Confirming Polish Citizenship and Getting Polish ID Card

Confirming Polish Citizenship and Getting Polish ID Card Posted by Anna on Mar 16, 2009 in Culture

A while back Jennifer asked a question in the comments section. She wanted to know how to get an ID card in Poland. If I understood her situation correctly, Jennifer’s parents are Polish, she was born in the US and has already completed the process of getting her Polish citizenship confirmed and recognized. And she wanted to know what she should next. Jennifer is Polish, simply because her parents are Polish. She could have been born anywhere, the place doesn’t matter as long as one of your parents is a Polish citizen and has never attempted to give up his/her citizenship.

Now, before I answer, I must warn you. These types of rules and regulations change frequently, so before doing anything, ALWAYS consult with the appropriate government authorities. In other words – call the nearest Polish consulate and ask.

The whole process is very familiar to me, because I went through it just last year. And as in Jennifer’s case, it always begins with confirming that you are really Polish. If one or both of your parents are/were Polish, even if you were born abroad, you have the right to be a Polish citizen.

I am assuming that right now Jennifer has a lovely official document with the following header: “Potwierdzenie Obywatelstwa Polskiego” (or something similar, because they do vary depending on which office prepared them) issued by Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki in Warsaw. If you were born in Poland, the document will be issued by the regional/provincial governor (wojewoda) of the province where your last registered domicile used to be located. If you were born abroad, you get your paper directly from Warsaw (via the consulate). You can’t proceed without completing this step, so let’s call it step zero, because everything else depends on it.

Now, two things may or may not have happened.

1. Numer PESEL (ID number). Normally, after receiving the document certifying your Polish citizenship, the consulate will make you fill out an application form for a PESEL number. Because they know that you can’t go any further without that number.

Edited to add: If the consulate did not tell you anything about a PESEL number, call them and ask to fill out a PESEL application ASAP. If you were born in Poland after 1975, you should have been assigned a PESEL number automatically, and it sits somewhere on file in Poland. In that case, the consulate should be able to help you find out what your PESEL number is.

2. Registration of your foreign birth certificate in the Polish Population Registry (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) and issuing you polski akt urodzenia (Polish birth certificate). From what I found out, if you were born abroad and currently live abroad, this would also be handled by the office in Warsaw. But you will most likely end up asking the consulate to send the application for you to the office in Warsaw, especially if you don’t speak any Polish.

After that, it’s all easy-peasy.

With the PESEL number and the paper about your citizenship, the consulate can issue you paszport tymczasowy (temporary passport) while you wait for a normal Polish passport. That is important, because as a Polish citizen you are required to enter and leave Poland using a Polish passport.

If you want dowód osobisty (Polish ID card), you will unfortunately need to come to Poland to apply for it here in person.

To get dowód osobisty, you will need a copy of your Polish akt urodzenia (birth certificate), two photos and your paszport tymczasowy (temporary Polish passport). Registered domicile (meldunek, zameldowanie) in Poland is not required. They will simply write “brak” (none) in the field asking for your permanent Polish address. If you don’t have that permanent Polish address, you can apply for dowód osobisty at any Urząd Miejski (City Hall), but it’s most convenient to do it in the same city that keeps your Polish akt urodzenia (Polish birth certificate) on file, because otherwise they will be sending stuff around to verify that you are really you.

Getting dowód osobisty takes about 30 days. And voila, you have a Polish ID card!

There is no such thing as an “EU ID card”. Some EU countries, like the UK, don’t even have mandatory ID cards. This is something that each country decides on its own.

Right now, Polish dowód osobisty allows you to travel passport-free within the Schengen zone in Europe. In theory, at least – I was denied boarding once when traveling from Sweden to Spain with my dowód osobisty. The woman at the check-in desk thought that since Swedes need passports to travel within the Schengen zone (government issued ID cards are not mandatory in Sweden), the same must apply to other EU nationalities as well.

