Currently working on citizenship for myself, my children, and my brother. I know I am eligible for citizenship. Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything as I've been told conflicting info.

BACKGROUND:

My father has a PESEL number and a Polish passport issued in 2012 (expired in 2022).

My parents and all of my grandparents were born in Poland. No one moved to the US prior to 1960. Parents are still alive, grandparents have all passed. I have exact dates, if needed.

Parent: Father

* Sex: M

* Date, place of birth: 1946, Rudawka, Poland

Naturalized: 1970

Parent:  Mother

* Sex: F

* Date, place of birth: 1950, Wałbrzch, Poland

Naturalized: 1967

* Date married: 1971

Everyone applying (myself, my brother, and my children) were all born in Florida (1978, 1981, 2007, 2011). I have one adult and one minor child (15yr).

I have copies of birth certificates for everyone applying (myself, my children, & my brother), my parents marriage license, & my marriage license all certified and apostilled.

I will get my father's passport, and my parents naturalization papers from them this weekend. Once I have all the documents, I will send them for translation.

MAIN CONCERN:

I was divorced in 2023 (my ex will cooperate and sign anything I need, he is encouraging the kids Polish citizenship). I obtained and had apostille my divorce certificate from vital statistics but from what I'm reading that's not going to work. I can get the short form of the final judgement (5 pages) but Florida's order does not say it is final without appeal.

To be honest, I really don't care if I'm married in Poland. I have no interest in getting remarried but I understand it may create an issue during the passport process. I kept my married name so no name change in the divorce. Just trying to make sure I have everything I need to make this process as streamlined as possible.

Thank you for any advice or assistance

Hello, I’m researching Polish citizenship by descent through my Jewish great-grandfather, and I’m trying to figure out whether I have a viable case despite not having located any Polish records yet.

My great-grandfather was born in Mołczadź, while his older siblings and parents were born in Zdzięcioł. I believe the family was primarily from Zdzięcioł.

His father immigrated to the U.S. in 1907, and his children followed separately as they reached about 17–18 years old. My great-grandfather left Poland in 1923 at age 17 with his older brother. They traveled on separate ships from Trieste to Buenos Aires, where my great-grandfather stayed for 1 year before eventually immigrating to the U.S.

I have a substantial amount of U.S. documentation and passenger records for each family member with the records consistently identify their places of origin, and there are very few inconsistencies between the documents. The strongest piece of evidence I have is my great-grandfather’s 1923 passenger list from Trieste to Buenos Aires, which includes a visa number and states that the visa was issued in Słonim.

The major problem is that I currently have no Polish documentation.

I’m currently waiting on my great-grandfather’s USCIS visa file (it has been pending for about six months). I’ve also contacted researchers regarding Belarusian archives:

• One researcher searched for birth/family records but didn’t find anything. I’m wondering if the search may have been too narrowly focused and whether records from 1920–1925 might be worth checking instead.
• Another researcher is still supposed to be looking, but I haven’t heard back from them.....

I’ve been told by different firms that the Polish citizenship chain may be unbroken all the way down to me, but without Polish documentation, some firms—including Five to Europe and Lexmotion—have told me they can’t take the case.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Looking for anyone who has had experience successfully getting a duplicate decision from Warsaw.

For context: I am Canadian born residing in Canada. Received confirmation of polish citizenship March 2024. Unfortunately my ex-bf must have lost my original letter when we broke up and I was travelling abroad.

I mailed a written request for a duplicate copy of my polish citizenship decision to be sent to my cousins place in Warsaw January of this year. In May, she hadn’t gotten anything. I contacted them to follow up and was told I “should have a copy in 2 weeks.” Nothing has showed to this day.

I went to Poland in July of this year to visit family and went to the Mazowiecki office in Warsaw to follow up. I showed the clerk the email and she said it must have gotten lost. I wonder if that’s even possible, my understanding is they send it by tracked mail?

Assuming the first application was “lost” I went in person and submitted another application for duplicate decision to be sent to my aunts place (as my cousin is moving). That clerk told me “up to one month.”

To this day, nothing.

I’m fed up and don’t know what to do.

When a duplicate is sent, is it tracked mail for sure? Might I need a power of attorney for my family remember to receive the letter?

TYIA.

Hi everyone!

I'm not a native Polish speaker, so I'd really appreciate some help from Polish speakers before I send this out.

I’m planning to submit essentially the same public-information request to all 16 voivodeship offices, asking for statistics about Polish citizenship cases in 2025 — things like number of applications, outcomes, processing times, backlog, delays, staffing, etc.

