Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]

Here's a good guide: foreigners in poland./work/start-business-in-poland.htm

Work / Is it a good sign if a school seems desperate to hire me? Small town Kęty [15]

Well, I'd say if you are 25 and like to go party or for a drink, there's a limited choice. Not huge places and eventually you'd have to repeat them. I never liked that as 1) maybe want a place where's specific kind of music and there just ain't 2) you encounter the same people over and over again. Not good if you like to date different people in peace :P That night life example applies to most cultural aspects. 3) without Polish, is very hard to find locals that are comfortable outside their native language. 40yo and older just won't speak English. And youngsters usually feel ashamed about their poor English and switch back to Polish after 5 mins. There's no possibility of having a decent sized social circle without a good grasp of Polish.

Now if you think you'll settle down as soon you find a nice gal (you can bring your girl from home....if not, there's many in Poland :P) then it could be for you.

I'd say you have more choices in bigger cities as Krakow, Warsaw, etc.

Work / Is it a good sign if a school seems desperate to hire me? Small town Kęty [15]

Hey I'm an American (though grew up in Argentina) living in Bielsko-Biala and I'd said it depends a lot on your personal characteristics. There's things to do, but I wouldn't recommend it to the "typical" 25yo. Please feel free to contact me and we can talk on Skype or similar. Salutes!

Law / Self-employed and wife on contract job. How much in social charges should I pay? [7]

Oh ok, so even residing in Poland most of the year, if I have my own personal project in another country, pays taxes there and collect my money there (my case, Argentina) and even use foreign credit cards to buy everyday groceries here. Then I wouldn't have to pay any kind of income tax to Poland? (granted that I have ZUS insurance coverage thanks to my wife's company contract)

Law / Self-employed and wife on contract job. How much in social charges should I pay? [7]

hmm that sucks. Really sets the whole idea back. I have valid permanent residence in another country, but also the temporary in Poland. I'd prefer to pay taxes only in country of origin but if I'm right Poland makes you pay anything you make while you have Polish residency (and live in Poland more than 180 days a year) Thanks for the info! I'll post again in case I find new information on this.

Work / Is it difficult to make a living playing Soccer (football) in Poland? [54]

I haven't seen you play, but I assisted to many TS Podbeskidzie games. They are in the lower tier of the Ekstraklasa (the major division). And heck, it hurts my eyes.

Physically they are usually tough, or speedy (rarely both). Technically...bad, except for 1/2 players the rest looked like amateurs when comparing to Argentinian league (that's where I come from).

The pay is not great unless you're in a top team, but you know about this. Get a name with some nice performances and you'll get suitors behind you.

Contact me on PM if you want talk more (I speak Spanish and was a sports journalist back home)

Law / Karta Polaka (Card of the Pole, Polish Card) - working legally in all EU countries? [3]

Hola Seba,
no, it doesn't allow to work outside Poland.

If you need any help let me know in PM, I moved in from Buenos Aires few months ago.

Salutes!

USA, Canada / Marriage laws: dual citizenship (Polish and US) preparing to get married to an American. [65]

I'd do the civil marriage in US, will be a lot easier for your bf (and you) as only your passport is needed in US. While in Poland, your BF will have to get originals, apostille, and translations of many documents. Apply for the Green card right away and if you want do it from outside US and use the waiting time to travel and the Polish wedding (register your marriage certificate with the apostille and translation on your Voivodeship, and do church wedding as you like). If you need any specific info let me know I've been through that recently.

Work / Does google voice work correctly in Poland? [22]

I was using Talkatone, as Hangouts was only working ok with IOS 7 devices. They changed it and allowed to work with IOS 6 as well (I have an old Iphone so this will alow me to keep using my google number on the phone)

I've heard Android application is lagging a bit behind, weird considering it's a Google product.

Law / Can my American wife stay in Poland with me? I have citizenship of Poland. [12]

From the local Bielsko/Katowice authorities where we should register our marriage so I can get the 2 year residence permit (getting married in the US soon, but in NY and I'm from CA so can't get the apostille for the birth certificate in person, and via mail can take too long) She always gets there at closing time and the attention is not the best, so far she got a "BC Not needed at all" and a "Probably yes with apostille as well"

Law / Can my American wife stay in Poland with me? I have citizenship of Poland. [12]


Thanks about that. My girlfriend is struggling to get a clear answer about that question and as I'm not in the US right now mailing everything (being from CA need an extra step to get the Apostille) would take about 2 months, too long for our plans.

