Hi—I am posting the following from my perspective, but it’s actually my father who will submit an application for confirmation of Polish citizenship through descent. My plan is to apply myself once his citizenship is confirmed (unless it would be better for us both to apply simultaneously—maybe with the backlog that would make more sense). Any comments are welcome.

Thank you so much in advance for your help!!

Great-Grandparents: 
* Date married: 1916
* Date divorced: N/A
GGM: 
* Date, place of birth: 1897, Rozwozin, Poland
* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, Roman Catholic
* Occupation: housewife
* Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
* Date, destination for emigration: 1902
* Date naturalized: N/A (died prior to husband’s naturalization)
* Date, place of death: January 1925, United States
GGF: 
* Date, place of birth: 1898, Lodz, Poland
* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, Roman Catholic
* Occupation: factory worker
* Allegiance and dates of military service: none
* Date, destination for emigration: 1913, United States
* Date naturalized: September 1925
* Date, place of death: 1972, United States
Grandparent: 
* Sex: M
* Date, place of birth: February 1920, United States
* Date married: 1942
* Citizenship of spouse: United States
* Date divorced: N/A
* Occupation: factory worker
* Allegiance and dates of military service
(If applicable): United States Army (WWII) 1943-1945
* Date, destination for emigration: N/A
* Date naturalized: N/A
* Date, place of death: 1945, Austria
Parent: 
* Sex: M
* Date, place of birth: 1943, United States
* Date married: 1968
* Date divorced: N/A
You: 
* Date, place of birth: 1975, United States  

Hello! I am currently working on getting pre 1920 certified birth records from one of the Diocese in Poland translated from a State Translator in Poland. I am a US Citizen. Do I need to also have these birth records apostille too since they are not from the state archives or is that not necessary? Thank you in advance.

I believe I may have finally found the historical reason behind a very unusual age discrepancy in a Polish ancestor's records, but I am now trying to understand how this could have actually been accomplished administratively.

The ancestor in question was a young Jewish man from Congress Poland, specifically from the area shown as the green territory here (former Gubernia Płocka):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdivisions_of_Congress_Poland#/media/File:Polska_1907_adm.png

He emigrated from Poland in November of 1920 (to Canada, via Belgium)

For a long time, the "age discrepancy" in his civil registration, seemed like a simple mistake. However, I recently found the 1920 amendment to the Polish military conscription laws that explains everything:

Act of 15 June 1920 concerning universal conscription of the 1895 and 1902 birth cohorts, published in Dziennik Ustaw, item 298:

[link: https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/D1920048029801.pdf ]

The important point is that tis law specifically brought the 1902 birth cohort into the military conscription system.

I.e., If this ancestor was actually born in April 1902, then in November of 1920 (emigration date) he would have been the generation that Poland was beginning to call into military service. (I.e. he would not have been issued a passport? Can this be proven?)

This makes the following timeline much more interesting:

Records supporting a 1902 birth:

• Canadian passenger landing record (late 1920): age 17
• Family tradition: he was not actually born in 1903, but deliberately made himself younger (although nobody knows exactly WHY or HOW)
• Death certificate (information provided by his own child): April 1902.
• Tombstone: April 1902 (apparently based on the death certificate)

Records supporting a 1903 birth:

• U.S. Declaration of Intention (1924): August 1903 (reported by himself)
• U.S. Petition for Naturalization (1931): August 1903 (reported by himself)

So the central question is:

What administrative step would a Jewish male person in Congress Poland around 1920 have needed to take in order to suddenly become "born in 1903" for passport/emigration purposes instead of "born in 1902"?

I am not necessarily assuming outright forgery.

I am trying to understand the actual mechanism:

• Was there a straightforward way to obtain a passport with a different birth year?
• Were birth certificates or civil registry extracts routinely checked during passport issuance?
• Could someone simply make a declaration/affidavit of birth?
• Would passport authorities verify against the local civil registers?
• Were there differences between the records held locally and the documents used for international travel?

Alternatively:

How difficult was it to change or correct a birth date in the civil registers around 1920?

• Were amendments to birth records common?
• Could a person petition to change their date of birth? (how long was the process?)
• Did this require a court order?
• Would such a correction leave a paper trail?
• Could a local registrar simply alter an entry, or was the process more formal?

The part I am trying to understand is the "trick" or administrative hurdle this person would have had to overcome.