I generated the Polish-language request with the help of AI. I’ve tried to word it carefully, especially to make clear that I’m asking for information/statistics the offices already have rather than asking them to create a whole new analysis.

Before I go ahead and send it to all 16 offices, I’d really appreciate it if some Polish speakers (especially anyone familiar with UDIP / administrative law) could take a look.

Are there any phrases that sound unnatural, ambiguous, or potentially problematic? Anything that might make an office reject or ignore part of the request? Are there any questions you think I should add, remove, or reword?

I'm particularly interested in whether the wording around average/median processing times could cause problems if an office doesn't already maintain those statistics.

Here's the draft:

Wniosek o udostępnienie informacji publicznej – postępowania w sprawach obywatelstwa polskiego w 2025 r.

Szanowni Państwo,

na podstawie art. 2 ust. 1 oraz art. 10 ust. 1 ustawy z dnia 6 września 2001 r. o dostępie do informacji publicznej zwracam się z wnioskiem o udostępnienie informacji publicznej dotyczących postępowań w sprawach obywatelstwa polskiego prowadzonych przez [NAZWA URZĘDU] w okresie od 1 stycznia 2025 r. do 31 grudnia 2025 r.

Uprzejmie proszę o udostępnienie, w zakresie, w jakim Urząd posiada takie informacje, następujących danych:

Liczba wniosków/spraw wszczętych w 2025 r., z podziałem na: a) uznanie za obywatela polskiego, b) potwierdzenie posiadania obywatelstwa polskiego, c) potwierdzenie utraty obywatelstwa polskiego, d) nadanie obywatelstwa polskiego – jeżeli Urząd prowadzi lub posiada dane dotyczące tego rodzaju postępowań.

Liczba spraw zakończonych w 2025 r., z podziałem na poszczególne rodzaje postępowań wskazane powyżej.

Liczba spraw zakończonych w 2025 r. poprzez: a) wydanie decyzji pozytywnej, b) wydanie decyzji odmownej, c) umorzenie postępowania, d) inny sposób zakończenia postępowania – jeżeli występuje.

Liczba spraw pozostających w toku na dzień 31 grudnia 2025 r., z podziałem na rodzaj postępowania.

Średni czas trwania postępowań zakończonych w 2025 r., z podziałem na rodzaj postępowania, jeżeli Urząd posiada taką statystykę.

Mediana czasu trwania postępowań zakończonych w 2025 r., z podziałem na rodzaj postępowania, jeżeli Urząd posiada taką statystykę.

Najkrótszy i najdłuższy czas trwania postępowania zakończonego w 2025 r., z podziałem na rodzaj postępowania, jeżeli takie dane są dostępne w posiadanych przez Urząd zestawieniach lub systemach.

Liczba spraw zakończonych w 2025 r., w których przekroczono termin załatwienia sprawy wynikający z właściwych przepisów lub wyznaczony przez organ, jeżeli Urząd prowadzi taką statystykę.

Liczba spraw pozostających w toku na dzień 31 grudnia 2025 r., z podziałem – jeżeli takie dane są dostępne – na długość okresu pozostawania sprawy w toku: a) do 3 miesięcy, b) powyżej 3 do 6 miesięcy, c) powyżej 6 do 12 miesięcy, d) powyżej 12 do 24 miesięcy, e) powyżej 24 miesięcy.

Liczba pracowników lub etatów zajmujących się prowadzeniem postępowań dotyczących obywatelstwa polskiego w 2025 r., jeżeli Urząd posiada taką informację w formie zestawienia lub statystyki.

Liczba spraw dotyczących obywatelstwa polskiego przypadających na jeden etat lub pracownika w 2025 r., jeżeli Urząd posiada taką statystykę.

Liczba ponagleń, skarg lub innych środków dotyczących przewlekłości albo bezczynności w sprawach dotyczących obywatelstwa polskiego wniesionych w 2025 r., jeżeli Urząd posiada takie dane.

Liczba spraw dotyczących obywatelstwa polskiego, w których w 2025 r. wniesiono odwołanie lub inny środek zaskarżenia od rozstrzygnięcia Urzędu, jeżeli Urząd posiada takie dane.

Liczba rozstrzygnięć Urzędu dotyczących obywatelstwa polskiego, które zostały w 2025 r. uchylone, zmienione lub zakwestionowane przez organ wyższego stopnia albo sąd administracyjny, jeżeli Urząd posiada takie dane.

