Getting Polish citizenship when born in Embassy of Poland -

In accordance with the Statute on Polish Citizenship, of 15 February 1962 with later amendments (final text of statute, Dziennik Ustaw - Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, No. 28, item 353, 2000)

 "Article 4.   A child acquires Polish citizenship by birth when:
1)  both parents are Polish citizens or
2)  one of the parents is a Polish citizen, whereas the other is of unknown or undefined citizenship or does not possess any citizenship ..."

  Article 6.   1.  A child of parents of which one is a Polish citizen, while the other is a citizen of another state, acquires Polish citizenship by birth.  However the parents may, in a declaration made in conformity before the proper authority within the course of three months from the day of the birth of the child, choose for the child the citizenship of the foreign state of which one of the parents is a citizen, if according to the law of that state the child acquires its citizenship.
 2.  In the case when the parents are not in agreement on this matter, each of them may apply to a court for a resolution within the course of three months from the day of the birth of the child.
  3.  A child who acquired foreign citizenship in accordance with para. 1 or 2 acquires Polish citizenship if, after completing sixteen years and before six months prior to attaining full legal age, he or she makes the appropriate declaration before the proper authority and this authority issues a decision accepting the declaration.."

 The proper authority outside of Poland for receiving declarations concerning citizenship is a consul of the Republic of Poland.

"Article 8. 1.  A foreigner may be granted Polish citizenship at his or her request, if he or she is residing in Poland for at least five years on the basis of a permanent residence permit.
 2.  In particularly justified cases a foreigner may be granted Polish citizenship at his or her request, even though he or she does not meet the conditions defined in para. 1.
 3.  The granting of Polish citizenship may be dependent on a submission of proof of the loss of or dispensation from a foreign citizenship.
 4.  The granting of Polish citizenship to both parents extends to the children remaining under their parental authority.
 5.  The granting of Polish citizenship to only one parent extends to the children, if:
1)  they remain exclusively under that parent's parental authority or
2)  the other parent is a Polish citizen or
3)  the other parent has expressed consent before the proper authority to the acquisition by the child of Polish citizenship.
 6.  Polish citizenship may be granted to children under guardianship only with the consent of the guardian expressed in an appropriate declaration made before the proper authority after prior compliance with the requirements of the pertinent foreign law.

 7.  The granting or extension of the granting of Polish citizenship to children sixteen years of age or older occurs only with their consent."

 "Article 10.   1.  A foreigner who has been granted a permanent residence permit within the Republic of Poland and who has been married for at least three years to a person
possessing Polish citizenship may acquire Polish citizenship if he or she makes an appropriate declaration, within the period of time  defined in para. 1a, before the proper authority and this authority issues a decision on the acceptance of the declaration.
 1a.  The period of time for making the declaration of will , referred to in item 1, comprises 6 months from the day of the acquisition by the foreigner of the permanent residence permit or 3 years and 6 months from the day of contracting marriage with a person holding Polish citizenship.
 2.  The acceptance of the declaration may be dependent on a submission of proof of the loss of or dispensation from a foreign citizenship.  ..."

"Article 13.   1.  A Polish citizen loses his or her Polish citizenship at his or her own request after obtaining approval from the President of the Republic of Poland for the renouncing of Polish citizenship.
 2.  The approval for the renouncing of Polish citizenship granted to parents is extended to the children remaining under their parental authority.
 3. The approval for the renouncing of Polish citizenship granted to one of the parents extends to the children remaining under that parent's parental authority, when the other parent is not entitled to parental authority or the other parent is not a Polish citizen or when the other parent is a Polish citizen and expresses his or her consent before the proper authority for the loss of Polish citizenship by the children.
 4.  In the case when the second parent is a Polish citizen and objects to the extension onto the children of the approval for the renouncing of Polish citizenship granted to the first parent or when an agreement encounters obstacles that are difficult to surmount, each of the parents may apply to a court for a resolution.
 5. The approval for the renouncing of citizenship is extended to children sixteen years of age or older only with their consent."

"The proper authority" in such matters as above is:
1.  a "wojewoda" [voievode or provincial governor] - for persons residing in Poland,
2.   a consul of the Republic of Poland - for persons residing abroad.

Persons who do not possess documents which provide evidence of their Polish citizenship, and who would like to clarify whether they still possess this citizenship or have lost it, may apply for a confirmation of possession or loss of Polish citizenship.  In the case of persons belonging to a 2nd or subsequent generation of Polish emigrants, for the purpose of establishing whether the person has retained Polish citizenship it is indispensable, inter alia, to present a sequence of documents, commencing with the birth certificate, issued in Poland, of the family member in direct line of descent who at some time in the past settled outside of the borders of the Polish state.

