Polish citizenship for de-facto relationships

Hi everyone,

I'm an Australian man and I've been in a relationship with my Polish girlfriend now for 2 years now. We've been living together between our homes in Poland and Australia during this time. I applied for and received a temporary residence permit last year (what a nightmare that was dealing with the Polish bureaucracy!).

We've been discussing our future together and where to live and she's reluctant to leave her parents in Poland so I'm considering a more permanent move to Poland. Neither of us are interested in getting married since I'm an anti-theist and she's non-religious and since marriage is a religious ceremony, we aren't interested. I have a few questions and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me answer these :)

1. What are the requirements for getting permanent residency and/or citizenship taking into consideration our inclinations not to get married?
2. I understand that I'm not allowed to work as part of the temporary residence permit. I have a successful, autonomous business in Sydney which means I don't have to work in Poland but I'd be interested in potentially starting a business in Poland - is this allowed under a temporary residence permit?

3. Can I buy land and build a house in Poland?
4. Am I able to open a bank account?
5. Can I apply for a mortgage in Poland and use my home in Australia as security or would I be advised to mortgage my home in Sydney using an Australian bank to obtain funds?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

John

without permission you can buy a flat.


yes of course but not online. You need to visit a bank branch in person. They send credit cards etc to address in Poland.


:)

Hi Peter! Thanks for your help :) Do you live in Olsztyn? Are you Polish or where do you hail from originally?

Do you know the answers to 1 & 2?

So I can buy a flat but not land and build a house? I think I read somewhere that I need to get a special permit/permission to buy land?

Not sure about you answer to 5...?

Hi gyrex I am iin Australia as well. You need to go to bank and ask here. The normal banker at the branch will most likely be clueless as they normally are. They may have someone smarter doing overseas stuff for them and most likely you need to find that person. My experience with this sort of thing here is the conclusion that we have the worse bankers in the world. One of the problems is that here we pay totally uncompetitive fees and rates and just about anywhere is better as you pribably know all 4 major banks practice corruption regularly and are above the law it would seem. It may be better to hire someone to handle this who is a pro and does not work at the bank to find the best solution. What you pay them will be trivial compared to what ozzie banks can cost you. I have a business in poland and it's funded there if we need cash as it was so uncompetitive here I actually started laughing at the manager. Conclusion...do plenty of homework and not on the net.

John there is no way a Polish bank would accept your house in Oz as collareral so you would need instead to refinance it in Oz. Note that for large amounts you also have to go through some buraucracy to bring the cash into Poland - but its not as bad as it used to be.

you do know that you can have a civil wedding with no priests involved ? That would make your life very much easier vis-a-vis the questions you are asking.

@Marsupial - I think you've misunderstood. I'm an Australian seeking to make some more permanent arrangements in Poland. Regarding banks in Australia, there's plenty of very competitive options available. Have a look at ING Direct - that's who I use. No bank fees at all.

@cms I thought that may be the case re financing a house. There's plenty of competitive forex solutions these days which offer little to no fees so I'll go with that option.

Yes, I'm aware we could have a civil wedding but we're not keen on the idea of marriage because of its religious roots. We feel that we don't need a piece of paper to formalise our relationship but it may be something that we're forced into...? Do civil weddings exist in Poland?

Are there any avenues to obtaining permanent residency and citizenship for de-facto/long term relationships in Poland that anyone's aware of?

All weddings are civil. In Poland civil weddings can be perfromed by priests in church but they're still civil weddings (the church can't prevent people who got married in church for divorcing for example, if the church neglects to do the proper civil paperwork you're not married legally etc).

And weddings with no religious element at all are completely possible.

And marriage will improve your legal situation a great deal.

Yes. I live in the beautiful city of Olsztyn. Somewhere between fifteen lakes.


Sorry. I don't know. See zielonalinia.gov.pl/temporary-residence-and-work-permit-41713


Yes you need to get a special permit/permission to buy land (especially agricultural land)

is it? can you not get a registry office do?

I thought marriage, like religion, was just an invention created long ago to keep the masses calm and sedated and coerce them into leading non-rebellious "productive" lives :)

that is all very well sparks but the practical aspects for this couple would just make their lives easier.

Peter, I'm from Manly Beach, Sydney and live half the year in dobre Miasto :) it's so pretty in Warmia Mazury and I love Olsztyn, especially the zamek and stary Miasto - such a beautiful city. I've seen the Australian English school in town and it always makes me smile :)

Monogamous marriage is designed to harness and exploit male productiviy. It's the system that gets the largest number of married and in families (and men with families to support are the traditional economic motor behind the rise of the west).

Many think that technological and economic developments mean that men don't have to be exploited so ruthlessly and that's part of the rise of feminism (and why many men are opting out of the labor market in the US).

oh I know Dobre Miasto the second biggest Gothic church, the Stork Tower and a deer holding an oak-wig with two acorns. And of course a candy factory which emit a lovely smell ;)