Ministry of the Interior
and Administration

Apply to the president for Polish citizenship

How to proceed?

At the office or by mail.

Who is it for?

People who do not have Polish citizenship.

When to apply?

At any time.

What to do?

1. Collect all the necessary documents. For details, see ‘What to prepare’.
2. Submit an application to the appropriate provincial office or consulate. For details, see ‘Where to apply’.
3. If you are applying to a consulate, you must pay a consular fee. For details, see ‘How much to pay’.
4. Wait for a reply. You will receive a certificate of naturalisation or a notice of refusal to grant citizenship from the authority you filed your application with. For details, see ‘How long you will wait’.
5. If you have children between the ages of 16 and 18, they must give their consent for you to be able to apply for their citizenship. They must do it in person at a Provincial Office or a consulate.

Where to apply?

• to the province governor responsible for the area where you have your place of residence – if you legally reside in Poland.For example, if you live in Pomorskie Province, apply to the governor of Pomorskie Province.
• If you live abroad, apply to the appropriate consulate. You will find a search engine for consulates on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Remember! If you are submitting your application by mail, you will need an officially certified signature. Every notary can help you with that. The notary service will cost you about PLN 20.

How much you will pay?

• EUR 360 – if you are applying at the consulate; the consulate staff will instruct you on how to pay,
• translation costs – if you are attaching foreign-language documents to the application; the cost of translation depends on the translator's rate,
• authentication costs – if you are attaching copies of documents to the application,
• PLN 20 for notary certification of signature – if you are submitting your application by mail. The notary will collect the fee.

What to prepare?

• application for Polish citizenship,
• translation of foreign documents into Polish – if you are attaching foreign-language documents to the application; such translation must be made by a sworn translator or the Polish consul,
• declaration of consent by the other parent to your children under 18 being granted Polish citizenship – if only one of the parents is applying for citizenship.

Remember! Children between 16 and 18 must first give their consent to being granted citizenship. They must do it in person at a provincial office or a consulate.

How long you will wait?

The President of the Republic of Poland is not bound by any deadlines in cases of Polish citizenship. Typically, it takes more than a year for the President of the Republic of Poland to decide these matters.

How to appeal?

You cannot appeal. Decisions of the President of the Republic of Poland are final.

Good to know

Granting Polish citizenship to children – if both parents get Polish citizenship, their children who are under 18 years of age will also get Polish citizenship. Remember that children over 16 must first give their consent. They can only do it in person in the presence of an employee from the provincial office or the consul.

If one of the parents gets Polish citizenship, their children who are under 18 years of age will only be granted Polish citizenship if:

• the other parent has no parental responsibility,
• the other parent has consented to their child being granted citizenship (such consent is expressed in a relevant declaration),
• children over 16 will give their consent. They can only do it in person in the presence of an employee from the provincial office or the consul.