Poland's green card for American, and citizenship question

I just called the Polish embassy in the city I live in. Apparently, there's only two ways to get citizenship:

1. Blood relation is Polish. But my ancestors left the country in the late 1800's.....so the guys said I wouldn't qualify
2. Marry a Polish girl, apply for green card, then live in the country for 4-5 years.
3. Get a corporation to "sponsor" you.

I'm American born and raised, I own my own (small) company (so I won't be a drain on the Polish welfare system) and I will be looking to hire Polish workers when I move there.

Was wondering if you guys/gals had any ideas on how I can go about this? I'm not marrying some broad for a green card. I'm single...and will be looking for love, and will most likely find it eventually....

So any idea how I can move to Poland and LEGALLY live there on my own (no wife) for about a year or two? How long does a green card give me? Is it hard to get?

I'm kinda bummed now.....the Polish embassy threw a monkey wrench in my plans just now.

1. You must live in Poland for at least 3 years legally - it means you must have permission to settle, to reside somewhere. Secondly, you must have an income. Thirdly, you must speak Polish and have a document confirming your knowledge (or confirm you finished school in Poland, or finished school abroad but in Polish language).

2. You must live in Poland for at least 2 years in same conditions as above, but:

a) you must be married to a Polish citizen for at least 3 years, or
b) do not have any citizenship.

In this case the problem of Polish language is the same as in point 1.

3. You must live in Poland for at least 2 years as a refugee; Polish langauge - the same.

I understand the case of juveniles is irrevelant here. ;)

Thank you Veles.....is it hard to get permission to settle in Poland? What is the process like?

I am self employed and make good money. So income should not be an issue.

I'm just concerned that if I move to Poland in 1 year from now....and set up my business (I do work on the internet).....I don't know the exact process I need to take in order to stay in compliance with Polish law so I won't get deported back to America.

I am trying to learn Polish now, I am studying a few nights every week. I should be fluent in 1 years time. I speak 4 other languages fluently, so Polish should not be an issue....even though it's a very challenging language to learn so far for me.

I will be looking to hire 1-2 Polish employees to help me with work.

So.....kinda hoping the government will look with favor upon me because I'm contributing to Polish society with my business and taxes. I'm not political and I just want to keep to myself an live my life in peace. Will be looking to get married eventually if the right girl comes along.

To be honest, I am not sure if it is hard to get this permission. Some people have, some not. If you have an idea what you want to do here, I think it would not be that hard. However, you will need to have work here or study here. If you want to have a company or something like that, I am not sure.

With finding a girlfriend here you would not have any problems. ;)

Thanks. I tried calling the Polish embassy in America in the city I live in.....the guy sounded impatient, like he didn't want to talk to me.

I am visiting Poland early next year. I should speak enough Polish to walk into a government office and ask them the question in person.

If I am contributing a lot of money and jobs to the economy and society in Poland....they would be crazy NOT to give me citizenship.

I wouldn't be so sure about it - it is not about money.

That happened to an American friend of mine who was trying to get a karta pobytu-residency card. He was self employed but couldn't get a work permit based on that. He finally left Poland after 18 months.

Another American wasn't so lucky. He was deported for working without a work permit. Both had their own companies here. It's not as easy or as logical as you think. Good luck.

Man.....that sucks.

What if I meet a cute girl, fall in love.....can I somehow extend my stay until the legally required time so then I can marry her and get citizenship?

I should mention....I own the corporation that I work for.

I draw a salary from the corporation.

Technically speaking....I'm not "self employed" as such.

I wonder if this will make a difference?

You can open a llc company called spooka zoo here and conduct business here make sure u pay taxes and apply for temporary residence for 1 or 2 years and keep doing that for 5 years( I'm not sure if law changed to 3 yrs) and apply for permanent residence then citizenship.

Regarding marriage you will have to get a letter from states that u were never married before so better take girl to states on k1( fiancée visa) get married then come back will be swifter and done in 3 yrs if all is not a fake marriage

I have an American corporation....LLC.

Are Americans allowed to create Polish corporations?

I do SEO/marketing.

Are taxes really 40% of income after expenses?

It's not called green card in Poland. Rather there are work permits, residency cards or blue cards. This website has a lot of information concerning foreigners stay in Poland. There is residency permit for people opening business in Poland.

From what I remember you can get permit for stay in Poland if you open a limited liability company.

migrant is not for profit organization and you can call them or send an email if you have any questions.

In few EU countries you can simply buy a house to get permit to stay there. With permit to stay from other EU country you can freely travel to Poland (but not work here I think).


The highest rate of income tax is 32%, but with costs of employer and obligatory insurances it's around 40-50% (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Poland). But I think you're interested with Corporate income tax and it is 19%: paiz.gov.pl/polish_law/taxation/cit

An LLC is a "Limited Liability Company" - something for one man shows, but barely what I would call a corporation. Is that wishful thinking from your side? :)

Why do you want to move to Poland anyway? Jobs for workers in the US are desperately needed, so why don't you create them at home?

Poles with 11% unemployment need them more desperately than Americans with 6% :)

100% agreed Monitor and no one wants to work under 10 bucks an hr even as a cashier

Los Angeles County had an unemployment rate of 10.3% last year. Not much better than Poland.


Show me how you would survive on minimum wage ($9,- per hour in CA) in SoCal without working at least two jobs. Ever heard of the 'working poor'?

And in USA nobody would even think of working for 10PLN (3USD) per hour. But in reality probably you think that nobody wants to work for 10pln/h because you live in big city while most of unemployment is away from agglomerations.

wiking.edu.pl/upload/geografia/images/Polska_bezrobocie2010.jpg
( 2010, so now it should look little bit better )