Polish Citizenship

Congratulations, JC. I'm not eligible for any other citizenship as far as I know, but a friend of mine, based on his family's difficult World War II-era history, got not only Polish citizenship, but then German and British in addition to his original US.

Thanks Slate. I'm also eligible for Irish citizenship for which I'm in the process of applying for because I thought, "why not?".

JC, how long did it take, and did you do it all yourself?

@Stan The process took about three years with much of the time taken up by the Polish authorities caseload. I used a Polish law firm in Krakow who deal exclusively with Polish citizenship cases as all documentation has to be translated into Polish and they will also conduct searches to find all relevant documentation held by the Polish authorities. The firm is called Lexmotion although there is another organisation named Poleran who have offices in Australia, UK and US who reportedly offer faster turnarounds but they are more expensive than Lexmotion.

Congratulations!
I have dual citizenship (not Polish!) and I always carry both my passports when traveling abroad, even if I know I will only use one. But I like to have both with me in case I need to make an emergency trip to see my elderly parents and family (which requires a visa for US passport holders).

All 8 of my great-grandparents fled Ireland during the famine. Granting me Irish citizenship is not guaranteed. Also, it would not pass to my wife or to my children. I’m closer to 100 than to 50. The three years it would take along with the expense just does not make it viable.

Congrats JC!

Would you fancy getting a house out there? Do you think you could adjust to Polish life?

Congrats JC!
Would you fancy getting a house out there? Do you think you could adjust to Polish life?

Thanks Gerry. I've thought a lot about it and the idea is very tempting. I'm retired and my pension would be sufficient plus my wife's company that she works for has an office in Warsaw. The only issue is the language, it's very difficult to learn and whilst I know a bit I'm by no means conversationally competent. Culturally however I've grown up with a big Polish influence so there wouldn't be much of an adjustment to Polish life.

Ah yes the language is pretty crucial to really getting properly integrated somewhere. It's the same for people moving here. Your EU citizenship really opens up a lot of options one way or another now anyway. Nice one.

JC I guess you un-Brexited yourself.

JC, assuming you're a UK citizen, you don't need Irish citizenship because you have the right to live (and work) there under the Common Travel Area. And with a Polish passport, you have, as Stan put it, unBrexited yourself. If it's just a matter of collecting passports, then go for it. I got mine in 2017, and it didn't take anything like 3 years. My sister got hers late last year, and it definitely took her longer, but still not 3 years.

@G3rryCee I think the delay was due to a combination of waiting for a reply from the UK Ministry of Defence (no surprise there) and a few documentary errors that took longer than necessary to rectify.

I have no desire to move to Ireland as the climate doesn't appeal, I currently live in one of the sunniest parts of the UK so a rainier climate doesn't appeal. I just like the idea of holding Irish citizenship as a nod to my paternal grandmother.

JC I guess you un-Brexited yourself.

Lol...yes. My sons who have been travelling regularly throughout Europe recently have been desperate to get their Polish passports to avoid the problems with EES that they've encountered. The only issue is that the majority of the people they're travelling with only hold UK passports so they'll still have to wait on the other side.

"The only issue is that the majority of the people they're travelling with only hold UK passports so they'll still have to wait on the other side."

Yes, this is the issue! My husband is Irish so gets thru passport control in EU countries very quickly, but doesn't actually save any time as he still has to wait for me. Congratulations on your Polish citizenship!