Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]


Get yourself the EU residence permit and a PESEL, as well as a NIP. You'll be treated (almost) as a Polish citizen then. Without the EU residence permit, forget it.


No. Poland doesn't allow the registration of RHD vehicles. It is possible if you know the right people in the right place - if you're in Poznan, I can recommend a particularly dodgy geezer who can get it done.


Of course. But again, the EU residence permit is what opens doors. You won't have many problems with the EU residence permit - you might get isolated bouts of stupidity, but with it, there's very little that can't be done.


Trust me, if you take this attitude, you'll get nowhere. There is a defensive mentality engrained within the Polish collective mindset, and if you go around demanding things, you're not going to get anywhere fast.

Work / Are Educational Documents from 3rd World Immigrants Scrutinised? [7]

Yes and no - Poland is quite tough about giving Schengen visas, but for long term national visas, they aren't bothering too much. This might change once the rules change this month regarding no longer needing the Karta Pobtyu to travel within the EU - but who knows?

They don't get jobs in general - if they do, it's 5zl an hour kebab shop work. It's why you see many Indians (for example) attempting to do something in business, because they get a nasty realisation here that no-one's going to employ them. And it must be said - I've communicated with several of these "business" types and none of them have been able to do a thing for me. I even had one tell me that he couldn't arrange for the delivery of Indian products to a bonded warehouse in Poznan!


No restrictions. The private universities are also equally lax - as long as they pay the fees, they're not watched carefully. Poland is about what, maybe 20 years behind the UK in this respect?

Law / Apostille stamp in Warsaw [26]


Did you get it sorted?

Law / Apostille stamp in Warsaw [26]


Unless I'm confusing what you're saying, isn't this a formality? You just go to the relavant office (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I guess?) and get it while you wait.

News / Sikorski or Komorowski for president? [32]


Nothing new there, newspapers throughout the world are suffering badly.

News / Sikorski or Komorowski for president? [32]


But you're forgetting that it's a Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy to have a newspaper which used the workers to oppress them. Or something along those lines!

Life / Polish TV licence (abonament) - almost no-one I know pays [36]


It doesn't mean a damn thing

The golden rule with TV licence inspectors - never, ever allow them into your property. You can actually entirely legally put a notice up saying that representatives of Capita are banned from your property - and you're perfectly entitled to use reasonable force to remove them if they turn up.

They would never get a search warrant on the basis of seeing a television turned on, particularly as you only need a licence to watch live TV.

Life / Polish TV licence (abonament) - almost no-one I know pays [36]

ID?! I'd tell them to get lost - it's not the law to provide ID when buying a telly, though it is the law for you to supply a name and address. You could even go one further and point out that the only acceptable form of ID in the UK is the passport - which has no address.

General rule when buying something like this is to always write nonsense, just to mess up their database that little bit more.

Law / What People think about Indian kolonialne meble & handicraft? [8]


Let's be realistic here - India isn't well known for producing high quality goods. It's no slight against India as a country, just that she is competing with China at the bottom end of the market. Certainly, people aren't boasting about "yes, my new product x was made in India" - rather, India is just another place that can supply cheap goods.

I will say however, that China is far more set up for producing absolutely anything you want.


I actually quite like Indians and have no issue with the country - but I don't believe that the country is actually producing anything that's world class, apart from the IPL ;) I'm just realistic - India is competing with China when it comes to mass producing rubbish. The more expensive things that India produces just won't have a market in Poland.

But one suggestion - if you can find a way to open a cheap Indian restaurant in Poland, you'll make a killing. An all-you-can-eat Indian here would be stupidly successful - the market is almost non-existent, the competition charges high prices and if you could staff it with authentic staff (rather than just hiring any old Arab and pretending they're Indian) - you would be rolling in money.

Take it from me - 20zl lunchtime, 40zl evening, all you can eat Indian would do a roaring trade. But you would have to operate it like a British one, rather than a Polish interpretation - no funny rules, no weird clauses - just plain and simply "sit down, stuff your face, go home happy".

Trust me - Poznan is screaming out for an all-you-can-eat type place.

Law / Foreigners Getting Married in Poland - a Guide to Formal Preparation [54]

As Harry listed above, basically. Or you can wait to see if Britain reminds Poland gently (but firmly) that they should get lost.

