Law / U.S.C. Requesting birth, death and marriage certificates. Any laws or restrictions? [7]


Like I said, your best option is to go to DC and apply from there.
The staff will help you with the paperwork.
If you need a lawyer, there are some good lawyers on this forum
who can help you to apply from your home town.

Law / U.S.C. Requesting birth, death and marriage certificates. Any laws or restrictions? [7]


If you are doing this out of curiosity, it's not going to be fun at all.
If it's for a valid reason, just be prepared to face a similar situation like when you got married.
In theory it shouldn't be difficult to access some of that information.
If your wife was born in Poland and still speaks good Polish, that can be done in a matter of days.
Before you come over, you could call her local USC to find out.
If they don't seem helpful- call the National Archives (Archiwum Państwowego)
That should ease some of your worries before making the dreaded trip
to your wife's local USC office. Don't waste time with e-mails.
Call them and demand to speak to the right person.


That should be the fastest way of getting your documents.
If you can't speak or write Polish it could be a problem.
Why don't you just send one of your relatives, living here, to the city you were born?
If you don't have any relatives, then applying for the bc in Washington DC sounds
like a wise choice but ,of course, it will take long.
Good luck!

Real Estate / Refusal for a mortgage in Poland [18]

To Braveheart, if this is going to make you feel any better: there are probably more than 100 banks in Poland.
PKO is run like some state companies that are still stuck in communism.
Some years back, when I first arrived on these shores, a colleague told me he had been refused to open
a bank account coz he didn't have permanent residence. Surprisingly he travelled to another bigger city and they
allowed him to open, in the same bank, upon showing them his passport.
Shop around, mate. There is plenty to choose from.
In your situation you are eligible to receive the extra you need to purchase your property.

Work / Discrimination at work in Poland - teaching experience from the UK not taken into account? [7]


That's only in theory, Delphi. The education ministry will endorse your qualifications and in theory you should work
in both public and private schools who might need your services. If you are coming to teach English it's normally the case but other

subjects it's totally different. Your qualifications might be recognised at ministry level but not many headteachers will employ you.
A dear friend who came over, and has UK qualifications, was told by many headteachers that for her to teach English they
needed her to have Polish qualifications as well. This is the case in most Podstawowy and Gimnazjum schools.
She was later employed by a Liceum school, for one year, and told by the headteacher that for her to get the best contract
with a better salary she needed to get a Polish qualification. She was also told to improve her Polish
as it is needed to communicate with the headteacher and staff- most who speak only Polish.
She is now training for the Polish qualification.

UK, Ireland / We just got married in the UK! (can we change her Polish surname on her Polish passport?) [12]

To maseaudio
She's got to get down here, mate. You are less than 3 hours away by plane.
Forget the embassy. When she gets down here, it will be done quicker than the embassy.
She has to be prepared to spend about a month waiting for the I.D, first.
I know it sucks but that is probably the fastest way, if the process hasn't been speeded up, yet.
She can apply for the I.D to be changed first and then travel back to UK using her passport.
One of her relatives can pick up her I.D when it's out and then she can apply for a new passport.
That's probably the best way to beat the bureaucracy.

UK, Ireland / Traps for "expats" returning to the UK - bank account and tuition fees [13]

That's why they are called "Banksters". Santander, with all due respect, were a reputable Spanish Bank once.
It all started when they started snapping up banks that had gotten too greedy and went under during the 2007-2008 crisis.
They also snapped up BZ WBK and ever since their charges for everything have skyrocketed.
They need to make money somehow but it's just ridiculous how they are literally stealing from their customers.
HSBC are probably the worst bank in the UK. With the scandals they were involved in- they are now
making the lives of their customers difficult. The fines they had to pay, amounting to billions of pounds, now have to be recuperated from somewhere.

Work / Income tax for remote workers in Poland [5]

Had someone in a similar situation but not in real estate. German citizen who was running a small business in Poland while employed full time in Germany.

In Poland they can tell you that they can get the German tax office to return the tax. Theoratical, if all the papers are in order and you find a tax office which has dealt with such before, this should be painless. Realistically it takes a bit of going back and forth. At one time the Polish authorities were asking him for something the German authorities didn't have and then the next it was about the tax codes. Lastly, the German authorities told him clearly that the Polish guys didn't know what they were doing and hence it wasn't going through. It was in the thousands of Euros and ended up taking about 5 months to receive. If you leave it with them and don't keep an eye on the progress they won't do much for you.

News / Should Poland exit the EU immediately? [375]


I think you having a bit of a laugh. Quoting parts of sentences that you misinterpret and summing it up as pro EU propaganda...