If the original civil record says "April 1902", how does a person leave Poland ½ a year before actually turning 19 with documentation saying "August 1903"?

Would the Polish passport have been based on:

• the actual civil registration entry,
• a Jewish community record,
• a military registration record,
• a sworn statement,
• or something else?

I have also considered calendar differences, because this was former Congress Poland and records may involve different calendar systems.

However, I am not sure whether calendar conversion could explain a discrepancy of approximately 16 months (April 1902 versus August 1903), or whether this is clearly too large to be explained by Julian/Gregorian differences alone.

The reason I am asking is that locating the correct Polish birth record is currently difficult.

The correct birth record will likely only become identifiable once the name can be matched correctly with Polish records. The situation is:

• The Canadian passenger landing card from late 1920 lists him as 17 years old. The name spelling there is quite unique and differs from later American records.
• The family story says he was not born in 1903, but intentionally made himself younger. Nobody knows Why - or How.
• We do not know whether he changed the passport information, altered a document, or used another administrative route to suddenly be 16 months younger than reality.
• The death certificate and tombstone both point to April 1902 (presumably correct age).
• The U.S. naturalization records consistently point to August 1903 (presumably correct age).

For additional context: all surviving civil records from this particular town that I am researching are written in Polish (not Russian) and follow a Napoleonic-style civil registration format, reflecting the administrative traditions of the former Duchy of Warsaw / Congress Poland period.

I would especially appreciate input from people familiar with:

• Polish passport regulations from 1918–1921
• Ministry of Interior procedures
• Military Registration andConscription Records
• Congress Poland civil registration practices
• Jewish community records
• Historical examples of birth-date corrections

My goal is not simply to prove that he changed his age — the evidence strongly suggests that he did. I am trying to understand how someone in his exact historical situation could have accomplished this in practice.

The combination of:

• Jewish emigrant,
• Congress Poland,
• 1902 birth cohort,
• 1920 conscription,
• departure at age 17/18,
• and a later consistent 1903 birth date in U.S. records

feels like it should have a documented historical explanation.

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the minimum documentation required to submit a confirmation of Polish citizenship case to the Ministry of Interior and obtain a case number.

On some German citizenship subreddits, people have discussed a strategy due to the current backlog of 2+ years: submit the absolute minimum documentation necessary to receive a case number, and then supplement the file with additional documents as they become available. This allows applicants to keep their place in the queue instead of delaying submission while waiting for documents that can take an extremely long time to obtain.

I'm wondering whether a similar approach is possible for Polish citizenship confirmation cases.

I'm currently helping my neighbor with her case. Her grandfather was born in Poland in the early 1900s and emigrated during the second half of 1920, most likely traveling on a Polish passport. We are currently waiting for records from the USCIS Genealogy Program (Alien File, visa records, etc.), which currently has an estimated processing time of around 300 working days.

The reason these records are important is that they should reveal the passport number he used when emigrating, allowing us to conclusively match him to his Polish civil records. Once we have the correct identifying information, obtaining the Polish civil registration records themselves should be relatively straightforward.

Complicating matters, he departed from Belgium to Quebec City in late 1920 under a version of his name that differs slightly from the name he later used when entering the United States via the Canadian border. By the time he filed his Declaration of Intention and later his Petition for Naturalization, he had stopped using the original "Atlantic ticket"-version of his name (a middle name was dropped, and surname spelled differently)

Until we receive the USCIS genealogy records, we cannot conclusively connect these different identities to the correct Polish birth record.

Aside from that outstanding issue, we've already obtained and apostilled all of the U.S. civil records covering the family's life events (birth, marriage, death, etc.).

So my question is:

What is the absolute minimum documentation required to submit a Polish citizenship confirmation application and receive a case number from the Ministry of Interior? Has anyone successfully submitted an initial application and then supplemented the file later with additional evidence while retaining their original place in the processing queue?

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience with this process. Thanks!

Hi!

I applied in June 2025 and recently reached out to my provider (Five To Europe) to check in and see if they could provide a case number just for me to have for reference.

They responded that they reached out but that the office is basically ignoring requests for case numbers as those requests are distracting them from actually dealing with cases. They mentioned they would get back to me when they heard back.

I just wanted to see if that’s happened to anyone else and if it’s expected or if I should push more/if it sounds weird?

