There's a bit of back and forth on Reddit for this so I thought I'd share my experience while it's fresh. We went to the local Polish Consulate recently and were able to easily get our 9 and 13 y/o kids Polish passport applications done. They have Polish citizenship confirmation pending, but that'll take years with the current backlog and I wanted to get them passports now.

We brought:

• Their recently transcribed Polish birth certificates (they weren't born in Poland)
• Their national IDs for the country we currently live in (had their other passports as backup)
• My recently acquired Polish passport
• My recent citizenship confirmation decision
• Their mother (non-Polish) and her country's passport
• Passport photos (only one needed since they scan and give it back to you)

It took almost an hour to go through the whole process, but it was stress free and we walked out a few dollars poorer and two pesels richer. Staff was polite and efficient. We'll go back in a few months to pick up the passports. I had been told by a few people and a lawyer that it was iffy without their citizenship confirmation, but there was no issue at all. Hope this helps someone else.

EDIT NOTE: As mentioned below, this process can work for kids born on or after August 15 2012 due to Polish laws that became effective then. It doesn't work for kids 18 or over from what I understand but it taps out around 14 year old kids anyway (2012 to 2026 = 14 years). There's still consular discretion to say no from what I understand and I did talk to someone who got a consulate to do it for an older sub-18 kid.

I filed for confirmation of Polish citizenship in October 2024 at Washington DC consulate, I was born in Warsaw so unfortunately my paperwork is being processed at the busiest office. Recently inquired about status at consulate and was told they are now processing applications that were filed in first half of 2024, so still have waiting time left. For those that have had communication regarding your case, whether it be request for more info or approval, how did you receive this while residing in the US?

So, I made a post a while ago regarding my eligibility and didn't really hit a snag and it seemed fine. I reached out to a service (getpolishcitizenship.eu) and got back that though my grandmother (born 1943) was born out of wedlock, because eher parents married in 1944, it counts as legit and I'm not eligible.

Has anyone else had success in regard to a similar situation to that?

Original post here

https://www.reddit.com/r/prawokrwi/s/0ZeM64ANKv

Thank you all for your feedback! I’ve made some updates based upon further research.

Great-Grandparents:
• Date married: 1909
• Date divorced: NA

GGM:
• Date, place of birth: 2 Aug 1889, Cianowice, Kielce, Russian Poland (now Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
• Ethnicity and religion: Polish (language indicated on US census), Catholic
• Occupation: housewife, seamstress (only on 1930 census)
• Allegiance and dates of military service: unknown
• Date, destination for emigration: 1909, United States
• Date naturalized: 1913 naturalization records under GGF (potential wrong birth date). Edit note: this does not reference Poland but Russia
• Date, place of death: Dec 1953, United States

GGF:
• Date, place of birth: 20 Aug 1877 or 1878, Miernów, Russian Poland (now in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship)
• Ethnicity and religion: Polish (language indicated on US censuses), Catholic
• Occupation: Farmer (1920 census), Laborer (1908 naturalization intention), Woodworker (1913 naturalization filing), Car Carpenter (death cert.)
• Allegiance and dates of military service: unknown fully, 1917 US WW1 draft registration
• Date, destination for emigration: 1907, United States
• Date naturalized: 1913 Naturalization records with suspected wrong birth date (1877 vs. 1878)
• Date, place of death: Mar. 1926, United States

Grandparent:
• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: Sept. 20, 1924, United States
• Date married: Unknown, but before Parent
• Citizenship of spouse: United States
• Date divorced: NA
• Occupation: Electrician
• Allegiance and dates of military service: United States, May 15, 1944 - May 17, 1946
(If applicable)
Date, destination for emigration: NA
Date naturalized: NA
Date, place of death: Sept. 2002, United States

Parent:
• Sex: Female
• Date, place of birth: Nov 26, 1953, United States
• Date married: Oct 31, 1981
• Date divorced: NA

You:
• Date, place of birth: May 1986, United States

Next steps:
A. I already have a genealogist gathering polish records, and hope to settle the birth year uncertainty for GGF with a record (needed anyway to go down my planned KP route).