1. An application to "wojewoda"
2. A detailed autobiography in Polish, hanwritten, including the details of your Polish ancestry. It should explain when, in what circumstances and on the basis of what document(s) you or your ancestors left Poland. If possible/applicable it should specify the last place of residence in Poland of either yourself or your ancestors (exact address is required). Please note that the autobiography must be written in Polish and signed by the applicant, stating the date and place of the signing.

3. Birth certificate; long form, original with translation into Polish
  
4. Marriage certificate (if applicable); original, long form with translation into Polish
  
5. Current passport or another I.D.
  
6. The act of Canadian citizenship of the applicant, his/her parents or grandparents (whichever applicable)
  
7. Declaration (signed and dated) in which the individual concerned shall answer in full the following questions:
- have you ever acquired foreign citizenship - if so, please specify the date and citizenship and circumstances (for ex. "by birth")
- have you ever approached Polish authorities with a request of being released from Polish citizenship - if so please specify when, where and with what result

   8. All documents in your possession confirming your Polish ancestry (e.g. your parents' or grandparents' birth, baptism or marriage certificates, school, military certificates,  etc.)

The information above comprises only a summary of the basic principles in force in Polish law relating to Polish citizenship and was compiled on the basis of the Statute on Polish Citizenship, of 15  February 1962 (with later amendments), the final text of which was published in the Dziennik Ustaw ( Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland)  No. 28, item 353, in the year 2000.  The text of the statute in Polish can be found on a web page at http://www.sejm.gov.pl/.  Please keep in mind that under Polish law there were in force, in the corresponding periods: the statute on citizenship of the Polish State of the 20th of January 1920 and the statute on Polish citizenship of the 8th of January 1951.  The provisions of Polish law that were in force at the time of the occurrence of events significant to the case in hand are applicable in the resolution  of questions of Polish citizenship.

Some other information about Polish citizenship.

The matter of obtainment or loss of citizenship by Poles who found themselves outside territory of Poland in the effect of or in relation to the Second World War is subject to three Citizenship Acts dated 1920, 1951 and 1962.

The provision 11 of the Act dated 1920 stated that:
"Loss of citizenship takes place:
1.When a person obtains foreign citizenship,
2. When a person accepts public office or joins the army in a foreign country without prior approval of the Polish Government.
Persons compelled to active military service may acquire foreign nationality after obtaining permission from the Minister of Military Affairs, otherwise they are deemed to be Polish citizens."

The above mentioned provision means that a man compelled to active military service could lose his Polish citizenship only if he got the permission to obtain the foreign citizenship issued by Minister of Military Affairs. In case of women the situation was different - they lost their Polish citizenship automatically, because they were not compelled to military service.
The provisions of the said Act apply to all circumstances essential for a person in the matter of his/her citizenship which took place in the period between 1920 and 19.02.1951 when a new Act came into force.

The provision 4 of the new Act stated:
"A person is not a Polish citizen, even though
he/she had Polish citizenship on the 31 of August 1939,  but he/she resides permanently outside Poland and:
If due to the change of Polish borders he/she
    obtained foreign nationality in accordance
    with the international agreements or
If a person is of Russian, Bielarussian,
    Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian  
    nationality or
If  a person is of German nationality unless
    the spouse of such person has  Polish
    citizenship and resides in Poland.

After reading the above provision many people come into conclusion that they lost their citizenship because they did not return to Poland after 1939 but stayed outside the country. It is mistake, because to lose the citizenship a person should reside abroad and fullfil one of the above mentioned conditions /1-3/.
The provisions of the Citizenship Act of 1951 apply to all circumstances essential for a person in the matter of his/her citizenship which took place in the period between 19.02.1951 and 15.02.1962 when a new Act came into force.

The new Act does not provide that a person can lose his/her Polish citizenship unless he/she applied to renounce his/her citizenship to the Polish Authorities. It also does not provide that a person can lose citizenship without being informed that he/she lost her Polish citizenship.

It necessary to add that meanwhile also other acts concerning citizenship were issued. On their basis Polish citizenship were lost by persons who emigrated to Federal Republic of Germany and Israel.

Imparting the above information Consular Division of the Polish Embassy in Ottawa would like to mention that in case of persons who are not in possession of documents proving that they have or lost their Polish citizenship they may apply for special certificate issued by "Wojewoda" in Poland. It is possible to do it by one of Polish Consulates in Canada.

Person may apply to obtain Polish citizenship when he/she proves that he/she does not have Polish citizenship, because citizenship cannot be granted to a person who has never lost his/her  citizenship.