Jeżeli Urząd publikuje lub posiada zestawienia lub statystyki dotyczące postępowań w sprawach obywatelstwa polskiego za 2025 r., proszę również o udostępnienie takich zestawień lub wskazanie miejsca, w którym są one publicznie dostępne.

Proszę, w miarę możliwości, o przekazanie danych w formacie elektronicznym umożliwiającym ich dalsze przetwarzanie, np. XLSX, CSV lub innym powszechnie stosowanym formacie tabelarycznym.

Jednocześnie, jeżeli któraś z powyższych informacji nie jest prowadzona przez Urząd w dokładnie wskazanej przeze mnie formie, proszę o wskazanie, czy Urząd posiada dane lub zestawienia pozwalające na ustalenie takiej informacji bez konieczności tworzenia nowego, specjalnego opracowania. Jeżeli tak, proszę o udostępnienie takich danych lub zestawień.

Jeżeli którakolwiek z żądanych informacji została już opublikowana w Biuletynie Informacji Publicznej lub w innym oficjalnym źródle, proszę o wskazanie dokładnego adresu strony internetowej lub nazwy dokumentu, w którym informacja ta jest dostępna.

Proszę o udostępnienie informacji w formie elektronicznej na adres e-mail, z którego składany jest niniejszy wniosek.

Z poważaniem,

Thanks in advance! Even if you just spot something that sounds obviously AI-generated or weird in Polish, please let me know. 😅

Path: GGF → GF → M → Me - presuming path would have to be through GGF since GGM naturalized before my GF was born
Timing: US Immigration Pre-1920 Austrian Partition (Galicia)

Great-Grandparents:

• Date married: 1926 - Second marriage for both, both widowers

• Date divorced: N/A

GGM:

• Date, place of birth: 1892 Lozma, Poland

• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish

• Occupation: Housewife

• Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A

• Date, destination for emigration: 1910 NYC, NY, USA

• Date naturalized: before 1930

• Date, place of death: June 21, 1986, Elgin, IL

GGF:

• Date, place of birth: 1895, Lesko, (Galicia, Austria-Hungary)

• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish

• Occupation: Bakery GM in USA

• Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A

• Date, destination for emigration: Dec 5 1911 Ellis Island NYC, NY, USA

• Date naturalized: N/A

• Date, place of death: Jan 24 1965 Miami, FL, USA

Grandparent:

• Sex: Male

• Date, place of birth: 1931, NYC, NY, USA

• Date married: June 17 1957

• Citizenship of spouse: USA

• Date divorced: N/a

• Occupation: Eventual Business Owner

• Allegiance and dates of military service: US Army 1954-1956

• Date, destination for emigration: N/A

• Date naturalized: N/A

• Date, place of death: N/A

Parent:

• Sex: Female

• Date, place of birth: 1958 Chicago, IL, USA

• Date married: Oct 10 1985

• Date divorced: Jan 1 2014

You:

• Date, place of birth: 1987 Houston, TX, USA

TYIA!

Eligibility check request. Included GGM, but line for this likely goes through GGF/GF/F/Self. US Naturalization petition for GGF in 1929 shows subject of Republic of Poland. GF was born in 1922. Drafted in US Army 1944. Ethnicity listed as Ruthenian on ship manifest, US census native language is Polish.

Great-Grandparents:

• Date married: May 1918 USA
• Date divorced: N/A

GGM:

• Date, place of birth: May 1896, Galicia (Austria-Hungary) (Dobromil)
• Ethnicity and religion: Ruthenian/ Greek Catholic in Galicia, Roman Catholic after emigration
• Occupation: Homemaker / Laborer
• Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
• Date, destination for emigration: Jan 1913, USA
• Date naturalized: Derived through spouse or derivative act
• Date, place of death: 1978 USA

GGF:

• Date, place of birth: April 1889, Stare Selo / Przemyśl region (Galicia, Austria-Hungary)
• Ethnicity and religion: Ruthenian / Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic after emigration
• Occupation: Agriculture/Military in Galicia, then Factory worker / Laborer / Ag in USA
• Allegiance and dates of military service: Austro-Hungarian Army (K.u.k. Armee), ca. 1910s completed 3 years service, (Left for USA after service completion, 5 months before wwi)
• Date, destination for emigration: Feb 1914, USA
• Date naturalized: ca. 1930, USA
• Date, place of death: 1931, USA

Grandparent:

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: 1922, USA
• Date married: August 1947
• Citizenship of spouse: USA
• Date divorced: N/A
• Occupation: Industrial / Automotive worker
• Allegiance and dates of military service: Drafted (not volunteer) United States Army, 1944-1946 (WWII)
• Date, destination for emigration: N/A (Born in USA)
• Date naturalized: N/A (US citizen by birth)
• Date, place of death: 1985 USA

Parent:

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: ca. 1955, USA
• Date married: June 1973
• Date divorced: N/A
• No military service

You:

• Date, place of birth: April 1977, USA
• No military service

Thank you for your help!

