Do you have any ancestors from Polish descent? Perhaps a grandparent, parent or other relatives in your direct bloodline? Or did you come from Poland yourself but have you left the country and obtained non-Polish citizenship?
In both cases, Polish citizenship by descent may apply to you and claiming your EU passport might be easier than you think.
But claiming a Polish passport need not be complicated. If there’s any Polish blood running through your veins, you were most likely granted Polish citizenship at birth already.
This means that your citizenship doesn’t really have to be “obtained,” it just needs to be confirmed.
And with a little help, the procedure is carried out quickly and effortlessly.
Getting Your European Passport Through “Right of Blood”
Even if you’ve never spent a day of your life in Poland or hardly speak a word of Polish, the “Right of Blood” law bestows the privilege of Polish citizenship on all those with Polish blood.
Just an ounce or drop of it is enough to get a secondary Polish passport for you and your family if you wish to do so.
But if you’re eligible, we’d be surprised if you wouldn’t, as there are more than a few benefits to derive from having a European passport.
Benefits of Having a Polish Passport
Claiming your Polish citizenship by descent can open various doors and offer many opportunities. Apart from being able to live, work, travel, and venture freely in one of the fastest growing EU countries that Poland currently makes up, you can also enjoy these benefits in any of the other 28 EU member states with your Polish secondary passport.
EU countries have much to offer to those who love to visit new places, explore various cultures, and enjoy living their life to the fullest without limitations.
There’s a lot to discover and obviously, the less formal obstacles on the way, the better.
Over the past decade, we’ve helped thousands of people claim their Polish citizenship at Lexmotion, and all have gone to enjoy EU membership in their own ways.
Smoother traveling across the EU
If you’re a frequent traveler, you may have experienced the time-consuming process of going through passport control more than once. Especially across continents. With your secondary passport, you’re spared a lot of time when traveling to and through Europe.
For many countries’ citizens, traveling through the EU/Schengen Zone does not require a visa but they can stay for a maximum of 90 days on end.
However, by 2021 the new ETIAS system is expected to be in place. This is an electronic system which serves the same purpose as the ESTA in the US.
Visitors from the visa-free countries will then first need to apply for approval through this system before traveling to the EU and there will be a small fee involved.
With a secondary Polish passport this process will not be necessary for you.
Working, living, studying, and doing business
in any EU member state
An EU passport could give you the chance to live, work, do business or study abroad at distinguished schools, like our client Mary from Australia did, for instance. She was accepted at a prestigious university in Barcelona, Spain, after she discovered she could claim her Polish citizenship by descent.
Running your own business or working in the EU is a lot simpler with a European passport too. Granting permissions from various institutions isn’t as complicated and time-consuming as it is for foreigners and taxes are obviously lower if your company is registered in Europe.
Living and buying properties in the EU will also be within arm’s reach with Polish citizenship.
Discover more benefits of having a Polish passport.
How to Get Polish Citizenship by Descent
If you’re trying to find out if you’re eligible to obtain a Polish passport based on your heritage, it’s important to understand that you don’t actually become a Polish citizen; you already are.
You can only claim your Polish citizenship by descent if you had these rights at birth by something referred to as ius sanguinis, a Latin term that can be translated as “Right of Blood.”
It doesn’t matter where you, your parents or even your grandparents were born. Neither you nor they have to speak any Polish either.
The only thing that’s vital is that one of your family members (in direct line) ever possessed Polish citizenship during their lifetime. If so, you’re already halfway through the process and there are only a few steps left you need to take.
One of our clients, Jack, for instance, a US citizen who lives in San Francisco and works as an IT consultant, frequently travels to Berlin for his work. Before he obtained his secondary Polish passport, this meant going through the lengthy foreign passport control each time. Plus, he could only stay in the EU for 90 days every 6 months. Jack’s grandparents emigrated from Poland to the USA in the ‘50s and their Polish passports expired. Initially, he expected this would obstruct the procedure.
However, with our help, Jack received his EU passport within 2 months without needing to go anywhere outside of his home. His new passport has halved the time Jack spends in airport queues and he can stay in the EU as long as he wants now.
You can learn more about the principles of ius sanguinis and how the Polish citizenship law is applied here.
Unsure whether this law applies to you? Take the Polish citizenship test. It helps you find out instantly for free.
Why You Don’t Have to Sweat the Paperwork
for Your Secondary Passport
The first step in claiming your Polish citizenship is to gather the needed documents to legally confirm your Polish origins.
No need to be discouraged though if you can’t find these documents for your case: at Lexmotion, we know exactly where to look and we can point you in the right direction.
If needed, we can carry out the search in the Polish archives for you as well. Once we’ve handled all the paperwork, all that’s left to do for you is to pick up your Polish passport. Simple as that.
Wondering what the needed papers look like and where they can be found? Here’s what you need to know.
Time Frame and Procedure
With the right papers at hand, it won’t take long until you’re holding your EU passport in your hands.
The Polish citizenship procedure time frame may vary depending on the case but with our help it takes only three months on average.
Because we understand that you would probably like to stay in control while your request for Polish citizenship is being processed, we prepared a detailed description of the whole procedure in a nutshell.
It serves as a roadmap with a simple and clear destination: your European passport, unlocking all sorts of new possibilities for you.
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Curious if you qualify for a Polish passport? Take our free eligibility test and get your answer instantly.
It could be the beginning of a whole new chapter in your life.
[…] Learn more about Polish citizenship by descent. […]
[…] The next step in the application process for your Polish passport consists of collecting documents proving kinship. These documents recreate your family ties with at least one Polish ancestor. This is obviously needed to confirm your Polish citizenship by descent. […]
[…] called ‘Right of Blood’ (we’ve written more about Ius Sanguinis and its specifics here). The most important thing to know is that if any of your ancestors held Polish citizenship at some […]