Polish citizenship by descent: who qualifies, the law, and what it takes

Q: Can you claim Polish citizenship through a parent?

Possible. If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: unlikely. If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor: unlikely. If your ancestor left Poland before 1920: unlikely.

Q: Can you claim Polish citizenship through a grandparent?

Possible. If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: unlikely. If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor: unlikely. If your ancestor left Poland before 1920: unlikely.

Q: Can you claim Polish citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Possible. If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: unlikely. If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor: unlikely. If your ancestor left Poland before 1920: unlikely.

Through a parentPOSSIBLEConfirmation of Polish citizenship Through a grandparentPOSSIBLEConfirmation of Polish citizenship Through a great-grandparentPOSSIBLEConfirmation of Polish citizenship

Ways to apply: Confirmation of Polish citizenship
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply
Language: Polish: basic Polish for the Card of the Pole; a B1 certificate for citizenship after a year’s residence
Comes with: EU citizenship: the right to live and work in 27 countries

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Places that changed countries
10Law changes
11Other options
12Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a parent?

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed.

A person who holds Polish citizenship may apply to the voivode for confirmation; the decision looks back through each generation for acquisition and loss. Act on Polish Citizenship of 2 April 2009 (confirmation of possession of citizenship), art. 55
Under the 1951 Act, people who lived abroad and held foreign citizenship were in many cases deprived of Polish citizenship, and their minor children under 13 with them; your family’s details decide it. Act on Polish Citizenship of 8 January 1951

What changes the answer

POSSIBLE
If the parent is your mother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
Under the pre-1951 law, taking another citizenship generally meant losing Polish citizenship, so a child born after that did not receive it. One exception: men who had not completed Polish military service.
POSSIBLE
If you don’t know whether anyone in your family naturalized elsewhere before the next birth
Whether your ancestor naturalized elsewhere, and when, relative to the next birth in the line.
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor
Under the 1920 Act, when a father lost Polish citizenship by naturalizing abroad, his children under 18 lost it with him, so it usually stopped there. The exception is a father whose military-service obligation kept him Polish.
UNLIKELY
If your ancestor left Poland before 1920
An ancestor who left before 1920 was never a citizen of the Polish state, which came into being in 1918 and defined its citizens in 1920.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a grandparent?

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed.

A person who holds Polish citizenship may apply to the voivode for confirmation; the decision looks back through each generation for acquisition and loss. Act on Polish Citizenship of 2 April 2009 (confirmation of possession of citizenship), art. 55
Under the 1951 Act, people who lived abroad and held foreign citizenship were in many cases deprived of Polish citizenship, and their minor children under 13 with them; your family’s details decide it. Act on Polish Citizenship of 8 January 1951

What changes the answer

POSSIBLE
If the grandparent is your grandmother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
Under the pre-1951 law, taking another citizenship generally meant losing Polish citizenship, so a child born after that did not receive it. One exception: men who had not completed Polish military service.
POSSIBLE
If you don’t know whether anyone in your family naturalized elsewhere before the next birth
Whether your ancestor naturalized elsewhere, and when, relative to the next birth in the line.
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor
Under the 1920 Act, when a father lost Polish citizenship by naturalizing abroad, his children under 18 lost it with him, so it usually stopped there. The exception is a father whose military-service obligation kept him Polish.
UNLIKELY
If your ancestor left Poland before 1920
An ancestor who left before 1920 was never a citizen of the Polish state, which came into being in 1918 and defined its citizens in 1920.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

If your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and nobody in your family lost it before the next birth, you may already be a Polish citizen and can ask to have it confirmed.

A person who holds Polish citizenship may apply to the voivode for confirmation; the decision looks back through each generation for acquisition and loss. Act on Polish Citizenship of 2 April 2009 (confirmation of possession of citizenship), art. 55
Under the 1951 Act, people who lived abroad and held foreign citizenship were in many cases deprived of Polish citizenship, and their minor children under 13 with them; your family’s details decide it. Act on Polish Citizenship of 8 January 1951

What changes the answer

POSSIBLE
If the great-grandparent is your great-grandmother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
Under the pre-1951 law, taking another citizenship generally meant losing Polish citizenship, so a child born after that did not receive it. One exception: men who had not completed Polish military service.
POSSIBLE
If you don’t know whether anyone in your family naturalized elsewhere before the next birth
Whether your ancestor naturalized elsewhere, and when, relative to the next birth in the line.
UNLIKELY
If someone in your family naturalized elsewhere while their child was still a minor
Under the 1920 Act, when a father lost Polish citizenship by naturalizing abroad, his children under 18 lost it with him, so it usually stopped there. The exception is a father whose military-service obligation kept him Polish.
UNLIKELY
If your ancestor left Poland before 1920
An ancestor who left before 1920 was never a citizen of the Polish state, which came into being in 1918 and defined its citizens in 1920.