If you live in Poland, tell me exactly where you live, then I can direct you to someone you can speak to
in your local government about EU funding and how fundamental it is to almost every town or city.
You started this topic and maybe or maybe not you have a different agenda and also quite indefferent to the reality of life in Poland.

Poland and other A8 countries, as it stands right now, can not afford to leave the E.U.
The risks far outweigh the benefits.

News / Should Poland exit the EU immediately? [375]

Simple answer: No!
This question is mainly asked by people who don't live in the country or who are totally disillusioned about the benefits
of being part of the E.U. No A8 country will ever contemplate such an idea.
The risks far outweigh the benefits. Here are some of the statistics that many people overlook:
1.Nearly 1million Poles would be expelled from the UK - that according to Mr Tusk, himself, would be an economic disaster for a country
that has been exporting unemployment.
2. Much needed funding from the E.U for modernising, infrastructure, public institutions (including schools and hospitals), residential and recreational areas
would be stopped and that would adversely affect the development of the country.
3. Then there is funding for different projects that help to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich.
The list is endless.If you live in Poland, go to your local council or municipality website and look for funds that are coming from the E.U

Then there is the state or federal government- just check the responsible ministry websites and you will see how important E.U funding is to this country.

The develpoment we have seen in this country, in the last 10years ,would have never been realized in 20 to 30 years if Poland was not in the E.U.

There are some countries that don't need the E.U and then there are those that depend on handouts.
Sad to say, but that is a fact.

Real Estate / Pitfalls of buying a Polish Flat built in 1950's [20]

Hi there, mcrpolak!
If I read correctly you are based back home in Blighty.
Pitfalls are galore when buying any old property here in Poland.
My experience : Cracks that were hidden in a new coat of paint.
Dodgy plumbing and electric wiring. Actually had a fire coming out of the faulty electric wires and kept wondering
what was burning in the flat.Uneven floors and walls. If there is new double glazing windows check the sills and area around the corners.

Then if you are worried about health and safety ,especially incase of fire and any emergencies, the regulations are different from back home.
Educate yourself with the monthly charges and other fees to the local Municipality.
Generally speaking all the renovation that has been done in an old flat has to be checked thoroughly.
Then there is the paper work- this one is very complicated if you are a first time buyer in Poland.
If it is cooperative, co owned or inherited without proper documentation then you will have a mountain to climb.
Then of course there are taxes and other fees to be paid.
If your mind is made up and don't mind much about other irregularities, then start looking for a good surveyor and good
lawyer who will do all the paper work. Other than that, you are better off coming to Poland first, experiencing
the reality of life, which is often overlooked, then deciding later on what to buy.
375k these days, which might easily go up to 400k with all the other fees, I'd personally invest that in a new built.

All the best and tell us how it goes.

Law / Your experience as a foreigner running a small business in Poland [43]

All sounds easy coz most people have small businesses providing a service. The key word here is "service". It becomes more difficult when you have a product to sell,employees to be paid and rentals to be paid.Would love to hear from people who have actual "physical companies" rather than working from home or small office offering services.

Work / Proofreading - What is the going rate in Warsaw? [40]


If you are an English native speaker, who has mastered the Polish language, and you are good at picking up the right words as you translate then you are the real thing when it comes to translating. To a certain extend you are an interpreter and not a translator.

There aren't many English native speakers who can do like you do.
Hence most of the translating is done by Polish sworn in translators who then hand it over to English native speakers for proofreading.
Proofreading becomes a hassle for a native English speaker because most Polish translators are not worried about if their translation is
readable or sensible. Then for the proofreader it ends up as not just correcting a few errors but more like translating from scratch.
For this reason proofreaders can charge up to 150zl per 1500 to 1800 characters.
If you are translating or proofreading, business proposals, technical and legal documents it's possible to charge such amounts.
But the Polish way of cutting corners will force proofreaders to charge per page and most probably less than 150zl because that's what most

people or organisations demand these days.

Work / Proofreading - What is the going rate in Warsaw? [40]


Translating is quite cheap. If he looks around it is possible to get someone who can do it for 50zl a page.
My experience is this: it's cheaper to translate documents from English to Polish- especially documents for government departments.
On the other hand, it's very expensive to translate from Polish to English.
Reason why proofreading is required is because direct translation from Polish to English never really makes much sense.
If you want to see how difficult it is try reading a Polish website that has an English version.
For this reason proofreading usually is more expensive than translating.