While outside the Schengen Zone, your passport is your normal form of ID. While in Poland, your dowód osobisty is your normal form of ID. Some businesses (especially those that are still stuck in the past) may even give you an evil eye if you hand them a passport when they ask for “dowód.” It happened to me at my old bank a couple of times. And that’s why I have a new bank now.

I don’t know, or don’t really remember, how much each step in this process costs. For steps from 0 to 2, different consulates charge different fees, especially if foreign document translations into Polish are involved. Some people who were born abroad, and who don’t speak Polish, choose to hire a lawyer to help them with the paperwork. I hired a Polish lawyer simply because it was more convenient that way. It was also faster. Some consulates end up sitting on completed paperwork for months on end (as it happened in my case).

Jennifer, if you want to know more, feel free to ask any and all questions you might have regarding this issue. I hope that this step-by-step outline can help not only you, but also others who are in the same situation.

Good luck!

Tags: dowód osobisty, ID card, PESEL number, Polish citizenship, Polish passport

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Comments:

Barb Lomnicki:

Wow, you are such a wealth of information! I’m still contemplating whether I will proceed with getting a Polish passport, but this info sure helps to get started.
Barb Lomnicki:

Czesc Aniu:
In the event you ever “blank” on an idea for a subject, could you explore the world of diminutives (names in particular)?

I want to be able to communicate with an adult male (good friend) without it sounding like I am addressing a 3 year- old or a lover?
Many thanks,

Basia/Barb
Michael L. (dziadek):

Witaj Jennifer,
Lots of Luck with all agencies both with the NYC Polish consulate and those in Poland.
I am married to a Polish citizen for 17 years, lived in Poland in our Olsztyen apt, and our built house on the Baltic Sea. I received my two year resident card, returned to the USA and have a running two year ordeal with the NYC Polish consulate with registered mail, telephone calls, voice mails, emails and visits with all required documents.
What ever you do and it is costly get a lawyer…
Dziadek Majko
Thomas Kalinowski:

Hi am currently in the process (via the consulate / translator etc) of confirming my Polish citizenship .My mothers parents , sister and brother where all born in Poland my mother born in Australia . My question is should i have my mother confirm her Polish citizenship first to continue the family link to myself or can i confirm my Polish citizenship without my mother’s confirmation ?

Thanks in advance
Tom.K
JOHN WASHBUSH:

Greetings!

What a fantastic explanation of an otherwise scary and complicated process. Nice going!

Having said that, would you like to try another sticky wicket? Consider us expats who have been living in Poland and working there for some time. Let’s say that we decide we want to buy a flat and stay there. That requires a Permanent Resident identification. Would you like to have a go at explaining the process of qualifying for Permeant Resident status?

John
Eva:

Hi Tom,

Yes, you will need to include your mother in your application. Whilst she does not have to apply for a Polish passport, your ancestry has to be proven through her. You can lodge both applications via a consulate or directly in Poland at the same time. Nowadays, each applicant is allocated a separate case officer but it’s actually of benefit for you to wait in the queue whilst your mother’s application is being processed because the Voivodeship Office in Warsaw does have processing deadlines (they don’t adhere to them necessarily but if you have been waiting for a long time, you can apply a bit of pressure). Before you do anything, however, you need to make sure you are actually eligible as you can’t always apply if your mother was born before 1951. There are several acts of parliament that governed Polish citzizenship over the years so it is a bit of a maze. Check if you are eligible, otherwise you would be wasting your time and money. The most important thing to have is any documents issued by the Polish government to your ancestors (passports, military records, ID cards, travel documents etc). Good luck!
Anna:

Hi Tom,
Eva above is right, if your mother never had a Polish passport, you will have to go through the motions and confirm her citizenship first.

John,
Have you been reading my mind or what? I’m slowly gathering information for the sort of post you suggested. 🙂

Michael L,
wow! two years??? And to think that I was up in arms when it took 7 months for the consulate to finally tell me that my paperwork was incomplete – because I didn’t sign one piece of paper, which incidentally, they had never told me to sign to begin with! (that was the declaration that my życiorys was true and accurate). Then, there were other problems they kept coming up with. It was absolutely ridiculous.
I got totally fed up, found a lawyer in Poland and he got my case processed in 3 WEEKS!