I suspect someone in the Ministry has realised that the money paid for these certificates would be better off in the country's pocket rather than in the embassies pockets!

Life / Polish TV licence (abonament) - almost no-one I know pays [36]


Not one prosecution has ever succeeded on the basis of those 'detector vans' - in fact, if you bother to read up on how TVL operate, they rely on people admitting all to the 'inspectors' - if you simply tell them to get lost, there's absolutely nothing they can do - judges are very reluctant to award search warrants on the basis of "i fink they're watching telly guv'nor".

Law / What People think about Indian kolonialne meble & handicraft? [8]

It's a non starter. India is associated in Poland (and Europe as a whole) with cheap products of a low quality.

Question - how much money are you looking to invest?

Law / Car Insurance in Poland - any company that will honour British no claim bonus discount? [30]


Even more in some cases - I

Mind you, you can always buy a Maluch with the optional afterburner accessory for 700 zloty :P

Travel / Which city is better to visit: Warsaw or Krakow? [169]


Actually, Mark is right. His wife is a beast - I mean, I've never seen anyone as ugly as her!


But you don't leave your flat, so how do you know this?

Law / Car Insurance in Poland - any company that will honour British no claim bonus discount? [30]


In theory, you should re-register it as soon as is practical.

In reality, Poland is like the UK - they don't care, as long as the car is legal somewhere. Denmark and Ireland are very tough on this though, due to their huge import duties on cars.

Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]


If you can speak the language (or if your wife can deal with it) - get one in a local area as opposed to in the centre of a city. I phoned quite a few in Poznan, and got quotes as high as 300zl a month for dealing with a few invoices - there is a very clear "English speaking tax" in Poland, and it's not uncommon to hear of horror stories from English speaking professionals. Usually - if they've actually worked in the West, they'll be fine - but steer clear of anyone who has never lived there, yet just speaks the language.

Classifieds / Poland Tartan Army [19]

Joined!

Travel / MEDYKA TO LWOW TO KIEV...whats the road like...? [19]


Kroscienko is the best bet for a quick crossing (never more than an hour to cross there!), but it's a bit out of the way. However, see below.


Get an IDP for a start, it'll avoid any hassle.

With insurance, it very much depends on who you see on the day. Generally speaking at Medyka, they will ask for a bribe to let you go the 100m or so into Shegyni to buy the insurance - in which case, you want to walk across into Ukraine via the pedestrian crossing, buy the insurance, then walk back. But - before you do this, check out the state of the non-EU queue into Poland first. If you ask the border guards nicely, they'll let you look - you can't see without passing through Polish passport control, but you can always ask :) If the queue is out of the building, then it's probably more worthwhile just to bribe the Ukranians to let you drive in without the insurance.

Other border crossings - I don't know. I would assume that there's insurance outlets at all the crossings, but I can't be certain. But you might be able to arrange some sort of insurance in Poland in advance - I know PZU has a Ukranian branch, for instance.

The state of Medyka is a shame on Poland - it's not just Ukraine that's responsible for the queues. The latest proposal there is to build the passport/customs hut right on the border for pedestrians, meaning that Ukraine will have to deal with the queues of pissed off people rather than Poland. You would think after endless riots at Medyka, they would build a facility capable of processing people!

Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]

Get an accountant. The whole mechanism for charging VAT within the EU is an absolute mess - I just about understand it, but I can't explain it for the life of me. An accountant will also save you endless headaches - and they're very cheap. My accountant charges 122zl a month brutto - which for the amount of time, hassle and effort she's saved me, it's been worth every penny. She also deals directly with ZUS and the Urzad Skarbowy - I don't have to get involved, apart from transferring money. A good accountant will also keep you right - if I have any questions, no matter how stupid, I go to my accountant and get an answer there and then.

Life / Where could I get MDMA. XTC in Poland? (drugs) [21]


And a dose of common sense, too. I don't go near drugs, but from what I've been told from a friend who is very into her pills, it's very very easy to find yourself ripped off. I wouldn't particularly fancy the chances of any foreigner kicking off about being screwed over as well.


Ah, come on, they're well into their steroids! It's strange actually - whereas in the UK, we have scrawny junkies - Polish junkies seem to be shaven headed muscle guys. Odd, really.

