GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

In Poland, generally, it is based on the principle of blood. The child, whose mother and/or father are Poles, acquires Polish citizenship at birth. The simplest situation is when parents have valid Polish passports or evidence. Then they apply for a passport for their child. Importantly, both parents must agree to a child's passport and the child must have a Polish birth certificate. 

The situation is complicated when parents do not have valid passports or when the person who wants to obtain this document never has a Polish passport or ID card. At that time most often the so-called certification of citizenship. The appropriate application is sent to the appropriate voivodeship (the competent voivodeship is the one where the last time someone lived in Poland or voivode of Mazovia - for people born outside Poland). The application and the entire procedure are described on the website of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ottawa.

Polish citizenship can also be given to the President of the Republic of Poland - in this case the President decides whether the applicant will become a Polish citizen or not. In some cases it is possible to apply to the Minister of the Interior for the restoration of citizenship (this applies to persons who have possessed Polish citizenship in the past but lost it by January 1, 1999). It should be stressed here that Polish citizenship is not restored to foreigners who, during the period of September 1, 1939 - May 5, 1945 voluntarily joined the army of the Axis States or their allies or accepted a public office in their service; or acted to the detriment of Poland, in particular its independence and sovereignty, or participated in the violation of human rights. The last possibility of obtaining Polish citizenship is recognition as a Polish citizen - in this case, a foreigner is legally resident in Poland. An additional requirement in this procedure is to present the voivodship confirmation of the Polish language.