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Zdjęcie: Mateusz Marek/ Nasz Dziennik

Encouragement to return

The Polish Card (Karta Polaka) will be available to anyone belonging to the Polish nation, regardless of their place of residence.

A few days ago, the Polish Sejm adopted almost unanimously an amendment to the Act from 2008. The document confirming the belonging to the Polish Nation is currently available only to citizens of the former Soviet Union countries.

– We have been receiving signals that the Polish community from outside the countries in which the Polish Card currently operates is also interested in applying. Hence, the decision to provide this opportunity to citizens of other countries. We make every effort to ensure that Polishness is visible and also honoured beyond our borders. We do not wish to persuade anyone to apply for the Polish Card. However, if someone feels a close connection with Poland, speaks Polish, has ancestors who held Polish citizenship, then they can apply for such a document – explains Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, to “Nasz Dziennik”.

Polishness confirmed

As a rule, the Card is intended for people who have never held Polish citizenship, so it will be attractive mostly to second-generation emigrants. In the countries of the former Soviet Union, double nationality is not recognised as a rule, so Poles living there cannot apply for Polish citizenship or its restoration as can be done by Poles residing in the West. Nonetheless, many of them wish to apply for the Polish Card, also because the procedure of granting it is easier and they consider such confirmation of Polishness as sufficient. There are signals from people interested in the Polish Card from Latin America, Africa and even Europe.

– The time is right to put this into action. From the very beginning, we were of the opinion that the Polish Card should be available to all Poles around the world. As members of the Polish community from the Western countries, we declared that we were not even interested in taking advantage of the privileges it offers – explains Aleksander Zając, Head of the Convention of Polish Organisations in Germany.

The Card allows its holders to work in Poland without an additional permit, to attend schools and universities, and conduct business activity in Poland under the same rules as the Polish citizens. In an emergency, they receive free medical assistance. They are also exempt from visa fees. The holders of the Polish Card are entitled to a 37 per cent discount on railway tickets and free entry to state-owned museums. In 2016, the Act introduced additional benefits for Card holders who decide to settle in Poland permanently. They will immediately receive a permanent residence permit and citizenship a year later. The state will provide them with assistance for a period of 9 months to aid their adaptation, improve their language skills, as well as make their settlement easier and sustainable financially.

– We continue adapting our assistance provided to the Polish community to the ever-changing circumstances. Today, Poland is an attractive country to return to and to plan your life around. Moreover, this does not only apply to Poles living in the East. Poland is a safe country, increasingly prosperous, with low unemployment figures, which makes it an enticing destination for many people. We want to make this process easier for them using various methods – adds Szynkowski vel Sęk.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland assures that its network of consulates will be able to handle applications worldwide. In order to receive the Polish Card, it is necessary to demonstrate ties with Poland and have at least basic knowledge of the Polish language, national traditions and customs. The applicants are required to have documentary evidence that one of the parents or grandparents or two great-grandparents are or were Polish or had Polish citizenship. People without the necessary documents can instead prove that they have been actively participating in a Polish organisation in their country.

Vetted by the Polish Internal Security Agency

The new amendment to the act defined some aspects of the granting of the Card. The applicants are vetted by the Internal Security Agency (ABW), among others.

The unification of the formal recognition of belonging to the Polish Nation serves the purpose of greater integration of the Polish diaspora from the East and West. The activities of other institutions involved in Polish community affairs, such as the Foundation “Aid to Poles in the East”, are also changing in the same vein. – For more than a year and a half we have been carrying out activities going beyond the post-Soviet regions – everywhere where there are Polish organisations that focus on issues related to the East, the Eastern Borderlands, soldiers of the Ander's Army, resettlements, Katyń, etc. – explains Mikołaj Falkowski, President of the Foundation.

Among the new partners of this foundation financed from the state budget are Polish community centres in South Africa, the Netherlands and Sweden, which deal with topics related to the East. – We do this in order to enable their cooperation with our fellow countrymen in the East, to promote them and strengthen the network of Poles on all sides – adds Falkowski.

The same goal is also pursued by Polish community activists in the USA, although long queues of applicants for the new Polish Card are unlikely.

– I have taken notice of the creation of the Council for Poles Outside the Borders of Poland in place of the Council for Poles in the East. For quite some time now, we have been striving to establish an institution dealing with all matters of Poles who live outside the country, following the example of pre-war “Światpol” – The Organisational Council of Poles from Abroad. It would serve to integrate Poles from around the world – explains Edmund Lewandowski, Board Member of the Coalition of Polish Americans.

Piotr Falkowski

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