History / How Polish history is viewed by other countries textbooks [124]

Presumably under the 1804 law, they would have been citizens of Prussia/Austria-Hungary or Russia - and would have lost Polish citizenship beyond any doubt after the country was wiped off the map?

Law / Lived in Poland on temporary residency, now getting married. My status in Poland? [6]

Well - if your residence permit is based on family (ie, dependent on/married to) an EU citizen, then you don't need to obtain a work permit in order to work here. But if it's based upon work, then yes, you need a work permit for every job.

The idiotic thing is that there's nothing on the actual Karta Pobytu to actually show this.

USA, Canada / Education transfer USA (Micro biology from a technical university in Poland) [30]

They probably won't accept it as a Masters degree (certainly, they won't, if it's pre-Bologna) - but for the sake of comparison, it's best to describe it as a 5 year Bachelor's Degree. Calling it a Masters degree would be incorrect.

History / How Polish history is viewed by other countries textbooks [124]

Plenty of Lithuanians couldn't speak Lithuanian - the language of the nobility was Polish. No different to how in the Middle Ages in England, French was the language of choice among the educated classes, not English.

But there's certainly sufficient doubt about just what he was - a crossbreed, like most Poles, would be the best answer :)

Life / Anybody from Sanok? Good, bads, uglies? [10]


From what I know about Autosan, it's a place where jobs go to those who know the management. There's not much else there in the way of the automotive industry - unless you count the usual small businesses.

As for living there - it would probably drive you mad after a few months. There's precious little to do, though there are some good pubs - especially one called "beerland" ;) In all fairness, if you have enough money to buy a nice house outright and working is more for pleasure, Sanok will be a great place to live. But if you need to work to live - then steer clear.


It certainly isn't "free" - either you or your wife will have to have a real work contract, and they'll be paying circa 20% of their wages to cover the healthcare for both of you. Even if you both have "umowa o pracy" - then you'll be looking at 20% each.

There is lots of cheap beer in Sanok, though.


That's pretty much how I'd describe the place. A wonderful place to live if you don't have much pressure to actually do much - but there's precious little happening and very little to fall back on. Even Przewozy Regionalne closed down the train station ticket office - which tells you a lot!

For someone financially independent, it seems like a fantastic place to live - close to Bieszczady, close to the (really) wild Ukrainian Karpaty, the list is endless. But economically, the town is suffering badly - the only real reason that it has anything is because it's the centre of life for Bieszczady.

Law / Poland car insurance: cash only? [14]


And they don't have a card terminal? The mind boggles... how are you supposed to pay for pricey dealer-repairs?


To be honest, there's really no excuse in Poland for not accepting transfers - the law even considers "proof of transfer' (ie, a print out) to be proof of the transaction, so all they have to do is get you to take a printout to them!

You'd think such a business would want to avoid handling cash!

News / Poland sees its past in Belarus's present [12]

But you must admit - it's rather odd that Poland is making such a fuss about Poles there, yet won't return the citizenship that was stolen from them by the Communists.

(same situation with the Poles in Western Ukraine and elsewhere - the Karta Polaka just doesn't cut it)

Australia / HOW DO I MOVE FROM AUSTRALIA TO POLAND PERMANENTLY? PARENTS BOTH FROM POLAND [26]

Oh, certainly. But as it's only really intended for Poles who aren't residing in Poland, it's fair enough - if you live here, you really should have such an address.

History / How Polish history is viewed by other countries textbooks [124]


Mickiewicz is a mess ethnically - and just shows what utter nonsense it is to claim any sort of "100% Polish"ness. When you look at what different people claim him as, it's absolutely impossible to make any judgement on what he actually was.

About the only thing that can't be argued is that he spoke Polish.

Australia / HOW DO I MOVE FROM AUSTRALIA TO POLAND PERMANENTLY? PARENTS BOTH FROM POLAND [26]

Quite easily. Citizenship is passed from the parents, not the place of birth. It's really not that difficult a process - for someone who was born to Polish parents who meet all the rules surrounding citizenship from 1920/1951/1962/1968, it's a doddle.

