Confirmation of Polish citizenship or its loss
Under Article 55 Section 1 of the Act, a decision on the confirmation of Polish citizenship or its loss shall be issued to the interested party or to an entity with a proven legal interest or obliged to receive the decision, by a Voivode competent for the place of residence or the last place of residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland of the interested party; should this ground be lacking, the decision is issued by the Masovian Voivode. A decision by a Voivode may be appealed to the Minister of Interior.
Persons residing outside the territory of the Republic of Poland may reach a competent Voivode through a Polish consul. At the same time it should be underlined that pursuant to Article 40 Paragraph 4 of the Administrative Code A party residing abroad or having a residence place abroad, in the event that he/she has not indicated any representative authorized to conduct his/her case and residing in the state, shall be obliged to indicate a process agent in the state. This means that applicants living abroad, who have not indicated any representative in Poland, are obliged to indicate a process agent in Poland, i. e. a person entitled to receive correspondence in Poland, along with his/her address. The application shall be filed on a form specified by an Ordinance of the Minister of Interior of 7 August, 2012 on the specimen application for confirmation of Polish citizenship or its loss (Journal of Laws, item 925).
The application for confirmation of Polish citizenship or its loss contains personal data of the interested party, as well as of their relatives in the second descending line and relevant circumstances necessary to determine the factual and legal situation. Importantly, the applicant is obliged to attach documents confirming the data and information included in the application.
Regulations governing the determination of the grounds for acquisition and loss of Polish citizenship shall be understood as the rules applicable upon the event or activity which resulted in the person’s acquisition or loss of Polish citizenship by virtue of law or a decision by a competent authority. In the course of the proceedings, the Voivode should try to collect evidence, on the basis of which an unequivocal decision can be issued as to the Polish citizenship of the interested party.
Specimen application for confirmation of Polish citizenship or its loss (in Polish)