CONTINUITY OF POLISH CITIZENSHIP AND CONFIRMATION OF ITS POSSESSION

What is citizenship?

This concept was not, and is not, defined in the Polish legal system, as in the legal systems of other countries. Characterizing its legal essence, several features are indicated:

citizenship is a legal bond established by the internal law of a state linking a natural person to that state;
this legal bond is relatively permanent in space and time;
the bond of citizenship is formal – a given person belongs to a specific state, thus being a part of the human community forming the personal substrate of this state;
the formal legal bond of citizenship, as a relationship between a natural person and the state, forms the basis for the implementation of the mutual rights and obligations of the state and that person established by law.[1]

In addition, citizenship is the basic criterion for distinguishing „countryperson“ from a foreigner, which is confirmed by the regulations adopted in many countries: usually a foreigner is defined as a person who is not a citizen of a given state.[2]

What does Polish citizenship give?

The Polish citizenship is now of great practical value. The status of a Polish citizen gives a lot of possibilities to organize one’s life in Poland, including:

free settlement in Poland at any time,
taking up employment, including in professions available only to Polish citizens,
unrestricted acquisition of real estate located in Poland,
freedom of undertaking and performing economic activity in Poland,
unlimited access to education in public institutions, such as higher education institutions, art schools, teacher training institutions,
the right to pursue higher education and doctoral studies, as well as to participate in scientific research and development work without hindrance,
admission to flight training and obtaining aviation licenses in the Republic of Poland,
travel without a visa to over 180 countries.

Furthermore, it should be remembered that every citizen of Poland is at the same time a citizen of the EU which carries additional benefits. EU citizen is entitled:

to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States of the European Union,
to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in the Member State of residence under the same conditions as citizens of that state,
to enjoy, in the territory of a third country in which Poland is not represented, the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State of the Union under the same conditions as the citizens of that State,
to address petitions to the European Parliament, to apply to the European Ombudsman, and to apply to the institutions and advisory bodies of the Union.

What does the continuity of Polish citizenship mean?

Since 15 August 2012, the Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish Citizenship[3] has been in force. Under the principle of continuity of Polish citizenship laid down in the 2009 Act, Polish citizenship was granted to persons who were Polish citizens under the previous laws on citizenship. This solution is not new in the Polish legal tradition. The continuity of Polish citizenship was established for the first time in the Polish Citizenship Act of 8 January 1951, stating that “on the day of the coming into force of this Act, persons who have Polish citizenship on the basis of the hitherto regulations are Polish citizen”.[4] The above rule was confirmed by the Polish Citizenship Act of 15 February 1962.[5]

The principle of continuity of citizenship means that the circle of Polish citizens remained, in principle, as on the date of entry into force of a specific citizenship act, unless it was modified by such an act (in fact, it happened several times).

Considering that the first population of Polish citizens consisted of individuals who had acquired Polish citizenship after 1918 (the first generation of citizens), it should be assumed that the 1951 provision establishing the principle of continuity of Polish citizenship referred mainly to the first generation of citizens and their descendants. The second generation of Polish citizens came into being first and foremost as a result of the ius sanguinis principle (the law of blood) – the basic principle of acquiring Polish citizenship under Polish law. This principle was formulated in Art. 4 (1) and Art. 5 of the Polish Citizenship Act of 20 January 1920 which stated that “Polish citizenship is acquired by birth, […] by birth legitimate children acquire their father’s citizenship, and illegitimate children acquire their mother’s citizenship”[6]. The Polish March Constitution of 1921 treated the principle of ius sanguinis as the basic standard of acquiring Polish citizenship, stipulating that “Polish citizenship is acquired […] by birth from parents who have Polish citizenship”.[7]

