Polish nationality law

Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth.

Entering into a marriage with a Polish citizen does not constitute a sufficient basis for obtaining Polish citizenship. In order to obtain such citizenship, a foreigner has to meet additional specific conditions concerning their legal and uninterrupted stay in Poland. A foreigner may be recognized as a Polish citizen if he remains married to a Polish citizen for a period of at least 3 years and has stayed in Poland legally and uninterruptedly for at least 2 years under a permanent residence permit, and their knowledge of Polish language is documented. However, in order to obtain a permanent residence permit in Poland, one has first to obtain a temporary residence permit based on marriage to a Polish citizen.

It is possible to obtain a permit for permanent or temporary residence in Poland, provided that you intend to reside in Poland and not in another country. You will not be able to obtain a temporary or permanent residence permit in Poland if you intend to live in a different country.

Polish citizenship may also be obtained in the course of the procedure of granting Polish citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland. The decision of the President is not limited by any conditions that the foreigner should meet in order to be granted Polish citizenship. This means that the President may grant Polish citizenship to any foreigner, regardless of such conditions as the duration of his stay in Poland. It is worth noting that the procedure for granting Polish citizenship by the President may take quite long, because the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Code do not apply to such cases. This means that even if it is possible to review the case based on the evidence presented by the applicant, it does not have to be considered immediately as in the case of recognizing a foreigner as a Polish citizen. Individuals applying for citizenship are obliged to substantiate their application and to provide important reasons why they should be granted Polish citizenship.

A child born to a Polish parent is a Polish citizen at birth. This applies whether the child is born in Poland or elsewhere.

Children born or found in Poland acquire Polish citizenship when both parents are unknown, or when their citizenship cannot be established, or if determined to be stateless. Polish citizenship is bestowed upon stateless children over sixteen years of age only with their consent.

The current law is the Polish Citizenship Act of 2 April 2009, which was published on 14 February 2012, and became law in its entirety on 15 August 2012.

According to this act, a foreigner may acquire Polish citizenship in the following ways:

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Wikipedia