If you have no blood ties with Poland (meaning none of you parents or ancestors was Polish), you have two ways of obtaining Polish citizenship:
- Recognition as a Polish citizen
- Granting Polish citizenship by the President
Recognition as a Polish citizen
You can be granted a Polish citizenship if you have:
- been living in Poland for at least 3 years with a permanent residence permit or a long-term EU residency permit
- been living in Poland for at least 2 years with a permanent residence permit or a long-term EU residency permit AND been married to a Polish citizen for at least 3 years
- been residing in Poland – continuously and legally – for at least 10 years
In most cases, in order to obtain the citizenship, you need to speak Polish, and present a Polish language certificate.
How long does it take to get a decision? According to the official sources, between 1-2 months.
Granting Polish citizenship by the President
Polish citizenship can also be granted by the President. Unlike the first procedure, the President is not restricted by any conditions that should be met by a foreigner, which means that he can grant the citizenship to any foreigner, no matter how long he or she has been residing in Poland. The foreigner should just prove his ties with Poland and justify why they should become a Polish citizen.
How long does it take to get a decision? This is the problem: there is no deadline. You can get the decision even after 2-3 years!
Important: you may apply to the President as many times as you wish. Even if you get a negative answer, you can still apply again, or choose the other way of obtaining citizenship (which is recognition as a Polish citizen).
You can find more information on the website of Ministry of the Interior and Administration
