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Hymn do miłości Ojczyzny

Święta miłości kochanej Ojczyzny,
Czują cię tylko umysły poczciwe!
Dla ciebie zjadłe smakują trucizny
Dla ciebie więzy, pęta nie zelżywe.
Kształcisz kalectwo przez chwalebne blizny
Gnieździsz w umyśle rozkoszy prawdziwe,
Byle cię można wspomóc, byle wspierać,
Nie żal żyć w nędzy, nie żal i umierać.

Ignacy Krasicki

PEOPLE OF POLISH DESCENT

 In principle Polish citizenship is "inherited" from ancestors, even by people born outside Poland. Thus, people of Polish descent must simply find out whether their ancestors were Polish citizens. The rules for the acquisition of Polish citizenship have changed repeatedly since 1920, when the first law on Polish citizenship (the Act on Citizenship of the Polish State of 20 January 1920) came into force.

Current rules for the acquisition of Polish citizenship - in force since 22 August 1962

A child acquires Polish citizenship by birth when:

  1. both parents are Polish citizens, or
  2. one of the parents is a Polish citizen and the other one is unknown or his/her citizenship is undefined or if he/she holds no citizenship.
A child born or found in Poland acquires Polish citizenship when both parents are unknown or their citizenship is undefined or they hold no citizenship. A child of parents, one of whom is a Polish citizen and the other one a citizen of another state, acquires Polish citizenship by birth.

However, the parents may, in a declaration made in conformity before the competent authority within three months from the day of the birth of the child, choose for their child the citizenship of the foreign state of which one of the parents is a citizen, if under the law of that state the child acquires its citizenship. In the absence of agreement between the parents, each of them may, within three months from the day of the birth of the child, apply to a court for a resolution.
A child who acquired foreign citizenship as a result of his/her parents' declaration or a court resolution acquires Polish citizenship if, after attaining the age of sixteen but before six months prior to attaining full legal age, he/she makes an appropriate declaration before the competent authority and that authority issues a decision accepting the declaration.

Changes with regard to the identity or citizenship of one or both of the parents shall be taken into account in defining the citizenship of the child, if these changes occur before the end of one year from the day of the birth of the child. In such cases the three-month period mentioned above is reckoned not from the day of the birth of child but from the day on which these changes were determined.

Changes with regard to the identity of the father following from a court decision in proceedings for the denial of paternity or invalidation of recognition of paternity, shall be taken into account in determining the citizenship of a child unless the child has attained full legal age. If the child is sixteen years of age or older, any change of citizenship may be effected only with the consent of the child.