Confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship

You apply for confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship when:

1. you have a valid Polish passport or a valid Polish ID card;
2. you have a valid foreign passport and you do not have a valid Polish passport or a valid Polish ID card, or one of your parents had a valid or invalid Polish passport or a valid or invalid Polish ID card;
3. you have a valid foreign passport, and one of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents had a Polish passport or Polish ID card and left Poland just after World War II, during the war or in the interwar period;
4. you have a valid foreign passport with an entry visa to Poland for repatriation;
5. you need to obtain confirmation of Polish citizenship by a third party (living or deceased) in connection with other proceedings, e.g. divorce, inheritance, compensation for leaving real estate outside the current borders of the Republic of Poland;
6. was full adoption a child by a person or persons with Polish citizenship, which occurred before the child turned 16; 
7. you were born in Poland and your parents are unknown, they have no citizenship or their nationality is undetermined.

• There is no register of Polish citizens;
• before you start completing the application for confirmation of Polish citizenship, carefully read the instruction on its last page and strictly follow the instructions indicated therein;
• the application for confirmation of Polish citizenship by a minor child is signed and submitted by one of the parents or both parents of the child or his/her legal guardian;
• if your proxy is a spouse, ascendant, descendant or sibling, you do not have to pay stamp duty for the power of attorney;
• the power of attorney submitted in connection with the confirmation of Polish citizenship does not require notarization of your signature;
• documents drawn up in a foreign language are submitted together with a translation into Polish made or certified by Polish sworn translator be at a Polish consular post;
• in the absence of your or your parents' Polish documents, you can request them from the municipal office competent for the place of last registered residence, the relevant Registry Office or archives, or the Institute of National Remembrance, which stores emigration documents issued by the authorities of the People's Republic of Poland until 1989. If you have difficulties finding the right institution, then contact the Head Office of State Archives - Central Archival Information Center (ul. Rakowiecka 2D, 02-517 Warsaw) or use the online databases at archives.gov.pl;
• in accordance with the law, the obligation to provide data and information that will allow you to determine the factual and legal status rests with you. You are obliged to submit documents that will confirm these data and information;
• documents collected in the case files are not returned.

APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF POSSESSION OR LOSS OF POLISH CITIZENSHIP IS SUBMITTED WHEN:
I. you have a valid Polish passport or a valid Polish ID card;
II. you have a valid foreign passport and you do not have a valid Polish passport or a valid Polish ID card, or one of your parents had a valid or invalid Polish passport or a valid or invalid Polish ID card;
III. you have a valid foreign passport, and one of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents had a Polish passport or Polish ID card and left Poland just after World War II, during the war or in the interwar period;
IV. you have a valid foreign passport with an entry visa to Poland for repatriation;
V. you need to obtain confirmation of Polish citizenship by a third party (living or deceased) in connection with other proceedings, e.g. divorce, inheritance, compensation for leaving real estate outside the current borders of the Republic of Poland;
VI. occurred adoption full of a child by a person or persons with Polish citizenship, which occurred before the child turned 16;
VII. you were born in Poland and your parents are unknown, they have no citizenship or their nationality is undetermined.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• power of attorney for service with an address in Poland, if you do not act through a proxy or Polish consul and you do not have a place of residence in Poland or in another European Union Member State;
• certified photocopy of the page of your current Polish passport or Polish ID card with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and name of the issuing authority;
• a copy of your birth certificate, including your name(s) and surname, date and place of birth and details of your parents;
• a copy of your marriage certificate and/or other official document confirming the change of personal data, if such a change has occurred in your case.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• power of attorney for service with an address in Poland, if you do not act through a proxy or Polish consul and you do not have a place of residence in Poland or in another European Union Member State;
• certified photocopy of the page of your current foreign passport with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and the name of the issuing authority or a photocopy of another valid document confirming your identity and citizenship;
• a copy of your birth certificate, including your name(s) and surname, date and place of birth and details of your parents;
• a copy of your marriage certificate and/or other official document confirming the change of personal data, if such a change occurred in your case;
  • if there are discrepancies in the recording of personal data in your documents and they are not the result of official data changes, be sure to attach a statement in which you explain the reasons for these discrepancies;
• a photocopy of the page of your invalid Polish passport with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and the name of the issuing authority or a photocopy of your invalid Polish ID card. If you do not have such a document, please submit one of the other documents, such as:
  • a page with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and the name of the issuing authority of a valid or invalid Polish passport or a photocopy of a Polish ID card of one of your parents; 
  • certificate of Polish citizenship of one of your parents; 
  • a certificate of your last place of residence in Poland with an annotation of an issued ID card or a certificate of the last place of residence of one of your parents with such an annotation (certificates are issued by the competent commune office); 
  • Poland military book given to you (if male) or your father;
  • if you cannot provide any of the above documents, attach any documents issued by Polish authorities or institutions, e.g. photocopies of your Polish school certificates, Polish insurance card, employee card, your Polish driving license, child's health book, etc.;
• if you only have Polish documents of your father, then also prepare a copy of your parents' marriage certificate, if they were married before you were born, or an official document containing the date establishing paternity your father towards you.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• power of attorney for service with an address in Poland, if you do not act through a proxy or Polish consul and you do not have a place of residence in Poland or in another European Union Member State;
• certified photocopy of the page of your current foreign passport with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and the name of the issuing authority or a photocopy of another valid document confirming your identity and citizenship;
• a copy of your birth certificate, including your name(s) and surname, date and place of birth and details of your parents;
• a copy of your marriage certificate and/or other official document confirming the change of personal data, if such a change occurred in your case;
  • if there are discrepancies in the recording of personal data in your documents and they are not the result of official data changes, be sure to attach a statement in which you explain the reasons for these discrepancies;
• a photocopy of a Polish passport or a Polish ID card of one of your parents, a certified copy of an excerpt from permanent population recordson which one of your parents is listed or a Polish photocopy military booklet given to your father;
  • if you cannot present any of the above documents, attach any documents issued by Polish authorities or institutions, e.g. photocopies of Polish school certificates of one of your parents, Polish insurance card, employee, craft, master or journeyman card, repatriation documents (certificates, applications lists) if they are available, documents indicating persecution or repression during the war, if any, etc.;
• a copy of your parents' marriage certificate, if they were married;
• certificate of acquisition of foreign citizenship by the parent from whose citizenship your Polish citizenship is derived, or in the case of not acquiring foreign citizenship by the above-mentioned - an official document confirming this fact;
• an official document confirming the change of personal data of the parent from whose citizenship you derive your Polish citizenship, if your parent made an official change of data;
• if you attach Polish documents of your father who acquired foreign citizenship by January 19, 1951, you must also submit a full certificate issued by the competent authorities of the country whose citizenship your father acquired, containing information whether and from what date your father was subject to general military duty in a foreign country, and whether he served (active, professional, reserve and volunteer) in a foreign army until January 19, 1951;
• if you cannot present any Polish documents of your parents, and you have Polish documents of one of your grandparents and/or great-grandparents, then prepare such documents as:
  • a photocopy of the Polish passport or Polish identity card of one of your grandparents and/or great-grandparents, or any other documents issued for him by Polish authorities or institutions; 
  • copies of civil status records showing the relationship between you and your grandparents and/or great-grandparents and confirming their marital status, i.e. birth certificate and marriage certificate of the parent from whom your Polish citizenship is derived; 
  • certificates of acquisition by your grandparents and/or great-grandparents of the citizenship of the countries to which the abovementioned emigrated or - in the case of not acquiring citizenship of these countries - official documents confirming this fact.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• power of attorney if you act by proxy.

• Certified photocopy of the page of your current foreign passport with personal data, date of issue and expiry date and name of the issuing authority, as well as photocopies of pages with an entry visa to Poland for repatriation and the date and place of crossing the border of the Republic of Poland;
• a copy of your birth certificate, including your name(s) and surname, date and place of birth and details of your parents;
• a copy of your marriage certificate and/or other official document confirming the change of personal data, if such a change has occurred in your case.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• power of attorney for service with an address in Poland, if you do not act through a proxy or Polish consul and you do not have a place of residence in Poland or in another European Union Member State;
• document showing your legal interest or your obligation to obtain confirmation of Polish citizenship by a third party, e.g. summoning a court or a voivodship office;
• if you want to confirm the possession of Polish citizenship by the deceased person, then submit a statement in which you specify whether the application concerns confirmation of the possession of Polish citizenship by that person on the day of his death or on a different date;
• certified photocopy of a current document confirming the identity and citizenship of the person to whom the application relates (if that person is a living person);
• a copy of the birth certificate of the person to whom the application relates, containing the name/names and surname, date and place of birth and details of the person's parents;
• a copy of the marriage certificate of the person to whom the application relates and/or another official document confirming the change of his personal data, if such a change has occurred in his case;
  • if there are discrepancies in the records of the person's personal data in the documents and they are not the result of official data changes, attach a statement in which you explain the reasons for these discrepancies;
• a copy of the death certificate of the person to whom the application relates (if that person is a deceased person);
• a photocopy of a valid or invalid Polish passport of the person to whom the application relates or a photocopy of their valid or invalid Polish identity card. If you do not have such a document, please submit one of the other documents, such as:
  • a photocopy of a valid or invalid Polish passport or a photocopy of the Polish identity card of one of the parents of the person to whom the application relates;
  • certification of Polish citizenship of one of the parents of the person to whom the application relates; 
  • a certificate of the last place of residence in Poland of the person to whom the application relates, with an annotation about the ID card issued to him or a certificate of the last place of residence of one of his parents with such an annotation (certificates are issued by the competent commune office); 
  • Polish photocopy military booklet the extradited person (if/was male) or his father; 
  • if you cannot provide any of the above documents, attach any documents issued by Polish authorities or institutions, showing the relationship of the person to whom the application relates with Poland, e.g. photocopies of Polish school certificates, Polish insurance card, employee card, Polish driving license, etc.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• power of attorney for service with an address in Poland, if you do not act through a proxy or Polish consul and you do not have a place of residence in Poland or in another European Union Member State;
• certified photocopy of the page of the child's current foreign passport with personal data, date of issue and expiry date as well as the name of the issuing authority or a photocopy of another valid document confirming the identity and citizenship of the child;
• a complete copy of the child's birth certificate, issued by the competent authority Registry Office in Poland, in which the copy indicates the adopter with Polish citizenship as the child's parent;
• a copy of the court decision on full adoption a child by a person with Polish citizenship together with validity clause;
• a photocopy of a page of a valid or invalid Polish passport of the adopting person or a photocopy of their valid or invalid Polish identity card.

