Travel / Visa to Poland (stay more than 90 days in Poland) [45]

Don't you have to renounce it (or at least, declare to the Americans that you have) to gain US citizenship anyway?

Travel / Visa to Poland (stay more than 90 days in Poland) [45]

Aha, this complicates things somewhat.

Basically, unless she has confirmation of the renouncing from Poland, the country will not regard her as having actually done so. All the information is here - polish consulate ny/en/m.22.Polish_Citizenship.html

If she merely renounced it to the American authorities - then she's still a Polish citizen and cannot be given a visa. I would say that it's almost certain that they will refuse to give her a visa - but equally so, she cannot be punished for overstaying the 90 days stamp, because she's already a Polish citizen.

In this case, it's really simple - she should go to Poland and obtain a "dowod osobisty" within 90 days. It's rather simple for a Polish citizen to acquire. The good news - if she gets it, then you'll be able to get Polish citizenship too - which will allow you to live/work in the EU freely!


It's madness to try and do that now - I can confirm that on the Polish/Ukrainian border, they are checking documents very, very closely. Even me, with a British passport, had it checked quite carefully because of the presence of quite a few Schengen stamps (I try to collect them where I can :/). As far as I know, legally, the presence of a stamp doesn't actually confirm residency (unlike in Ukraine for instance) - it's merely an aid for the passport holder to know when they entered/left the zone.

Travel / Visa to Poland (stay more than 90 days in Poland) [45]

Hang on. Are you sure that your mother isn't already a Polish citizen? If so, you might find that a visa will be rejected - they won't issue a visa to a Polish citizen, or someone who can be claimed as such. It depends on exact circumstances - but was she born in Poland, and if so, when?

Travel / Visa to Poland (stay more than 90 days in Poland) [45]

But it will be a damn sight easier to stay in Poland if she acquires a visa for 6 months rather than attempting to gain residency from within Poland. I'm not even sure that she can get a residency card based on her situation - but a visa should be granted.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


To be fair, it's nothing that you can't work out with a bit of reading - anyone who really does analyse things should be able to figure this one out. Heck, it's not as if PiS have tried to hide their socialist leanings!

The thing I can't understand is that many of them seem not to actually know that Solidarity is a trade union, nor do they seem to realise that part of his power base comes from them!

A much better comment would be to say that the American Polonia votes in accordance with their roots.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


They don't closely follow Polish affairs. The fact that most of them believe that Jaroslaw Kaczynski is "conservative" and Komorowski "liberal" tells you that they know nothing. In fact, many Plastic Poles criticise Obama's 'socialism' as being something that will destroy America - yet they support the socialist Kaczynski!

It would be more accurate to say that they think they follow Polish affairs, but they tend to be badly informed at best.

Anyway, as convex says - where are these protests? You've claimed that there were protests all over Poland, but people in three of the four most affluent cities in Poland haven't heard or seen any protests. Where are they?

Seems to me that this is just another example of Plastic Polishness.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


I do wonder where they're getting their information from. Then again, we all know how Plastic Poles are completely out of touch with Poland.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


Nor Poznan.

Hardly "all over Poland" ;)

Life / Is parity the answer for Polish women? [262]


I like the way that you're using the word "fascist" to describe a social democrat. Could it be because anyone that opposes your rather outdated views is immediately a fascist, in the great line of Catholic-Socialist leaders in Poland?

Law / Question on conversion of a Schengen visa to Polish Temporary Residence Card (TRC) [13]

You can travel to Poland, but there's no option of legalising your stay from a 3 month Schengen visa. The visa must be obtained in the country where you have permanent residency - ie, Nigeria.

If you were denied a visa, it's almost certainly because they don't believe that you're coming to Poland to be a student - or you don't have the means to support your stay.

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]


Either Gazeta Wyborcza or Rzeczpospolita. Doesn't matter which, both of them tend to be able to report things "bez comment" rather than with a heavy dose of opinion designed to influence the reader. Given that Gazeta Polska already published plenty of nonsense about Smolensk (including many factual errors that can be verified easily) - it's not really the "bastion of truth", is it?


I'd suggest that Palikot, with his millions, doesn't care less what some fringe loony newspaper publishes. If they're wasting their time producing "proof" that Palikot is a traitor - then they're doing nothing to discredit his policies, which works fine for him. Anyway, the Palikot strategy is simple - get people talking about him. I'd suggest that Gazeta Polska is doing a grand job of doing just that.

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]


If anything, it strengthens the church by ensuring that the State isn't linked with it.

After all, the Polish constitution guarantees it - so what's the problem? Do they not accept their own constitution?

Direct election in Poland - but that sounds like the German model too. I'd prefer it as well, but the Polish state seems terrified to give any sort of autonomy to the provinces here. I suspect Palikot's promotion of abolishing it is simply because the current Senate is just a talking shop. One that was directly elected by the provinces may be much better - but it's hard to tell.


Well done, you've just shown that you're another Plastic Pole. If you actually lived here, you'd know that adoption by childless couples is very, very difficult. Anyway, no surprise that a church-loving dinosaur promotes totalitarian rule over women and their right to decide.


Because people only want nice, uncorrupted babies - combined with the bureaucracy that stops childless couples from adopting.

It's nice to see that the usual suspects are running scared of Palikot - could it be because he's got the money and influence to say whatever he wants? No doubt part of the reason that they're reacting so badly is because they realise that with PO in power, they can't use the State to shut him up.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


Worse are the schools using their own version of the Callan Method...If you get the chance, go and find out what the chain of schools called "Leader School" is using these days. It's so riddled with mistakes that it's not even funny ;)

(incidentally, the author has never lived in an English speaking country and doesn't know anything about teaching, particularly as he's not even pedagogically trained)

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]


Usual nonsense - he supports liberalising the law, so in the eyes of our dear Catholic-Socialists, he's immediately a baby murderer because they're too thick in the head to have a rational debate.


