Pre 1920 case - lawyer said it's favorable?
Polish citizenship by descent — grandfather → mother → me
Hi everyone,
I’m working on a Polish citizenship by descent case through my maternal line:
Grandfather → Mother → Me
This is a pre-1920 ancestor case, so I know there can be doubts. A known Polish citizenship lawyer said the case looks favorable, but I’m trying to understand the weak points.
Grandparents:
* Married: 1917, USA
* Divorced: No divorce
Grandfather:
* Born: 1893, Przasnysz, then Russian partition / Polish lands
* Ethnicity/religion: White Polish Catholic
* Occupation: Laborer
* Military service: NARA/NPRC could not verify any U.S. military service
* Emigrated: 1913, USA
* Naturalization: No completed naturalization found so far; only a 1925 Declaration of Intention
Grandmother:
* Born: 1896, Polish lands / Russia
* Ethnicity/religion: White Polish Catholic
* Occupation: Housewife
* Military service: None known
* Emigrated: 1913, USA
* Naturalization: No completed naturalization found so far; only a 1940 Declaration of Intention
Mother:
* Sex: Female
* Born: 1922, USA
* Married: 1942, to a U.S. citizen
* Naturalization/emigration/military service: N/A
* No known renunciation or loss of Polish citizenship
Me:
* Sex: Male
* Born: 1951, USA
Documents found:
* Grandfather’s birth/baptism record
* 1913 ship manifest
* 1917 marriage record
* 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 U.S. census records
* Grandfather’s 1925 Declaration of Intention
* Grandmother’s 1940 Declaration of Intention
* Mother’s 1942 marriage record
* My birth certificate
* NARA/NPRC no military record response
* USCIS naturalization/CONE search still pending
My argument is that my grandfather likely acquired Polish citizenship under the 1920 Act, did not lose it because no completed U.S. naturalization has been found, passed it to my mother, and my mother passed it to me after the 1951 Act allowed citizenship through either parent.
Neither my mother nor her parents appear to have acquired any foreign citizenship or done anything that would renounce or break the chain before my birth.
Assuming USCIS comes back with no completed naturalization record, does this look like a plausible confirmation case? What are the biggest weak points in a pre-1920 case like this?
Thank you.