Hello. My wife and I would like to take our newborn to see his family in Poland as soon as possible.
We will apply for a British passport for him in the next couple of weeks.
Can he enter Poland on the British passport and then visit the USC there to apply for his Polish citizenship?
I ask because I am a US citizen and the local office embassy seems to say he couldn't enter the US with a foreign passport if he has a claim to US citizenship. I'm curious if something similar exists for Poland.
The baby can enter Poland on his British passport. You can go to USC to register the birth, but you must have his birth certificate translated into Polish. I assume here that both the baby's parents have proven Polish nationality and the baby has a right to Polish citizenship.
Very rarely they may give you trouble as there is a law saying Polish national has to show his Polish documents but saying that I travelled few times to Poland with my kid on foreign passport and it was ok. I doubt you will have any problems
Btw, it might be useful to bring your birth certificate as well as with me the USC said that they need more info avout the father than the British one gives.
They will not give you any trouble at all. Until a person (your baby) has proven (Polish) nationality, he in the eyes of the law is not Polish, but British.
I would advise bringing all your documents, birth and marriage certificate which will have to be translated and anything else. You have a choice of having a short or a long birth certificate for your child. Have few copies of each.
Actually that's not true. The kid was born Polish and the guards may ask why the kid is not on his Polish passport like his mom. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. It's not like they will be thrown in jail but if the guard will be in a bad mood they may spend some time explaining
The child is born the nationality that he can prove, in this case if he has a British passport he is British. In order to be on a Polish passport (his Mum's) the child would have to be registered either in USC or using the British Embassy as having been born to a Polish national. In fact, if the Dad is an American, the child can have an American passport as well as the British and Polish one.
The guards will never ask the question why he is not on a Polish passport.
Do you think I still need to bring my birth certificate if we got married in Poland and my name is on our marriage certificate? They kept my last birth certificate and ordering a new one is a pain and will need to be translated.
Probably best to ask my mother in law to pay them a visit and find out what I'll need...
One- if he shows British or American passpllort he has to of course follow the rules for foreigners ( like 90 days rule, registering to enter EU etc.) Which can make things more difficult.
That one is about Pllolish-canadian family that were stopped because one kid didn't have a Polish passport
That would be the best. As you are married the kid will be automatically assumed to be yours but I have no idea what info they actually wanted from my partner's birth certificate so I can't say one way or the other
One could wonder why do you bother about registering your child as a Polish citizen? I don't know about the American citizenship, but British can be revoked by him or by the authorities quite easily. Polish sticks to you forever- and because of that I'd rather leave it to the child (after they will be old enough) to decide
I agree with you Rubasz that Polish citizenship is very hard to get rid of.We had done the mistake for our kids to get them Polish citizenship,should have let them decide if they wanted it or not.Sometimes later in childrens life that can create problems.
If a marriage is registered in Poland then the necessary surnames/forenames of parents will already be there. If you do not have your marriage certificate you can obtain the long copy from USC. If a child is born to parents whose marriage is registered in Poland, you need the child's birth certificate to be translated if the child was born and not registered in USC in Poland.
If the child then has Polish citizenship and I assume British (as he will have a British passport), then travel or study in Europe (after Brexit) will be easier as he will be a European citizen. Many British passport holders are now claiming Polish or other European citizenships in order not to have trouble after Brexit.
I read with interest the article about the Canadian family and a child being refused as he did not have a Polish passport. Scary, stressful and expensive business.
The thing though is that as Poland and GB are within the EU (for the moment) all citizens within EU have a right to travel on any document proving their citizenship. So the situation of British/Polish is slightly different from Polish/Canadians.
True, and I don't think they will have any problems (otherwise I wouldn't do the same thing with my kid) I just want them to know that it can happen on rare occasions and not panic. It's not a criminal offence or anything
What kind of problems could Polish citizenship create?
Making him an American citizen will burden him with tax returns and other forms but I still wouldn't think twice about it. The laws could change by the time he is an adult.
All depends where the kid wants to stay?What if the kid gets some job that requires Top Security Clearence?He will really have serious problems getting that if he has citizenship of another country and will have to give up that.