Like the 1920 Act, both the 1951 Act and the 1962 Act stood on the basis of ius sanguinis. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 upheld the constitutional status of the Law of Blood,[8] and the Act of 2009 confirmed the previous solutions. The 1951 Act (art. 6) stipulated that “A child acquires Polish citizenship if: 1) both parents are Polish citizens, or 2) one of the parents is a Polish citizen and the other is unknown, or his or her citizenship is unknown or undetermined.” Article 4 of the 1962 Act stated that “A child acquires Polish citizenship by birth if: 1) both parents are Polish citizens or 2) one of the parents is a Polish citizen and the other is unknown or her/his citizenship is undetermined or (s)he has no citizenship.” The 1997 Constitution states in Article 34 that “Polish citizenship is acquired by birth from parents who are Polish citizens,” while under Article 14 of the 2009 Act “A minor acquires Polish citizenship by birth if: 1) at least one parent is a Polish citizen. […]” According to section 16 of the 2012 Act, this rule also applies (under certain conditions) to adopted persons.

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

Those interested may consider their ancestors Polish citizens after tracing their family history, collecting and analyzing documents indicating this. The legal and, at the same time, material confirmation of Polish citizenship may be obtained by the interested person by completing the process of confirmation of Polish citizenship. The 2009 Act gives everyone who can prove their legal interest the possibility of obtaining such a confirmation. The relevant decision is issued by the voivode at the request of the interested party. In most cases, it will be the voivode of the voivodeship the applicant’s last place of residence was in, and if the interested party has never lived in Poland – the voivode of Mazovian Voivodeship. Individuals living outside Poland may (but do not have to) submit their application through a Polish consulate.

For those interested in obtaining confirmation of Polish citizenship, it is important to realize that the said continuity of citizenship is in a sense a legal declaration – Polish citizenship lasts unless it was lost as a result of (1) individual actions of a citizen to which the law binds loss of Polish citizenship by an individual or (2) as a result of ex lege deprivation of Polish citizenship the whole groups of citizens, regardless of their personal will and initiative.

The 2009 Act does not contain provisions allowing for revocation of Polish citizenship (revocation of Polish citizenship is prohibited by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997). It only gives the possibility to renounce that citizenship with the consent of the President of the Republic of Poland. Furthermore, the 2009 Act departs from the previous standard and stipulates that “a Polish citizen who is at the same time a citizen of another state has the same rights and obligations towards the Republic of Poland as a person who is only a Polish citizen” thus allowing dual citizenship. Those who wish to obtain Polish citizenship are no longer legally required to revoke their previous citizenships.

*****

The complicated history of Poland, which includes enormous movements of its citizens before and after World War II, both voluntary and involuntary, results in at least several million people living outside Polish borders without confirmation of their Polish citizenship status. However, it should be noted, that the legal situation is different for persons (descendants of these persons) who emigrated from the territories that became part of the Polish State after 1918, descendants of Polish Jews who left Poland for Palestine before World War II or just after 1948, during the so-called Gomółka alia in the years 1955-1961, or after the March events in 1968, as well as people of German origin and autochthons who were subject to nationality verification after 1945. The situation of Polish citizens who found themselves within the borders of the USSR after 1939 and remained there, as well as those who were displaced from Poland to the USSR in the years 1945-1946, is particularly complicated.

Andrzej Kiedrzyn, PhD
Attorney at law
T: +48 22 447 43 00
E: kiedrzyn@millercanfield.com

[1] See: J. Jagielski. Obywatelstwo polskie. Komentarz do ustawy, Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2016, pp. 18-19.

[2] Ibidem, p 35.

[3] Journal of Laws item 161.

[4] Journal of Laws No. 4, item 25, art. 2 item 1).

[5]Act of February 15th, 1962 on Polish Citizenship, Dz.U. Nr 10, poz. 49 with later amendments, art. 1.

[6] Journal of Laws No. 7, item 44.

[7] Act of March 17, 1921 – Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Dz.U. No. 44, item 267, Art. 88 letter a).

[8] Journal of Laws No. 78, item 483, art. 34.