The dates that matter

1962
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

In Poland’s rule, the answer changes when the ancestor you descend through is a woman:

POSSIBLE
If the parent is your mother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
POSSIBLE
If the grandparent is your grandmother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
POSSIBLE
If the great-grandparent is your great-grandmother
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962

In the law’s words

Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
The Supreme Administrative Court has applied this to children of fathers naturalized abroad during their minority (II OSK 1988/09, II OSK 1617/09, II OSK 50/10). Supreme Administrative Court (NSA): II OSK 1988/09 (13 Oct 2010), II OSK 1617/09 (29 Sep 2010), II OSK 50/10 (30 Nov 2010), Central Database of Administrative Court Rulings

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Polish law does not require a Polish citizen to renounce another citizenship. Act on Polish Citizenship of 2 April 2009 (confirmation of possession of citizenship), art. 3
Polish citizenship as a legal status dates from the 1920 Act; those already settled abroad and holding another citizenship by then were generally not Polish citizens. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

Open to you through a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent

The law

A person who holds Polish citizenship may apply to the voivode for confirmation; the decision looks back through each generation for acquisition and loss. Act on Polish Citizenship of 2 April 2009 (confirmation of possession of citizenship), art. 55
Under the 1951 Act, people who lived abroad and held foreign citizenship were in many cases deprived of Polish citizenship, and their minor children under 13 with them; your family’s details decide it. Act on Polish Citizenship of 8 January 1951
Until the 1962 Act, a legitimate child generally followed the father’s citizenship; descent through a Polish mother and foreign father before 1962 may not carry it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 5; Act of 15 February 1962
Acquisition of a foreign citizenship caused loss of Polish citizenship, except for persons still subject to military service who had not been released from it. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 11
The loss of Polish citizenship extended to the wife and to children under 18, unless the Minister’s decision provided otherwise. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920, art. 13
The Supreme Administrative Court has applied this to children of fathers naturalized abroad during their minority (II OSK 1988/09, II OSK 1617/09, II OSK 50/10). Supreme Administrative Court (NSA): II OSK 1988/09 (13 Oct 2010), II OSK 1617/09 (29 Sep 2010), II OSK 50/10 (30 Nov 2010), Central Database of Administrative Court Rulings
Polish citizenship as a legal status dates from the 1920 Act; those already settled abroad and holding another citizenship by then were generally not Polish citizens. Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920

What would settle an unsure case

The naturalization date, the next birth date, and for a man, whether he was of military age and released from Polish service.
Whether your ancestor naturalized elsewhere, and when, relative to the next birth in the line.
The child’s exact age at the father’s naturalization (under 18 means the loss passed), whether it happened before 19 January 1951, and whether the father was still under a Polish military obligation, which prevented the loss.
Whether your ancestor was registered as a resident of Polish territory on or after 31 January 1920, or held a Polish passport.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

Through a parent or grandparent or great-grandparent

Your ancestor’s Polish birth or residence record, passport, or military record
Their marriage record
Any naturalization record abroad, with its date
Birth and marriage records for each generation to you

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

Time: 12–24 months for the confirmation decision, then 2–3 months for a passport.
Cost: About $600–1,500: through a U.S. consulate, the $118 consular fee (277 PLN if filed directly with a voivode in Poland), plus $47 per copy the consul certifies, sworn translations of every U.S. document, apostilles and, usually, archive searches in Poland.
The hard part: Proving your ancestor held Polish citizenship after 1920 and that no one in your family lost it before the next birth. That means Polish civil records plus each generation’s U.S. naturalization date.
Who decides: The voivode (provincial governor) for your own current or last address in Poland, or the Masovian Voivode in Warsaw if you never lived there, through the Polish consulate for your U.S. address.
The first record: Your ancestor’s Polish birth or marriage record, or a pre-war passport or military record, from The Polish State Archives (szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl) and the local civil registry (USC). Search the archives portal by name and town; scanned registers cover much of Poland. For records under 100 years old, write to the USC of the town. szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl

How it’s filed

Where: The Polish consulate for your U.S. state, which forwards to the voivode: Embassy Washington (DE, DC, GA, KY, MD, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV, USVI and other territories, PR); Chicago (IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI); Houston (AL, AR, FL, KS, LA, MS, NM, OK, TX); Los Angeles (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY); New York (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT). Alternatively posted directly to the voivode. office list
How: By post; no appearance needed
Form: Wniosek o potwierdzenie posiadania lub utraty obywatelstwa polskiego (statutory form, Dz.U. 2012 poz. 925)
Fee: About $118
Decision: 6–24 months

Your consulate

Every office in the United States (5)

Consulate General of Poland, Chicago

Serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin

How: By post; no appearance needed
Address: 1530 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60610

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a parent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a grandparent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a great-grandparent?

What changes the answer

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

In the law’s words

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Places on old papers that lead to Poland

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Poland.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a parent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a grandparent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Polish citizenship through a great-grandparent?

What changes the answer

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

In the law’s words

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Confirmation of Polish citizenship

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Places on old papers that lead to Poland

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Poland.