Travel / Hire a Car in Berlin to drive into Poland - can I cross the border driving it? [15]


It depends on the company. For instance, cars rented in Spain tend to be limited to the Iberian peninsula only, while Polish car hire companies can be funny about Romania and Bulgaria.

News / Only 37% of Poles read a book in 2017 [13]

That's certainly part of it. When you look at what people are reading, it's very often simplified and dumbed down to appeal to as many people as possible, especially online. It's why I try and read Tygodnik Powszechny to practice Polish, because they aren't trying to appeal to a mass audience with their writing.

History / The Piast dynasty is of non-Slavic origin? Latest DNA findings suggest Germanic or Celtic [11]

Thank you for this Ziemowit, much appreciated.


Isn't there some speculated connection between Mieszko I and the Danes? I suppose it would makes sense if the Piasts were Germanic, as it would neatly tie in with other European royalty, and would explain how Mieszko was able to give a thorough beating to the other tribes wandering around at that time.

Law / British Driving licence confiscation in Poland [4]


As I understand it, they should pass the licence to the embassy, who will then pass it back to ether you or the DVLA. You only have a driving ban in Poland, not elsewhere in the EU, so you should be able to simply retrieve your licence somehow.

I'd contact the British Embassy in Warsaw and ask them how it's dealt with. Either way, you can simply apply for a new licence from the DVLA - just don't drive in Poland until your ban is up.

News / Tesco out of Poland? Żabka and Biedronka opportunity. [73]


Well, let's say it happened. The bigger retailers would actually make *more* money, because prices would have to be set at a level that would allow the small shops to survive. Let's say 1L of Tymbark costs 4.20zł in your local shop and 3.30zł in the supermarket. Suddenly, the supermarket has 90gr more to spend on convincing people to visit them - so they can then afford to give away tea/coffee, they can afford to create IKEA-style play areas for kids, etc etc. End result? The small corner shop goes out of business regardless.

Law / Granting Polish citizenship by the President (for money) [15]

Malta was/is doing it as well. I forget the numbers, but it was over half a million Euro.

Law / Buying a house in Warsaw without Polish citizenship and stay there on a student/work visa. [4]


It can do. For instance, if you want a long term visa based on being self sufficient, owning property is a good start.

Travel / Most beautiful small towns / villages of Poland [49]

Głuchołazy would be a good tip. You can easily spend a few hours in Park Zdrojowy, and there's a couple of very good restaurants there with excellent service.

Failing that, Kudowa-Zdrój doesn't get much attention from foreigners, yet it's a delightful spa town.

News / Tesco out of Poland? Żabka and Biedronka opportunity. [73]


Polly, why don't you post more about these things? I'd love to know more about how the logistics worked, whether you had problems with bureaucracy, etc etc.

Law / Highway Code equivalent in Poland? [7]


Sure, it's called the Kodeks Drogowy (Driving Code). Here you are - kodeks-drogowy.org

All new drivers in Poland are expected to know this. I remember having plenty of fun with the priority rules, though those rules in particular are interpreted rather differently by courts/police - if you have a collision as a result of enforcing your priority over another vehicle, you're likely to be judged at fault even if you were technically in the right according to the Kodeks Drogowy.

History / Polish-Hungarian border exchange? [60]

Exactly. You could see it with Slovenia, the Baltic States and Finland, all of whom had good reason to push quickly towards the Euro. Even several of the other currencies in Europe are tied to the Euro - the Bosnian convertible mark, the Bulgarian lev and the Danish krone for example.

History / Polish-Hungarian border exchange? [60]


Doubt it. Hungary has had huge problems with currencies throughout the 20th century, and there's no reason to believe that the forint will be any better.

Hungarian kroner = abandoned due to rampant inflation in 1927
Hungarian pengo = abandoned due to unbelievable hyperinflation in 1946
Hungarian forint = suffered huge losses in the early 1990's.

Orban himself is talking about Euro entry, and if the EU starts to tie cohesion funds to Euro membership, Hungary will be first in line to join.

Work / What should I study for easy job in Poland? [9]


I could be wrong, but I think a degree is the minimum required to lead classes in a nursery in Poland, isn't it?

There are some jobs out there in nurseries where you don't need qualifications, but to say that they are exploitative is an understatement.

Love / Polish girl "loves" me, despite not meeting in real life first [56]


Without a doubt. Not even very good trolling, as anyone with any knowledge whatsoever would know that most Europeans go nowhere near the mafia-infested hole that is Southern Italy.

Love / Polish girl "loves" me, despite not meeting in real life first [56]


Not quite sure how your friends in the deep south of Italy (where most Europeans simply don't venture) are going to help you with a Polish girl, to be honest.

Work / Poland is not the best country to get part time job with study? [59]


That situation has changed. Now, the restriction only applies to those with visas stuck into their passports. Those with residence permits can work freely.

