USA, Canada / Being a Pole, Do I need a USA visa when changing flights in NY? [12]

400zl for a transit visa?!

USA, Canada / Being a Pole, Do I need a USA visa when changing flights in NY? [12]

Unless something has changed, yep, you need one. America has some sort of weird problem with transit passengers.

Study / Considerations for US Family Moving to Poland (esp. Int'l Schools) [36]


Ah, come on, there's plenty of safe, rich places out there - it's not like Americans are hated absolutely everywhere. Fuzzy knows more about it than me, but as far as I gather, being an ESL teacher in places that can afford to pay you a huge amount of cash (for an ESL teacher) tax free aren't going to be dangerous places.


It's nearly impossible to be positive about such a move - unless you count "shivering in a 1 room flat in Poland with a child that doesn't understand anything at school" as positive.

Study / Considerations for US Family Moving to Poland (esp. Int'l Schools) [36]

Ah, come on Fuzzy - we both know that if you're established here, it can be a profitable place - but for newbies, it's far more likely that Poland will chew them up and spit them out - especially in her circumstances.


Totally agree. It's taken me until now to get to the point where people are calling me with offers of work rather than the other way round - and in the first year, I was getting around 2000-2500zl a month. Fine if you don't have any commitments, but a family? The market is totally swamped in Krakow with natives, Lodz is a dreadful place for bringing up children and Poznan is much more focused on business classes (and again, too many natives working in-school) - none of which would be worthwhile.

Don't forget the utter ruthlessness of the industry - no-one is going to care less if someone has a 6 year old daughter to feed, clothe and house, all they're going to care about is the bottom line. Even more so in Poland with such a saturated sector - if they don't have the classes to give, then goodbye. Let's not forget the amount of promises made - "it'll get better after Christmas" and so on - and we all know how much those promises are worth.

I just cannot for the life of me see any wisdom in this move, unless the OP gets a public university job - and even then, these are very much "jobs for the boys".

I'm trying, trying and trying - and I cannot see any sense in this idea whatsoever. Poland is fine for the carefree native who doesn't have any commitments, and it's fine for the native who has a partner earning good, stable money - but for a couple like this? It just sounds like a road to disaster. No Babcia to babysit and do the shopping is the least of their worries!

I'm curious though - why Poland? No stable work contracts, a weak currency and absolutely no help in terms of accomodation provided to natives except in small towns where you wouldn't want to live anyway - it does seem rather odd.

Study / Considerations for US Family Moving to Poland (esp. Int'l Schools) [36]

Wow, interesting topic. My thoughts...


Outside of Warsaw, they seem to be rather poor and overpriced. There are some good ones in Warsaw, as you'd expect - with equally eye-watering tuition fees.


It's almost certain that she'll have a difficult time - Polish private education is remarkably different to public education. Just think - how would she cope, going from a small class to a big class? It's not that simple at all. If she's to have any chance, she needs to start from the beginning.


There are no good courses in Poznań. There are some good teachers around doing private lessons, but coursewise - nada. The only real course that exists is the one at UAM - and this is aimed at students, not outside learners. It's also taught by people who appear to have little to no training in teaching Polish as a foreign language.


You need to consider one thing - how much money do you think you'll earn?


There's little to no demand for English "conversation" partners in Poznań. There are plenty of students willing to charge 20-25zl an hour for this - and with this type of price, you're not going to get reliable clients. I'm not saying that you need to be qualified, but your husband really needs to bring something else to the table apart from just speaking English.

The other thing - could you really afford for him to stay at home? You're not going to get a well paid job in your first couple of years here - I can tell you from personal experience that in Poznan, there are very, very few schools offering full time hours. Even the big schools (Empik, Profi-Lingua et al) aren't offering their natives a full teaching load. There's plenty of small contracts on offer (last count, I have 7 contracts with schools!) - but this needs the ability to have the time to build these up. It's only within the last 2 weeks that I have a full time schedule this year that doesn't involve working horribly unsocial hours.

As for working as an English teacher - are you prepared to work mornings (7-10) and then 5-9 in the afternoons? Have you considered that you need a work permit for every single school you work at, and that if you move here, you'll need to obtain legal residency within 90 days?

I'm sorry, but it just doesn't sound like a good idea to move here at all with a family to teach English. The ESL market is ridiculously unstable - and while you might get a job at a university, personal experience tells me that jobs go to those who know someone - and even then, the universities are starting to cut back on natives because the competition is so fierce (and the Polish teachers are so good).