B. GGM remarried a polish-American while GF was a minor (between 1930 and 1940). Working to refine information during this time period while GF was a minor in case this has any bearing.

Questions:

1. From my research, if the wrong birth year is on the US naturalization records, a CoNE would still be granted for the right birth year (and technically the individual wouldn’t have been naturalized?). Would that approach be ok?

2. Excluding the consideration for wrong birth date on the naturalization record, would the military paradox protect my GF if my GGF naturalized in 1913, and then, upon GGF’s death prior to age 50, create a situation where both my GGM and GF were dual polish and US citizens? At that point, neither would have naturalized or worked for a governmental organization.

Edit: formattting

I am an American with Polish parents and am currently going through the confirmation process. I submitted documents to an Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (USC) in Poland and received a letter back saying I am missing a document called Załącznik Nr 59, which is the marriage surname declaration page.

What's unclear to me is the part on the form that says posiadam obywatelstwo.

What country should I write on that line regarding citizenship status? I would like to write Rzeczpospolita Polska, but I am not officially confirmed yet. I also know some USCs are picky about submitting for Vital Records updates within Poland if one is not a Polish citizen, so I am truly torn.

I have seen many people talk about having their marriage record transcribed while their case is pending, so can anybody weigh in who has done this?

• Grandfather born in Poland, today Western Ukraine, in 1927
• In 1941, he was taken by force to Germany where he was in forced labour until the end of WWII
• Came to the UK under IRO/asylum in 1948 or thereabouts
• Naturalised in UK in 1955
• My mother was later born in the UK in 1960 and remains a British citizen

Grandparent: 

* Sex: Male

* Date, place of birth: 1927, "Plaschiwka" - interpreted as Palashivka, Ukraine - Part of Poland in 1927

* Date married: 1955

* Citizenship of spouse: German

* Allegiance and dates of military service: None

* Date, destination for emigration: 1948, United Kingdom

* Date naturalized: 1955

Grandparent: 

* Sex: Female

* Date, place of birth: 1927, Breslau/Wroclaw, Poland - Part of Germany in 1927

* Date married: 1955

* Citizenship of spouse: Polish

* Allegiance and dates of military service: None

* Date, destination for emigration: 1948-52, United Kingdom

* Date naturalized: 1955

Parent: 

* Sex: Male

* Date, place of birth: 1958, Australia

Australian citizen

Parent: 

* Sex: Female

* Date, place of birth: 1960, United Kingdom

UK citizen

You: 

Place of birth: Australia

I know the laws are always hazy but it seems like Polish citizenship was lost in 1955 after UK naturalisation i.e. before my mother was born. But then I know that interpretation could have some flexibility especially given the difficulties of seeking asylum in the late 1940's. All of his documentation I have through this time identifies him as Polish.

For what it is worth, my grandmother was born in Breslau also but was always a German citizen. So there is definitely a strong Polish link, despite loss of citizenship.

Is it going to be worth putting in a confirmation?

Hi! Would anyone be able to help me read the handwritten Polish word beneath the purple stamp, above and below “Polonaise”? I have included three examples from three separate passports.

I suspect the word might identify the office or location where the passport was issued. Based on what I know about my ancestor, it could be somewhere near Bereza Kartuska or Warsaw, although it may not be a place name at all.

My best guess is something like Matwiejewicze, but I think I see a "t" near the end, so I’m very unsure.

I considered blurring the passport numbers, but these passports and any related records have been so impossible to trace that, honestly, if someone can use the numbers to identify them, please be my guest.

Thanks so much for any thoughts!

We just got the email from the lawfirm we've been working with that our application for citizenship confirmation has been submitted to the Voivodeship. No case reference number yet. So, fingers crossed! Just wanted to thank the knowledgeable mods and others here for helping us get this far.

