Myself and my partner wish to travel abroad from Australia at the end of next year (DEC 2009) We wish to work and travel around the EU and as she has her British Passport - I too hope to get my Polish Passport via my Grandmother.
I have been reading alot of information about the application for Polish citizenship, before you can apply for Polish Passport and the relvant documentation involved. It seems the Consualtes will take some time (approx 18months) so it is much easier to have someone appointed and based in Poland to do it for you such as lawyer.
If anyone out there could please help me it would be so greatly appreaciated. I need some contacts for some Polish based lawyers (english speaking) that could handle my case. Then I can simpliy contact him and send my documents and be a happy man!
Yea it takes a whole lot of time and patience because things have tendency to become lost. Also it is very very tricky. Check out this letter from an earlier thread
Recently, I emailed the Polish Embassy in the U.S. regarding this very question. Here is their response:
You may want to refer to the SBS polish service homepage, it has a smogasload of infomation and recordings from people in the know. The process is much harder (on the adminstrative type) as passports have to comply with EU stardards. Check out the Polish Embassy site in Canberra.
i have no links whatsoever with this organisation, got one of their flyers at the polish festival in melbourne.
but my mate applied for citizenship and then a password by himself with the help of his dad who was a lawyer and had connections. after a year and half he still did not have anything back. he contact this polaron group and within 6 months he got his citizenship and password.
the bottom line is how simple is your application and how much documentation you have.. everyman and his dog now wants a EU passport it allows you to work in every EU country.
Lets be honest unless your the village idiot its no big deal applying for a passport!!!
well, considering that the documentation is in polish and the application is in polish and my parents cant even complete i would have to pay a lawyer/interpreter to complete it.
i would assume the original poster would come across the same issues, and if his grandparents migrated after the war then there would be a lack of documentation as well.
everyman and his dog now wants a EU passport it allows you to work in every EU country.
Not true and it's not an EU passport, each country has there own passport some European countries are members of the EU some are not. Only those who are members of the EU are allowed to work within the EU, some members of the EU have restrictions on how even members of the EU can work there.
In the UK there are restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians..
I have recently received my confirmation of Polish Citizenship after a long and exhausting 18 months.
My Grandparents who were both born in Poland were only 15 and 16 at the time they were taken by the Germans in WW2. This meant that neither of them had passports or Identification cards. The only documents that I had at the time of submitting the application for Citizenship were my grandparents marriage certificate and a copy of their Australian Naturalization certificates.
I don't know if this is of any use to you but I had to go through the same process (from the UK and it was just as painful as yours sounds) and I found out that had I been willing to travel to Warsaw to take my birth certificate there in person and pick it up, they could have done it within a week or two. This isn't really feasible from Sydney I guess but from London it's a 2hr cheap flight so it may be an option if you want to hurry it up!
Unfortunatelly the whole process concerning getting decision about Polish citizenship takes a lot of time. It is because there are many applications submitted in Polish departments.
I would like to obtain Polish citizenship. I have my father's Polish passport and my birth certificate translated into Polish. I think that it is time to contact a Polish lawyer to get help with the application. Could you please send me your contact?
I just thought I'd let you know that our website is polaron. Unlike many other companies, we actually hold our clients' hands, from the beginning to the end of the process (the coveted Polish passport!). Yes, it can be expensive, frustrating and time consuming. But our success rate is 100%. You do get what you pay for.
We are currently in the process of setting up a Pro Bono program to those deserving prospective Polish citizens who cannot afford our services. If interested, send us an email and we will send you an application form. There is no hidden agenda, no pressure to do anything and no spam. All the best to everyone!
Has anybody had any success getting a passport with a family history similar to mine?
- Mother born Polish in 1921, came to Australia in 1927, naturalized as a British subject in 1929 (automatically upgraded to an Australian citizen in 1949) - Father born Polish in 1907 but lived in Austria until 1939, came to Australia 1939 (told authorities he was 'stateless'), compelled to do military service in Australia in 1942, naturalized as a British subject in 1942 (and also upgraded to citizen in 1949 by operation of law).
There are all sorts of legal hurdles because of the provisions of Poland's 1920 constitution. I think there is a way to argue my way around them, but I need to be sure.
Hi,i had the same case with you,i was living in USA,until i was directed to a citizenship polish lawyer working in the Polish commission in cameroon.If you wish you can email him using aloysfixon. I think if you contact him,your problem will be solved in two months.
Are you still following this thread? Look up 'Travel around Poland,' then go to the forums, then click on the immigration uk. After that you will find a thread about Polish citizenship there. It is about 26 or 27 pages by now. Others have gone through what you are trying to do with obtaining a passport.
There is also a part 1 to this thread as well that can be read, but not posted to. Someone in the current thread could link you to the previous so you can read it. From there you would have to either get it printed out for future reference or make notes and ask in the current thread. Good Luck. If you cannot find it let me know.
If you still need legal help in obtaining a Polish passport and citizenship, I think that I could help you in this application procedure. I am a Polish lawyer and I speak English. I can handle your case. Contact :
Just wondering if anyone has additional problems proving citizenship or applying for a passport after changing their family name via deed poll???
I was born in Poland in '78 to Polish parents but my mother changed our family name not long after arriving in Australia. I have all the required paperwork, but my mother feels that Poland will not recognise the Australian name change?
Yes, I went through this. My grandfather changed our surname back in the '50s and I changed mine back again a couple of years ago.
The problem is that in the UK (and I presume this is similar in Australia) is that a Deed Poll is validated only by a witness, and is not the result of a notary/court/USC office decision as is required in Poland. Therefore you have to show that the name change was done in accordance with the UK/Australian law to prove the Deed Poll is valid.
To do this you need to get an "apostille" for your document. In the UK this involves having your document certified by a solicitor, then getting an apostille from the British Foreign Commonwealth Office, then getting it all translated into Polish by a certified Polish translator.
I documented my case on my blog here if it's any help. british in poland/blog/2008/08/getting-a-british-deed-poll-recognised-in-poland/
I expect in Australia you will have a similar process.
I'm currently in the process of obtaining Confirmation of my Polish Citizenship via my grandfather who was born in Poland to obtain an EU Passport, hopefully within 12 months as planning on living and working in London by this time next year!!
As you've suggested, i've begun by requesting immigration papers from the National Archives and after paying the fee am waiting on certified copies to arrive.
In the meantime, as you've suggested i'd like to register my birth with the Polish Office and apply for a Polish Birth Certificate. You've indicated that you can do this at the same time when applying for Confirmation of Polish Citizenship. Could you please email me the website where I can find out what documents I require and where to send my application? I've tried looking for this Polish Office but i've just found websites all in Polish?
Also, once I have all required documents to submit to the Polish Consulate in Canberra, Australia, i'd like to get a Lawyer in Poland who speaks English to oversee all the communication. Could you please email me the contact details of the lawyer you used?
My situation is probably not as unique as I think. My parents (mother Polish) (father Ukranian) were sent to New Zealand by the Red Cross after world war 2. They then obtained New Zealand Citizenship. I currently hold a New Zealand and Australian passport and am living and working in Sydney. My mother is alive (New Zealand passport) but father passed on. Other than naturalisation papers from the 1950s in New Zealand I am not sure what other documentation is required. I do not have a sense of urgency to have a quick resoloution. I would like a Polish passort to recognise my Polish heritage and should I wish to live in Europe in the future.
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