Nope. The market is pretty much sewn up by Poles abroad trading directly with Poles here - unless we're talking about luxury brands. But bear in mind that many people involved in this industry are happy to work for 1500zl a month profit - are you?


Correct. However, if you merely draw dividends from a UK business - then it's a flat 19% tax on all dividends. However, I can't see it making much sense - you'll have to pay UK corporation tax, then the 19% in Poland on top - so effectively a tax rate of around 40%.

It's not based on turnover, but rather profit. But yes, taxes are much higher in Poland than in the UK - the tax base is very, very low here. On the other side - you can get away with murder when it comes to company expenses, unlike in the UK.

Apparently the best tax dodge at the minute is to open a company in Cyprus, due to some treaty between Poland and Cyprus that results in an effective 9% tax rate. But Tusk wants to close this loophole - so don't rely on it.

Law / Polish taxes for external incoming [9]


You need to pay. Poland's tax residency law states that if you spend more than 185 days a year in Poland, then you are resident in Poland for tax purposes. As you've got the residency permit - then this is more or less a formal declaration that you are in fact resident.

Taxation for you will be 19% of dividends, plus whatever taxation is due on your salary (which is quite substantial - if you pay yourself around 6000 pounds a year, you'll have quite a big Polish tax bill - 19% Polish income tax, plus around 40% of gross salary in social taxation as an employer and employee).

Life / Im a Black American Moving to Poland. Worried about adaptation. [47]


I can tell you that in at least 90% of cases, it's their own fault.

I could tell you about a case of an American student deported. Why? He couldn't be bothered to sort out the Karta Pobytu - instead believing that because he was American, he had the right to stay as long as he wanted.

Poland's bureaucracy is nowhere near as bad as in some other countries - indeed, Poland is quite easy because every decision by a bureaucrat must be in accordance with the relevant law. Of course, many foreigners often think "oh, it's stupid, I won't do that" - and then walk straight into trouble as a result.

And ****, I have to go pay taxes for this month. Oh so bureaucratic to log into my online bank account account and press "transfer".

Work / Salary, holidays - questions to employer during a job interview in Poland [47]

Once, it worked for me!

They told me their offer, it was higher than what I wanted....so I, naturally, sat back and had a think before saying yes :P

Food / What's your favorite Polish beer? [870]


Lech Pils is very acceptable. The rest? Bluurrgh.


Good bar, that.

For what it's worth, my favourite beer here is Obolon or L'vivskie 1715. Yes, I know. Failing that, Lech Pils.

(I don't leave the province, for what it's worth)

Life / IS Poland in danger of becoming the next multi cultural sink hole? [201]


"We"?

Like your parents that ran away to America?

I don't see you doing much to preserve Polish culture by sitting in America. Tell you what though - if you won't let your culture be eroded, why don't you come and volunteer in Poland? I know a Polish cultural association that would really appreciate a full time English speaking volunteer.

I'm waiting...


So, little Polack racist - what do you know about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? Don't you realise that it was probably one of the most multicultural, tolerant nations in history towards many different people? Don't you realise that the Jews in Poland came during those times, fleeing persecution in more intolerant countries?

Ah yeah, that's right - your parents only taught you the version that involved POLSKA POLSKA NASZA POLSKA, like the village idiots that they are.

Law / Help with getting an address in Poland to open a Polish bank account [6]


There's something called mbiuro - mbiuro.pl

Should be more than satisfactory for your needs.

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]


Why do you need dual citizenship?

It is trivial for Americans to obtain residence rights in many EU countries.

Real Estate / Stan deweloperski vs stan surowy [developing or undeveloping property state] [36]


From a purely aesthetic point of view, it's bloody ugly to see all these half finished houses. What's worse is that local authorities don't actually seem to have the power to tell people "finish it, or we pull it down" like in most countries.

Real Estate / Stan deweloperski vs stan surowy [developing or undeveloping property state] [36]


Not a clue - I find it truly bizzare that someone would do this. Or even stranger is the habit of building a house, then living in one room for ages until they have the money to finish the rest of the house.

Of course, if you're a cynic, you might suggest that it's important to tie up the "black" money in property as quickly as possible.