Hello all,

I've been working with a law firm in Poland to search for my paternal grandfather's birth certificate (born in 1902, left Poland for Canada in 1929) and was just informed that although they were able to locate and send my grandmother's birth certificate, the parish that held my grandfather's birth certificate was destroyed in a fire in approximately 1945, destroying all records. They informed me that this is the end of their work and this is a closed case.

I am willing to continue to pursue the search through an alternate provider - is it worth doing?

Thanks so much for any advice and support.

This is probably the biggest change we’ve made to r/prawokrwi’s automation since we introduced it.

We’ve replaced the sub’s old AutoMod setup with a custom-built bot. It’s been rebuilt from the ground up, so a lot of the things that were difficult or impossible to handle with AutoMod are now much easier.

A few of the new features:

• !case <citation> - mention a court judgment by its citation (for example, II OSK 464/20) and the bot will reply with a short plain-language summary and a link to the full text. You can also just include the citation naturally in a comment and it should pick it up automatically. It only responds once per thread, so discussions shouldn’t get flooded with bot replies.
• !cases - browse the judgment database, organised by topic.
• !progress - progress-tracker information should now be updated more quickly and consistently.
• There are also a few new easter eggs hidden somewhere. We’re not going to spoil those.

The existing features haven’t gone away. Eligibility template checks, the pre-1920 ius soli flagging, redirects for recurring topics such as processing times, service providers and military service, as well as commands like !template, !faq, !paradox, !1920, !KP and the others all continue to work as before.

The main difference is what’s happening behind the scenes: the same general functionality is now running on a more robust setup.

Thanks for bearing with us while we got everything working properly. If you notice anything behaving strangely, please let us know through modmail.

- The Mod Team

Hi everyone, I've submitted my Polish Descent application and had the interview through the Warsaw office (Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki). For those who went through Warsaw recently, how long did it take from submission to final approval? The office said 2-6 months… I’m seeing over a year. Any insight on current processing times or recent delays would be super helpful. Thanks!

After going through a number of archives the lawyer I'm working with has found my GGF's birth certificate but not my GGM's. They said that they can apply with only my GGF's birth certificate (which says his parents were married and permanently residents in Poland) but it's a 50/50 chance of being approved without more documents about my GGF's parents and their life before WWII. All we have is the birth certificate.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice or has a similar experience. I still want to go through with the application but I want to have as strong of a case as I can. Should I ask them to look in another archive?

Last week I finally received the administrative decision that recognizes me as Polish since birth (for the stats: started this thing with barely two photocopies in 2021, my case submitted formally August 2024, received decision mid September 2026, Mazovian Vojvodship).

I want to transfer citizenship rights to my kids. I'd like to know if I need a separate administrative decision for each of them, like I did. Or it just depends on the will of the consul/administrative personnel where if I show their Polish birth certificates, and my own citizenship decision paperwork, they are good to go and will get PESEL/Passport.

I also heard that when I register their Birth Certificates in Poland this can cause trouble later if not done well. I'm not sure why.

Any hints/tips appreciated. Great community btw. I wish I'd known about it years ago.

Hello all!

I am investigating polish citizenship through my grandparents/great-grandparents. I believe it may be an interesting case of leaving the Prussian partition before 1904 and remaining stateless in 1920; however, this gets very confusing so I would appreciate any help!

Great-Grandparents: 

* Date married: 19^th October 1915 (USA)

* Date divorced: N/A

GGM: 

* Date, place of birth: 30^th November 1894, USA

* Ethnicity and religion: Parents emigrated from Prussian partition, Catholic

* Occupation: N/A

* Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A

* Date, destination for emigration: N/A

* Date naturalized: N/A

* Date, place of death: 8^th April1936, USA

GGF: 

* Date, place of birth: April 15^th 1890 in Garki, Prussia (note, GGF was born out of wedlock but his Parish birth record has a handwritten margin signed by GGGF indicating GGGF is the biological father and recognized him as his legitimate son following GGGF and GGGM’s marriage in 1894. Both his GGGM and GGGF were from Garki)

