Recognition as a Polish citizen

Applies to persons who want to acquire Polish citizenship by way of recognition by the Mazowieckie Voivode and meet the conditions indicated in art. 30 of the Act on Polish Citizenship, e.g. they have a permanent residence permit in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

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

Pursuant to Art. 30 sec. 1 of the applicable Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish Citizenship, a Polish citizen is considered to be:

• a resident foreigner continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 3 years on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a residence permit for a long-term resident of the European Union or the right of permanent residence, which he/she has in the Republic of Poland stable and regular source of income and legal title to occupy a dwelling; 
• a resident foreigner continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 2 years on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident's European Union residence permit or the right of permanent residence, who: 
  • has been in for at least 3 years marital relationship concluded with a Polish citizen or
  • he has no citizenship; 
• a resident foreigner continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 2 years on the basis of a permanent residence permit, which he obtained in connection with his possession refugee status issued in the Republic of Poland; 
• a minor a foreigner residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident's European Union residence permit or the right of permanent residence, whose one parent is a Polish citizen and the other parent, who does not have Polish citizenship, has consented to this recognition; 
• a minor a foreigner residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident's European Union residence permit or the right of permanent residence, whose Polish citizenship was restored to at least one of the parents, and the other parent, who does not have Polish citizenship, consented to this recognition ; 
• a resident foreigner continuously i legally on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 10 years, which meets all of the following conditions: 
  • has a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident's European Union residence permit or the right of permanent residence, 
  • has in the Republic of Poland stable and regular source of income and legal title to occupy a dwelling; 
• a resident foreigner continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least a year on the basis of a permanent residence permit which he obtained in connection with of Polish origin or owned Pole's card.

• The validity of your foreign passport or travel document and residence card cannot be shorter than 3 months at the time of submitting the application;
• 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;
• when completing the application for recognition as a Polish citizen, you use the personal data that appear in copies of civil status records issued by the Polish Registry Office;
• documents drawn up in a foreign language are submitted together with their translation into Polish prepared or certified by Polish sworn translator and/ or Polish consul;
• detailed information about Polish language exams are available on website;
• in the course of the proceedings, the authority is entitled to request you to submit additional documents or information necessary to clarify the facts in detail;
• submitted documents are not returnable;
• if you have Pole's Card, then at the time of receipt of the document confirming the acquisition of Polish citizenship, you are obliged to return it. On the date of issue of the document confirming the acquisition of Polish citizenship held Pole's card expires by law.

When applying for recognition as a Polish citizen, you submit:

• application drawn up in Polish on officially specified form (1 piece.);
• 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;
• complete (i.e. including blank pages) your valid foreign passport or travel document;
• your valid permanent residence/long-term EU resident card issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode. If you have a residence card issued by another voivode, then before submitting an application for recognition as a Polish citizen, it is necessary to exchange it for a residence card issued by the Mazowieckie Voivode;
• a decision permitting your permanent stay in Poland, settlement or long-term EU resident's stay;  
• your official confirmation of knowledge of the Polish language;  
• statement on the dates of your departures from Poland and returns and about places of stay abroad in the periods indicated in art. 30 section 1 of the Act; 
• a certified copy of the page of your spouse's valid foreign passport with personal data, a 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 recognizing you as a Polish citizen;
• proof of payment of stamp duty for issuing a decision on recognition as a Polish citizen (PLN 219);  
• documents that prove yours stable and regular sources of income in Poland;
• a document confirming your possession legal title to occupy a dwelling;
• decision to issue you Pole cardsif you are/were the holder of this document.

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

• biometric photo child (1 pc.);
• 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 about the child that you want to attach to the application (e.g. opinions, school certificates, etc.);
• statement of the other parent on consent to recognize the child as a Polish citizen. 

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 recognize the child as a Polish citizen.

• Declaration of a child who has turned 16 years of age on consent to be recognized as a Polish citizen. 

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 can 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.

Recognition of only a minor child as a Polish citizen (Article 30(1)(4) and (5))

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 recognition as a Polish citizen 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 219 for a decision on recognition as a Polish citizen;
• 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

Pay online

The deadline for completing the proceedings depends on when the authority collects all the necessary information and documents. 

Before issuing a decision in the case, the Office asks the Capital City Commander or the Voivodeship Police Commander, the Director of the Regional Office of the Internal Security Agency, as well as other institutions and bodies for information whether your acquisition of Polish citizenship does not pose a threat to state defense or security or security protection and public order. The authorities reply within 30 days, but in some cases this period is extended to 3 months. 

However, pursuant to the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure, public administration bodies settle 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.

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 3 August 2012 on the template of the application form for recognition as a Polish citizen and the photograph attached to the application (Journal of Laws of 2012, item 916).

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

If you are dissatisfied with the decision you receive, you can submit 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.