Ah, Gazeta Polska, that well known impartial source of journalistic integrity which isn't linked at all to Kaczynski and friends. Try using a more...credible source next time, huh?

Anyway, we all know about these documents and their integrity - ie, they have none at all. Then again, Jaroslaw Kaczynski knows nothing about signing documents for his freedom, because he wasn't there - just like the rest of the loudmouth doomsayers.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


Democracy has never meant the tyranny of the majority.


Of course, just like many other Poles - they deny it, but they want Big Brother to tell them what to do. If it had been Warsaw, not Moscow ruling everyone - I doubt they would have complained!

Law / Opening a US$ Account or Banking a US$ Check - bank transfer fees [6]

Mmmm. I've never even tried to cash a cheque here, but I guess that it would all have to be processed by hand - so probably a week before it even gets sent to the UK. They'd then have to actually get payment, which could take a few days - so you'd already be on nearly 2 weeks. Then someone would have to allocate the money to your account, so another few days - and then allow a few days to make sure that the cheque doesn't bounce. Sounds like it could easily add up to a month, anyway.

One thing I know nothing about but I'd like to know more is over the issue of GBP transfers to a GBP account in Poland - I wonder how long they take, and if the banks take a cut?

Law / Opening a US$ Account or Banking a US$ Check - bank transfer fees [6]

Banking foreign cheques is always going to be a costly experience in Poland - is there no way that you can get paid by bank transfer instead?

Maybe - you could get paid via deposit to something like Netteller instead?

History / Give back Lwow to Poland and Kaliningrad to Germany - is it possible? [198]


Bang on the money.

Those who have money tend to see Lwów for what it is - a place to buy up and make money, exactly the same as Germans did in Wrocław and to a lesser extent, Poznań and Gdańsk.

History / Give back Lwow to Poland and Kaliningrad to Germany - is it possible? [198]


What, you think people would want to live in a very poor region of Europe, where the majority of locals would be devastated at losing their country and where they would be hostile to Poland's government, possibly along with mass civil disobedience and an infrastructure that is really, really poor?

Lviv still doesn't have 24/7 running water in the centre!

Work / Moving to Poland (from the UK) to take a teaching position. Tips? [34]


Take your EHIC card - that's quite useful :)

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]

And does anyone really believe that the Church isn't getting preferential treatment when it comes to these grants? Everyone knows that the separation of church and state in Poland is constitutionally guaranteed, yet not enforced in practice.

As far as I recall, there are other subsidies too, such as not paying VAT on building supplies.


If they want to use the classrooms, they should pay exactly the same rent as I, or anyone else does. Fair is fair :)

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]


Sounds like a damned good way to point out how useless the police were - like many of his actions, they may seem childish, but everyone talks about them. And - if people are talking about the issues, then he's done his job.


Indirectly, they are - such as the Catholic Church not paying the going rate to rent classrooms in schools, funding to keep existing buildings maintained (whereas most owners would have to keep it maintained or else), massive transfers of property/land to the Church and more.

Really, Palikot is simply a modern day social democrat without Communist baggage.

Work / English teacher from Turkey, have any chance to work in Poland? [71]

Well, you want to be an English teacher - so what do you expect?

You can't teach English if you don't know it!

Work / English teacher from Turkey, have any chance to work in Poland? [71]

The thing is - why should anyone hire you when your written skills are poor? There's countless thousands of English graduates being churned out every year in Poland from public universities - all of them need jobs and are willing to work for penauts. Why you?

Work / English teacher from Turkey, have any chance to work in Poland? [71]

I suspect that outside of Warsaw, she'd have a hell of a struggle - unless she was in some small town where the local language school will hire anyone that can speak English to a reasonable standard.

It's worth bearing in mind that barely any school is going to go to the effort of applying for a work permit for a non-native to teach English - in fact, I'd question whether a work permit would even be granted for a non-EU, non-native English speaker to teach English.

The best way "in" as it were would be to come to Poland on a student visa, studying at one of the numerous "private" institutions that exist more-or-less to give non-EU people a route into the EU - and working in Callan schools and the like for cash in hand.

Work / English teacher from Turkey, have any chance to work in Poland? [71]

Well, for a start, we don't say "I am graduated from".

Not to be mean, but as a non-English native and non-Polish (and presumably requiring a work permit) - your English needs to be flawless. And it's not.

Law / Your experience as a foreigner running a small business in Poland [43]


Yep, I added all sorts of useless things - I even registered "fake jewellery production" just in case :P

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]


To be fair, that sort of thing is priced as a premium product in Poland because barely anyone buys it - unlike in the UK. The prices are coming down though - I recall two years ago, black olives were very very expensive - now, you can buy a huge jar for less than 9zl.

Work / Polish Residency Cards. Is there a Permanent ID card for Foreigners? [37]

It should just be the same process as when applying for the EU residence permit in the first place - as I recall, you go to the Foreigners Office, give them whatever nonsense they want and get the certificate (I can't remeber the exact name - card of permanent stay, or something?) - then go back to the Urzad Miasta and they will register you indefinitely on the basis of the certificate.

But be quick - I think there's a 6 month time limit upon the EU residence permit expiring.

Work / Polish Residency Cards. Is there a Permanent ID card for Foreigners? [37]

What you have to do now is apply for permanent residency - the idea is that EU citizens, after their 5 year permit expires, should apply for permanent residency rather than applying to renew their temporary EU citizen residence permit.

The nice thing is that once you get the permanent residence certificate, you'll be able to register yourself permanently to the address rather than having to go back after 5 years :)