Barb,
diminutives of names? Be careful what you ask for, hehehe 😉
Michal M:

Hi Anna,

Just one clarification: a Polish ID card (dowód osobisty) permits you to travel without your passport throughout the entire EU, not just the Schengen Zone (Ireland and the UK are in the EU but have opted out of the Schengen agreement, while Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania are EU members but have not yet joined Schengen).

The only difference is that travelling within the Schengen Zone (which also includes Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland, which are not in the EU) you will probably never have to show your ID at the border, whereas if you travel between Ireland, UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus, or Romania and anywhere in the Schengen zone you would need to show your ID (or passport if you don’t have an ID card).

Pozdrowienia,
Michal
Eric:

I was just wondering if both your parents where born in poland but I was born in canada and I’m trying to confirm my polish citizenship if money was no problem what is the fastest and best way to go about this?

THANKS
Basia Lomnicka:

Hi Eric go to this website. (Part 1 of 3).

I have hired a lawyer,(am also Canadian). Write to me on other forum (siuniab).

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/ftopic_4563.htm

Sorry, Anna
Anna:

Basia – Thanks!!!
I was hoping you’d answer Eric’s question.
Eric, if you leave one more comment on here, I will forward Basia your email address so you guys can talk about the fine details of this issue. OK?
mojsze:

Hello:

i would like to know if my aunt can confirm her citizenship while in poland

this is the case

few years ago i applied for my Polish passport and i had to also confirm my grandmother (her father was polish) citizenship and my mother citizenship

so everything went ok and after many months my grandma, my mother and me got the confirmation and few months later the passports

at that time my aunt was abroad so she couldnt sign the papers so the embassy didnt send her papers to poland

if my grandma now have the citizenship and the green birth certificate is it possible for my aunt to confirm her citizenship while we are in vacations in poland? in that case what kind of papers she needs?

or she needs to send again my greatgrandparent documents my grandma documents and her documents

Thanks
todd lerner:

My cousin’s grandfather had a Polish passport for travel before World War II. We are trying to find out if Poland keeps copies of the passport’s with the photograph. We are trying to find a photo of him.
Jasmin Parnell:

Hi there,

I am an Australian citizen living in the UK. I have had my Polish citizenship confirmed. I have sent off my forms for my PESEL number and also to register my birth certificate in Poland. I have been told it will take two months to get my birth certificate registered. However I have not had any success getting timeframes to receive my PESEL number (I do not need the card, only the number on an official document). This is something I am relying on as I need this to continue working in the UK (so I can transfer to a working visa as an EU citizen). I am assuming that it will take two months as I was given the paperwork to complete together, however I am not certain of this.

I have contacted the Polish consulate in London as well as a number they provided me in Poland but have been unsuccesful in confirming a timeframe.

Are you aware of timeframes yourself.

Thankyou very much for your time.

Jasmin
Michal M:

Jasmin:

Normally Polish citizens don’t need a visa to work in the UK or most of the other EU states (I think only Germany and Austria still maintain some restrictions, though they have to remove these by 2011).

I’m not sure if your situation would be different as a result of changing your citizenship status while in the UK, but as far as I know the only thing you’d be required to do is to register with the UK Border Agency’s Worker Registration Scheme.

This is a requirement for citizens from the 2004 new EU member states, which includes Poland. It seems to be just a formality (and and easy way for the Home Office to get £90 from you).

However, you do need to include either a Polish passport of national ID card with the application.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/eea/wrs/

Good luck,
Michal
Jasmin:

Hi Michal,
Thankyou very much for your help. I don’t suppose you are aware of the time it takes to be allocated a PESEL number (not card) after the paperwork has been received in Poland.

Jasmin
Michal M:

Hi Jasmin,

Unfortunately I don’t remember how long it takes to get a PESEL. The last time I renewed my passport they gave me a separate form to fill out for a PESEL, and it just came back with my new passport.

