Living in Poland since 2010 and I still don't have ID. Advice needed please.

Perhaps there was some "transition period" after Poland joined EU in 2004 and non Polish couldn't buy house then (like they still cannot buy farm land), that's why they had to prove that she's Polish.

Author. If so much in trouble why not use help of some lawyer?
google.co.uk/search?q=Krosno+lawyer

No. It was possible to buy real estate before 2004, also. Albeit with some surreal restrictions, some of them to do with borders and military installations.


Very good advice.

what a load of old nonsense - obviously you are not 'Brit' why put it in your name and confuse people and then ask for advice?

pay for a lawyer is my suggestion.

yes you are right thats how they know she has a polish father

I think there is still an issue with foreigners buying agricultural land, or a second property, but I am not sure.
The OP's story is very weird...as other people mentioned here, as a EU citizen you are entitled to a 'Karta Pobytu'. They cannot refuse you "meldowanie" and "karta pobytu"

Only to get permanent residence status, you will have to wait 5 years.
Of course...if you are non-EU...the whole picture changes.

She doesn't have a Polish father: her father lost his Polish citizenship when he took British citizenship, end of story.

Our experience has been somewhat different. We could not proceed with the house buying process without a Polish ID card with Pessel number. We have held the temporary residence permit for 3 years previously, this is just a form that has to be renewed every 3 months, stamped and held by the local office.

On applying for the ID card we were informed it was not possible to obtain without PolishCitizenship.
Citizenship took 10 months in total, the ID card took 3 months extra.
We also could not not buy a new car without showing the Polish ID card, this has been put on hold for now.

That's absolutely wrong, and I suspect the notary didn't know his arse from his elbow in this respect. I didn't show any residency documents when purchasing property here.


What's interesting is that he appears to be in Poland illegally.

This is absolutely incorrect. Somebody is seriously misinforming you.

Not necessarily. If mcm1 was not EU citizen, then he could legally buy only a flat, not house.

This is true. Mcm1 has said or at least implied though, in another thread about buying property, that he's from the UK. There shouldn't be any problem in buying a house unless he actually means a farm.

We were both born in the UK and still live here....for now.
The 'estate agency' had access to a lawyer friend, we also had all the documents at every step taken to an independant lawyer some distance away, we didnt meet with the Notary until the final day of signing the contracts. All of them said we could not proceed without the Polish ID card and Pessel number.

When transfering the gas, water, electric, internet, alarm etc. we were asked for a copy of said ID card every time.
So why are people having vastly different experiences/ difficulties?
Maybe different regions have their own interpretations of the law or indeed there are different laws?
I believe I am correct in saying that depending on how much land you are buying and what that land is zoned as has a reflection on the buying process.

Where we have purchased there used to be a minimum of 1600m2 of land required to build a new house, in the past year or so this has been reduced to 750m2. we were told this by a developer and it was confirmed by someone in the local town hall. I only mention this as maybe it has some bearing on the situation-what I dont know!

Agriculture and forestry have special rules at the moment. This is temporary.


There's no legal basis for that anywhere in the EU.


Is it a small town by any chance? And do you think someone was trying for a bribe to sort it all out?

Foreigner can also get PESEL and perhaps by Polish ID card they didn't mean "Dowód Osobisty" but some other document for foreigners living in Poland.

This is why we have had to wait for my wife to get her Citizenship we understand, as you say this should change in 2016.
Maybe this is why people are experiencing difficulties, if you are buying in/ near a city then the land is possibly zoned as construction whereas out in the countryside it would suggest that the land is zoned for agriculture or forest with just the building itself sitting on construction land.

The plot we have purchased would be concidered large for a city or big town, we have construction,forest and agriculture zones. I can look up the individual sizes if it helps anyone.

As to the utilities I agree, but what can you do? Every office was adamant that a copy of her ID card and showing of the actual card was required before they would proceed.

Yes I would say it is a small town, one of the moderators here I think has a connection nearby.
We were never asked for bribes nor did we offer them!

Yes the house was classed as agricultural land when we bought in 2004 and we had to go to Warsaw with her fathers war record to prove that he was polish .Let's get something straight I am English my wife is English her father is Polish in 2009 he had to go to the polish embassy in London to be presented with the Siberian Cross for his time in the Russian work camps and his medals for Arnham.You try telling a proud soldier he is not Polish.The mayor has also phoned Rzeszow for advice and they told him if you have any polish ancestory you must first prove you are not polish.The Mayor is happy with us as we are so is the Police commandant why must English have to prove anything when Polish coming to England do not

Thousands of people round the world are in similar situations involving various countries - this isn't just a Poland thing. Perhaps he revoked his citizenship or didn't keep in contact with the Polish Embassy in the UK - and this is the problem. Your wife should really have sorted out her own citizenship before you bought farmland. Any competent lawyer should have told you this. It is rather daft to do something you aren't legally entitled to and then complain afterwards that the regulations don't suit you and you think they are wrong. Caveat emptor lex.

The best solution is to buy something that you can legally buy or (if you have the time) wait a couple of years until the regulations time out.

Have a read through this site perhaps. I believe that in your wifes situation her father didnt renounce his Polish citizenship by choice, it was removed due to circumstances at the time. I am sure I have read somewhere that this is understood by the authorities and can be overturned. Maybe a decent lawyer is required, someone who deals with these situations.

Correct. I have heard recently that people who renounced Polish citizenship can now apply to get it back. It's relatively new possibility.

There are several routes to obtaining Polish citizenship and each route will have its own rules you have to follow.
I think you are misinterpretating what the office is saying to you, you think they are trying everything in their power to deny your wife citizenship whereas I think they are trying to help you. We were told the same as you have been told by the office we had to apply to (Katowice). They are not trying to trip you up they are trying to determine in law which route suits your wifes situation. In basic terms my understanding is you can be Polish by birth, Polish by descent or Polish by other than descent. Once they have made their ruling it cannot be overuled by any court in the land (as it says on the rather grand document my wife has). My wifes situation was maybe simpler than yours, her father had always kept his Polish citizenship and until recently had a Polish passport.

So Harleybrit has your wife actually had an official letter saying that her citizenship has been refused?