Polish citizenship - general
Before we explain rules that govern Polish citizenship law, let's see at international law. There are several possibilities to obtain citizenship. The most important is ius sanguinis (right of blood - it's also base of Polish citizenship law), by which nationality is determined by having an ancestor who is a citizen of the state. Another principle is ius soli, known as birthright citizenship, according to which a child acquires the citizenship of the state in whose territory it is born. Parents' nationality is irrelevant. Under the Polish Constitution, the basic form of obtaining Polish citizenship is the right of blood. However, according to the Polish citizenship act, birthright citizenship is used if child is born or found in Poland, and both parents are unknown or they have no citizenship.
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Acquisition of Polish citizenship
Polish citizenship can be obtained on the basis of naturalization. The Polish citizenship is denizened by the president at the application for naturalization. Before that, a foreigner must reside in Poland for five years. However, in special cases, the residence in Poland is not required. A stateless person may be regarded as a Polish citizen under similar conditions as those for acquisition of Polish citizenship. A foreigner who married a Polish citizen, also may acquire Polish citizenship and get Polish passport. In this case, it is sufficient that he legally resides in Poland for 3 years. Marriage of a Polish citizen with a person, who is not a Polish citizen, does not affect the citizenship of the spouses. In the case of dual nationality some states, require renunciation of citizenship of a foreign state. Under Polish law, a person with plural citizenship is regarded only as a citizen of the Republic of Poland and has to use ,Polish passport there. Some states also established specific rules concerning the loss of nationality. Under the Polish Constitution, a Polish citizen can not be deprived of citizenship. The only way is voluntary renunciation of Polish citizenship. However, parents of nascent child, who, in case of conflict of right of blood and birthright citizenship, acquired citizenship of two countries, can decide that the child may lose Polish citizenship.
Rules that govern Polish citizenship law are very important for all who wish to get Polish passport
Rules that govern Polish citizenship law are very important for all who wish to get Polish passport. Polish passport
ReplyDeleteBoth my grandparents were born at Krokow about 1990. They came to the USA in about 1910. My father was born in the US a fews years later. I was born in the 1940s in US. Can I get Polish citizenship/passport thru my grandparents using the 'ius soli' principle?
ReplyDeletethanks for your help. Dave
Dear Dave,
ReplyDeleteThis answer will be quite lengthy but it should give you a good grasp of how to get your Polish citizenship.
What does the Polish law say.
In case you decide to apply for the Polish citizenship, the Polish authorities will examine your application according to the Polish law on Polish citizenship from 1920. The 1920 Polish citizenship law was very strict since it set forth a rule that the Polish citizenship goes after the father. This means that if a child was born in marriage, he or she would get the citizenship of the father. Therefore, if the father was not Polish, the child would not get the Polish citizenship, but the citizenship of the father, whatever it was (Austro-Hungarian, Prussian, Russian, French, etc). A child could get the mother's citizenship only in case the child was born out of wedlock. Therefore, if the mother was Polish and had a child out of marriage, the child would get the Polish citizenship. However, if the mother was not Polish, the child would be considered as holding the citizenship of the mother, whatever her citizenship was. Moreover, in case the child was born in marriage, and his father was a non-Polish citizen, but his mother was Polish, the child would get the citizenship of the father, no matter of the Polish citizenship of the mother. This is because the mother was loosing her Polish citizenship at the moment she married a non-Polish citizen).
Furthermore, the 1920 Law is strictly binding the right to Polish citizenship with the law on the Polish Army Service. Just briefly, I shall mention here, that a Polish citizen, a man, obliged to servie in the Polish army (between the ages from 18-60, and since 1951 18-50), was loosing automatically his Polish citizenship at the moment he joined any foreign army. Women, who were not obliged to serve in the Polish army, would be loosing their Polish citizenship automatically upon receiving a foreign citizenship.
Coming back to your application.
With respect to the 1920 law, you are eligible for Polish citizenship if you can prove that your parental grandfather:
a. was born in Poland
b. never lost his Polish citizenship
and if you can prove that your father was born to a married couple.
If you can prove the 3 above mentioned premises, you should succeed in your application
Cont. of my answer to Dave:
ReplyDeleteHow to prove that you have te right for Polish citizenship.
Unfortunately, things are not so simple and the process before the Polish authorities is lengthy and highly bureaucratic.
The first problem is how can you prove that your parental grandfather got Polish citizenship?
Well, you need to provide the Polish authorities with your grandfather's Polish birth certificate. It is probable that your grandfather came to the United States with his Polish passport and some other documents, maybe even his Polish birth certificate, Polish marriage certificate, Polish army book, school certificates from Poland, etc. If you have those original documents at home - it will make the whole process much easier. However, if you do not have those documents, you will need to file a request for your grandfather's Polish birth certificate to the relevant Polish archives - or ask some law office to do it for you. In order to file such application you will need basic information regarding your grandfather: where was he born exactly, when exactly, what were his parents called. If you know that your grandfather was born in Krakow, you should file a special request to the Archives of Krakow Civil Record Office, with the name of your grandfather, date of birth etc, and they should be able to send you his Polish birth certificate.
However, there is another problem - how to prove that your grand father never lost his Polish citizenship.
Well...This you could prove by providing a relevant document stating that your grandfather never joined any foreign army. (US army in this case).
Unfortunately, in your specific case, there is, another problem - if your grandfather was born in 1890, this means that in 1951 he was 61 years old. As I have mentioned before, the 1920 law connects strictly the right to Polish citizenship with the army service. In 1951 your grandfather was no longer under the duty to serve in the Polish army as he was then 61 years old. According to the Polish law, the army duty was until the age of 60 until the year 1951. On Jan. 19.1951 the law changed and shortened the army duty to 18-50 and from this date on - the duty was until the age of 50).
Therefore, in case your grandfather was 61 in 1951 and in case he already had had his US citizenship, he was no longer considered by the Polish authorities as a person holding Polish citizenship.
To sum up.
I would suggest you exactly the following:
What year your grandfather was born?
How old was he exactly on 19.01.1951
When exactly he became a US citizen.
Has he joined the US Army until 19.01.1951
Continuation of my answer to Dave:
ReplyDeleteHow to prove that you have the right for Polish citizenship.
Unfortunately, things are not so simple and the process before the Polish authorities is lengthy and highly bureaucratic.
The first problem is how can you prove that your parental grandfather was Polish?
Well, you need to provide the Polish authorities with your grandfather's Polish birth certificate. It is probable that your grandfather came to the United States with his Polish passport and some other documents, maybe even his Polish birth certificate, Polish marriage certificate, Polish army book, school certificates from Poland, etc. If you have those original documents at home - it will make the whole process much easier. However, if you do not have those documents, you will need to file a request for your grandfather's Polish birth certificate to the relevant Polish archives. In order to file such application you will need basic information regarding your grandfather: where was he born exactly, when exactly, what were his parents called. If you know that your grandfather was born in Krakow, you should ask some law office in Poland - that specializes in Polish citizenship and passport to get it for you and they should be able to find it and proceed then your main case
Where can I find any law office in Poland - that specializes in Polish citizenship and passport?
ReplyDelete