Law / Chance for citizenship of Poland; my great grandmother born in 1898 - confirmation, granting by the President? [8]

OK - this is specifically about applying for citizenship through the President.

1. Yes. You should own the property for a while and live there, making sure that all the property taxes are paid and that you have your registered address there.

2. Absolutely. B2 is good, and shows that you care enough about the language.

3. -Yes. Student visas perhaps not so much, but a work visa (or better, a residence permit) will help you considerably.

4 - Yes, but it should be for a good period of time. It will also help if there are kids.

5 - There's no guarantee of success, but all of these things can help you. Having a good connection to the ruling party in Poland (such as being a member of their youth wing) will help you considerably too.

Feedback / Threads about Muslims to be automatically in Off-Topic? [20]


I'm all for it. I think the quality of PF will go up considerably if such a rule is in place.

Admin, thank you for the response, it's appreciated.

Feedback / Threads about Muslims to be automatically in Off-Topic? [20]


Well, I also propose topics relating to Poland and Muslims should go into off-topic. Makes perfect sense, as really - aren't we all fed up of the topic anyway?

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


Source?

News / Poland refuses to give jobs to British [19]


Speak for yourself. If you bring value to a company, you'll get a job. Speaking Polish is pretty much essential if you want to function in a Polish company though - perhaps as much as 40% of my work involves Polish in some way. Even on Thursday morning, I had a task to complete that involved understanding how Polish law interprets a certain business requirement. Without Polish, I simply wouldn't be able to do it.


You really won't. There's so many opportunities for monolingual English speakers now that you'd have to be a blithering idiot not to get employed now. Having said that, most educated Poles will throw CV's in the bin if they contain spelling and grammar mistakes in English.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


Actually, my views are quite hardline. I'm against non-EU immigration unless there's a clear shortage of labour, and even then, we should be giving priority to those from the former Soviet Union over anyone else. We can make exceptions for highly skilled engineers, programmers, doctors, etc, but not for idiots without an education and experience. There's no purpose whatsoever for Poland to give residence permits to "students" (like we see on PF) that are coming to work in kebab, and I think the criteria for citizenship for non-EU citizens should be considerably tighter - even 10 to 15 years. I don't see any need to allow Ahmed to work in kebab when Ihor from Ukraine can also work in kebab.

The current system where Poland offers cheap "studies" to non-EU citizens who use it as a backdoor into Europe while working full time is simply not acceptable. We can access (easily) around 300 million people from the FSU - we simply don't need low-cost Asian or African labour. Should we take in someone from Africa who has a PhD and is an expert in his field? Yes, of course. Should we take in some idiot from the desert who "fell in love" with his exceptionally stupid wife who met him on a beach selling necklaces? Hahaha. No.

I'm not against taking refugees, but I absolutely think that we shouldn't worry too much if they simply vanish into Germany. I mean, we could settle them near the German border, and what they do from there is their own business and not ours. We could even settle them in somewhere like Słubice or Kostrzyn, where they only have an hour on the train to Berlin. It's in fact the easiest way to do things, and would have avoided a pointless clash with the EU.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


You're welcome to wait until the 2021 census to establish a number. Or you can go and see for yourself, which is easy enough to do.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]

Last census in Poland was in 2011. Warsaw has changed a hell of a lot in 6 years.

Just take a trip to Warszawa Centralna and see it for yourself. You'll be staggered to see just how many brown skinned people are walking around.

Work / Fraudulent job situation Poland [15]


Nothing much at all, the problem is that they can work freely with a residence permit, and there are no restrictions on working. So, let's say someone comes from an Indian village and barely speaks English. He gets accepted to some "higher school" with the name "Warsaw University of Business-Technology" based in some old high school in Praga, where the 'exams' are a complete joke. In reality, he works 40-60 hours a week and doesn't really attend classes, just exams.

Poland is being heavily marketed towards non-EU foreigners as a very easy place to work and gain permanent residence - which is the holy grail for many non-EU citizens. From there, they can also find a wife, which gives them a legal route into more desirable places.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


You haven't got a clue how Polish people feel about it. The fact that there's no voice (except among the very, very fringe minority) saying anything about it says it all. Try passing through Warszawa Centralna sometime, you'll see a huge amount of foreigners there.


I'm not a "guest" here.


As I've just said, Warsaw is full of Muslims. Perhaps you'd be wise to take a trip yourself before making comment.

Work / Fraudulent job situation Poland [15]


I don't think there's any limit in Poland, especially as they're employed through civil contracts rather than work contracts.

Common scam - they come for very cheap "studies", but in fact, they are here to work.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


You really should visit Warsaw sometime. Warsaw is full of Muslims, particularly in the centre. You've never been here, so you have no idea about the open door policy that Poland has.