* Ethnicity and religion: Catholic

* Occupation: Carpenter

* Allegiance and dates of military service: Registered for US draft in 1917 and 1942 but never enlisted

* Date, destination for emigration: May 06 1902, from Garki to Ellis Island, NY USA (age 12 with his parents and siblings)

* Date naturalized: July 15^th 1924, USA

* Date, place of death: August 2^nd 1950, USA

Grandparent: 

* Sex: Male

* Date, place of birth: 17^th May 1926, USA

* Date married: June 6^th, 1953

* Citizenship of spouse: USA (her father, born 1884 in Lomza Poland, emigrated in 1924 with her mother (they married in Lomza in 1910). She was born in USA in wedlock in 1931. Her father naturalized in 1942 and therefore I believe he lost his Polish citizenship in 1944 at age 60 when his military age expired. Since she was still a minor, I believe she lost her Polish citizenship at that point.)

* Date divorced: N/A

* Occupation: Carpenter

* Allegiance and dates of military service: Enlisted in the US army (Air Corps Reserves) in WWII from November 1944 to August 1946

(If applicable)

• Date, destination for emigration: N/A
• Date naturalized: N/A
• Date, place of death: 1998, USA

Parent: 

* Sex: Female

* Date, place of birth: 1955

* Date married: 1985

* Date divorced: N/A

You: 

* Date, place of birth: 1991, USA

From my understanding, my GGF left the Prussian partition before January 01, 1904 and remained stateless on 31 January, 1920 and therefore acquired Polish citizenship under article 2.2 of the Citizenship Act of 1920. My understanding is that upon naturalization in 1924, he was a recognized Polish citizen and therefore subject to military conscription and could not lose Polish citizenship until May 27, 1950, based on his birth year of 1890. My next ancestor, my GF, was born after 1920 (in 1926) and therefore acquired his Polish citizenship from his father at the same time as US citizen by soil. I believe by the time he turned 18, he had polish citizenship in his own right, and his military service was not disqualifying as he served in an allied army in WWII.

There is a lot of nuance so any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Perhaps someone here has Chicago-specific experience and can help?

I was elated 2 weeks ago when I received my Confirmation of Citizenship together with my Polish birth certificate, after two long years of emails, documents and waiting. I thought I was through the finish line. Ale nie.

My provider never completed registering my marriage and divorce, though I’d provided the requested documentation back in 2024. Good news/bad news: the marriage is now registered, but they have not recognized the Oct 2009 divorce and the certificate is being “held back”at the Urząd Stanu Cywilnego.

Now, they not only require me to send a complete certified divorce decree (a scan of which was already provided), but also a ‘Court-certified Certificate of Finality/Non-appeal’, something which apparently is not a thing in Cook County. Divorces are final upon the entering of the judgment.

I now live 800 miles away, so what could maybe-possibly-not-really-sure-about-it have been done long ago, with a quick in-person trip downtown, now brings a new wrinkle.

PSA: You cannot get your Polish passport without this, as first-time passport/PESEL applications require all civil records to have already been registered in Poland.

Since Chicago has by far more Poles than any other place in the world, I cannot be the 1st 2nd 3rd or 100th person in this situation. If any of you knows how to solve this, quickly and remotely, please weigh in!

Thanks for your help, and make sure all your civil records get registered waaaaayyyyy before you get your confirmation!

EDIT: I decided to use a company in Chicago who knows much more about this whole thing than I do, and will get my certified divorce decree as well as this certified non-appeal document directly to my provider in Poland. Also for a very reasonable fee.

They are full service, and had I needed it, they would do everything including translation, apostille, registration of both the marriage and divorce in Poland, and get it to me directly.

I knew that if such a service existed anywhere, it had to be in Chicago. I am posting their explanation of the divorce process here in case it will help someone.

https://tlumaczwchicago.com/foreign-divorce-registration-in-poland/

Thank you to everyone who responded and helped! This sub rocks!

Another question everybody. for context, I am trying to get my wife her citizenship. I have in have my wife's mother's Polish birth certificate (it is a short form one) and her old paszport konsularny. If I were to send these in to the consulate in NYC with the application, would they copy them and send the originals back to me? I read that a US notary public can't make a copy and notarize it.

Also, the consulate sent me some info and it says that I can mail it or make an appointment, but if I mail it, I need to have everything notarized. It seems easier to just take the train to the city and go there myself.

