A national visa for repatriation may be issued to a person who meets all of the following conditions:

• is of Polish origin
• before the date of the Act  coming into force (that is before 1 January 2001), they permanently resided in the territory of the present Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Republic of Uzbekistan or the Asian part of the Russian Federation.

A person of Polish origin is a person declaring their nationality as Polish, who jointly fulfils two of the following conditions:

• at least one of their parents or grandparents or both their great-grandparents were of Polish nationality
• they prove their affiliation to Poland.

The condition concerning Polish origin is considered fulfilled if at least one of the parents or grandparents or two great-grandparents of the applicant have confirmed their being part of the Polish Nation by, in particular, nurturing Polish traditions and customs.

Evidence supporting the Polish origin may be documents issued by the Polish state or church authorities, as well as by the authorities of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, regarding the applicant or their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, in particular:

1. Polish identity documents
2. civil status records or their copies or baptism certificates confirming their affiliation to Poland
3. documents confirming the completion of military service in the Polish Army, containing an entry informing about Polish nationality
4. documents confirming the fact of deportation or imprisonment, containing an entry informing about Polish nationality
5. identity documents or other official documents containing an entry informing about Polish nationality.

 

Supporting evidence of Polish origin may also be other documents, in particular:

1. on the rehabilitation of a deportee, containing an entry informing about their Polish nationality
2. confirming the persecution of a person due to their Polish origin.

 

The decision on acknowledging the applicant as a person of Polish origin is issued by the consul.

A national visa for repatriation may also be issued to the spouse and descendant to the fourth generation (and also to their spouses) of a person meeting the conditions for issuing a national visa for repatriation, referred to in point 1, if they intend to come to Poland with the intention of establishing a permanent residence.

By way of repatriation, Polish citizenship is also acquired by minors remaining under the parental authority of the repatriate. However, if the repatriate is only one of the parents, the minor acquires Polish citizenship only with the consent of the other parent, expressed in a declaration made to the consul.

A minor who is at least 16 years old may acquire Polish citizenship by repatriation only after giving their consent.

Application for a national visa for repatriation shall be refused if (Article 10a):

1. lost Polish citizenship acquired through repatriation, or
2. was repatriated from the territory of the Republic of Poland or the People’s Republic of Poland on the basis of repatriation agreements concluded in 1944–1957 by the Republic of Poland or the People’s Republic of Poland with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, to one of the states-parties to those agreements, or
3. while staying outside the Republic of Poland, acted to the detriment of the fundamental interests of the Republic of Poland, or
4. has been or is involved in a human rights violation, or
5. their data are in the Schengen Information System for the purpose of denying entry, or
6. it is required for reasons of state defences or security, the protection of public safety and order, or
7. it is mandatory to add a given person to the list of foreign nationals whose stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland is undesirable.