From August 15 of this year, the President will be able to grant Polish citizenship to all foreigners
“From August 15 of this year, the President will be able to grant Polish citizenship to all foreigners regardless of whether they lived and how long they lived in Poland,” UNIAN was told at the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs (MSW), noting that previously the head of state granted citizenship only in “exceptional cases.”
The new law also allowed granting Polish citizenship to all foreigners without restrictions under a procedure conducted by a voivode (equivalent of the head of regional state administration in Ukraine) and reduced the period required to apply for it from the period of residence with a permanent residence permit to three years.
To obtain Polish citizenship from the voivode, in addition to three years of living with such a permit, one must have a regular income, proof of residence (lease agreement or apartment ownership) and know the Polish language.
The ministry noted that before the new law came into force, Polish citizenship could be obtained only by stateless persons, foreigners who married Poles, and persons whose parents chose a citizenship other than Polish after birth.
The new law also abolished the rule that anyone who wanted to obtain Polish citizenship had to renounce their previous one. “(...) a Polish citizen may simultaneously hold Polish citizenship and citizenship of another country,” the press service of the MSW noted.
The ministry also reported that the new citizenship law, which was adopted back in 2009, was officially published in February of this year after the country’s Constitutional Court a month earlier confirmed the constitutionality of one of its articles, which had been appealed by the President of Poland.
“From August 15, foreigners who during their long-term stay in our country have integrated into society, know the Polish language and have sources of support, respect the order established by Polish law and do not pose a threat to the defense or security of the state can apply for Polish citizenship,” the MSW emphasized.
As reported by UNIAN, according to the Polish Office for Foreigners (UDSC), at the beginning of this year, more than 100,000 citizens of foreign states were legally residing in Poland with a population of 38 million, the largest number of whom – almost 30,000 – were citizens of Ukraine.
Among Ukrainians, about 18,000 had permanent residence permits in the country, while 12,000 had a temporary permit, which is issued for no more than 2 years.
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