u/Glad-Tumbleweed-6769

Hi! I recently asked here about moving to Poland and confirming Polish citizenship. It turns out that without confirmation of citizenship, it's likely not possible to apply for a residence permit because you're not considered a foreigner.

Has anyone renewed a Polish passport at a consulate in the US using only an expired Polish passport and a Polish birth record (after transcription), without first going through citizenship confirmation?

My fiancé is 28, and his Polish passport expired in 2010 (16 years ago). If you've been in a similar situation, how old was your expired passport, and did the consulate issue you a new one or refuse?

Hi everyone!

I've noticed that a lot of people in this subreddit are going through the process of confirming their Polish citizenship. First of all, thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences and advice here- it has already helped me understand the process much better.

Our situation is a little different, and I was wondering if anyone has gone through something similar.

My fiancé is a Polish citizen, but he was born and raised in Chicago. Both of his parents are Polish citizens- born in Poland moved to Chicago where they got married. When he was a child, his mom got him a Polish passport. However, that passport expired in 2010, and he has never lived in Poland.

We're planning to build our life in Poland, get married here, and have him work here as well. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Computer Science, has about five years of professional experience, and speaks Polish fluently, so we're hopeful he'll have good career opportunities. We also feel that Poland is the better place for us to start a family because of the healthcare system and family benefits.

The problem started when he contacted the Polish Consulate in Chicago about renewing his passport. They told him that before he can get a new passport, he first has to go through the citizenship confirmation process and submit all the required documents, including his parents' marriage certificate and other civil records. Since he has never lived in Poland, his case will be handled in Warsaw.

We also spoke with an official in Małopolska, who told us that this type of case can sometimes become complicated and that we should consult a lawyer. She even mentioned that there could potentially be issues with getting married in Poland while his citizenship confirmation is still pending, because officially he's considered Polish, but at the same time he doesn't currently have documentation confirming his citizenship status. That left us pretty confused.

We also wondered whether he could move to Poland sooner if a tech company sponsored him for work. However, we're worried that this might also become complicated if he isn't treated as a foreign national, while at the same time his Polish citizenship hasn't yet been formally confirmed.

I know some of you may be thinking that this situation is the result of his parents not keeping his Polish documents up to date, and that's fair. The truth is, they genuinely believed their family's future was entirely in the United States and never imagined that any of their children would one day want to move back to Poland. Life simply took an unexpected turn- we fell in love, and now we're trying to build our future together here.

We're getting ready to submit the application soon and want to do everything the right way. What really worries us are the reports of waiting 20 months or even longer. We simply can't afford for him to be unable to work for such a long time.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation? How was it resolved? Were you able to work, get married, or otherwise move forward while waiting for the citizenship confirmation?

We're waiting to schedule a consultation with an immigration lawyer, but I thought I'd ask here as well since so many people in this community have firsthand experience.

Thank you so much for reading, and good luck to everyone going through their own citizenship journey. Fingers crossed for all of us, and I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through something similar.