News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [54]

I recently had a long talk with my lawyer in Poland about a similar situation.

As a privately owned business, your right to deny service to anyone without having to give a reason is guaranteed by law, with health care being the only exception, and even then, they can tell anyone to go to a public health care facility and claim they are not properly equipped and/or qualified to treat them.

Just take a look at the fine print on the paper you sign everytime you apply to open a bank account, check into a hotel, take a post-paid telephone line or file any kind of application or agree to any kind of end-user agreement. They all state somewhere that "we reserve the right to deny the service to anyone at our sole discretion without having to provide a reason or notice". I can guarantee you it will be written there in one form or another.

Also, businesses are allowed to deny service to a specific nationality. Recently, a person from Czech complained against a restaurant and hotel in Wroclaw that posted a sign on their door stating that they do not serve Czechs. In another incident, a well known bank notified a customer in writing that they do not provide any kind of banking service to people of a certain nationality, and that includes companies partially or fully owned by people of this nationality regardless of where these companies are registered.

Accordingly to my lawyer, in both cases the business owners did not break any law.

News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [54]


This is talking about denying service to someone specifically based on their ethnic origin.

Denying services to people based on their nationality happens all the time. What else do you call different visa rules for different nationalities?

Polonia / Polish Community - Dubai or Abu Dhabi [53]

I know a lot of Polish people that live in Dubai...

USA, Canada / Canada to attract more immigrants, also from Poland [8]

I miss living in Vancouver... Canada is a great country to live in.

USA, Canada / Canada to attract more immigrants, also from Poland [8]


You just reminded me of how good it was back in Canada... I recently had a LONG talk with my wife on whether it is better to live in Canada or in Poland...

USA, Canada / Canada to attract more immigrants, also from Poland [8]

You just reminded me of something not many people talk about... I feel that people that grew up under communism can be a bit (and sometimes more than a bit) paranoid about their privacy and others nosing into their business... That is something you never see in Canada!

History / Need Help - mysterious object identification. Could it be Polish? [19]


Good job! I actually checked every football club logo I could think of and could not find the one!

The letters C and F usually imply some kind of football club, although the similarity to the Polish coat of arms can be misleading...

History / Need Help - mysterious object identification. Could it be Polish? [19]

Flemish anyone?

Genealogy / Half Polish half Persian? I can't possibly be alone in the whole world with this mix? [34]

Sent you a PM on the subject.

Law / Documents to get married to my Polish girlfriend [11]

The document they are asking for (basically a marriage license naming both spouses) does not exist in all countries. If you are from a country where this document does not exist, then you will need to apply for a special approval from a judge to accept your documents on the basis that this document does not exist in your country. You need to show the judge a recent letter from your embassy (or back home) stating that your country does not issue such a document. The judge will (usually) grant this approval, however, how long it takes depends on where you apply. Of course, all documents must be in Polish and attested.

Alternatively, you might find it easier to go get married in another country. As far as I know, easiest country in EU to get married in is Cyprus, and the document format they issue is compatible with most EU countries.

Study / International marketing? Which one to choose? [5]

I am in UAE for 15 days of each month. You could earn some money teaching English (not much), but the real money is in marketing. However, for sure the working hours in marketing would be longer...

Study / International marketing? Which one to choose? [5]

I am married too, and have a small child.

Marketing is a very demanding job (in terms of time), and will leave you with less time than what you'd like to spend with your family. However, how you balance your work/life is your choice at the end of the day.

As for kinds of companies, as a new grad, probably a small to medium private company.

There are a lot of Polish people in UAE. In fact, if you search for an apartment or a house to rent, you will notice that nearly 1 in 3 agents are Polish...

Love / Mosque and Catholic Church Wedding in Poland. Is That Possible? [21]

It depends on the priest in the particular church and what the bishop in his area will say. There is no general rule.

You may find a church willing to do a church wedding, even if you are already married by some other rite (be it civil or Sunnah or anything else).

But one thing is almost certain, since you have no baptism certificate or any other document issued by a church that says you are Christian, they will require you to sign a paper declaring:

1. You are not married to anyone else anywhere else.
2. You will not demand that your wife changes religion and you will not criticize nor question her religion.
3. You will not interfere with her religious practices or object to them.
4. Your future children will be raised as Catholics, will be baptized and confirmed accordingly, and will be granted the same religious rights and freedom as the mother when they become adults.

You may also be asked to bring two witnesses that have known you for more than 3 or 5 years to testify that you are not married.

Number 4 is something that most Muslim men refuse to accept - which is the main reason you don't see so many Muslim men marrying Christian women in Churches.

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]

Abu 3issa,

When in Rome do like the Romans.

Purpose of Islamic dress code is specifically to blend in and not attract attention - as far as I know.

My advice: go there; see how people dress and dress like them! This usually work for any place!

Generally speaking:

Jeans + T-shirt = blends in

Skirt or shorts + tank top = blends in

Short, long, a bit revealing, not so revealing = all blends in

However:

Chicken suit = does not blend in

Fluorescent green or yellow = does not blend in

Black Hijab, niqab, abaya, burgu3 = does not blend in and may very well attract more attention, mostly negative

Stylish head scarf (like pashmina for example) = may blend in if it is winter or on an older person

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


abu3issa

For hair, try something called bonnet hair cover. It is a popular accessory in many parts of the world and blends in without attracting the wrong kind of attention. Do an image search on google and you will see what I am talking about. You can even order them online.

Law / As a foreigner non EU citizen working in Poland, can I get visa for my spouse? [34]

It is possible for you and your children to have dependant visas to join your husband once he is in Poland and once he has both a work permit and a residence permit.

He will need both a work permit and a residence permit, and the two are separate procedures. The residence permit is issued on the basis of the work permit.