Life / Best selling womens items at daily and weekly markets in Poland? [11]


I wonder when was the last time you were in Poland to come up with such an assumption.
Your time difference, considering you posted this less than an hour after me, sells you out.
Are there any market vendors within the country who can help me with this?

Thank you.

Work / Proofreading - What is the going rate in Warsaw? [40]

Merged: Proofreading charges.

I would like to know from people doing translation and proofreading.
What do you guys charge for proofreading and rearranging sentences to make them sensible for local government documents per page?
I have no clue and hope some of you will give me an insight into this.
Thank you.

Law / I have overstayed my visa and been banned from Poland. Is leaving Schengen zone and coming back a solution? [10]


Not as easy as that Harry. From my colleague's experience and what I found out the UK ,while not being a Schengen member, share such information and vice-versa with Schengen states.

He has visa free entry to the UK but upon arrival and noticing his schengen visa- UKBA will almost certainly check if he has any overstays.

6 months is a very light penalty indeed! Going back to Ozi and coming back might be expensive for him.
If he was in a long term relationship and his girl would support him then the application for leniency would be a good shot.
It would also mean a lot of paperwork. Other than that, if he can't come up with a good plan, it's not a good idea to overstay.

He just has to admit that he got off with a light penalty and if he makes it worse he could be banned for 10years.

Life / Emigrate / Immigrate to Poland? I don't need to work. [33]


You sound like a very cautious person but I don't think you are likely to get good answers from here.
Judging by the replies ,so far, you should ask yourself what the average age of members on this forum is.
At 49- I guess it's something you've thoroughly thought through.
There are many sides to Polish reality and most of it is very difficult to grasp.
Living here alone will take you a long time, that is if you don't throw in the towel sooner, to really understand life and live

as a local. If you have family connections and work hard on your language skills you stand a very good chance.
My mate is 61 this year and is thinking of retiring here but letting out his house in Cheltenham
and see if he can adjust to life in Polska. He is been coming here for the past 15years and admits that
it will be hard for him even though he would like to retire here. Among other things he worries about are:
Healthcare and living next to neighbours who sometimes burn tyres to heat their house.
Coming down here, to see if you can make it, for a couple of years before you permanently settle-
sounds like a very good idea indeed.
Good luck!

Life / Sending SMS / text message online from/to Poland? [22]

Right now from the web I'm using ''pinger.com/textfree/'' it works 100% sending sms to any Cellphone company in Poland, Once you get androidphone you can send sms international getting app from android market.

To el_easy: Just out of curiosity- how can it be free if it requires an internet or data connection?

Law / If I gain Citizenship of Poland, does this mean I lose my French Citizenship? [18]


Far from the truth. Theoretically everything sounds easy with EU laws realistically, especially in Poland, there is
still a long way to go. Six years ago I was told by a bank worker in PKO Bank that I couldn't open an account

because I didn't have a permanent residence card for E.U citizens.
Had I not gone to another city, where the workers at least understood the E.U laws, I wouldn't have opened a bank account.

Then when it comes to buying land or property, by the time they try to interpret the E.U laws in the responsible government offices

you would have given up already. Simply because it is a nightmare.
When it comes to land, property and taxes there is an advantage of having Polish Citizenship if you reside here permanently.
The right to live and work are the only E.U laws that seem to be clearly understood in all the E.U countries.
As for the rest - the responsible officials couldn't be bothered. But the problem of interpreting E.U laws is not only confined to Poland

almost every E.U country has the same problem.

Study / Opinion required on teaching standards of Polands technology universities [11]


Your post is by far the best I have seen on this forum regarding this issue.
I am even suprised you didn't get any stick from the lot that would normally jump at such an opportunity.
To the OP your chances are better if you enrol at a Uni in the UK if you can't go to the States.
There are some really good Tech Unis in India which collaborate with many well known Unis in the world.
I wonder why you would choose to study for a Bachelor's in Poland, if after that you are planning to study for a Master's in the States.

A good example I like to give is about websites in Poland,they can be institutions, government departments or even private companies, most of them show

multilingual options but when you choose any of the other languages you find out that the info there is far less than what you have in Polish.

Same applies as the courses offered in English at most Universities- speak to the students there and you will here a lot of discrepancies!
Always remember that tertiary education is not about quantity but quality.

Law / Any advantage to citizenship of Poland if already have EU residency? [20]


It certainly will. A Polish couple in my area waited for more than 2 years to finally take their little one home.
Adoption laws in Poland are some of the strictest in the world.
If you are a foreigner then it's even more complicated.
By the time you get to the eligibility process and background checks, considering that you have been quite normadic, you will most certainly give up.