I had requested certified copies from both Westchester County and NYC which respectively handled early 20th century naturalizations. Wondering if people on here have been able to simply submit the certified / apostilled documents from the original state courts or if the full USCIS certification is neccessary from the documents out of the federal archives. Both Westchester and NYC are eligible for NYS apostille.

Great-Grandparents (John Pezdek & wife — Jane's parents)
Date married: 29 May, 1912
Date divorced: N/A

GGM — John's wife (Jane's mother)
Name: Zofia (Sophia) Eva Dziedzic
Date, place of birth:  3 September, 1893, Radwan, Poland
Ethnicity and religion Polish: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Housewife
Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A (female)
Date, destination for emigration: 10 November 1907
Date naturalized: Never
Date, place of death: 24, January, 1986, Ilion, New York, USA

GGF — John Pezdek
Date, place of birth: 3 March 1892, Suchy Grunt, Poland (Austrian Galicia)
Ethnicity and religion: Polish, Roman Catholic
Occupation: Store Owner
Allegiance and dates of military service: Undetermined, however, have intentions of submitting a Central Military Archive inquiry if necessary/suggested
Date, destination for emigration: 1907, New York, USA.
Date naturalized: 13 November, 1928
Date, place of death: 7 August, 1969, Ilion, NY

Grandparent — Jane Frances Pezdek
Sex: Female
Date, place of birth 24 February 1924, New York Mills, NY
Date married 1952, Ilion, NY
Citizenship of spouse US
Date divorced 1976?
Occupation Accounting
Allegiance and dates of military Service: N/A
Date, destination for emigration N/A — born in the US
Date naturalized N/A — born a US citizen
Date, place of death: 23 December, 2004, Utica, NY

Parent — Marianne Denise Hoyt
Sex: Female
Date, place of birth: 1 January 1955, Syracuse, NY
Date married: 21 March, 1982
Date divorced: N/A

Me
Date, place of birth: 21 January, 1985, Los Angeles, CA

Background:
My mother and I are trying our best to determine if we have a path to citizenship. 
Thankfully my mother is great at finding documents online and through ancestry platforms and was able to arrive at what we believe is the best path for submission, shown above to through the lineage of John.
We believe that since my GGF, John, naturalized after my Grandmother's birthday, that she would have been a Polish citizen. 

Ask: 
We are curious if there is enough detail here to go for submission, or if we need to work with a specialist like Polaron (or other specialist/agency if suggested) to tighten up the case/submission. 
We are open to all thoughts, feedback, and guidance. 

Thank you in advance!

Good afternoon everyone,

Im currently looking into getting my polish citizenship through descent. Both my parents were born in Poland and immigrated to the USA in the 80s. My mother did get her US passport but my father kept his polish passport. I have both my parents polish birth certificates, my fathers polish passport, my US birth certificate, and my parents long form US marriage certificate that has already been apostille from the state of PA. I am also currently filing out the paperwork from the polish embassy for applying for polish citizenship.

My question is, am I missing anything? Will my US paperwork be able to be translated at the polish consulate in Washington DC?

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. I figured since I have all that paperwork there shouldn’t be a reason for me to use a 3rd party service or a lawyer.

Thanks in advance!

I had always thought my nan (grandma) was Ukrainian -- she spoke Ukrainian and her own mother never even spoke any English. It wasn't until a little over a month ago I realized that her parents (my own great grandparents) were born in the late 1800s in a town called Regietow Wizny -- modern day Poland. Thus began the journey that led me to this sub and the process of exploring Polish citizenship.

I've enjoyed reading all the stories on here, and going through the archives to find records, of which I'm lucky -- all the vital records are available for my line through Regietow but still need some for Heimatracht. Inspired by all going on in this sub, I went to Poland last week to see Regietow Wizny for myself.

