Naturalisation procedure in Poland
The application for naturalisation must contain:
- the foreigner's data;
- foreigner's address;
- information about the foreigner's parents and more remote ascendants, if they had Polish citizenship;
- information about having Polish citizenship in the past, its loss, and the date of obtaining the citizenship of another country;
- information about the foreigner's source of income, his/her professional successes, political and social activity;
- information about the foreigner's knowledge of Polish;
- foreigner's spouse's data;
- information whether the foreigner applied for naturalisation in the past;
- statement of reasons.
The foreigner having parental authority over a minor foreigner shall include the following information:
- minor's data;
- The information whether and before which authority the statements on consent for acquiring Polish citizenship were filed.
The application for naturalisation shall be accompanied by the documents confirming the data and the information contained in the application and by the photos of the people whom the application concerns.
The application for naturalisation shall be filed on a form via the voivod or via the consul (depending on the place of residence), in person or via mail with an officially authorised signature. If the application does not meet all the requirements laid down in the provisions of law or if the required documents are not attached, the receiving authority shall call the applicant to complete the lacks, within 30 days from the date of receiving the request with an information that not completing the lacks will result in leaving the application without consideration. The voivod and the consul shall send the application for naturalisation together with all required documents to the President of the Republic of Poland, via the minister competent for foreign affairs.
The minister competent for internal affairs, before sending the application to the President of the Republic of Poland, shall address the Chief Police Officer, the Head of the Internal Security Agency and if need be, other authorities, to provide information that may be significant for the naturalisation proceedinga and issues an opinion about the application. Said authorities shall be obliged to provide written information within 30 days from being requested to do so. In particularly justified cases, this period may be extended to 3 months, of which the authority obliged to provide information shall notify the minister competent for internal affairs. If, on the basis of documents attached to the application for naturalisation, the voivod doubts whether the foreigner does not have Polish citizenship, he shall commence the proceedings ex officio regarding confirmation of the Polish citizenship. If, on the basis of documents attached to the application for the restoration of the Polish citizenship, the minister competent for internal affairs, the consul or the President of the Republic of Poland doubts whether the foreigner does not have Polish citizenship, he shall submit the application to the voivode in order to conduct the proceedings regarding confirmation of the Polish citizenship. If in the course of the proceedings regarding confirmation of Polish citizenship that the foreigner possesses the Polish citizenship, the voivode issues a decision confirming the possession of the Polish citizenship, and the application for the restoration of the Polish citizenship is not suitable for further proceedings. If the application for naturalisation was made while the proceedings for recognition as a Polish citizen or the proceedings for restoration of Polish citizenship are pending in relation to the foreigner subject to the application, the proceedings for recognition as a Polish citizen or the proceedings for restoration of Polish citizenship shall be dismissed. The voivid, the consul and the minister competent for foreign affairs shal submit the application for naturalisation directly to the President of the Republic of Poland in each case when the President so decides, regardless of the status of the proceedings. In the case referred to in section 1, voivod and the consul shall inform the minister competent as to internal affairs about submitting the application for naturalisation to the President of the Republic of Poland.
The President grants Polish citizenship or declines granting it in the form of a decision. The head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland shall submit a copy of the decision to the minister competent for foreign affairs. The foreigner acquires Polish citizenship on the date of issuing the decision on granting Poliah citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland.
The Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland shall draft the certificates on granting Polish Citizenship or a notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship. The certificate on granting Polish citizenship or the notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship shall contain the following:
- information about the content of the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland, the date of issuance and the number;
- the data of the foreigner whom the decision on granting Polish citizenship or on refusing to grant Polish citizenship concerns (name or names, surname, date and place of birth, mother's and father's name;)
- information on the authority issuing the certificate on granting Polish citizenship or the notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship and the date of issuance or notification.
The Head of the Chancellery of the President of Poland shall submit, in order to deliver to the applicant the certificates on granting Polish citizenship or the notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship, to the minister competent for foreign affairs - if the certificate on granting Polish citizenship or the notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship concerns a foreigner whose application for naturalisation was filed via a consul; to the voivod who accepted the application for naturalisation.
The minister competent for foreign affairs, via the consul who accepted the application for naturalisation, informs immediately the applicant about granting Polish citizenship or refusing to grant Polish citizenship. The information may be provided via devices that allow for reading and saving documents on paper or via IT networks. The minister competent for foreign affairs, via the consul who accepted the decision on granting Polish citizenship, shall serve the applicant with the certificate on granting Polish citizenship or a notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship. The voivod who accepted the application for naturalisation shall serve the applicant with the certificate on granting Polish citizenship or a notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship. The service shall be governed by the provisions of the Code of Administrative Proceedings.