Checking Eligibility for a Polish Passport – What Are the Main Criteria?
When considering the possibility of starting the process of obtaining Polish citizenship, it is important to understand that there are essential criteria that must be met.
The first criterion is that the Polish ancestors (usually grandparents) emigrated from Poland after 1920, as the modern Polish Citizenship Act came into effect that year.
Only a person who was actually a Polish citizen can pass their citizenship on to their descendants. This raises the question – when is a person considered a Polish citizen?
Polish law granted full citizenship status at the age of 18. Therefore, if that relative emigrated as a minor (under 18), eligibility cannot be based on their name, and it must be examined whether their parents—that is, the generation of grandparents—emigrated as adults and held recognized Polish citizenship, as they are the ones able to pass citizenship to the next generation.
Additionally, the fact that a person naturalized in their country of emigration before 1951 does not necessarily exclude eligibility, provided two conditions are met:
- They did not serve in the military of the country of emigration.
- They were born after 1900.
Sometimes it is claimed that a person who naturalized before 1951 lost their Polish citizenship – however, this is not an absolute rule and depends on whether the above conditions are met.
In general, it is customary to begin the assessment using a Polish man who emigrated to Israel or another country as an adult (over 18).
In certain cases, citizenship can also be established through a Polish woman, but only if she was born after January 19, 1933.
Another crucial issue is the need to present official documents proving the citizenship of the ancestor in question – a topic we will expand upon in future posts.
It is important to emphasize that all the points mentioned here are general guidelines only, and each case should be examined individually and thoroughly, taking into account the details of the family history and the unique circumstances of each person.