I’m assuming you’ve already applied for a passport, because in Poland there is no PESEL card as such (no equivalent to the National Insurance card in the UK, at least none that I’ve ever heard of). The PESEL is printed on passports and Polish ID cards, but I don’t recall ever getting a separate document stating what my PESEL is (although it has been a while since I did this, maybe somebody else had a different experience), so it’s possible that your PESEL number would be created without you receiving a document telling you this. But if you applied for a passport then it would be printed on that.

Michal
Michal M:

Jasmin,

Just came across the Edinburgh consulate page, which it states that a PESEL should be issued in 4-6 weeks.

http://www.polishconsulate.org/index.php?document=91

Michal
Johan:

Just to let you know: after 4 years of paperwork, I just got my citizenship confirmation, now I have to go to the consulate to apply for the passport, I hope it does not take other 5 years to get it!!!
Kuba:

I know for me I walked into the Gmnia office and got my pesel from the lady on duty. Just filled out some info on me.
martin:

Hi
I am a Canadian / Pole with a Polish and Canadian passport. I was born in Canada. My current Polish passport expires soon and I found out that I need a PESEL to renew it. The instructions from the consulate were long and convoluted (and in Polish which I am not great at) but were somewhere along the lines of getting my Canadian birth certificate, getting it guaranteed by the Canadian consulate, maybe having a lawyer notarize it and it went on and on and I got lost.
Does anyone know how one who has a Polish passport but was not born in Poland and not living in Poland gets their PESEL?
It would be a massive help! Please help!
Thanks
Martin
Eva:

Martin, it all depends when your Polish passport was issued and by whom. If by the Canadian consulate, unfortunately, you will have to go through the process of confirming your citizenship, even though you have a Polish passport (unless you already have a certificate of your Polish citzenship).

As strange as this sounds, the Polish government will require you to go through the process of confirmation of your Polish citizenship and registration of your Canadian birth certificate in Poland and won’t renew your passport, whether you have a PESEL number or not. This rule is a source of enormous frustration for people who hold valid Polish passport but the consulates just won’t budge. I assume since you don’t have a PESEL aleady, your passport is consular. Please let me know if you need more information on how to go about this. The Polish consulate in Canada should also have some information on this, although they’re not known to be very helpful…

Regards

Eva Hussain (ehussain@polaron.com.au)
Sam:

To those that have registered their birth certificates with Poland – What’s the ACTUAL time frame? They told me about a month?

Is there any quicker way to do it? And once it’s done, do I have to THEN request a copy of my Polish birth certificate or do they automatically send one back to you?

Thank you!
Sam
Jasmin:

Hi Sam,
I just got my Polish birth certificate from Poland after registering my Australian birth certificate in Poland along with my PESEL form (form to receive a Polish identity number). It took one month for this to be processed in Poland and to receive my Polish birth certificate. Although the Polish consulate office in Sydney held these documents for almost a month before sending it. I received a Polish birth certificate back automatically. I don’t think you can speed up the process.

Hope this helps you

Jas
basia:

Hi Jas:
Sorry to be so dense, but I need further info.
I am planning a trip to Poland shortly and want to register my Canadian birth certificate blah, blah..

Since you registered your birth in Poland and it took a month (were you still in Poland to pick it up or did it get forwarded to the Polish consulate?).

Is there any advantage to doing it in person in Poland? (time? expense?) in your opinion.

Thanks for the info
Jasmin:

Hi Basia,
I had my birth certificate sent to Poland by the Polish consulate in Sydney, and it was returned to Sydney for it to be forwarded to my home address is Australia. So I never actually went to Poland.