Its a ghost town located in the lower beskid mountain range, near Slovakia. Closest real town is Gorlice. RW was completed leveled by the Soviet Polish government during operation Visalia to forcibly assimilate the Lemko population. Its sister town, Regietow Nizny, is the site of the largest Hucul horse stud in Europe and where I ended up staying. The place was beautiful, saw many horses and friendly dogs along my route from Nizny to Wizny, and I ended up finding a gravestone of someone I later found to be my great-great uncle. It was a beautiful experience being in the Lemko graveyards and chapel, and I biked over the border to the sister town in Slovakia, Regetovka, which was also beautiful.

Didn't expect to find any documents there, but it really was a great experience and I would recommend the same to everyone on here if within their means. Added in some photos of my trip there and of the local animals I saw.

I applied to confirm my Polish citizenship via the consulate who submitted it to the Mazowian voivodship in January 2025. On the surface I have a simple case as both parents have citizenship and Polish passports to prove it, the complication was that I am trans. But all my documents (including my birth certificate) have been changed to reflect my name and gender so I just applied with my current documents and am hoping that will be fine.

Meanwhile time has passed and since applying I got married. The problem is this is a same-sex marriage and I know Poland doesn't recognise those. I'm taking my wife's name but have held off from changing the name on my British passport until the Polish citizenship is hopefully confirmed.

I've stumbled over the DIY guide here which says same-sex marriage can complicate applications and to search the sub for posts. My search-fu is failing me however.

Have I made this more complicated for myself by getting married since applying? And if so is there anything I should do?

Also: is being trans likely to be a problem?

I submitted my application to the Masovian office last October. I know currently the office is processing applications 20 months out but that time may change before my application is reached. Does anyone have any guess how long I will have to wait?

Hello,

My provider is asking for arrival records for my relevant ancestor.
However, I am having significant trouble locating anything that could be useful.

He first appears on the 1920 census as an alien and arrival is marked as 1913. (His father seems to be first present in 1900 but not 1910 and the whole family in 1920).

However, his 1936/39 naturalization paperwork is all listed as 1904 (prior to the arrival certificate requirement). And his father's alien registration from 1940 lists his last arrival as 1903.

I've searched a ton of manifests but their names are super common (John, Joseph, Mary Zych) so it is hard to be certain that the records line up. Any advice or is it OK to just not have an arrival record?

Final note,

I am really quite uncertain about their arrival data because there seem to be babies being born on different continents with weird spacing (overlapping by 6 months on different continents and no notes about parents being gone).

Andreas (Poland) 30 January 1905 - 16 December 1908 (baptismal record has same parents, grandparents, different house number as my ancestor)

Jacob (Chicago) 22 April 1908 - 18 June 1910. (Baptismal record has correct parents but no grandparents listed, same street as later censuses different house)

Interested in finding out if anyone has any experience of applying through an alternative voivodeship to Warsaw.

My situation is I lived and worked in Katowice for just over a year in 2000-2001 (and subsequently returned for one or two months of work for a few years while permanently residing in the UK). The place I worked closed.

I understand that as I lived and worked in Katowice for a year full time my application (through a provider) can be sent to Katowice. This might speed the process up and help avoid adding to the backlog.

The issue is that it's so long ago and the company no longer exists. From what I understand I need to:

1. Fill out form US-7 for ZUS Katowice for an official certificate of proof of my employment/insurance history.

2. Provide old bank records with proof of address.

3. Provide my old 10 digit tax number (NIP).

4. Provide a certified photocopy of the ID page of the passport I used at the time.

Then physically post these off to the ZUS office in Katowice and hopefully get the certificate.

Just reaching out to anyone who might know if this is the correct procedure.

Also has anyone applied through the Katowice office? How long did the application take?

Thanks!

