Granting Polish citizenship

Applies to persons who want to obtain Polish citizenship by granting it by the President of the Republic of Poland. 

Please register before submitting your application inPOL foreigner's portal and read the directions for completing the application.

• The President of the Republic of Poland grants Polish citizenship or refuses to grant it in the form provisions;
• decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland in cases of granting Polish citizenship are discretionary, do not require justification and are not subject to appeal;
• the provisions of the Act of 14 June 1960 shall not apply in the proceedings. Code of Administrative Procedure (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2000, as amended) except for the provisions on the delivery of correspondence;
• you submit the application for Polish citizenship in person or by correspondence with officially certified signature through the voivode competent for the place of your permanent residence or Polish consul;
• if you are staying in Poland on the basis of a visa or in visa-free travel you can submit an application only through the competent for your place of residence -  Polish consul;
• the validity of your residence card and passport should not be less than 6 months at the time of submitting the application. Throughout the entire period of consideration of the application at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, you should have a valid foreign passport or travel document and a valid residence card;
• data contained in Polish civil status records, residence card and foreign passport should be uniform. The data appearing in Polish civil status records must be uniform;
• documents issued in a foreign language are submitted together with their translation into Polish prepared by Polish sworn translator and/ or Polish consul;
• if you do not speak Polish at a communicative level, you are obliged to appear in order to submit the application together with a Polish sworn translator;
• an application for Polish citizenship only for a minor child must be signed by both parents. A child who has reached the age of 16 must consent to being granted Polish citizenship;
• submitted documents are not returnable;
• if you have Pole's Card, you are obliged to return it at the time of receipt of the document confirming the acquisition of Polish citizenship. The Pole's Card expires by operation of law on the date of issuing the document confirming the acquisition of Polish citizenship.

When applying for Polish citizenship, you submit:

• an application addressed to the President of the Republic of Poland, drawn up legibly in Polish, on an officially specified form (1 item);
• biometric photo (1 piece.);
• abridged or complete copy of your birth certificate published by Polish Registry Office based on Polish registers of civil status, containing names and surnames, date and place of birth, father's name and surname, and mother's name and, if possible, maiden name;
• abridged or complete copy of your marriage certificate - not older than 3 months - issued by Polish Registry Office on the basis of Polish civil status books, provided that you are or have been married. If the marriage has ended as a result of divorce, you attach a copy of the marriage certificate with a mention of the divorce; if the marriage ended as a result of the spouse's death, you must submit a copy of the marriage certificate containing a mention of this fact;
• page of your valid foreign passport with personal details, travel document or ID card confirming your identity and citizenship;
• your valid residence card or a certificate of registration of the stay of an EU citizen issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode. If you have a residence card or a certificate of registration of an EU citizen's stay issued by another Voivode, then before submitting an application for Polish citizenship, it is necessary to exchange them for a residence card issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode or a certificate of registration of an EU citizen's stay issued by him;
• a decision authorizing your stay in Poland;
• a certified copy of the personal data page of your spouse's valid foreign passport, travel document or ID card confirming the identity and citizenship of the spouse;
• your spouse's written statement of consent to provide a copy of your spouse's valid identity document for the purposes of the procedure for granting you Polish citizenship;
• documents confirming your current sources of income, e.g. current certificate of employment and earnings, employment contracts, mandate contracts, documents confirming running a business, etc.;
• documents confirming your professional achievements, e.g. academic and professional degrees and titles, creative works, journalism, awards, completed projects, etc.;
• documents confirming your political and social activities;
• documents of your parents and further ascendants, provided that they had/have Polish citizenship or are/were people of Polish nationality;  
• documents proving that you had Polish citizenship in the past, its loss and the date of acquisition of foreign citizenship;   
• additional documents that you want to attach to the application (e.g. letters of recommendation, opinions, etc.).

If you have parental authority over a minor child whom you want to include in your application, you must additionally attach:

• biometric photo of the child (1 piece.);
• abridged or full copy of your child's birth certificate published by Polish Registry Office based on Polish registers of civil status, containing the child's first and last name, date and place of birth, father's name and surname and - if possible - mother's maiden name;
• page of the child's valid foreign passport with his/her personal data;
• a valid child's residence card, if the child lives permanently in Poland;
• a decision allowing the child to stay in Poland, provided that the child lives permanently in the Republic of Poland;
• additional documents concerning the child that you want to attach to the application (e.g. opinions, school certificates, diplomas, etc.);
• statement of the other parent on consent to granting Polish citizenship to the child. 

