Can my American wife stay in Poland with me? I have citizenship of Poland.

So I was born in Poland but my parents moved to Germany when I was very young, then moved to USA. I have Polish, German and USA citizenship. My wife is American. Lets say we decide to retire in Poland. I know I can stay but what about her? I tried searching this forum but coming up empty. Thank you

Short answer: yes but she has to get residency permits?

I'm about to start a similar process in March. So far, this is what I understood:
- Get an extended marriage certificate (I'm guessing you got married in the US) w/Hague apostille.
- Translate it to Polish. *Seems you might need to translate her birth certificate as well. Not sure if it needs the Hague apostille.
- Present all that plus fill some papers at local Voivodeship office. You'll be applying for a 2-year residence permit.
- You should get the residence card for her in up to 45 days.

Step 1:

Art. 53. 1. Zezwolenia na zamieszkanie na czas oznaczony udziela się cudzoziemcowi, który:
6) jest małżonkiem obywatela polskiego,

Step 2:

Art. 64. 1. Zezwolenia na osiedlenie się udziela się cudzoziemcowi, który:
2) pozostaje w związku małżeńskim, zawartym z obywatelem polskim co najmniej 3 lata przed złożeniem wniosku i bezpośrednio przed złożeniem wniosku przebywał nieprzerwanie na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej co najmniej przez 2 lata na podstawie zezwolenia na zamieszkanie na czas oznaczony;

( ustawa z dnia 13 czerwca 2003 r. o cudzoziemcach )

Can someone translate this. I have no more time.

You can live together in any EU country.

Step 1:

If she want to stay in Poland more than 3 months she can get permission to live in RP because she's wife of polish citizen ( art. 53. 1, 1) - act of foreigners ) for two years.

Step 2:

After living in Poland for 2 years, without the brake, she can get permission to settle in RP, if before sending the application she was your wife longer than 3 years and also if she got the permission which I wrote above - step 1.

( art. 64. 1. 2) - act of foreigners )
Zezwolenia na osiedlenie się udziela się cudzoziemcowi, który:
2) pozostaje w związku małżeńskim, zawartym z obywatelem polskim co najmniej 3 lata przed złożeniem wniosku i bezpośrednio przed złożeniem wniosku przebywał nieprzerwanie na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej co najmniej przez 2 lata na podstawie zezwolenia na zamieszkanie na czas oznaczony;

( ustawa z dnia 13 czerwca 2003 r. o cudzoziemcach )[/quote]

I never needed apostilles on my birth certificate when applying for residency permits. However, I did need sworn translations of it, plural because the translations couldn't be from more than 90 days earlier than the application, each and every time, apparently they were concerned that my birth certificate might have changed since I was born and they couldn't just accept the translation from my previous application a couple of years earlier.


The really important thing to note is that she must submit her application for the two-year permit no later than 45 days before the end of her 90-day visa. If she gets it in before that deadline, she can stay until a final decision is issued, no matter how long that takes; if she doesn't and the two-year permit isn't ready when her 90-day visa expires, she has to leave Poland (and the entire Schengen zone).

Thank you guys. Thanks for translating. I can speak Polish but never went to Polish school so reading is tough, plus the legal stuff is even harder

Thanks about that. My girlfriend is struggling to get a clear answer about that question and as I'm not in the US right now mailing everything (being from CA need an extra step to get the Apostille) would take about 2 months, too long for our plans.

A clear answer from who?

From the local Bielsko/Katowice authorities where we should register our marriage so I can get the 2 year residence permit (getting married in the US soon, but in NY and I'm from CA so can't get the apostille for the birth certificate in person, and via mail can take too long) She always gets there at closing time and the attention is not the best, so far she got a "BC Not needed at all" and a "Probably yes with apostille as well"

In that case I'd certainly get one; better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.