To be totally honest I would have no idea about whether it would be cheaper or quicker if you registered your birth certificate while in Poland. It would be best to contact your nearest Polish embassy to clarify this information

I hope this helps
Eva Hussain:

Definitely cheaper and much quicker BUT you would have to go with someone that speaks Polish well and is enterprising. If time is of essence, this is the way to go but venturing on your own may be difficult. Best to go with a Polish-speaking friend or family member. You can also apply for your birth certificate in writing, directly to the Civil Registry Office (USC), provided you submit the right documents and the fee, payable to their bank account. So it is a bit more complicated than doing it through the consulate but if someone can help, especially if you are going yourself, it may be worth a try.

Regards

Eva Hussain
Kuba:

In my experience it took about 2 months to get my residency card. I took all the papers to the office in Wloclawek and filed them, birth cert., passport, letters from the IRS, FBI and bank account. I was in Poland and waited until it was completed. The paperwork had to be sent to Bydgoszcz for execution.
Richard:

I found in this article such sentence
“”There is no such thing as an “EU ID card”. Some EU countries, like the UK, don’t even have mandatory ID cards. This is something that each country decides on its own.””
I need to correct this error- mandatory ID card exists in Poland thanks for gentlemen like Hitler and Stalin – once invented – this way of terrorizing society will never die – there is system of punishing and terrorizing people if they do not comply and try live their lives as free people around the world.
I myself and my family – we are facing deportation from my own country – Poland because of this law invented by individuals like Franco , Mussolini , Stalin and Hitler . It is up-roaring – some 60 + years after WWII and a few years after Poland became member of EU – steel we have this way of violating CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO FREEDOM . And this is not only in Poland- Spain and Germany are still victims of Hitler and another guys like him . Probably some more countries too.
It never was like this in real democracies like USA , Canada and UK
Thank you readers – and shame for modern Gestapo and NSDAP – today they are bearing different names- but this is what they are.
Franciszka:

I live in Australia and have applied for and received my Polish Citizenship confirmation letter.I have been told that I now need to have my birth and marriage certificates translated into Polish then sent to Warsaw and they will then stay permanently in Warsaw. That I will receive Polish birth and marriage certificates and I need then to fill an application form for a PESEL number before I can apply for a passport.

Can anyone tell me what happens when my birth and marriage certificates are changed over to Polish when I have used them in Australia for other government departments. Will I have problems in the future?

Has anyone been through the this whole procedure and can give me advice? Please!!
fullmoon:

hi,
a polish person is working for me, she has lost her documents : polish identity card.
Now we have big problems,because she is working here in belgium,the consulate just tell her to requet for a passport(120€)
on the passport form it is requested the identity number card,that we don’t have it anymore.
How to have back an identity card for her ? without going in poland ?thanks for you info
Candace:

How does one find a reputable lawyer in Poland to do the work for obtaining citizenship?
Franciszka:

Comment on the FIRST POST by Anna Ikeda

One thing is obviously new to the process Anna mentioned in her blog on March 16th, 2009. Before receiving Pesel number or a Polish Passport you now “MUST” send your “Foreign” birth and marriage certificates to Poland, they then keep them on record in their department archives (birth, death, marriage office I guess) and re-issue you with “POLISH” birth and marriage certificates.
You should get all this information from the Polish Consul Office in the country you live and make sure your country also accepts duel nationalities before going ahead with any applications. Cheers!
CK and Partners Law office:

If anybody is interested in polish citizenship (confirmation or acquring) and look for law firm in Poland which is specialized in these procedures – just send proper mail

polish.citizenship@cklawoffice.eu

http://www.cklawoffice.eu/

We will be glad to help and give all necessary informations. Initial procedures and verification is for free.
Jessica:

I am confused about the order that documents need to be secured. Does one obtain a Dowod Osobisty before or after securing a passport? I was under the impression that one needs a Dowod Osobisty in order to apply for a passport, Can someone please clarify? Thank you.
- Anna:
  
  @Jessica Hi Jessica,
  first you need dowód, then with that you apply for a passport.
Jessica:

Regarding the dowod and the passport, is it possible to apply for both at the same time? Someone at the town hall told me that I could apply for both simultaneously. Is this not the case? I am currently awaiting confirmation of Polish citizenship and am trying to calculate how long it will be before I have either the dowod or the passport in hand. How long does it take to get the dowod? Is it possible to work in EU countries with just a dowod or is a passport necessary?
Bromislaw:

