Need help with Polish ancestry.
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for input from anyone who has navigated or litigated a complex pre-1920 Polish citizenship confirmation (potwierdzenie) case involving a US birth prior to the 1920 Citizenship Act.
Here is the outline of the lineage and facts:
Great-Grandfather (GGF):
Born in Poland (partitioned area) in the 1880s.
Emigrated to the US around 1908.
Maintained non-naturalized "Alien" (AL) status through the 1940s (verified via 1930 US Census, WWII Alien Registration AR-2 form, and A-Number records). Never naturalized prior to his children reaching adulthood.
Grandfather (GF):
Born in the US (Pennsylvania) before January 31, 1920 to my non-naturalized GGF.
The Issue / Block:
Standard citizenship agencies have declined to take the administrative case for standard filing at the Voivodeship level (Urząd Wojewódzki), stating that the office enforces a strict policy of rejecting lineages where a descendant was born abroad prior to January 31, 1920 (claiming foreign-born minors did not automatically acquire Polish citizenship at birth or retroactively upon the enactment of the 1920 Act).
Questions for the community:
- Has anyone successfully appealed this specific pre-1920 US-birth hurdle in the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw (WSA) or Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) under the principle of paternal authority (władza rodzicielska) extending the father’s 1920 citizenship status to minor children?
- Are there specific boutique law firms or litigators (rather than standard high-volume processing agencies) who specialize in taking pre-1920 WSA court appeals?
- For those who faced a similar pre-1920 administrative barrier, did you pivot to a Presidential Grant of Citizenship (nadanie obywatelstwa), and what was your experience/timeline going through the consulate?