Meldunek Posted by Anna on Dec 11, 2008 in Culture, Vocabulary
I don’t remember if I’ve already told you this but I’ve been trying to establish myself in Poland. You know, doing stuff like getting a Polish address (meldunek), ID card (dowód osobisty) and all that bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. And compared to other countries, I have to say that the Polish system is quite complicated. The biggest challenge so far has been the “meldunek.”
What is this “meldunek”? It’s a leftover from the communist days – basically a law that requires every citizen and resident in Poland to have a registered domicile somewhere. And of course, the government needs to be notified where that domicile is. There are two types of “meldunek” – permanent (pobyt stały) and temporary (pobyt czasowy). The permanent kind is noted on a person’s national ID card (dowód osobisty), though you can also get an ID card without a permanent address.
My first ID card was like that – it simply said “brak” (none) in the space asking for my address. Most Polish citizens who live abroad and don’t maintain addresses in Poland have “brak” written on their ID cards, too. It simply means that we don’t have a “meldunek” in Poland. And I guess if you are a homeless person, you’d have “brak” on there too, but then I’m not so sure if homeless people bother to update their ID cards.
Now, if you plan to have an official (permanent) domicile in Poland, you need to register it with the government. Normally, it’s done with one of the sour-faced ladies at City Hall. You go there, fill out a paper, sign that paper, the owner of the place where you want to live needs to bring appropriate documents confirming that he/she indeed owns the place, the owner signs the paper you filled out too, and together you go to City Hall to register your new address. Assuming you don’t have a previous address in Poland, you don’t need to do anything else. If you had a previous address somewhere you would need to de-register
yourself first at the old place, and then register yourself at your new place. That registration is called “meldunek” and when you are doing it, you “meldujesz się” – you register yourself.
Once you have your permanent meldunek, you need to put that address on your national ID card (only citizens get those, foreigners get some other type of card). Though I read somewhere that starting next April this will no longer be required. Even if you register yourself at a new place, you will only need to notify the Tax without getting a new ID card. But don’t hold me to it, things tend to change rather quickly in Poland. For all I know, next year we might have to leave our fingerprints and give a stool sample when
changing the “meldunek.”
Anyway, last month I got my meldunek in Gdańsk. I applied for a new dowód osobisty, too. And some weeks after that, I got a very nice letter. My very first letter to my new address. It came from the Prezydent Miasta Gdańska (the mayor of Gdańsk), Mr. Paweł Adamowicz. The guy wrote to welcome me to the city and wish me health, professional successes and happiness in my personal life. A very silly thing but it made me smile. It was a nice gesture.
And needless to say, the letter began with “Szanowna Pani.” LOL!
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Comments:
Marek:
Hi my name is Marek. I am Polish. My Grandparents are form Poland. I have plans to move to Poland in four years. I would like to be a pilot for Polskie Linie Lotnicze. I would love to eventually live in and have citizenship in Poland. Is this what you have done? Or have you simply become a permanet resident? Have you heard of anyone doing this? Would it be practical to do this?
Also, I really love your blog! I’m so glad to see that so many people are interested in our culture! And also that you take the time to write these blogs! It trueley is an honor to be Polish!
michael farris:
“the letter began with “Szanowna Pani.””
which doesn’t apply?
lycia:
Please can any one tell me, if they have euro money in Poland?
You see I have just book a flight for the end of March to Kracow, where my mom came from. I am really very excited about this trip. I have only been to Poland twice. Last time 27 years ago.I hope I can still remember some Polish, which I have learned from my mother. lycia from Italy
michael farris:
poland is not yet part of the eurozone. The local currency is the zloty. ( 1 euro ~ 3.9 zloties ; 1 zloty ~ 25 eurocents)
it’s easy to listen to Polish radio thru the net to brush up,
here’s a link to a talk station:
http://delicast.com/radio/Poland/talk/Tok_FM
lycia:
Thank you so much!!!
I have already tried to listen to the radio. It’s cool. Yes, I understand qite a bit, but I must concentrate a lot. Sometimes, they talk so fast, but I still have time until the end of March, to brush up.
Please, one more question. What is better to take with us, dollars or euro? In the past I took dollars, of course.
Thank you again.
lycia from Italy
michael farris:
I would say maybe take some euros (or dollars) and a bank card. Bank machines all let you choose languge (Polish, English sometimes German) and you can pay in most stores with them too.
Anna:
Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for answering Lycia’s questions. I am traveling and don’t have a reliable internet connection.
Lycia,
Michael is right. I normally just take my bank card and get Polish cash from ATMs. If you decide to take US dollars with you, make sure your bills don’t have any writings or markings on them. Many (if not all) kantors (exchange places) won’t accept them.
Hi Marek!
Thank you for your kind words. AFAIK, one of your parents must be Polish in order for you to claim Polish citizenship. In some cases grandparents are enough, but it’s best to consult with a lawyer who knows about these things. You can go through the process all by yourself without any legal help, but it takes a lot of time and even more patience. I’ve been thinking to blog about this, so if you’re interested I’ll try to do it this month.
lycia:
Hi Anna and Michael,
Thank you both! Your informations are very precious to me. Good thing they have Bank machines and that a lot of places accept credit cards.
Also thank you for the information about the written bills. However, at this point we might just travel with some euro and credit card.
I am so glad I have found you, especially because I can comunicate with you all, in English.
I am also so happy to visit Poland. Last time it was in 1978. And before that it was 1968. Gosh, it must be so different now.
lycia from Italy.
Patricia:
My Grandparents came from
Budapest Hungry and Austria
Does that mean they were Hungarian or Austrian.
This has come up in speaking to family .
They always said they were from Poland.
Please explain.
Happy New Year
I enjoy this Blog so much.
Patrycja
Jennifer:
Hello to everyone. I was wondering if someone could help me? I have dual citizenship, US and Polish. I was born in USA to a Polish citizen(mom) and and American dad. I applied for confirmation of Polish citizenship which I just received recently.
Unfortunately i do not speak or read Polish which has been a setback during the whole process but finally it has been done. I would like to get an EU ID card from Poland but i do not know how to go about doing that, what documents do i need? I have never lived in Poland nor have i ever been but i do have family there. I do not have a Polish passport and i am trying to ovoid applying for one. It will be a great hassle for me since i would first have to register my American birth certificate and my marriage certificate and God knows what else.
I simply want to get a ID card. Please give me any advice or info you have?
Thanks Jen
Jared:
It is nice that you have a national ID card. I believe it makes things easier. Where I am from, we do not have national ID card. And so we have different ID’s for everything. One for health care, one for postal, one for social security, one for …. just one for each different government agencies. And they ask for different things when you apply for them. Which makes things so messy. You have more ID cards in your wallet than money. Hahahah