Getting Polish citizenship, even if you are born to Polish parents in the 1930 on Polish soil but left during WW11 is nothing but an impossible and administrative, bureauctratic bordello!
Shakespeare once said: “First we have to kill all lawyers” and I would like to add, 400 years after, to do the same to the overgrown administration.
If anyone has any bright ideas re regaining my Polish citizenship please let me know as I am totally fed up!
mjibranw:

hello iam mjibranw from i want to register my self there marriage office for marriage plez tell me how i do this waiting here ur reply
thanx
take care allways happy
009203456873520
Bronislaw:

Hello again – after such a time! I want to say I finally have, after 5 months, confirmation of my Polish citizenship on a piece and A4 paper.

No matter whom I approach as to what to do next, nobody can tell me. Each bureaucrat sends me to another. Do you have any clues for me by chance? Do you think I should be able to get a Polish passport and where in Warsaw should I go?
Would be thankful for some assistance (non-bureaucratic).
Also I have to exit Zurich on 5/1/2011 and without a Polish passort I may have some difficulty as I came in to the EU on an Australian passport and was supposed to leave on 28/9/2010 but the bureaucrats here told me to be patient and I have been to such an extent that I was illegal until November 29 when my citizenship was confirmed.
Thanks
Bronislaw
adam:

Has anybody applied for a PESEL with the Polish Consulate in LA recently, or does it have to go through the Chicago Consulate? I’m hoping this is possible to be done through the mail. As with everything else, it sounds like applying for PESEL and passport at the sametime varies from consulate to consulate
Joe:

Does anyone know whether the confirmation of Polish citizenship (Potwierdzenie Obywatelstwa Polskiego) is all that is required to work in any other EU country (specifically Italy)?

I was born in the US, my parents are Polish. I am now waiting for my confirmation of Polish citizenship. I would like to know if I will also need a PESEL number and passport to work in Italy.
dani:

I’m an Australian citizen who had my polish citizenship confirmed a few years ago, yet never obtained a passport. I am now planning a holiday to poland, will I be able to enter and leave on my Australian passport? It is just that it took close to two years (and much paperwork) to obtain the citizenship, and I am concerned that getting a polish passport will be equally time consuming…and our trip is only a few months away. What would be the ramifications of not obtaining a passport? Any advice would be appreciated.
tony:

thanks for your wealthy information. i am just wondering if you can advise me on my case. we have our daughter Polish citizenship confirmed and we have the paer with us. but unfortunately we live in london and my daughter is in Poland with my Polish mother in law at the moment on the foreign paper (non Eu passport and with her Her polish Citizenship confirmation in hand. she is 17 of age. the Local vovoid told us since we do not have a permament address in Poland, they have to send all my daughter’s paper work all the way to Warsaw for her Polish ID and Polish passport. technically and in theory our daughter is now a Polish citizen. we have waiting 2 months and we still have no answers. please tell us if we followed the right path and the right proccedures…and if that long wait is normal. we want our daughter to come and join us in London but we do not know if she will need a visa if we intend her to come before the issuing of her ID and Passport. please help…do we apply for a british visa? do we wait patiently until she gets her visa and come to join us or what to do? please help. many thanks. waiting patiently for your reply.
tony:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.
thanks for your wealthy information. i am just wondering if you can advise me on my case. we have our daughter Polish citizenship confirmed and we have the paper with us. but unfortunately we live in london and my daughter is in Poland with my Polish mother in law at the moment on the foreign passport (non Eu passport and with her Her polish Citizenship confirmation in hand). she is 17 of age. the Local vovoid told us since we do not have a permament address in Poland, they have to send all my daughter’s paper work all the way to Warsaw for her Polish ID and Polish passport. technically and in theory our daughter is now a Polish citizen. we have waiting 2 months and we still have no answers. please tell us if we followed the right path and the right proccedures…and if that long wait is normal. we want our daughter to come and join us in London but we do not know if she will need a visa if we intend her to come before the issuing of her ID and Passport. please help…do we apply for a british visa? do we wait patiently until she gets her visa and come to join us or what to do? please help. many thanks. waiting patiently for your reply.
JohnK:

I started the application process to get a Polish Passport and what a process it was.