Don't be so sure of it. Finding a job is one thing - but finding a stable, well paid job is another thing.

Bear in mind that if the school cuts you midyear (and this happens more than you might want to think) - what then? It's not going to be possible to find a full time job in the middle of the year, and you'll have a husband and daughter to feed.

My advice - go somewhere like the Middle East or Asia. There'll be much more stability there - as well as there being much more in the way of money. Do you really want to risk having no money in Poland, with no access to public help?

Warszawski is bang on the money with his post. It just doesn't make any sense to come to Poland without any teaching experience (here, they'll look at post-CELTA experience) - especially when you can end up with nothing because of a neurotic director. And they are much more common than you probably imagine ;)

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


Then, yes.

Nowadays, it's about allowing lazy moustaches the right to do next to no work, while getting very well paid for it.

Life / Any treatment centres for homos in Poland? [455]


There's no excuse for dressing like that, regardless of sexual orientation - it's just ridiculous.

Mind you, I know of a gay guy here who looks like he wants to beat everyone up :/

UK, Ireland / British considering our options, as to where to live with my Polish fiance? [12]


Oh jesus, you don't want to live in Lubuskie. It's economically deprived, it's not a nice place and it'll be a culture shock. It's one of the worst provinces to live in - and certainly not a good place to bring up kids.


Frankly - no. If you learn Polish, then of course - but in all reality, there's not going to be much demand for you in rural Poland. Wroclaw is a different story, you might be able to find something there - but I need to warn you that quite a few foreigners have came here with the same intention, only to end up stuck at home and depressed after realising that they need fluent Polish for anything.

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]


Well, why not criticise the more stupid aspects of Polish law?

You could start by ridiculing the need to "register" what your business does - the PKD codes.

For what it's worth - did you register as self employed, or a limited company? The bureaucracy involved with limited companies is absolutely ridiculous - the UK is streets...no, miles ahead!

News / People says that EU bringing many nice things to Poland. Tell me about it [104]


I know a guy here who is really well educated, Turkish and doesn't think it's a good idea either. Apparently a lot of the educated classes are dead against it in Turkey.

Travel / Very dangerous defrauding trend started in some hotels in Krakow [49]


So - the UK Government doesn't know anything about it, the Polish English-language press doesn't know anything about it, we don't know anything about it - but the mystery guest poster does.

I still want to know how photocopied passports are being used by greedy developers to drive up property prices.

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]


I'm talking about the HMRC monkey lines. Getting them to actually do what you want is like getting blood from a stone.


They don't get things straight away, that's the thing. They have no history, no credit rating and really can't get anything straight away. The reason they don't complain is because the vast majority are only there to earn money - they don't care about getting a mortgage, a loan or premium banking products. They can get pre-paid meters, or share a flat with people.


It's not tedious at all, unless you count filling in a few forms and visiting a couple of offices as "tedious". Given that for EU citizens, the process is the same as Polish citizens, then it's really not difficult. The only difficulty is when you try and do things your way as opposed to the Polish way - and in which case, can you blame them for not liking it?

Just try and do things differently in France and tell me how far you get.

The problem is that you seem to be comparing doing business in the UK as a native citizen with doing business in another country as a foreigner where you don't speak the language. The two aren't comparable at all. But for what it's worth - what other EU country, except Ireland, makes it so easy for foreigners?

Bear in mind that in the UK, to apply for a NI number, you need to attend an interview with someone at the Jobcentre who has the power to refuse you. Not so in Poland.


It's every bit as relevant. Students are the backbone of every country - and if they can't open a simple bank account, what hope is there?

Frankly, if you're such a businessman, I'm surprised that you've been defeated by a few simple forms that a baby could fill out.

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]

They should when you enter/leave the Schengen zone, but implementation seems to be really spotty at times, especially when coming from the UK. But - the last few times I've entered from Ukraine, they've been checking thoroughly.

News / People says that EU bringing many nice things to Poland. Tell me about it [104]

I think they're starting to discover that Poland is quite easy to obtain residency in, though.

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]

It wasn't an insult, don't worry ;)

One thing that Solidarity actually was doing was demanding much more in the way of permanent contracts for people. The problem is that they weren't willing to give up some of the rights contained within the permanent contracts - so we're back to square 1.

And yes, for temporary work, foreigners tend to be better - simply because you can get rid of them easily and cheaply.