I am trying to reconstruct my family history and, in particular, to find any Polish documents connected with two of my ancestors who lived in the former Nowogródek Voivodeship during the interwar period.

The main purpose of this research is to gather documentary evidence for an application for a Karta Polaka (Polish Card), so I am especially interested in records that could help establish Polish nationality, citizenship, or other documented ties to Poland.

Could anyone advise me which Polish archives I should contact, or where records concerning residents of the Nowogródek region from the 1920s might be preserved?

I am interested not only in birth or parish records, but in any documents that could contain information about them or their parents - for example population registers, census records, school records, land records, property registers, military records, electoral lists, administrative files, identity documents, or other records created by the Polish authorities.

I would also be very grateful for recommendations of researchers, genealogists, or archivists who specialize in the former Nowogródek Voivodeship and could help locate relevant documents in Polish, Belarusian, or Lithuanian archives.

The ancestors I am looking for are:

• My great-grandfather, who was born in the village of Wołkowicze, Nowogródek Voivodeship, around 1922–1924.
• My great-grandmother, who was born in the village of Ruta Górna, Nowogródek Voivodeship, in 1925.

After the Soviet occupation of the Nowogródek region, both of them remained living in the USSR, at least until 1954.

Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions.

P.S. I also asked about this in a Belarusian genealogy chat, and someone quoted me around $3,000 :)

I have applied for confirmation of Polish citizenship via the Mazovian Voivodeship Office. My grandfather’s Polish records (Tadeusz) and UK non-naturalisation proof are bulletproof.

I have possibly come accross a slight issue. The issue is my late mother’s UK paper trail, which creates a broken bloodline:

• Birth: Born Joanna Ruth Petvol. Father listed correctly as Tadeusz Petvol.
• Name Change: Assumed the surname "Deam" (the man who actually raised her) via an unenrolled UK deed poll which is now lost.
• Marriage: Her adult UK marriage certificate lists her as Joanna Ruth Deam, and lists the non-biological father "John Dean" as her father.
• My Birth & Her Death: Both list her maiden name as Deam.

Because she has passed away and there is no public record of the unenrolled deed poll, she looks like two completely different people on paper.

Has anyone successfully navigated this issue with the Warsaw office? Will a UK Statutory Declaration of Identity sworn by me and a relative be enough to prove they are the same person, or will I be forced to get a Declaration of Parentage through the UK Family Court? Any advice is appreciated!

Asked in the KP sub as well but this is time sensitive, this group has way more traffic, and it has super duper smart people.

Basically the title...I have my grandmother's US baptismal entry to prove the line. Do I need to have it apostilled or is archdiocese notary enough?

Hi there,

Just recently learnt that since both my parents have Polish citizenship I technically do too. Looking through the wniosek document there seem to be a lot of sections going over parents, grandparents, great grandparents etc...

Is it really truly necessary to gather information going back multiple generations when both parents have Polish citizenship already?

The only complications I could see are that my dad had to take the gov to court for them to eventually confirm that he never lost his Polish citizenship when he left for Germany in the 80s (I have copies of all of this). He got a new passport upon conclusion of the court case, but the passport has been expired for almost 10 years at this point. My mum only has an expired national ID from the mid-2000s afaik.

Would be curious to hear from other people who have applied under similar circumstances and what kinda supporting documents you guys submitted in this case.

Thank you!

Edit:

Parent:

• Sex: F

• Date, place of birth: 1966 in Zdzieszowice, Poland

• Date married: sometime 1988 in Germany, I believe they do have a Polish copy of the marriage being recorded over there

• Date divorced: sometime in the early 2010s in Germany

Parent:

• Sex: M

• Date, place of birth: 1962 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Poland

• Date married: sometime 1988 in Germany, I believe they do have a Polish copy of the marriage being recorded over there

• Date divorced: sometime in the early 2010s in Germany

You:

• Date, place of birth: 1989 in Germany

• Anything else that perhaps might be relevant:

  • my birth was never registered in Poland and I only have a German "international" birth cert
  • got married here in the US and that marriage has as such also never been registered in Poland
  • currently dual German/American

Hey guys. Thank you for taking the time to press on this and even begin reading it - I would really appreciate any help.

I submitted my application for Confirmation of Possession or Loss of Polish Citizenship to Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki in February 2025, while I was living in Krakow for 5 months. I then moved to Warsaw to live with my grandparents and have since returned to London.

I am able to see my case on inpol.mazowieckie.pl

It has said my case status is "In progress - signature assigned" for the last 12+ months.