First my Dad had to apply for his citizenship as you can not jump a generation. That took close to 6 years. It only took me about 6 months to get mine, after my father had his.

Now I am in the process of registering my birth in Warsaw, next I will need to get a Polish Birth-Certificate (I had to send in my original Australian one with a translation in Polish:the first translation was not accepted by the embassy even though it was done by a registered translator). After I get this, and still waiting, I can apply for a Pesel number and then a passport. It is a long process.

Now I am concerned that they will keep my Australian birth certificate. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Secondly can I enter Poland with my Australian passport and will there be any troubles there, given that I have Polish citizenship.

A long and expensive process and hopefully worth it!!
Stef:

Wow. This post is awesome. I wish I came across this earlier!

I’ve just finished the ordeal of getting my citizenship, then PESEL, then Polish birth certificate, then Polish ID Card and then Polish Passport- YAY! All done! (Both my parents are Polish but I was born in Australia as a bit of a background).

The only advice I would give is come for a paperwork holiday to Poland, have several copies of your Australian birth certificate on you (they kept mine), and expect to be frustrated. Oh and it seemed that the apostille on my Aus birth cert was a big waste of money, plus at the Urząd I was processed through, they didn’t accept the certified translation that I got done in Australia, so I had to get it re-done in Warsaw. For me, it ended up taking about 3-4 months to get everything sorted (this didn’t include the time I spent confirming my Polish citizenship via the consulate in Australia- something I subsequently ended up collecting from an office in Warsaw where it was collecting dust for a couple of months, because they hadn’t gotten around to sending it back to me in Australia), but that was because I had no “checklist”, so to speak, of what the steps were. It was really hard to find out the process and I just had to deal with having a new step added to my list every time I spoke to someone at the Urząd.

The information from the Polish Consulate in Australia seemed to be a little misleading too. As in, It seems that all you have to do to get a Polish Paszport is confirm citizenship and then apply for the passport. I dunno if they add extra steps while you’re going through the process? Or maybe it IS just that much more straightforward than having to process all the extra stuff to get PESEL numbers and a Polish birth cert, like I had to do here in Poland? If it really is that easy via the Consulate, I guess that would be the way to go! But I expect (at the least) the processing times would be much, much longer.

This post is a pretty good checklist of what I went through and probably the most accurate information on this particular issue that you could find on the net.

Thanks, this post will surely help a lot of people out!
Andre:

After having read all the above I can only say good luck everyone!
I am Polish, speak Polish, born in Poland, went to school in Poland but left in 1945 for France and then Australia. Now I want a Polish passport because of Schengen regulations which allow me to stay only 3 months in Poland.
Do you think that is easy. No way! The bureaucracy here in Warsaw is impossible!
Looks like I will never be Polish in the eyes of the bureaucrats!
Andre:

Good luck everyone! I am Polish, born in Poland, have Polish parents and grandparents but do you think I can get a Polish PESEL. No! I left Poland in 1945 for France and then on to Australia. For 60 years I have lived in Australia and never worried about getting a Polish passport. Now, because of Schengen rules whick only allow me to stay 3 months in Poland I am trying to do something about it. It is a nightmare!
Pedro K:

Hi Anna

I would like to know if the paper work for the polish ID has to be presented in Poland personally or if I could start it by mail. I live in France and I believe that if obtaining this document takes at most 30 days I would have to go to Poland, do the paper work and then after 30 days return to Poland to pick it up, isn’t this right?
My polish birth certificate is kept in Warsaw and I don’t have a permanent address in this country, so a from what I read above I will be going to a City Hall in this city to get the paper work done, right?
Thank you very much.

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