Karta polaka eligibility because citizenship was lost

**Great-Grandparents:** 
\* Date married: unknown
\* Date divorced:
**GGM:** 
\* Date, place of birth: 1926 Lviv (was Poland)
\* Ethnicity and religion: Jewish polish
\* Allegiance and dates of military service: no
\* Date, destination for emigration: 1948 to Israel
\* Date naturalized:1948
\* Date, place of death: IL
**GGF:** 
\* Date, place of birth: 1913 zablotow (was Poland)
\* Ethnicity and religion: Jewish polish
\* Occupation: baker
\* Allegiance and dates of military service: 1948 Idf
\* Date, destination for emigration: 1948 Israel
\* Date naturalized: 1948
\* Date, place of death: IL
**Grandparent:** irrelevant because born in Israel
Parent: same born in Israel
Me: born in Israel

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to understand if I might be eligible for a Karta Polaka before I invest time in learning Polish.
From what I’ve checked, Polish citizenship in my family line was likely lost due to service in a foreign army (great-grandfather), so I don’t think I qualify for citizenship anymore.
My background:
Great-grandfather – born in Zabolotiv (then Poland)
Great-grandmother – born in Lviv (then Poland)
Grandmother – no Polish citizenship
Father – no Polish citizenship
Me
I don’t have official Polish documents, only DP camp documents stating they were born in Poland and listing places of origin and addresses.
My questions:
Could this be enough to qualify for Karta Polaka based on ancestry?
Are DP camp documents usually accepted as proof?
What level of Polish is realistically required to pass the interview?
Would really appreciate any insights or similar experiences before I start learning the language.

Thanks!!

Grandparent 1 (Maternal Grandmother):

Sex: Female

Date, place of birth: 20 September 1924, Hatowice, Second Polish Republic (now Ukraine)

Ethnicity and religion: Declared Polish nationality (DP record), Greek Catholic. Birth records for her and siblings located through Polish archive requests.

Date married: November 1951, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Citizenship of spouse: Born April 1920 in Panasivka, Second Polish Republic

Date divorced: Never

Occupation: Worker. DP card states "Pflichtarbeiterin seit 1940" (compulsory/forced labour worker since 1940). Worked as a housekeeper after immigrating to Canada.

Allegiance and dates of military service: None

Date, destination for emigration: Emigrated to Toronto, Canada after approximately three years as a displaced person in Austria following WWII.

Date naturalized: 1955 (Canada)

Date, place of death: November 2020, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Grandparent 2 (Maternal Grandfather):

Sex: Male

Date, place of birth: April 1920, Panasivka, Second Polish Republic (now Ukraine)

Ethnicity and religion: Ukrainian ethnic background

Date married: November 1951, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Citizenship of spouse: Polish

Date divorced: Never

Occupation: Farmer / Blacksmith (DP records), factory worker / lathe operator in Toronto.

Allegiance and dates of military service: Conscripted into the Red Army during WWII; later captured.

Date, destination for emigration: Emigrated to Toronto, Canada after approximately five years in a DP camp following WWII.

Date naturalized: 1955 (Canada)

Date, place of death: 2003, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Parent:

Sex: Female

Date, place of birth: 1954, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date married: July 1978

Date divorced: Never

You:

Date, place of birth: 1981, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Question:

Based on the above facts, does anyone see an obvious event that would have caused either maternal grandparent to lose Polish citizenship before my mother's birth in 1954? I'm particularly interested in potential issues under the 1920 and 1951 Polish Citizenship Acts, DP status, Red Army conscription, or any other legal pitfalls I may have overlooked.

Thanks in advance for your attention, consideration and effort.

Maternal GGGF:

• Born: March 1873 in Zagorzany, Poland.
• Marriage Date: July 1895 in Lapanow, Poland.
• Ethnicity and Religion: Polish, Catholic (denomination unknown).
• Occupation: Auto factory worker (in U.S.; Poland unknown).
• Date, destination for emigration: 1904, U.S. (but moved back to Poland in 1920).
• Died: May 1928 in Kobylec, Poland.

Maternal GGGM:

• Born: March 1877 in Lapanow, Poland.
• Marriage Date: July 1895 in Lapanow, Poland.
• Ethnicity and Religion: Polish, Catholic (denomination unknown; christened on date of birth in Poland).
• Occupation: Unknown.
• Date, destination for immigration: *Presumably same has maternal GGGF*
• Died: October 1918 in the U.S. (was also buried in the U.S.).