Law / Can my American wife stay in Poland with me? I have citizenship of Poland. [12]

I'm about to start a similar process in March. So far, this is what I understood:
- Get an extended marriage certificate (I'm guessing you got married in the US) w/Hague apostille.
- Translate it to Polish. *Seems you might need to translate her birth certificate as well. Not sure if it needs the Hague apostille.
- Present all that plus fill some papers at local Voivodeship office. You'll be applying for a 2-year residence permit.
- You should get the residence card for her in up to 45 days.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


They use it quite often as it's present in many words, but actually only have 2 different "ch/sh sounds". Stronger for when the T is followed by an "i", or "e" at end of word, and softer one for D and "e" sound at end of word.

PS: Poles might take "J" as another "Ch" sound as in "Jogo/Janela" being originally an "i/e" sound for them

Law / Importing my American boyfriend to Poland: residency, marriage, work, etc. [16]

thanks a lot. That's what I understood from the get go reading the websites, and even after getting unclear emails answers from 3 different countries Embassies in 3 different places :P. Tomorrow my fiancée will go to ask in person just to get an official answer. I'll report here if they say something different.

Law / Importing my American boyfriend to Poland: residency, marriage, work, etc. [16]

Hello. Could you please tell me how did you deal with this?
All the craziness to get married in Poland is leading us for a US marriage. But I've read the US partner has to wait a period of time until getting the 2 year residence.

Can that period of time be spent in Poland with a regular Schengen tourist visa? And once granted the 2 year residence have an automatic change of status, or perhaps going on a short trip to the UK?

Or the US partner has to stay out of Schengen until getting the 2 year residence approved?

Travel / Which parts of Poland are more beautifull? (North, South, East, West or center) [13]

I've been in Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk, Katowice, Visla and Bielsko-Biala. Besides visits to Sopot/Gdynia/Hel/Torun.
Thinking about everyday living, loved Warsaw as city, I'm American and getting there is like finally being able to breath compared to Krakow. Much more open space between the buildings, guess I don't like the narrow streets of most old European cities.

Then again, I grew up in a small mountain town, and probably could end up in another one. So:
North: Liked it a lot, but the beach/water not on par to warmer sites in the Mediterranean. 7/10
Warsaw: Best city in Poland imho. Cosmopolitan. The big parks. Wide spaces. 8/10
Krakow: Beautiful, historic city that I loved to know, but probably wouldn't stand to live there. (oh the traffic!) 9 to visit, 5 to live in (or 7 if you live in suburbs and don't have to commute).

South: Mountains, love'em. 9/10

Still have to know Wroclaw and the West though.

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

I can understand that Polish people go abroad to raise money due to the huge salary difference. I mean, maybe in Poland you can save 30% of your salary, and in England a 15%. Difference is that 15% in Pounds is about 200% of the 30% in Zloty.

So lets say, if you plan to buy a house, apt or land (in Poland) it would take you half the time to get the money being abroad than at your home country.

USA, Canada / Are prices for Laptops, Cell Phones or Tablets in Poland cheaper than in the US? [18]

No, they are not. I just bought a Canon Reflex camera a month ago and the price is even more expensive than Germany/Spain/etc. A basic guide is that EU is 33% more expensive than US right now when it comes to electronics.

I still got it as I received the tax refund so for 1500E got back about 250E which made it about 15/20% more expensive than the US which wasn't so bad considering I don't have any trip back Sam's Land planned at the moment and really needed the camera.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Agree, but getting into Portuguese with native Spanish fluency, it's REALLY easy. It's like Czech for Poles.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I'm just in the beginners phase, and still giving priority to Portuguese lessons, but damn I have to agree with the title.
When I was in Poland for about 3 months, eventually started to understand a bit (didn't have time to study properly though) but for the first few weeks all I heard was sh-ch. Having Spanish as first language, an often thought was "Where the hell have all the vowels gone to?"

Second stage was trying to get the 7 cases, and I just gave up on that until my next trip. Need full time dedication as my memory is just bad when it comes to learning by repetition. Hopefully will be able to get some proper Polish lessons.

Anyway it all relates to where you come from. Guess that anyone with Slavic language background could find it a piece of cake.