Polish citizenship

ISSUING A POLISH PASSPORT OVERSEAS

The passport application shall be submitted in personin a Polish consulate or consular department in Polish embassy where the passport will be collected. The visit in the consulate must most often be scheduled on-line or by telephone.

This is due to the fact that the passport contains bio-metric data (e.g. fingerprints), placed in the document in an electronic form - the fingerprints are collected in a Polish consulate via a special electronic device.

The passports shall be collected in personas well, in the consulate or in a consular department within the Polish embassy, where the application was submitted. During the collection, the fingerprints are being verified. In case of an extraordinary situation, basing on a written application of the applicant, a Polish consul may agree for sending the passport by post, at the applicant's postal address.

Due to the fact that teh printing of the passports takes place in Poland, the time of issuance of said document by a consul is approximately 6 weeks. The exact date of collecting the passport may be received by phone in the consulate in which the passport application was filed, and on the website https://obywatel.gov.pl/wyjazd-za-granice/sprawdz-czy-twoj-paszport-jest-gotowy

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR SUBMITTING A PASSPORT APPLICATION

1. Clearly completed in Polish and signedapplicationfor a passport - THE APPLICATION FORM MAY BE DOWNLOADED IN EVERY CONSULATE OF POLAND
2. One photoincolour, size: 3,5 x 4,5 cm. The photo should be made within the last 6 months on a uniform white background, with proper quality, and clearly showing the eyes and face from the top of the head to the upper part of the shoulders so that the face covers 70-80% of the photo.
   The photo should present a person without any covering on the head and without glasses with dark lens, facing to the front, with open eyes, not covered by hair anf with a natural facial expression.
   For people with health problems, certain modifications are possible as to the requirement of open eyes and closed mouth.
   There is also a possibility of attaching a photo presenting a person:
   • - in glasses with dark lens - then it is necessary to present a certificate of disability or about the degree of disability.
   • - with a head covering in accordance with the rules of one's religion - it is necessary to present of a certificate of belonging to a certain religious community, registered in Poland.
3. The exusting Polish passport
   • - In case of persons not having a passport or whoae passport has lost its validity - a valid Polish ID card (if a certain person has a duty to have an ID).
   • - In justified cases, such as prolonged absence of documents proving Polish citizenship - a consul has the right tp request a decision of a competent regional governor as to the confirmation of Polish citizenship for the applicant.
4. Copies of entries in civil registries
   • - An abridged or full copy of a Polish marriage certificate (original) - in case of applying for a passport after changing a surname due to marriage entered into abroad
   • - An abridged or a full copy of a Polish birth certificate (original), in case of passport applications filed by people not having a PESEL no.
5. In case of students who are below 26 years of age - a school certificate confirming the continuation of studies, being a basis for charging a discounted fee.
6. A filled application for a PESEL no. - in case of people not having a PESEL no. The application for PESEL is submitted by a consul




ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Birth and marriage certificates issued abroad before the commencement of the passport procedure shall be submitted in a competent civil registry office in Poland. The submission of Polish civil registry documents may be done by our Law Office.

In the application for a passport, you have to enter a 11-digit PESEL no. The application for PESEL for Polish citizens residing abroad and wanting to apply for a passport - is submitted by a consul. In order to apply for a PESEL, you have to submit an abridged or full copy of a birth certificate (an respectively - an abridged or full copy of a Polish marriage certificate - irrespective of whether a person changed the surname because of entering into marriage)

FEE FOR ISSUANCE OF A PASSPORT

The consular fees are paid in an amount stipulated in the decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of 23 April 2013 on consular fees (Journal of Laws: Dz.U. of 2013, item 522)The consular fee should be paid before the act is performed.

An exact amount of the consular fees is fixed in a tariff, being an attachment to the said decree. In items from 1.01 to 1.08. of the said tariff of consular fees, there are charges for individual acts related to passport issuing. The consular fees are charged in the currency of the country accepting the passport application.

In accordance with the tariff of consular fees, the fee for issuing a passport is:

• 110 EUR for an adult
• 70 EUR for issuing a passport for a child up to 13 years of age.

Consular fees for issuance of a passport are reduced by 50% in case of issuing a passport:

1. to pensioners, disabled people withing the meaning of the Act of 27 August 1997 on professional and social rehabilitiation and employment of the disabled (Journal of Laws: Dz.U. of 2011, No. 127, item 721, as amended), and for spouses of such people remaining at their exclusive maintenance;
2. people staying in Social Homes or in Daily Care Homes or using the welfare in the form of permanent allowances (the fee is not charged if their stay abroad is related to long-term treatment or the necessity to undergo a surgery);
3. combatants or other people to whom the provisions of the Act of 24 January 1991 on combatants and other persons being victims of was repressions and post-war period apply (Journal of Laws: Dz.U. of 2012, item 400);
4. to minors until they take up the statutory educational duty, pupils and students until they are 26 years of age. It is to be remembered tha if there is a conjunction of grounds for a discount in the fee for issuance of a passport - only one discount shall apply.

A person willing to use a reduced consular fee should present the consul with a document confirming their right to use the discounted fee (e.g. a decision on the degree of disability, school card, student card).

Consular fees are reduced if a new passport is issued before the lapse of the validity date of the previous passport due to:

1. a change or necessity to rectify the data entered in the passport (name/names, surname, date and place of birth, PESEL no.);
2. lack, in the previous passport, of any space for visas or stamps confirming the crossing of a border. The amount of the consular fee for issuance of a new passport in the circumstances mentioned above, shall be fixed by discounting one tenth of the charge valid as of the date of submitting the application for issuance of a new passport for every complete year remaining until the expiry of the validity date of the previous passport - in case of a passport valid for 10 years of one fifth - in case of a pssport valid for 5 years;
3. a change of a person's appearance which may make it difficult for a person to be identified.

The consular fees for issuance of a passport are not chargedfrom people who:

1. filed an application for replacement of a passport due to its technical defects;
2. on the date of applying for a passport, were 70 years of age.

ISSUING A POLISH PASSPORT IN POLAND

In order to issue a passport in Poland, you have to visit one of the passport offices in order to submit an application for a passport in person. The addresses of passport points may be found on the websites of regional governor's offices.

The list of documents necessary for issuance of a passport is the same as in the case of applying for a passport oversear, in a consular office.

It is to be remembered that in case of not having a PESEL no., you have first to apply for issuance of PESEL or visit one of the passport points accepting the applications without PESEL no. e.g. in Warsaw, at ul. Krucza 5/11, 00-548 Warsaw, entry C.

The fee for the issuance of a passport is 140 PLN.

50% reduction of the fee may be offerred to a person who:

• is a pupil or a student,
• is a pensioner,
• is a disability pensioner,
• is disabled,
• is maintained by a spouse who is a pensioner, disability pensioner, or a disabled person,
• are within a social home or in a daily-care home,
• receive a permanent welfare allowance,
• is a combatant or a victim of war repressions or post-war period,
• is a parent or a spouse of a parant in a big family and has the Big Family Card.

A 75% reduction of the fee may be offered to a person who:

• is less than 26 years of age, is a student (e.g. a university student) and is a child in a big family (has a Big Family Card),
• is a child with any disability and from a big family (has a Big Family Card),

The fee is not charged from a person who:

• Is more than 70 years of age,
• remains in a social home or in a day-care home, and the departure abroad is related to long-term treatment or a surgery,
• receives a permanent allowance from the welfare, and her departure abroad is related to long-term treatment or surgery,
• Their passport has a technical defect, e.g. you cannot read the date from the micro-processor,
• is a soldier deployed for military service abroad - does not apply to professional soldiers.