Acquisition of citizenship by facilitated naturalization:
Poland
Note on Repatration Law
The collapse of communism resulted in the problem related
to the return to their homeland by many inhabitants
of the Central and Eastern European countries. In the
case of Poland, this problem is particularly complex
owing to changes in the borders and deportations of
Poles during various historic periods.
The Repatriation Act dated 9 November 2000 which became
effective on 1 January 2001 enabled many Poles to return
to their homeland who due to deportation or other persecution
on such grounds as national origin and political opinion
had not been able to settle in Poland. Solely for these
reasons, the Parliament limited to the Asian part of
the former USSR the territories from which persons are
repatriated to Poland, namely to the Republic of Armenia,
the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Georgia,
the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan,
the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan
and the Asian part of the Russian Federation. The Act
provides for the possibility of the extension of repatriation
to other countries or other parts of the Russian Federation
if their inhabitants of Polish origin are discriminated
against on such grounds as religion, national origin
and political opinion.
Within the meaning of the Act, a repatree shall be
any person of Polish origin who has arrived in the Republic
of Poland based on the repatriation visa with the intention
of permanent settlement. Upon the entry to the Republic
of Poland, the repartee, based on the repatriation visa,
shall acquire the Polish citizenship by virtue of the
law. Therefore, only persons that do not have Polish
citizenship can be repatriated.
Repatriation is one of the methods for acquiring Polish
citizenship by virtue of the law. Under the Polish Citizenship
Act dated 15 February 1962, which has been amended many
times since, the Polish citizenship shall be acquired
by virtue of the law by:
- a child of parents of whom at least one is a Polish
citizen,
- a child borne or found in Poland if both parents
are unknown, their citizenship is not specified, or
if they are stateless persons.
Hence, repatriation is a special, privileged form
of the acquisition of Polish citizenship by aliens of
the Polish origin. This can be justified by the common
belief to the effect that repatriation can be instituted
with respect to the persons who themselves or whose
ancestors have been taken away from their homeland against
their will and who have remained their homeland's "children".
The following persons can not apply for the repatriation
visa:
- persons who have lost Polish citizenship acquired
through the repatriation procedure pursuant to the
binding act, or
- persons who have been repatriated from the territory
of the Republic of Poland based on repatriation treaties
entered into in 1944-1957 to a country being a party
to these treaties, or
- persons who during their stay outside the territory
of the Republic of Poland have acted to the detriment
of basic interests of the Republic of Poland, or
- persons who have violated human rights.
In order to apply for the repatriation visa, a person
of Polish origin must file the application for granting
such a visa with the Polish diplomatic agency with jurisdiction
over his residence. The following documents should be
attached to the application:
- documents evidencing the Polish origin,
- other documents confirming facts specified in the
application for granting the visa.
The persons of the nationality or origin other than
Polish who wish to resettle as members of the repatree's
family, file an application for granting a permit for
temporary residence in the Republic of Poland. In order
to arrive in Poland along with the repatree, these persons
are granted visas from the consul for the resettlement
purposes.
Both the repatriation and resettlement visas entitling
their holders to single entry to the Republic of Poland
are valid for 12 months.
Under the Act, the documents evidencing Polish origin
can be documents issued by the Polish state or church
authorities and the authorities of the former Soviet
Union pertaining to the applicant or his parents, grandparents
or great-grandparents, such as:
- Polish identity cards,
- marriage/birth/death certificates, their certified
copies or baptismal certificates evidencing the relationship
with Poland,
- documents evidencing military service in the Polish
Army, including the entry on Polish nationality,
- documents evidencing deportation or imprisonment,
including the entry on Polish nationality.
During the interview with the candidate for a repatree,
the consul determines whether the representation made
on Polish origin is true, verifies the documents attached
to the application and issues or refuses to issue the
decision in recognition of the applicant as a person
of Polish origin. In the event that a negative decision
has been issued, the applicant has the right to appeal
against such decision to the Head of the Office for
Repatriation and Aliens.
The decision issued by the consult in recognition of
the person of the Polish origin along with the application
for the repatriation visa is submitted to the Office
for Repatriation and Aliens for the approval to granting
the repatriation visa. The Head of the Office may refuse
to grant the visa in view of the security of the Polish
state or public order. After the approval has been obtained,
the repatriation visa may be granted.
Minors under parental care of the repatree may also
acquire Polish citizenship through repatriation. In
the event that only one parent is the repartee, the
minor shall acquire Polish citizenship provided that
the other parent agrees thereto by way of a representation
made before the consul. The minor who turned 16 shall
acquire Polish citizenship provided that he consents
thereto.
The repatriation visa is granted to a person who presents
the consul with evidence confirming that he has or is
capable of ensuring conditions for settlement, that
is, an apartment and a source of income in Poland. Such
evidence can be, for example, a resolution passed by
the commune council with the obligation ensuring settlement
conditions for at least 12 months, an invitation, prepared
in the form of a notarial deed, from a legal person
(for example, an enterprise or association) or a natural
person (a family) that guarantees the repatree residence
following his resettlement in Poland. Under the act,
the invitation from a natural person may refer to ascendants,
descendants or siblings of the person in question.
Regarding the persons who do not have a guaranteed
apartment and sources of income in the Republic of Poland
but satisfy the remaining conditions for obtaining the
repatriation visa, the consul may issue a decision promising
the issuance of the repatriation visa. To enable persons
to resettle in Poland, the Office for Repatriation and
Aliens has developed and maintained the register of
apartments and sources of income offered to repatrees
(the database called "Rodak"). In the first
place such offers will be made available to the persons
who have been deported and persecuted on the grounds
of national origin or political opinion and whose age
and bad condition justify prompt repatriation to Poland.
Apart from the above, an exceptional method for acquiring
Polish citizenship is the institution introduced by
the act consisting in the recognition as a repatree
which is applicable to aliens of Polish origin who had
previously resided in the Asian part of the former USSR
and who upon the day on which the Act became effective
had already resided in Poland either as Polish scholarship
holders or as persons holding a permanent residence
card. An authority competent for issuing decisions on
the recognition as a repatree is the voivode. The person
recognised as a repatree shall acquire Polish citizenship
on the day on which the respective decision has become
final.
Repatriation statistics in 1997-2000
The increasing difference between living conditions
in Poland and in the Eastern countries where Polish
minorities reside results in the growing number of applications
for repatriation filed with the Polish diplomatic agencies
annually.
In 1997 - 267 persons arrived
In 1998 - 399 persons arrived
In 1999 - 362 persons arrived
In 2000 - 944 persons arrived
In total, between 1997 and 2000, 1972 persons were
repatriated to Poland.
The above figures include both repatrees who have
arrived to Poland based on the repatriation visa and
their family members of the nationality other than Polish
who are granted permits for temporary residence in Poland.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration
estimates that those persons constitute approximately
10% of all settled.
FORRÁS: http://www.legislationline.org/index.php?topic=39&country=31&org=0&eu=0 |