Life / Where could I get MDMA. XTC in Poland? (drugs) [21]


It's really not that difficult. Then again, if you have to ask on an internet forum... maybe it is!

Life / Trying to find a good office supplies store in Poland [5]

If you can deliver to Poznan for less than 40 pence per item, then I'm interested.

Contact office@lindenia :)

Law / Kaczyński doubts the Euro currency will survive [49]


It will help people like me though - the currency exchange is driving me mad. I work out my prices from Euro, but with the Zloty swinging around like mad, it's nearly impossible to set stable prices. In fact, I gave up and decided to work from Zloty instead!

Law / Why have they built another huge shopping centre in Lodz? [7]


There's a flight from Lodz to Warsaw? What on earth is the point?!

Then again, there's that scheduled service from Zielona Gora-Poznan-Bydgoszcz and another from Poznan-Szczecin, so...I guess someone must be flying!

Law / Non-EU country citizen on tourist visa - could anyone help me with Karta Pobytu? [63]

Being self employed is a non-starter for the vast majority of non-EU citizens.

Being employed by a Sp z o.o is doable in theory, but you still have to meet the financial and other criteria. One thing to bear in mind is that as far as I'm aware, simply owning a Sp. z o.o isn't enough to meet the requirements for a Karta Pobytu - you'll need to still have a work contract, health insurance and meet financial requirements. They can and will check out what the company is doing.

Trust me, Poland is not kind towards non-EU nationals seeking residency.

Are you trying to find a way to stay in Poland?

Real Estate / How are Poland's properties priced? [51]


And this is good, I think - better for them to avoid risk and stay stable, rather than getting involved in a mess elsewhere. Look at Sweden - they've practically had to resort to all sorts of threats towards Latvia, simply to stop Swedish banks from crashing and burning quite badly.


Depends - unfinished buildings are often available at a killing. I saw one building where you'd need about 500k to buy and finish it - but it was clearly worth at least 750k, if not more. For someone with the cash to do it, they'd be laughing.

Law / Non-EU country citizen on tourist visa - could anyone help me with Karta Pobytu? [63]


There's no way. You either get yourself a job (and work permit), or you leave. Or of course, you can carry on studying - your choice.


There's no difference, the rules are set centrally. Things like the amount of money a student needs to have is all set down in law - provinces can't deviate from it. They do tend to have some flexibility for EU citizens, but forget it if you're a non-EU national.

Basically - if you aren't studying and you can't get a work permit, it's time to leave.

Travel / Travelling from Wrocław to Prague [7]


What kind of speed do you have to do to manage it in that time?

Travel / Travel to Lwow from Rzeszow [18]


Train to the border, cross on foot and get a minibus is the cheapest and usually quickest way. There is at least one train a day going to Lwow from Rzeszow, but it could be held up at the border for quite a while. Train times at rozklad-pkp.pl/query.php/en? - they're frequent from Rzeszow to Przemysl, but a bus might be quicker.

I was there in the summer and it was 2zl for the minibus from Przemysl to the border, then 15UAH from Shegyni (the other side of the border from Medyka) to Lwow. Painless, apart from the fact that the minibus driver had had a drink or two ;) The other thing to bear in mind is that you need to walk for about 150-200m in the village before you come to the minibus terminal.

Otherwise, you can get a private car from the border to Lwow for about 100PLN.


Whatever you can communicate in, you can use. It's quite a Western city in terms of mentality and attitude - but I recommend approaching older people if you speak Polish as they're more likely to understand it. Younger people will be better with English, or so we found.

A tip - if you speak good enough Polish, then if you get stuck and need help, go to the Polish cathedral on the Rynok. They're exceptionally happy to help you there if you speak Polish - and they apparently speak the most beautiful old Polish.


Euro as well now - but as you say, make sure that it's crisp. They're exceptionally funny about notes being perfect.


What, where on earth did you find English menus? We visited a fair few cafes and only really found Polish menus.

Law / I have to fix Karta Pobytu for EU citizens [20]

I think the system for dealing with permanent residence applications from EU citizens who have been here for 5 years is a bit of a mess - it's reflected in the way that they don't even issue a proper ID card to permanent residents. The whole thing screams "we had to come up with something and we didn't think about it properly" - then again, when the law was changed by the coalition of ducks, is anyone surprised?