No need for registration either - I've seen a dowód without an address. There's a provision within the law on identity cards that allows people without a permanent address to receive one. It's the law in Poland to carry an ID card at all times if you are Polish, or can be claimed as such - which is why they need to allow Poles without a registered address to have a card.

Law / Lived in Poland on temporary residency, now getting married. My status in Poland? [6]


Nothing. You'll still have to apply for residence permits and so on - except you won't need a work permit.

Yep. Marriage will only give you the right of working and residence in the EU, nothing else.

Work / Polish schoolteachers are being crushed by the system [24]


The problem isn't just about the money though - when you look at the cack-handed way that schools are managed, it's beyond a joke. I still cannot figure out why directors are elected - shouldn't they be trained for many years for the job?

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]


130PLN for a first class fare to go 300km is still absolutely unrealistic compared to the actual cost of providing the service. It's what, just over 30 pounds?

Let's see - Colchester to London is about 85 kilometres. A first class, single ticket (on a train that isn't any better than EIC trains in Poland) is 38 pounds. It also takes 75 minutes. Poznan-Warsaw takes 3 hours to go 300km and costs just over 30 pounds.

I'm still of the view that instead of trying to paper over the cracks, the Government after the next election should go all out and reform the whole system from the bottom up. It will mean no trains for a few months, but who cares if the end result is positive?

(and while they're at it - they should cull every single pointless branch line. Beeching got it right, after all)

Life / Some Poles have fine houses [68]


Well made?

I beg to differ - many of them are thrown up and built from cheap materials. The vast majority of post-1990 residential construction has been of appalling quality.

UK, Ireland / British Corner Shop, anybody tried that? [17]


I can believe it - I know someone who was offered $200,000 a couple of years ago to go and work there. Crazy, crazy money - he turned it down because they have a very British mentality towards work - the amount of hours matters, not the quality of work.

Law / Poland car insurance: cash only? [14]


Sounds like they simply don't have the facilities for taking it. Nothing to do with the insurance company (if not plastic, then bank transfers would be normal) - but everything to do with the dealership being a bit dodgy.

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]

Uh, your logic is flawed. The plan was to sell PKP Intercity - but the current crisis prevents this, because PKP Intercity can't possibly make a profit with the way that the network is falling apart.

The real issue is that *someone* needs to make a decision as to what the future is. But of course - any decision is going to involve culling a lot of needless jobs and dramatically increasing fares to a more realistic, sustainable level.

The problem in Poland is that people want dirt cheap trains at a very high speed and quality. Even in Switzerland, with probably the best train system in the world - trains are not cheap at all, nor are they particularly fast.

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]


This train is very very good - it's even equipped with automatic gauge-changing equipment so that there isn't the bogie-changing malarky at the border.

Only problem is the time - 17:20 from Wroclaw, arrive 06:00 L'viv - then depart 23:59 L'viv, arrive 10:something in Wroclaw. Quite good coming from there, but awful departing Wroclaw in the middle of the afternoon!

Law / Polish Citizenship request rejected--military service of father [18]


In light of this - I would suggest (if you really want to pursue it, though I don't recommend it!) contacting a lawyer as soon as possible. I do know a very good lawyer that might be able to help - but I really don't think it's a good idea in this situation as the law seems so clear.


Yep - without being discharged, he would have remained a citizen.

What you can do is if you speak Polish fluently and have stayed "in touch" with Poland, then you can try petitioning the President of Poland as a last resort. It's very unlikely to succeed, but may be worth a try? It's only worth doing if you can move to Poland and integrate immediately, however.


I'm still wondering why the PRL law allowed them to keep their citizenship.

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]


EIC trains are fine, TLK trains can be hit or miss. InterRegio can be okay, and Regio (osobowy) is terribly hit or miss (depends who is subsidising it).

As for train bathrooms - depends very much on the service and who it's aimed at. Same as in anywhere in the world - the average British train toilet is horrible, too. But at the same time, the toilets in the Wroclaw-L'viv service are spotless - with even a shower available!

A lot of it is due to the price - look at how students can now travel over 1000km for around 35zl. That's just not economic at all.


