Work / Poland's ZUS-office visit for self-employed really that easy? [5]

You need to have the Pesel number to register your business in Poland- check this site - it may help you to go through the whole process: foreigners in poland com/start-business-poland/

Language / Czesc/pa vs. no czesc/no pa [18]


Yes - it is used this way too. Beside the 'czesc' is common to say 'na razie' for goodbye - and all that between people who know rather well eachother.

Life / Need the best Poland data sim card provider for use in personal unlocked wifi device (mifi). [21]

The prepaid sim card situation in Poland is changing from time to time. Currently I'm considering to move on to Virgin Mobile - for 19PLN you get 2 gigabytes of data (4G LTE), free text messages to all, free calls to Play and Virgin networks, and 100 minutes to landlines and other cellular providers.

I'm on Play now, but using the free mobile Aero internet, so 4G would be a plus and most of all no such short validity time - so no bother with buying 'doladowania'.

I'm still pulling off the transition because of the unused funds on my Play account..

Love / Any particular Polish customs or traditions that I should know about in my relationship? [45]


It is less likely - yes.


Probably, but it may depend on circumstances.


Yes - a hug, a touch from a nice girl - why not, but touching back - maybe not so fast.


Ehhm - some other words exist like 'ubóstwiam Cię', 'miłuję' (this one is a bit outdated), but 'kocham' is the most universal and common.


Yes - the best would be just a spontaneous laugh :)

Life / Is Apple Pay available in Poland? [3]

Have you checked this?


Of course if the maps covers Poland too.

Apple Pay is compatible with any NFC reader on the market, so in Poland you should pay virtually anywhere (more than 65% terminals in Poland accept contactless payments - data from 2014)

That's my theory - I don't have possibility to check that.

Here's probably a chart on which American cards are compatible with Apple Pay. As far I know Polish banks are still testing this service so the cards issued in Poland are not accepted.

Life / Russian citizen wants immigrate to Poland [39]

And maybe this would be an interesting reading for you?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karta_Polaka

Law / Question on allegro.pl. Have I actually paid? [5]

Before you buy an Item you need to choose delivery and payment options. If I'm not mistaken you need to have an bank account to even register. If you have such account then most likely you've got also the debit/credit card. Paying via the bank transfer - choose your bank name and after purchasing the site is automatically redirected to your bank - then after log-in you just have to confirm this payment - the amount/address, etc. is already there. Maybe easier is just to pay directly using the bank card number.

You may always track the status of your payment on the tab: /moje allegro/PayU/Lista moich wpłat

Life / Poles hard working or just born lazy. [58]

I often see that kind of picture on the Polish streets:

Genealogy / I'm trying to find my old friends who used @poczta.onet.pl email [22]


This is exactly what appeared in the message? (spambl2 - I can't recognise what it is - maybe some kind of spam block)
I think you blocked poczta.onet.pl somewhere. Try a different browser / disable the antivirus or an other similar application and check again.

Genealogy / Great Grandfather - Leon Kulikowski - was shot by Bolsheviks in 1919 [4]

So you are the original poster - a 'Guest' then? It's good that you have something more. Lot of work though to gather additional info - check the whole thread below for an available genealogy resources, read this specified post - there's a hint on someone who might help with the Ukraine research:

https://polishforums.com/genealogy/poland-resources-3318/2/#msg547222

Some questions from PM (no confidential information there so I decided to publish it here - might be useful for others)


It turns out that the particular location of this place is not so obvious:

google.pl/maps/place/Vil'khovets',+Lviv+Oblast,+Ukraina/@49.6399947,24.1705007,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x0:0x0!2zNDnCsDM4JzI0LjAiTiAyNMKwMTAnMjQuMCJF!3b1!3m1!1s0x473a92ca11492ef7:0xc0a39e3ed0ed60d0

yet another town which could be named Olchowiec at the beginning of the 20th century:
google.pl/maps/place/Vil'khivtsi,+Zakarpats'ka+oblast,+Ukraina/@48.258235,23.7493008,10z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x47379eaa156f3871:0x668a3c1483b82e78

other links:
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olchowiec_(rejon_przemyślański)
wikimapia.org/19437243/Olchowiec
data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~community~-1049276

this is another Olchowiec (in Poland):
google.pl/maps/place/Olchowiec/@49.4721448,21.4641989,11z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x473c255ee266d38b:0x62e0eea39485d2a6


From what I can see from the Russian text they say that in order to meet all formal requirements the petition should contain name, surname, residence place and the specified issue - question. It have to be signed with data and then sent to them. (Maybe a good scan should be enough?)

Genealogy / Trying to track down heritage - Ostmina and Nowelhozycze? Any places like that in Poland? [18]


Ostrowina, Ostrów, Ostrowo, Słowina (Słowino), and Osowa by the Okmin lake ;)

Genealogy / Trying to track down heritage - Ostmina and Nowelhozycze? Any places like that in Poland? [18]


If I had to play guessing game, then my first shot (from far far away) would be Nowe Rozyce (Nowe Różyce with Polish signs) - it's part of the Różyce village in the Lodz Voivodeship in Poland :)


@Tay0802 - Could you reweal some names?

Genealogy / Trying to track down heritage - Ostmina and Nowelhozycze? Any places like that in Poland? [18]

Probably some small towns or villages - plenty in Poland, from what we have now it's even hard to guess what it might be..

Genealogy / Trying to track down heritage - Ostmina and Nowelhozycze? Any places like that in Poland? [18]

Do you have any documents with those names in the form of handwriting? It must be misspelled.

Genealogy / ZARAZINSKI's [3]

I don't know any, but check the facebook for example - there are quite a few people with this name. Polish similar website is Nasza Klasa (nk.pl) - though most here are registered at FB too.

