{"id":426,"date":"2008-12-11T12:09:45","date_gmt":"2008-12-11T16:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=426"},"modified":"2008-12-11T12:09:45","modified_gmt":"2008-12-11T16:09:45","slug":"meldunek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/meldunek\/","title":{"rendered":"Meldunek"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t remember if I\u2019ve already told you this but I\u2019ve been trying to establish myself in Poland. You know, doing stuff like getting a Polish address (meldunek<\/strong>), ID card (dow\u00f3d osobisty<\/strong>) 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 \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>.\u201d
\nWhat is this \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>\u201d? It\u2019s 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 \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 permanent (pobyt sta\u0142y<\/strong>) and temporary (pobyt czasowy<\/strong>). The permanent kind is noted on a person\u2019s national ID card (dow\u00f3d osobisty<\/strong>), though you can also get an ID card without a permanent address.<\/p>\n

My first ID card was like that \u2013 it simply said \u201cbrak<\/strong>\u201d (none) in the space asking for my address. Most Polish citizens who live abroad and don\u2019t maintain addresses in Poland have \u201cbrak<\/strong>\u201d written on their ID cards, too. It simply means that we don\u2019t have a \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>\u201d in Poland. And I guess if you are a homeless person, you’d have “brak<\/strong>” on there too, but then I’m not so sure if homeless people bother to update their ID cards.<\/p>\n

Now, if you plan to have an official (permanent) domicile in Poland, you need to register it with the government. Normally, it\u2019s 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\u2019t have a previous address in Poland, you don\u2019t need to do anything else. If you had a previous address somewhere you would need to de-register
\nyourself first at the old place, and then register yourself at your new place. That registration is called \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>\u201d and when you are doing it, you \u201cmeldujesz si\u0119<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 you register yourself.<\/p>\n

Once you have your permanent meldunek<\/strong>, 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\u2019t 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
\nchanging the \u201cmeldunek<\/strong>.\u201d
\nAnyway, last month I got my meldunek<\/strong> in Gda\u0144sk<\/strong>. I applied for a new dow\u00f3d osobisty<\/strong>, 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 Gda\u0144ska<\/strong> (the mayor of Gda\u0144sk<\/strong>), Mr. Pawe\u0142 Adamowicz<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

And needless to say, the letter began with \u201cSzanowna Pani<\/strong>.\u201d LOL!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t remember if I\u2019ve already told you this but I\u2019ve been trying to establish myself in Poland. You know, doing stuff like getting a Polish address (meldunek), ID card (dow\u00f3d 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…<\/p>\n

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