Nothing wrong with economy in EIC trains. Even TLK can be perfectly fine on some routes.

Osobowy is sometimes uncomfortable (again, depends on the route) - but what can you expect when a ticket from Poznan to Wroclaw costs 23zl, with a weekend ticket available for 30zl?

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]


But £ódź is hardly a prestigious location full stop - it's strangely like Manchester in the early 90's - not a particularly glamourous place to be.

Law / Polish Citizenship request rejected--military service of father [18]


Depends on whether your mother was stripped of Polish citizenship or not.

The acts are all here - cklawoffice/polish-citizenship-law.


There's a formal procedure to do this - I think some countries require it before they'll grant citizenship.

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]


TLK belongs to PKP Intercity, and the quality seems to depend on whether it's a subsidised service or commercial service. But yes, TLK is certainly hit or miss, though generally fine. It seems to depend very much on the time of day and the route - Lublin-Warsaw seems to be great, as does Warsaw-Poznan.


Depends on the province - no problems in Poznan, and the railbuses of Lubuskie aren't too bad. But the company is ruined anyway - as someone pointed out, they can't last for long when all the provinces are starting their own small companies anyway.

Law / Polish Citizenship request rejected--military service of father [18]


Aha. I've found the basis of this - but read on.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_nationality_law#Polish_migrants_before_1962

Now, you need to consult the Citizenship Act of 1920. This clearly states -


So yes, you would have needed to obtain Polish citizenship from your father due to the act in force at that time. Now, reading on -


Now - this creates a bit of a muddle in your situation. However, I suspect that if you provide proof of his release - you'll find that Poland will consider him stripped of Polish citizenship from the moment that he obtained Canadian citizenship - which by your account, was before 1951.

Sadly, (I don't know this for certain) - but if he was obliged to serve until he was 50, he would have been discharged in 1950 and thus would have lost Polish citizenship at that very point.


No, she wouldn't have lost citizenship due to this. In fact, as I understand it, she may well have retained it for her entire life - however, the Polish act of 1920 makes it clear that you can only obtain it through the father where the parents are married. It's bizzare in these modern times, but you have to consider that this law is 90 years old and in completely different times. Polish society is still very male-dominated in certain areas.

Sorry, but I cannot see any potential appeal for you - the citizenship act is very very clear on this case.

I can pass on an English speaking lawyer to you if you so wish, but it seems pretty clear cut - your father lost Polish citizenship before 1951, and thus you are denied it as a result.


Probably there are children who want EU citizenship for their children. Americans (and Canadians) are really restricted in Europe without it.

edit : just noticed this


Almost certainly clear cut case - Polish citizenship was lost before 1951, therefore, no option exists to recover it.

And just to confirm this, from the 1951 Act -


The father would have lost Polish citizenship beyond any doubt - and this article confirms it.

Travel / Foreign beers in Krakow [18]


Is it just me, or is the version sold in Poland utter garbage?

I had one in Harrachov - and I could swear that it was completely different. Not bitter at all, unlike in Poland.

Work / Advice for a worried English stranger / Native speaker who wants to move to Poland [23]


One very simple question you should ask yourself - what do you bring to Krakow that there isn't there already?

Law / Polish Citizenship request rejected--military service of father [18]


Off the top of my head, wouldn't you have been stripped of Polish citizenship by the act of...oh jeez, what year was it - 1950 I think? There's an act around that time which stripped Polish citizenship from Poles not living in Poland.

Life / The rising costs of food and fuel in Poland and the effects on disposable income/economy [177]


So what else would you have done? They had nothing else to compare it to, and the country was bankrupt. The West wanted their loans paid. The country was economically ruined and had little choice but to liberalise quickly - indeed, the condition of financial aid was that the country implement the "shock therapy".

Don't forget that the shock therapy allowed Poland to grow very very fast between 95 and the present day.

Travel / PKP (Polish National Railway) is a turn off [47]


But which service are you using? Przewozy Regionalne are nothing to do with the PKP Group anymore, for instance.

Work / part-time job in Poland needs work permit? [40]

Poland in 1981 wasn't any better.