01Obtaining Polish citizenship
A foreigner who moved to Poland without Polish roots will have to go through a long journey to obtain Polish citizenship. You arrived, got your karta pobytu, and after 5 years of legal stay in Poland, you can boldly apply for an EU long-term resident's card. Once you get the resident's card – and in 3 years you get citizenship. In total, the waiting process for Polish citizenship will take you from 8 to 10 years in current realities.
We covered this process in detail in our previous videos – you can find them on our YouTube channel: "Immigrant's Guide by Vladislav Reznichenko".
The citizenship acquisition process
The process of obtaining citizenship through marriage to a Polish citizen looks like this:
You got married and are applying for a karta pobytu on the basis of staying with a Polish citizen and waiting to receive it. You got the card – and based on it, after 3 years you can obtain a pobyt stały, and 2 years after getting permanent residence – you apply for citizenship.
All in all, you spend 6 years in Poland, but together with document processing times, the waiting period can reach up to 8 years.
Document package
At the start, you will need a standard package of documents, which means:
· Confirming housing;
· Confirming sufficient funds for living expenses;
· Confirming insurance;
· Confirming the purpose of stay (i.e., marriage certificate).
Next, we submit the documents and wait for a community police officer or border guard to come for an inspection. They may ask various questions to confirm that the marriage is not fictitious, and they may also speak with neighbors. Once all the necessary documents are confirmed – we wait until we can submit documents for a pobyt stały. During these 3 years of waiting, you already have full access to the labor market and the opportunity to open a JDG.
To obtain a pobyt stały, you will need a similar package of documents, as well as a mandatory biography and, of course, the karta pobytu confirming that for 3 years you have already been staying in Poland on the basis of marriage to its citizen. Next, after obtaining permanent residence, you submit a wniosek o uznanie za obywatela polskiego.
Objectively speaking, in this situation, an alternative solution is not a suitable option. Citizenship through marriage is not so easy to get, so if you are building a family, then this option is for you. But if you have other circumstances, we advise you to take a different path. After all, all things considered, the process of obtaining Polish citizenship through marriage takes about 6 years in total, while the usual case takes 8-10 years.
Overall, the waiting period turns out to be identical, so you should decide in advance which path you will take.
Friends, we hope this material was useful for you.
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