• application for confirmation of Polish citizenship completed in accordance with the instructions on the last page of the application;
• proof of payment of stamp duty (PLN 58 for issuing a decision in the case + PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through proxy; power of attorney for service is not subject to stamp duty);
• power of attorney if you act by proxy;
• a certified photocopy of a valid document proving your identity;
• a complete copy of your birth certificate issued by the competent authority Registry Office in Poland;
• if the identity of your parents is established, you attach documents that confirm that your parents do not have any citizenship or their citizenship is undetermined. You can present, for example, a Polish identity document issued due to the fact that your parents are staying in Poland and they have no citizenship or decisions rendering them stateless refugee status or subsidiary protection or any other documents showing that your parents are stateless people.

At the seat of the Office:
in the Department of Foreigners
Citizenship and Repatriation Branch
st. Marszałkowska 3/5, room A2, stand no. 20
office hours: Monday: 10.00 - 17.30, Tuesday - Friday: 8.00 - 15.00

You can submit an application for confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship in person at the Citizenship and Repatriation Department of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship Office in Warsaw only after prior appointment for a specific day and time via alien portal. You will get to room A2 when you enter the Office and go through the corridor on the right. You go up the nearest staircase and head to the first floor.

At the Registry Office:

street Marszałkowska 3/5, ground floor
opening hours: Monday: 10.00 - 17.30, Tuesday - Friday: 8.00 - 15.00.
Documents submitted to the Registry Office are not verified and are not certified as true copies of the original.
The service is available after prior reservation of the date and time e-service portal.
By booking an appointment, you accept at the same time registration regulations.

At the Customer Service Point:
pl. Bankowy 3/5, entrance F (from al. Solidarności)
office hours: Monday - Friday: 8.00 - 16.00

Documents submitted to the Customer Service Point are not verified and are not certified as true copies of the original.

By post to:
Mazovian Voivodship Office in Warsaw
Foreigners Affairs Department
Citizenship and Repatriation Branch
st. Marszałkowska 3/5, 00-624 Warsaw.

Documents sent by post must be certified as true copies by Polish notary and/ or Polish consul.

PLN 58 for a decision confirming the possession or loss of Polish citizenship;

PLN 17 for a power of attorney if you act through a proxy and your proxy is not a spouse, ascendant, descendant or sibling. The relationship of kinship should be confirmed by the documents attached to the application.

Account number to which you pay the stamp duty:
Taxpayer Service Centre
st. Obozowa 57, 01-161 Warsaw
21 1030 1508 0000 0005 5000 0070

Persons paying stamp duty abroad should additionally use the following entry:
SWIFT CODE: CITIPLPX
IBAN: IBAN(space)PL 21 1030 1508 0000 0005 5000 0070.

Pay online

The deadline for completing the proceedings depends on when the authority collects all the necessary information and documents. 
Pursuant to the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure, public administration bodies deal with matters without undue delay. Settlement of a case requiring explanatory proceedings should take place no later than within a month, and a particularly complicated case - no later than within 2 months from the date of initiation of the proceedings. The time limits set out in these provisions do not include the time limits provided for in the law for performing specific activities, periods of suspension of proceedings, the duration of mediation and periods of delays caused by your fault or for reasons beyond the control of the authority. 
In addition, due to the significant increase in applications for confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship, there are delays in the registration of cases in IT systems and in the timely conduct of administrative proceedings, and therefore the deadline for issuing a decision may be extended.

Legal basis:

• Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish citizenship (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2022, item 465, as amended).
• Regulation of the Minister of the Interior of 7 August 2012 on the model application form for confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship (Journal of Laws of 2012, item 925).

If you have additional questions, please contact us via contact form.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision you receive, you can appeal. The appeal shall be submitted to the Minister of the Interior and Administration via the Mazowieckie Voivode within 14 days from the date of delivery of the decision.