The amount of paperwork is staggering to say the least.
You must provide both original and translated copies for all the documents required.
Dealing with Polish Government Departments while abroad is a nightmare and should be avoided.
In your case a very good lawyer would come in handy.
It is achievable but you will need to do a lot of research.
Good luck!

Law / Polish divorce - there is next to no help available from the law! [11]

I am going to jump in on this one.
To the O.P I just want to say : I feel you man, hang in there!
Divorce in a foreign country is a very traumatic experience.
However, here is my two cents on this based on my experience living in this country.
First of all guys, before you get married to anyone of a different nationality it is always good to do a thorough
research on eventualities no matter how crazy it may seem. It is second nature that families in Poland will stick to their own
in a divorce situation- in other words this is when their true colours will show!
When you get married for the right reasons it is always good that both partners speak each other's language.
If your common language is English then the other half will have to learn Polish.
After marriage it is advisable that both parties should adopt each other's nationalities no matter how cumbersome it might turn out to be.
Then do the same for the children after they are born it's easier and much better when they have both your nationalities.
Then if it ends up in divorce there is no partner who is going to feel like he or she has the upper hand.

Work / Does any one know how much film editors make in Poland? [7]

It is good to note that when you are outside Poland that kind of information is hard to get.
mandy.com does not provide such information about the film industry in Poland- it's mainly for the UK industry.
If they do, I can assure you that is is not accurate. They can only provide a few names of production companies.
It worth to note that the film industry in this country is not that big at all. Even here in Poland that information is quite difficult to get.

A colleague told me that CGI is done mainly by the established production companies who actually employ people to do that.
These people are employees and mostly earn peanuts compared to other countries.
He mentioned that the ones who earn a decent salary are the senior ones or the ones who are established freelancers.
He also mentioned that freelancing doesn't pay much for starters as it is quite difficult to establish yourself and to get regular work.

Law / Ways of getting Permanent residency in Poland [101]


Perhaps you would care to read this from your province:
poznan.uw.gov.pl/nadanie-obywatelstwa-polskiego


I can second that. A colleague from Argentina recently got his: no family connections whatsoever had been living and working in the country for more than 6years.

Told me the only problem he faced was the application going through the Ministry of Internal Affairs before it got to the President's office- he had worked in Luxembourg before so they wanted to know

if he owed the Luxembourg revenue office any money or if he was wanted by the courts.
Going through the President's office is just a formality, from what he told me, and it took almost 8 weeks for the decision to be passed.

News / What is wrong with Poland that Poles emigrate? [167]

The way I read this topic, despite how sensitive it is on this forum, is that maybe the O.P wants an explanation
from Polish people as to how bad it really is: the reason why they are emigrating to the UK in droves.
It is purely economics: cost of living getting higher while the wages are not improving.
This is what being a member of the E.U ,as a relatively poor European country, brings in Europe as a whole.
It's not only Poland. I have been lucky enough to have travelled and spoken to ordinary people in all the A8 countries.
The story that resonates everywhere you go is that of poor wages.
Governments are not worried about improving the standards of living for their citizens.
In a way they actually like the fact that young educated people are leaving to go and work abroad in manual jobs
because most of them send money back home. The last time I checked it was almost £1bn every year.
And believe me that money, judging by the number of houses being built every year, goes a long way here in Poland.
If the difference in wages was not like minimum wage in Poland £300 (but living expenses very high) and UK almost £1000
then most people would not think of leaving.
Ask the South Koreans and Hong Kongers- they also have huge problems in trying to control economic migrants coming from other
Asian countries.

Food / PIZZA & KETCHUP served only in Poland? [159]

It has puzzled me ever since I have been here.
That together with the big burgers that are filled with grated cabbage.
Considering that most of the popular ketchup brands in the country contain little to no real tomato puree in them-
this says a lot about the quality of food in Poland. With pizzeria's and most restaurants it is right to say that if you don't know much about them, cosidering the

rampant use of substandard ingredients, just walk away.

Law / To get Temporary Residence in Poland is very difficult even though I'm married to a Polish citizen!! [11]


Sounds very strange and I bet you in another Province they will not bother you with all that.
You and your husband need to explain to them that in the country where he got divorced they retain the original marriage certificate.
It sounds almost absurd that they demand a document that has been annulled.
A divorce certificate is the only document that proves a person having been married in the past.
They will ask for originals because it's too expensive for them to verify foreign documents.
It is also possible to apply with a written document giving reason why you can not produce the original documents.
The onus is on your husband- he has to make things happen!
If you are in this together for genuine reasons you will need guts made out of steel.
All the best to you.