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


Well, if you have to pay tax there, there's no harm in voting there :)

Perhaps if the Polonia paid Polish taxes, then they could have the vote. Seems fair to me.

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


Same as in the UK. Is the tax burden really lower in Paris than in New York/London? Something seems amiss there...


This is one of the strangest things for me - I understand them taxing all income in America, but to tax all their citizens worldwide? That - I don't understand in the slightest. Is there any rationale for it?

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


You're kidding me! I did wonder why you flew off.... :P

Apparently the effective tax rate in Ukraine is 15% and yet hardly anyone actually pays 15% of their income. No wonder they all drive round in blacked-out cars ;)


But only for them. And no-one else, and certainly not anyone who doesn't agree with them.


Did you get sacked? :P

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


Exactly - and that's the way it should be. I'm all for giving people a roof over their heads, health care and food - but not much more. Certainly, nice holidays are not a basic human right.

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]


You need a PESEL in Poland - in the UK, you need to be registered on the electoral roll and have a bank account - and to get a bank account, you normally need an NI number and proof of your residency through bills. It's about the same amount of hassle, all things considered.


Sitting on the phone for an hour, dealing with people who are trained to read from scripts and not having any personal access to people who understand real problems is advantageous? Since when?


It isn't. It's only different because you don't understand how it works here - you're assuming that it works like it does in the UK for a native citizen. The European way of doing things is different, even down to the way that the UK doesn't care less about "residency" except for tax purposes, whereas Europeans take it far more seriously.

And as I said - why should you expect to get any services if you haven't got legal residency? Try getting anything in the UK without being listed on the credit databases - it's impossible. Even getting a post-paid supply of electricity is nearly impossible.

Anyway, it's hardly difficult to get a PESEL.

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


But that is at least partially due to their own desire - those on minimum wage often don't want much more than some lager and television.

USA, Canada / Update Website - Polkas United - Latest Information [8]

Nah, just the usual Polacks pretending to be Polish. :)

USA, Canada / Update Website - Polkas United - Latest Information [8]


Why is the forum in English then?

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


Well, the best examples are Sweden and Switzerland - both have terribly strong local governments, and both are success stories. Centralisation never seems to work - isn't one of the reasons America is so competitive is due to the way that the individual states have quite a lot of control over taxation?

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]


PiS, PSL and SLD are all socialists. PO have quite a few social democrats too.

News / People says that EU bringing many nice things to Poland. Tell me about it [104]

I don't even think that most of the EU-12 countries should have been allowed to join in the first place. Slovenia, yes - it's catching up rapidly. Estonia too. But the rest? No way.

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]


No, but they ask for your bank account details and won't give you any service if you aren't listed on the credit databases. Poland doesn't bother with credit databases, but instead asks for a PESEL. So - it's about the same.


Subject to EU law, which requires you to register locally after 3 months residence. It's in the EU treaties, and the same law was used to expel the Roma from France. It's rarely used, but anyone not registered as resident can be deported after the 3 month period quite legally.

Anyway, how can you expect companies to provide you with a service if you aren't legally resident there?


You do have to reside there in order to be self-employed. In regards to limited companies - of course not, but owning a limited company doesn't give you any automatic rights to residence anyway.

As for Poland helping EU members - they make it rather easy and painfree. The information desk in my local Urzad Miasta is very helpful - they made it a breeze to start the company. As for residing here, again, the local Foreigners Office makes it easy.

Compare this to the UK, where everything must be done by post and telephone. Thanks, but I'd rather speak to a real person!

Travel / Very dangerous defrauding trend started in some hotels in Krakow [49]


Yep, that's the theory behind the Schengen law that they need your details. It's part of why there aren't border controls - if they're hunting for someone, it's much easier if hotels have a copy of just who is staying there. As I recall, it's quite common in some countries like Spain and Italy for the local police to come and check out who is staying there as well.

I'm still wondering why this MAJOR BIG SCAM hasn't been reported anywhere online...

Law / Ease of doing business in Poland [32]

Sure, you don't have to be. But EU law says that you should register for residency if you're here for more than 3 months - the UK and Ireland are the exceptions to this system, because they don't care about EU nationals.

As for those Polish companies in the UK - more fool the UK for allowing people to abuse the UK system when they're not legally resident there.

Travel / Very dangerous defrauding trend started in some hotels in Krakow [49]


You really have lost the plot, haven't you?

Go on, provide us with a link telling us about this DANGEROUS NEW SCAM in Krakow. Go on, any link will do. Come on. Do your best. :)