Importing my American boyfriend to Poland: residency, marriage, work, etc.

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member but long time lurker of these forums, and I would really appreciate some advice about what to do in my situation.

I'm Polish but was raised mostly in the U.S., though I've been living again in Poland for the past seven years. I have dual citizenship, speak Polish fluently and I fully intend to stay in Poland (or at least Europe) for the next decade at least. My boyfriend, on the other hand, is just American, but as I intend to stay here and he has been wanting to leave for some time (but hasn't been able to yet because of financial difficulties thanks to medical expenses), we want to try living together in Poland. Now, I need help with figuring out how to do that, legally speaking.

I am a freelancer and work for myself, and from 2013 I will have a działalność gospodarcza as a writer/translator. He is also a freelance graphic designer, and we're hoping he will have enough clients from the U.S. to earn a decent living, especially living in Poland. I rent an apartment from a family friend, so rent is very low and in general I live cheaply, so I'm not worried that much about having enough money even if he doesn't have clients right away. However, it seems that one of the requirements for a temporary residence card is proof of employment, which seems tricky for a freelancer.

We have talked about getting married, and for us it would be more a matter of making paperwork easier/making our parents happy than something we really need to do. However, if getting married would make his living here easier, we're open to that. In that case, would it be better legally to get married in the U.S. or in Poland?

Also, since I will be running a business, would it be possible for me to "hire" him? Would that make proof of income requirements easier?

Does anyone have any other advice? Unfortunately, he doesn't speak Polish, will that be an issue or can we get by with me translating?

tl;dr: I want my American boyfriend to live in Poland legally. What do I need to do?

DEFINITIVELY MUCH better to get married in the US.
No trouble, less hassle, less paperwork, no waiting period and need only one marriage ceremony.

The most professional post ever on PF - complete with tags for Google search?

FWIW I would have thought getting married in the US makes a bunch more sense.

If he's a graphic designer, get him set up an a self-employed worker here and he can submit work to sites like shutterstock. He'll still be paid in dollars but they'l;l be worth more living here.

Other than that I've no idea about a yank moving to Poland,
Learn Polish tho, get him some classes, or skype lessons or something. I'm only coming to terms with it now and I'm here over 3 years. First 2 were a disaster w/o the lingo. Most people do not speak English...especially those over 35 and those that do actually speak some are usually too nervous to engage with you. Oh and if he's black, don't come, people are really fookin racist here. But if you're Polish you probably knew that already.

No sign of them being racist if they are. Just yesterday saw a chap of African appearance with his probably Polish blonde partner and their huge baby carriage (yes a big one) get off a bus in Krzyki - no one gave them a second glance. And I see lots of black and also Far East looking people around - I've never seen anything in reaction to it. All I saw here once was a swastika on a big estate's kiosk. I have subsequently discovered the area has anti social yob problems anyway. I saw more swastikas et al in Essex.

That said, I do recall someone once saying to me he here that he'd left London because he didn't feel comfortable living among black people as they worried him, but he didn't say anything vicious or use any bad words etc, it was more "scared of the unknown as never met people from that community" sort of vibe to it rather than racism.

Not necessarily.

I live in Krakow, and see plenty of black and Asian tourists every day, and even know a few residents. The only time I ever witnessed an incident was on a city bus. An African man got on, and a young skinhead-looking guy started making loud comments to no one in particular. It was obviously making everyone else on the bus uncomfortable, and finally an old Polish man, probably in his 60s or 70s, asks the young guy to shut up and tells the African man, in perfect English, that he's sorry and not all Poles are like that.


Thanks! Is it fairly easy to then get a Polish marriage license (is that even necessary)?

ROFL!

Can I do that if he only has a temporary residency? Or doesn't he need some sort of proof of income to get that residency in the first place?


Ha! I try =)


I'm curious Smurf, where do you live? Maybe it's a generational/location thing, but I have tons of Polish friends and each one of them speaks better English than a lot of Americans I knew.

I agree though, I also know far too many Brits and Americans who have lived in Poland for many years and still can't get out much more than a dzień dobry, which is sad. I've already sent him some basic grammar lessons and hopefully just being here and being forced to speak it in some situations will help a lot.

yea, they give all foreigners a 'temporary' thing, I've got one and when I renew it it's for 10 years, I really shouldn't even need one coz I'm from an EU country, but y'know Poland kinda just makes up its own rules.


Katowice.....like I said most people 35+ don't have a word and just coz people can speak English doesn't mean they a) will b) want to.

All my Polski mates speak English but going to the tax office/bank/etc is a nightmare for me. I get by, but I'd say....like with your mates, they are prob all well educated, uni educated people who can speak at least one extra lingo, ya gotta remember, the vast majority of people don't go to uni and they'll have stopped learning English the second they leave high school.....and that if they hadn't already dropped English while in high-school.

My single piece of advice is not to more here until he speaks some of the lingo....I really regret it.but having said all that I love living here..........except for the politics and the church, but I engage in neither :)

How did this thread get so off topic...?

Agreed on both counts, the government offices are the worst, but I'll be there to help him with that. As far as everyday things like going to the grocery store, he'll have to learn enough Polish for that. But as far as just hanging out, having a beer with friends, my friends who only speak English have never had a problem.

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?

Depends on whether the application for the 2-year permit was submitted at least 45 days before the lapse of the tourist visa. If it was, you're good to stay; if it wasn't, you need to leave.


Smart move.

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.

Importing my Am. boyfriend to Poland.....
Is it supposed to be some kind of human trade?

Think it was only a figure of speech there, Alien.