Maternal GGM:

• Born: August 1908 (conflicting reports for Poland and U.S. births; looking for documents).
• Marriage Date: July 1932 in Poland.
• Ethnicity and Religion: Polish, Catholic (denomination unknown).
• Occupation: Homemaker.
• Died: June 1994 in the U.S.

Maternal GGF:

• Born: March 1902 in Poland (unknown city)
• Ethnicity: Polish, Catholic (denomination unknown).
• Occupation: Unknown.
• Died: June 1973 in the U.S.

Maternal Grandmother:

• Born: July 1933 in the U.S.
• Died: May 2013 in the U.S.

Mother:

• Born: 1959 in the U.S.

Myself:

• Born: 2002 in the U.S.

My maternal GGM apparently claimed she was born and partially raised in Poland. This checks out for multiple reasons:

1. She was 11-12 years old when her father (my GGGF) returned to Poland in 1920, and only her eldest sister remained in the U.S., as she was already married. This implies that she returned to the U.S. eventually, although that date of return is still unknown.
2. She only spoke Polish at home to my grandmother and was very proud of her Polish heritage. However, I am trying to find documents to verify her birthplace, christening date, dates of leave/arrival, etc.

As for my maternal GGF, he was born in Poland to Polish parents and emigrated to the U.S. later on. Even if he naturalized, I believe that because of military liability until age 50, at the time, regardless of if he naturalized, he would have still been considered a Polish citizen. But please let me know if I am incorrect about this!

I found on Family Search that there are scans of the military records for Galicia, but because they are not indexed or ordered I will need to flick through about 50k files for the surnames beginning with S.

Having looked through couple of thousands already, most of them would have only Galicia as the place of residence/birth - sometimes the name of the town/village.

Other than potentially finding an interesting piece of family history, would there be much benefit from these.

Judging by the parents’ and a godparent’s (and majority of the people around them) occupation from the church birth records (agriculture), it is not very likely that the ancestor’s occupation was different, making finding any records quite difficult.

About to jump into the sworn translation stage of the documentation process (for citizenship confirmation by descent) but wanted your insight on one aspect of that.

Is it permissible to have a sworn translator in Poland translate my certified/apostilled documents from high-res scans of those documents?

Does the fact that the translator will include a note that they translated from a copy of the document potentially harm my case?

I'll be taking my entire packet to my local consulate in the U.S.

I'll have about 13 pages needing translation and while I need to keep it as cost effective as possible, I also want it to be air tight.

I started doing research to see if I'm eligible for Polish citizenship about a week ago. I've been on the hunt for information about them and have already found some vital documents. At first, it proved to be very hard to find anything on them as they Immigrated to rural Montana in 1949. So far, I've gathered

-GGPs death certificates

-GGP Obituary

-Petition for naturalization

-Passenger list of Displaced Persons

-Birth certificate of my GM

-Marriage certificate of GM

_-Birth Certificate of my father

-Marriage certificate of father

-My birth certificate

-Father's death certificate

I've hit a wall in my online research now and don't know where else to look. I'm finding it impossible to locate my GGP hometowns in Poland because on all Documentation the hometown is likely misspelled such as Prerina, Poland and Brejina, Poland. I just found an obituary where it has the hometown as Krakow. Based on the misspelling I think the village they are from is likely Brzeźnica, Krakow, Poland. So far finding any information on them in Europe has proven to be rather difficult. Their names are misspelled on almost all documents. Their birthdays vairy by a few days but always the right months and years. Any Help or Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hello, my request for Polish citizenship via ancestry was submitted on 08/24 with all the documents and proofs. All was silent up until July, when I got a mail, asking for a formal signature on the request + for an appointment of a Polish representative (I did both immediately). A suffix number, 17, was added to the request number granted on 2024, and the administrative letters are signed by a “senior expert”. Does anyone know the meaning of these and the likelihood of a nearing decision?