1) The declaration accepts:

• the voivode competent for the place of residence of this parent, i.e. the voivode who issued the parent with a current residence card or a certificate of registration of the EU citizen's residence - if the parent lives in Poland,
• Polish consul - if the parent permanently lives abroad or stays in Poland on the basis of a visa or in visa-free travel or legalization proceedings are pending against him/her.
  If the declaration was made before another voivode or consul, this information should be included in the application. The parent submitting the declaration in person at the Mazowieckie Voivodship Office in Warsaw always presents a valid residence card issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode or a certificate of registration of EU citizen's stay issued by him and a valid document confirming identity and citizenship (foreign passport, travel document or EU citizen's identity document), and certified photocopies of these documents are attached to the case file.

2) The statement may also be submitted by correspondence with officially certified signature. The authenticity of the signature is certified Polish notary. In this case, the other parent who has a long-term or short-term stay, as well as the one whose stay in Poland is not regulated, is entitled to submit a declaration of consent to granting Polish citizenship to the child.

• Declaration of a child who has turned 16 years of age on consent to be granted Polish citizenship. 

1) The declaration accepts:

• the voivode competent for the place of residence of the child, i.e. the voivode who issued the child with a current residence card or a certificate of registration of the EU citizen's stay - if the child lives in Poland, 
• Polish consul - if the child permanently lives abroad or stays in Poland on the basis of a visa or visa-free travel, or legalization proceedings are pending against him.
  If the declaration was made before another voivode or consul, this information should be included in the application. A child making a declaration in person at the Mazowieckie Voivodeship Office in Warsaw always presents a valid residence card issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode or a certificate of registration of EU citizen's stay issued by him and a valid document confirming identity and citizenship (foreign passport, travel document or EU citizen's identity document).

2) The declaration of a child who has turned 16 may also be submitted by correspondence with officially certified signature. The authenticity of the signature is certified Polish notary. In this case, the child's residence title and place of residence in Poland do not affect the legal effectiveness of the declaration.

If you exercise parental authority over a minor child who has Polish citizenship, you additionally attach:

• abridged or complete copy of the child's birth certificate;
• a page of a valid Polish passport with the child's personal data or an ID card confirming his/her identity and citizenship, provided that the above-mentioned documents have been issued for the child.

If you exercise parental authority over a minor child who does not have Polish citizenship and you do not want to include the child in the application, you should additionally attach:

• a copy of the child's birth certificate (in this case, the certificate does not have to be issued by the Polish Registry Office);
• page of the child's valid foreign passport with his/her personal data or ID card or any other document that confirms the child's identity and citizenship.
   

Granting Polish citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland only to a minor child

Granting Polish citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland to a minor child for whom guardianship has been established by the court

 

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

You can submit an application for Polish citizenship in person at the Citizenship and Repatriation Department of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship Office in Warsaw only after making an appointment for a specific day and time in advance 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

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

In case you don't complete formal deficiencies your request will be left unrecognized and proceedings will not be conducted.

Application for granting Polish citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland is not subject to stamp duty.
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. In the proceedings for granting Polish citizenship by the President of the Republic of Poland, each proxy is treated as a so-called delivery agent.

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

Pay online

The application for granting Polish citizenship is submitted to the Minister of the Interior and Administration or directly to the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland with the opinion of the Mazowieckie Voivode and a complete set of documents.
The opinion is prepared when all the required documents have been attached to the application. If the application contains formal deficiencies or not all documents are attached, the Office calls for the removal of these deficiencies within 30 days from the date of receipt of the request. After this deadline, the application is left unrecognised.

Legal basis:

• Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish citizenship (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2022, item 465, as amended).
• Regulation of the President of the Republic of Poland of August 7, 2012 on specifying the template of the application form for granting Polish citizenship, requirements regarding the photograph attached to the application and templates of the act of granting Polish citizenship and notification of refusal to grant Polish citizenship (Journal of Laws of 2012, item 927).

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

Od decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland appeal cannot be made.