Becoming a fully-fledged Polish citizen lets you enjoy all the benefits coming along with the Polish citizenship confirmation. It also applies to your kids and your spouse which means your family members can reside in Poland, travel with no visa restrictions, or study at many universities for free. Let’s stop for a moment with the issue of your spouse’s rights. The question is: ‘Can a foreigner get Polish citizenship through marriage with a Polish citizen?’ You will find more information below!
What are the benefits of holding Polish citizenship?
After successful completion of the Polish citizenship confirmation process, you will get more advantages than you could ever think about. With Polish citizenship and a Polish passport, you can travel without any restrictions, study for free, and work anywhere within the European Union. The main point is your family members get similar rights as you, and what’s more, you can pass citizenship to your children and the next generations regardless of the fact they were born abroad (if your child is born in Poland while you are a fully-fledged citizen of Poland, he or she will automatically become a Polish citizen too). It is fantastic, isn’t it?
If it comes to your spouse, this aspect is way more complicated. What do we mean? Any foreigner who decides to marry a Polish citizen does not automatically become a citizen of Poland. However, it is worth registering your marriage in Poland, so the spouse may get similar rights as you and enjoy the benefits we mentioned before. After that, your spouse, as a spouse of a Polish citizen, will get a chance to reside and work in Poland or any other European country. The only way to get Polish citizenship through marriage is to meet conditions of naturalization which may take a few years or more depending on many various factors. It’s natural and common to have polish dual citizenship, but there are some conditions.
Polish citizenship through marriage – where to start?
As we mentioned above, the spouse of a Polish citizen gets similar rights but does not become a fully-fledged citizen of Poland. However, a spouse may apply for Polish citizenship by naturalization in due time only if he or she fulfills several basic conditions.
A foreigner who applies for Polish citizenship by naturalization:
- must reside continuously in Poland for at least two years (based on a permanent residence permit or a long-term resident’s EU residence permit)
- has been married for at least three years to a Polish citizen.
The process of Polish citizenship confirmation as well as applying for Polish citizenship by naturalization may seem complicated. We completely understand it, but you should not give up on it just because of many conditions to meet. Remember that you will gain even more benefits with dual citizenship!