Law / Opening a Polish Bank Account by a foreigner in Poland. Recommendations. [299]

You could try Citibank, their website is all in English, call centre speaks English and they send e-statements. There is a branch on the corner of Toworowa and Aleja Solidarnosci (ul. Ogrodowa 58 ) that I find particularly useful as the staff are pleasant and it's open until 7pm. They can also accept foreign currency at this branch.

Law / Import a car from US to Poland [23]

Is the car you're importing actually your own car that you've owned in the US (and can prove you owned) or are you going to buy a car in the US and then import it?

There is a huge difference in cost for these two scenarios, the first scenario where it is actually your own car should incur no taxes and duties but you will have to specify how long the car will be residing in Poland for and prove you owned it beforehand.

The second scenario incurs all the taxes, roughly 50% of the value of the car when you add it all up but it depends on the age of the car and engine size to be exact.

I just imported a car using blueskyauto.pl and they were very good.

Law / Import a car from US to Poland [23]

I don't know sorry, I would get in touch with Blueskyauto, I did scenario 2 but Jerzy at BlueSky knows scenario 1 very well.

Life / Poles - the Nation of Liars? [478]


Having lived here for 5 years i have to agree with Wroclaw Boy, seems to me that in Poland it is seen as a weakness to admit you were wrong or say sorry and so people just lie to cover up.

Life / Poles - the Nation of Liars? [478]


For sure it's not just a Polish trait, but having lived and worked elsewhere and then moved to Poland I've found the level of dishonesty and lying here quite phenomenal, mainly when you have to deal with a stranger.

Life / Poles - the Nation of Liars? [478]


Yes I lost a lot of money in a business deal, I never imagined the lengths someone would go to con you and yet tell you to your face they had done nothing wrong.

I know of one unfortunate expat who's Polish business partner gave him a large pile of papers that he had to sign, as he didn't speak Polish he didn't notice that one of the papers slipped in was to relinquish his half of the business for nothing. He signed it not realising and when he came to work the next day he was barred from the building.


Warsaw

Life / Poles - the Nation of Liars? [478]


a little touchy there Puzzler, 'the truth hurts' as they say

Law / Shipping a car from USA to Poland [86]


Add on about 50% to your car value to get a ball park figure for the cost of doing it. I've been through it all recently, PM or email me and I can put you in touch with the agent I used to handle it.

Law / Shipping a car from USA to Poland [86]

yes approximately for your shipping, unloading, transport to destination, car inspection, registration, VAT, C£O and AKCYZA. If you actually have owned the vehicle for at least 6 months in the US in your name then it's a different matter though and the taxes are less.

Law / Opening a Polish Bank Account by a foreigner in Poland. Recommendations. [299]

From what I hear mBank is the best account, low charges, easy to open an account and it's in English.

I've had accounts with BPH & Citibank and I'd recommend neither of them anymore.

Life / Popular and Practical Cars in Poland [49]

Here are some costs for you from when I did it in 2008:

transport to US port $500.00
container $1,500.00
polish customs fee 1,400.00 zł
transport to Warsaw 1,500.00 zł
inspection 300.00 zł
registration 750.00 zł
EU conformity changes ( lights etc and depends on the type of car) 2,000.00 zł
Commision to dealer who arranged it all $2,500.00 ( this included sourcing the vehicle for me)

On top of this you have your Polish import duty and taxes which is dependent on the model, age and engine size of the car.

Life / Popular and Practical Cars in Poland [49]

I imported an SUV from the US east coast, I would get in touch with an agent who can advise you on the exact costs for your scenario and how much they will charge you to arrange it all on top of the costs.

Other things to consider, my container cost was cheaper because the agent shipped mine and another car in the same container.

Transfer from Polish port to Lublin - this is a matter of insurance, you can drive it from the Polish port yourself as long as it is insured, i couldn't get insurance until it was registered so had to use a transporter to get it to Warsaw.

EU conformity - buy a mercedes that has rear fog lamps and that will save you a bit of trouble as it's required in the EU. The cost of the changes will basically be how much it costs to change the front two lamps.

Life / Gyms in Warsaw [44]

there's a new gym just opened in złote tarasy:

purepoland.com/tarasy/

Life / Gyms in Warsaw [44]


purepoland.com/node/36
says 230zl , am sure you could negotiate it to 200zl. They give free tours for potential members so go in the evening to see how busy it it.

Study / "MAGISTER" OR "MASTERS DEGREE" - ARE THEY THE SAME? [75]


You're wrong there Harry, here's a good explanation of the 4 year degree system in Scotland:

independent.co.uk/student/into-university/clearing/the-beauty-of-scotland-is-the-fouryear-degree-606867.html

"An undergraduate honours degree in Scotland takes four years and offers much greater breadth and flexibility than most degree courses in England. Students typically join a faculty and in the first year are encouraged to take a variety of courses within their area of study. It is not until the second or third year that they are expected to specialise in the subject in which they wish to graduate"

Life / Getting pretty tired of the postal service here in Poland [58]



If people could start naming which is their local Warsaw post office maybe we can start to get a picture of the reliable/unreliable ones. Mine is on ul. Pereca 13/19 and so far (9 years) I've had very few problems, the staff even smile sometimes.

Travel / Why most taxis in Warsaw cheat foreigners to get more money? [38]


It's the same the world over in my experience, if the taxi driver senses that you're new in town and you don't speak the language then you're more likely to be ripped off. It happened to me a few times in my early days in Warsaw but rarely now.

Travel / Why so many Indian Restaurants in Poland? Which one is the best? [42]

I'm a regular at Anna Purna on Twarda/Zelazna, seems to be getting better and better.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [859]

the flight attendants even get a ticking off, hardly fair, if passengers don't fasten the seatbelt it's their own fault.

"104) The purser reported the cabin prepared for landing although she had failed to check whether the passengers fastened their seat belts for landing (many victims did not have their seat belts fastened)."

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [859]


if they know that she didn't check everyone had their belt fastened then fair enough, but perhaps she did check and then some of the passengers unfastened them afterwards as is common here.

Love / What strange/unnerving/funny things do your Polish wives do? [153]

was it just me or do other Polish girls/wives demand to know exactly how many females you'd slept with before meeting her? And then go ballistic if the answer was too high.....

Food / Polish bacon doesn't fry up? [70]


you can buy it [irishshop.pl/go/_info/?id=293] (Warsaw area)