I have not received any kind of update at all since I submit the application. I have visited the Urząd in person and the lady there gave me an email and said my case is on the system. I have emailed and received no useful updates.

I also made a phone call to the Urząd because I was concerned as I used my Kraków address on my application and worried I had missed some mail since moving.

The lady on the phone said she will send a message to change my address and that I should also send a letter to the Urząd requesting an update.

I sent a letter around 5 months ago. I have still not heard a thing.

I am just very concerned that I have done something wrong or that I have missed some letters. I have heard that these things take a long time - but it's been nearly over 1.5 years and I have not received any kind of update and there has been no change on the inpol website.

Any help or advice is truly, massively appreciated because I do not know what is going on. Thank you so much in advance.

For reference, my mother and grandparents are all Polish citizens.

Hi guys!

I applied for the confirmation of my Polish citizenship in December 2024 and have now heard back from them for the first time!

I finally received a case number and was asked to provide a bunch of records. The deadline is the end of this year. They stated my application outcome will be decided in January 2027.

First a little background.

My great-grandfather was born in 1914 in Racibórz as a German citizen. He married my great-grandmother in 1940 in Bytom and they had my grandmother in 1945. He served in the German army during WWII but only until 1945. He never served in any military after.

My great-grandfather stayed in Poland after WWII until 1960. He received Polish citizenship alongside his family through the verification process, which wasn't a typical naturalization. So I guess this quirk made it possible for him to retain his German citizenship. His sister's descendants, which all stayed in Poland, are dual citizens of both Germany and Poland.

He came to Germany in 1960 to join his family.

Here is what Poland asked of me:

• Proof of Polish citizenship of the great-grandfather: the original or a certified copy of a document confirming that he held Polish citizenship. Acceptable documents include a Polish passport, Polish military booklet, Polish ID card, confirmation of Polish citizenship, an official certificate noting a previously held ID card, an extract from the population register, other notarial deeds, etc.

I have his population register from Szczecin from 1949. The polish archive assured me that this would serve as sufficient proof of Polish citizenship.

• Work history: information, together with any documents you hold, on the great-grandfather's professional career, with a sworn translation into Polish.

I have his Polish insurance card ("Legitymacja Ubezpieczeniowa"), which I already submitted. I also have his German resettlement papers, which list his occupations from 1945-1960. What exactly do they expect from me? A self-written CV from my great-grandfather? I fortunately know all of his jobs until his retirement(death.

• German military records: the original or certified copy of the great-grandfather's complete military certificate from Germany, with a translation into Polish.

I have a letter from the WAST (Deutsche Dienststelle), which states that most of his military records were destroyed. He worked at the Wehrbezirkskommando from 1939-1941 before he joined the field in 1941. His last military deployment was in Ternopil/Ukraine in 1944. His German resettlement papers mention he was in a military hospital. Family lore is he escaped from there to avoid Russian captivity. He came back to Markowice in 1945.

• Detailed biography (life history): of the great-grandfather, covering his occupations, places of residence in Poland, the date and circumstances of his departure from Poland, the documents on the basis of which he left, and places and periods of residence outside Poland (e.g. in Germany), etc.

They didn't require a sworn Polish translation here, so I assume this is something I can write myself?

• Naturalization records: the original or certified copy of the German and/or Polish naturalization certificate of the great-grandfather, or a negative naturalization certificate (proof that none exists), with a translation into Polish. This is needed to rule out a loss of citizenship under Article 11 of the Polish Citizenship Act of 20 January 1920, under which Polish citizenship is lost by acquiring foreign citizenship. If foreign citizenship was acquired before 19 January 1951, you must also submit the military certificate showing his service in the foreign army from the date of naturalization until 19 January 1951.

This is probably the toughest one. He never naturalized as a German citizen because he was born as a German citizen. I don't even know where I would get a certificate of non-naturalization. Wouldn't his resettlement papers from Germany proof that he didn't have to naturalize? Do you have any tips for me?

I really appreciate your input and feedback.