Law / Civil law court case in Poland - can a witness be forced to attend? [10]


What is your home country? That is odd and unusual I think. In most countries, you are obligated by law to appear in court if you are called as a witness.

Love / English women and polish man who ran off with my life savings [22]

Assuming the story is "true", if all else fails, you can highlight (to the proper authorities) the fact that he has deposited undeclared income in his account (which is the money from you). Regardless of how the Police follow this case, the tax office / internal revenue service will be more aggressive and more effective in my opinion.

In this world, a financial crime (like tax evasion) no matter how small, receives more resources and stronger action than any other kind of crime, including fraud and even murder.

Life / Biomass boilers/heaters in Poland [12]

I sell and service boilers for a living, however my specialty is large (industrial) steam boilers (up to 250,000 kg/hr of steam for a factory packaged boiler, and double that for a field assembled boiler). Plus energy recovery and the full boiler room package.

But I also worked on smaller boilers for a few years.

I entirely agree with what prawda said. For home, convenience and ease of use, combined with low operating costs are important. You also want it simple and reliable. Plus the advice about cast iron vs. welded steel sheet is right on the money. But be aware, cast iron construction tends to be heavier, and this is something to keep in mind, particularly if you are doing a retrofit.

Life / Biomass boilers/heaters in Poland [12]

Warszawski,

Have you done a heat load calculation? Is this a new home or a retrofit? How much space you have in your boiler room (for both boiler and fuel)? Tell me more about this project. Feel free to send me a message with details.

I am not yet familiar with the applicable calculations in Poland, but I can tell you, if your house was in Chicago, and we follow the US Department of Energy 2011 guidelines, and assuming that this is a NEW HOME, with modern insulation and construction technique, then your heating load will be 21kW (baseline which is too idealistic) and 26kW (with some reasonable losses).

I have seen some people in Poland blindly assume 100 W per square meter for retrofit on insulated homes, and even more for older buildings. If you follow this rule, you're looking at 35kW+

And if you let the boiler salesman size the boiler for you, you will end up with a 40-50kW boiler at least... (I am a boiler salesman, but the boilers I offer start at 3MW and go up to 285MW).

If you stick to 35kW (which in my opinion is plenty) then you have some interesting choices. If it was MY home, I would go for ORLAŃSKI model ORLIGNO 50 with 35kW. It is a classic cast iron boiler and can be fired on coal, wood, wood shavings, briquettes, sawdust and coke so this gives many fuel choices. They even supply this boiler with a set of cleaning tools. The drawback is that you have to manually empty a potentially heavy ashtray. However, this looks like a simple (and therefore reliable) solution. Their website is orlanski dot pl.

Of course, there are other choices like Viadrus (which I am not familiar with, but the name seems to be associated with quality). Their website is viadrus dot com dot pl.

Whatever you decide, try to buy a local product so you have easy access to service and parts. There are plenty of good boilers made in Poland. And don't assume that an "international" brand is better than local brands by default.

So Warszawski, did you get a boiler already?

Language / Polski. Bez Problemu! - Polish language course (levels 1,2,3) - reviews and comments. [13]

Yeah I used it. It is good if you plan to do it without help. Most other sources (in my opinion) assume that you will have a teacher or a tutor.

Language / Polski. Bez Problemu! - Polish language course (levels 1,2,3) - reviews and comments. [13]

I only went through one level, and then started taking lessons.
I am not disciplined enough to learn by myself so I don't know what to tell you.

Language / Polski. Bez Problemu! - Polish language course (levels 1,2,3) - reviews and comments. [13]

I don't remember how long it took, but for sure not more than 6 months.

One of the reasons I stopped and started taking lessons is because I needed to practice conversation with a professional (who can talk to me about my mistakes, and how to correct them).

A good teacher can tell you how to pronounce some of the more difficult words and break things down in a way that a book simply can't.

Language / Polski. Bez Problemu! - Polish language course (levels 1,2,3) - reviews and comments. [13]

For kids I would use a teacher for sure!

Language / Polski. Bez Problemu! - Polish language course (levels 1,2,3) - reviews and comments. [13]

Sure does explain it.

That is why you should leave the teaching to a teacher :)

Law / Visa interview next month and I was rejected before; Accepted at the Jagiellonian university [13]

What documents did they ask for?

Did they explain to you why they rejected your previous application? Did you do anything to correct that?

They might ask you to show evidence that you have enough funds to get by during the course of your studies (for example a bank statement). In addition to paying tuition fees, you will need PLN 1,000-2,000 per month to pay for accommodation, food, transportation, clothing etc, depending on your life style. If we take an average of PLN 1,500 per month, this is equal to PLN 18,000 per year, or roughly USD 6,000 per year. This is the minimum amount you should have in your account (in my opinion.)

Travel / Coming to Poland with a pet :) [47]

Does anyone have an up-to-date answer to this question? The pets in question are two cats...

Nobody knows?

Law / Visa interview next month and I was rejected before; Accepted at the Jagiellonian university [13]

Ok...

Reason # 1 is not applicable when you apply for a visa to go study for longer than 3 months, because you are required to apply for a residence permit once you arrive in Poland in this case.

Reason # 2 is more serious. You will need to (minimum) show them the original letter of acceptance from the university.

Did you show them a letter of acceptance last time you applied?

Travel / Coming to Poland with a pet :) [47]


Thank you.

Work / English speaking tradesmen in Poland [8]

I would like to know how things turn out for you.

I heard from a few people that it is difficult to find an honest, reliable tradesman in Poland. I think that is a global problem.

If you are honest and hard working, and if you can communicate in Polish, I don't see why you wouldn't succeed. All you need to do is some networking to find clients and decent suppliers that won't rip you off.

Anyone else cares to add something?