On the other hand this page shows that 160 Zarazinski's are living in Poland currently.
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/zarazi%25C5%2584ski.html
You should know that the Polish spelling of that name is Zaraziński.


I'm not an expert but not all Poles with ski ending in their surnames belong to a noble family or ski's were 'royal'.

Travel / Jetski in Poland? Mazuria lakes. [2]

Jet ski in Mazuria can be used at all designated navigable routes beyond the "zones of silence" such as Dobskie lake reserve and Nidzkie lake reserve.

In many places, however, they are speed restrictions and / or waves ban which limits the possibility of free jet skiing. The largest concentration of jet ski enthusiasts in Mazuria are the place Rydzewo near Gizycko.

A good place (where there are no restrictions) for motorboating sports are big lakes: Niegocin, Sniardwy, Dargin and Mamry.

One more thing: towing eg. a wheel, skier, etc. is allowed only in designated areas in Mazuria. Such area is for example on the lake Niegocin in the vicinity of the Wilkasy village.


It could be an event or an organised trip: water-jet.com.pl/en/cruises-trips

Genealogy / Poland's brewmasters around 1900? [2]


Multum Polish breweries at that time - bigger and smaller - a lot of todays beer brands in Poland are even older. I doubt that exist one collective list with all Polish beer producers.

Search for 'browary w Polsce' (Breweries in Poland)

Genealogy / Siedlecki family [14]


I live 40km from this place, but sometimes drive through the town distant about 8km from there...
Anyway it's an old post.

Genealogy / Looking for family: Sobleskie, Kowalski Jan - both came to the US in the very early 1900's [2]


It's probably misspelled name - probably nobody possess this name in Poland. I suspect that the name was Sobieski or maybe Sobolewski - both quite popular here.


known as the most common name in Poland (the majority of sample forms at Polish post offices is filled with this name exactly)



Another not much useful info: at those times was no Poland on the maps officially..

Genealogy / DABEK ( Dąbek ) from BOBY, lubelskie [2]

Someone gave an ad here on some Dabek ancestors from Boby - do you know something about it?
boards.ancestry.com/localities.ceeurope.poland.lublin/1363/mb.ashx?pnt=1

Boby - it's the village in the Kraśnik area? Check this:
facebook.com/search/str/dąbek krasnik/keywords_top

Food / Polish Pear Wine and Cider - is it popular in Poland? [9]

Good pear wine belongs rather to the homemade products. It's probably hard to find a Polish pear wine in the a shop. It's more popular in the form of recipes - one example here (site in Polish):

winiarze.pl/artykuly/wina/przepis-na-domowe-wino-z-gruszek

Study / Application deadline for the study, payment method; UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW [8]


It strictly depends on the school, type of study (part time/full time) and the field of study. But from what I can see the final deadline for the registration in some of Polish universities is about mid of September.

Language / The 'sneeze' word - it has double meaning in Polish?? [3]

sneeze = kichać in Polish. This language is known for different meanings of words, but 'kichać' don't belong to that group in my opinion. The only related term in use in Poland is the adjective 'zakichany' which describes something as poor/sick/weak/bad...

I don't know any joke connected to that word and it's not easy for me to understand why those people would have any fun about not sneezing.

Law / Ways of getting Permanent residency in Poland [101]

Yes, it allows to stay in Poland permanently. It also gives the right to work (only in Poland). This card is issued for the period of 5 years, then it needs to be replaced. You may travel on this card to the Schengen countries and stay there for up to 3 months without additional permit.

malopolska.uw.gov.pl/default.aspx?page=Long_term_eu

Language / Ambulans displacing karetka - similar meaning of different Polish words? [19]

Because ambulans sounds more modern - more wordly and dignified. Karetka is an old word which may be associated to an old era. This is the new Poland, and the new words - of course mostly borrowed from the more wealthy and better West...

Law / Ways of getting Permanent residency in Poland [101]

Read this for a good start: residence-card.html

Of course don't forget about search button on PF - a bunch of threads about Poland's residency here.

Law / Car Insurance in Poland (A/C) [32]

I am using car insurance price comparison - you may be surprised how different prices for one car can be in Poland for OC/AC in different companies:

rankomat.pl/kalkulator/oc-ac/#/

Life / Home Internet and 2-years contract cancellation clause in Poland [6]

You're welcome, I'll just add that it depends on the phone line in your apartment (if you have any - or in the close area; neighbors) - which of the two providers - Orange or Netia could offer their services for you.

Life / Home Internet and 2-years contract cancellation clause in Poland [6]

From the well known possibilities of a landline, wired broadband internet check:
Orange (min. 12 month contract):
orange.pl/internet_stacjonarny_indywidualny.phtml
and Netia:
netia.pl/oferta-dom/internet.html
(Now I noticed that they offer also short 6-months contracts for students)

Here you can also get information about possibilities of WIFI in your place (English version available - click on the US flag)
gdzienet.pl
Give the city and address, then search / sign up for offer, and put an e-mail address on which you should get details from providers in range.

Life / Home Internet and 2-years contract cancellation clause in Poland [6]

Most contracts for a broadband internet in Poland last 1 or 2 years. In fact I do not reckon now any major Polish internet prowider which offers shorter contracts.

For a mobile internet (of course with data limits) the cheapest option is Virgin Mobile in my opinion - no contracts at all, 2GB of data (obviously expandable) and free calls to PLAY/VM for only 19pln/month.

You can also try to contact any local wireless ISP in your area. They may be more flexible. Or just find a neighbor in your wifi range and try to get along with him to pay for sharing.