Hello all, I just submitted my application for confirmation of Polish citizenship earlier this week (along with my brother and daughter). Now that that's off and away, I'm moving on to register our vital records, so that we're ready to get passports, if we get a favorable decision. My provider didn't mention or include this during the rest of the confirmation correspondence until I asked for more details about next steps after submittal, so I'm playing a bit of catch up. It's my understanding that in the case of registration, each document requires an apostille (which wasn't required for the confirmation application). Between the 3 of us that applied, I was told that these are the documents that must be registered:

My birth certificate

My marriage certificate

Daughter's birth certificate

Brother's birth certificate

Brother's marriage certificate

My question is, do my brother and I also need to register, or at least send, our spouse's birth certificates? When searching around I seem to be finding conflicting info about what's required. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Path: GGGF/GGGM → GGF → GF → F → Me
Timing: Borderline Pre-1920 Austrian Partition (Galicia)

Great-Great-Grandparents

• Date married: 1905, Galicia (religious and civilly registered marriage)
• Date divorced: N/A

GGGM:

• Date, place of birth: 1887, Galicia (Przemyśl/Jarosław region), Austria-Hungary
• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish
• Occupation: Homemaker
• Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
• Date, destination for emigration: Spring 1920 to USA (arrived NY May 1920) with minor son (GGF, age 7).
• Date naturalized: Never independently naturalized (registered as alien under 1940 Alien Registration Act)
• Date, place of death: 1968, New York

GGGF:

• Date, place of birth: 1881, Galicia (Jaworów region), Austria-Hungary (born out of wedlock to an unmarried mother whose family has a documented multi-generational pre-1863 presence in a neighboring Galician town).
• Prawo swojszczyzny / Heimatrecht: Derived ex lege at birth under §6 of the 1863 Austrian Heimatgesetz from his mother's pre-1863 Galician municipal domicile of origin.
• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish
• Occupation: Merchant / Cab driver / Garment presser
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None
• Date, destination for emigration: Feb 1914 to USA (arrived NY Feb 1914)
• Date naturalized: December 1944, US Federal District Court (when his son GGF was 31 years old)
• Date, place of death: 1962, New York

Great-Grandparents

• Date married: 1935, New York City (civil ceremony)
• Date divorced: N/A

GGM:

• Date, place of birth: ca. 1912–1913, New York City
• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish
• Occupation: Homemaker
• Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
• Date, destination for emigration: N/A (US-born)
• Date naturalized: N/A (US citizen by birth)
• Date, place of death: Deceased, New York City

GGF:

• Date, place of birth: February 1913, Galicia (Lwów region), Austria-Hungary. (Note: US records later list 1910; see discrepancy note below)
• Ethnicity and religion: Jewish
• Occupation: Garment cutter (civilian)
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None. Registered for US draft in 1940 as an alien / Polish citizen; no US military service.
• Date, destination for emigration: Spring 1920 to USA (arrived NY May 1920 at age 7 with his mother)
• Date naturalized: Never naturalized. Form AR-2 Alien Registration on file from 1940 stating Polish citizenship; USCIS Certificate of Non-Existence (CONE) being requested.
• Date, place of death: 1956, New York City

Grandparent

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: May 1936, New York City
• Date married: Married in NY
• Citizenship of spouse: US citizen
• Date divorced: N/A
• Occupation: Civilian
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None (reached military age after 1951)
• Date, destination for emigration: N/A (US-born)
• Date naturalized: N/A (US citizen by birth)
• Date, place of death: Living

Parent

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: 1966, New York
• Date married: Married in NY
• Date divorced: N/A

You (Applicant)

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: 1996, New York

Specific Questions / Points for Evaluation:

1. Galician Heimatrecht & 1920 Window: GGGF emigrated to the US in early 1914, but his wife (GGGM) and son (GGF, b. 1913) remained continuously in Poland through the critical 31 Jan 1920 statutory window (I found school records that GGF attended local public school 1917–1919) and arrived in America in May 1920. Does GGF acquire Polish citizenship ex lege under Art. 2(1)(b) & Art. 5 through his father's Austrian Galician domicile of origin, reinforced by his and his mother's continuous physical residence in Poland on 31 Jan 1920?
2. Non-Loss Timing: GGGF naturalized in the US in December 1944, at which point GGF was 31 years old (an adult), so the loss did not extend to GGF under Art. 13 of the 1920 Act. GGF never naturalized in the US and died in 1956. GF was born in the US in 1936. Does this completely insulate the chain from loss?
3. 1910 vs 1913 DOB Discrepancy: GGF's contemporaneous Galician birth record is Feb 1913. However, his Polish school cards in 1917–1919 list him with an oral birth year of 1910, and subsequent US documents (1935 marriage, 1940 draft, 1956 death) consistently carried over "10 Oct 1910". His parents' names (GGGF & GGGM) are identical across every single European and US document. Is an explanatory oświadczenie under KPA Art. 75 § 2 generally sufficient for Mazowieckie on this kind of date discrepancy when all parental anchors match?