Can a child of two Poles be recognized as a Polish citizen?
They can, but only if they meet the following conditions:
- - have been residing continuously in the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 3 years on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU resident permit or the right of permanent residence
- - have a stable and regular source of income in the Republic of Poland
- - have a legal title to occupy a residential premises
- - have knowledge of the Polish language confirmed by an official certificate at the level of language proficiency of at least B1, a certificate of completion of a school in the Republic of Poland or a certificate of completion of a school abroad with Polish as the language of instruction.
As you can see in practice, meeting these conditions is impossible in most cases. This is due to the fact that the preferential conditions for recognition as a Polish citizen (i.e. no 3-year period or no obligation to know Polish) apply only to situations where only one of the parents is a Polish citizen.
The legislator simply did not foresee a situation where both parents are Polish citizens and their child is a foreigner. This may have happened because these are rare and exceptional situations – they arise, for example, when parents who have filed an application for recognition as a Polish citizen do not include a child born during the proceedings. In any case, a paradoxical situation occurs that the path to Polish citizenship for a child whose both parents are Polish citizens is much more difficult and longer than for a child whose only one parent is a Polish citizen.