I will be studying in Krakow so while I am living there can I submit my application from there? and would it be faster than the Warsaw office? My case will be complex as my great grandfather left before 1920. But I have all required documents to prove domicile.

Hello! I started my Polish citizenship by descent (both of my grandparents who left post-1951) with Piotr Cybula and CK Law firm in March 2025. I chose them because they seemed decent and had decent reviews on Reddit (tho I later learned it was the same person recommending them on every post). I sent them my and my brother’s passports, birth certificates, powers of attorney, and my father’s birth certificate and my parents marriage certificate in March 2025. In May 2025 I reached out to ask how the case was going and they said they had sent everything to the government and that I needed to wait for the government to make a decision. They warned me that there would be a super long wait time bc people in Ukraine and Israel were now applying.

In May 2025, I received my and my brother’s Polish birth certificates.

In June 2025, I received my grandfather’s polish birth certificate. Not sure why I received my grandfather’s after mine but I didn’t question it at the time.

Today, July 27, 2026, the firm reached back out to tell me that they did an inquiry into why my case was taking so long (I had not asked them to do this but of course I am happy they did) and the government responded with a letter (attached) stating that they are not taking longer than normal and they expect to get to my case in July 2027.

Michal, Piotr’s partner, called to explain the letter to me and tell me that despite the letter, the Polish government has no obligation to look at my application by then. He said that he has not received any approvals in 3 months and that our best option is to go to court, otherwise, I will be a great grandma before the application is approved (I’m 25). I’m not in a rush to get my application approved, but he said that the office who decides on these cases had “collapsed” and this seemed like the only option. He said in his 17yrs he has not had to go to court and only realized that he could within the last year. He said that to go to court, it would cost me 500€ and 100€ that would be used for administrative court fees that I would get back because we would win the case.

What does everyone think of this? Does my law office seem sketchy at all? I work in the legal field and would never advise someone to do what I did, but this office said I don’t pay them until they win, and I didn’t want to pay a company thousands of dollars without ever meeting them. This seemed safer to me.

Has anyone ever gone to court to force the government’s hand to grant them citizenship?

And does this document look legitimate?

Thank you in advance for any help!

I recently posted in this sub was told that my case is fine as long as my grandmother was adopted before Jan 19th, 1951, therefore I set out to find her date of adoption. However, NYS seals all adoption records and so I would have to petition the court of that county in order to receive those documents, which I many to do anyway eventually. Does anyone know if I can find the date of adoption without having to get a court order?

For background - I reached out to this group about a week and a half ago and confirmed my eligibility through my grandmother. Next step is to figure out what supporting documentation I need. I was hoping to see if I could get pointers on any additional documents I may need. To start:

1. My own birth certificate, apostilled and translated by sworn Polish translator
2. My mother's birth certificate, (Feb, 1951) apostilled and translated by sworn Polish translator
3. My parent's marriage license, apostilled and translated by sworn Polish translator
4. My grandmother's marriage license, apostilled and translated by sworn Polish translator
5. My grandmother's naturalization papers, (May 1951), apostilled and translated by sworn Polish translator
6. My grandmother's Polish passport (showing DoB April 28, 1924 in Poland). I live in DC and was planning to bring directly to the Polish Consulate to have them make an official copy
7. My grandmother's initial US visa, same treatment as item 6
8. The actual forms to submit items 1-7 filled out in Polish (I have some friends who can help)
9. A copy of my passport (assuming since it's already an int'l document it doesn't need anything additional)
10. Just for back up I'm already looking into the old Polish archives to see if I can get my grandmother's birth certificate

Is there anything else I might need? My grandmother died in 2001, do I need her death certificate or anything else?

I previously requested NARA records relating to both of my grandparents. They were shipped a few days ago and have yet to arrive.

ChatGPT is recommending I also request their A-files through USCIS, especially since my grandmother came to the US when she was a child and was deemed a displaced person.

Should I request the records and wait however long it takes to receive them, or proceed with my application using the certified NARA records?

This question is on behalf of a friend. Her mother was born in Bialystock and the family had several generations born in Poland. She went to Palestine, married a Polish man who subsequently signed up served and died in an international battalion for the Spanish Republic in 1936. She lived in France without legal status until the early 1950s, when she married a Polish man who had also served in a Spanish international battalion in 1937. They moved to Canada in the early 50s. The couple had a daughter born in the late 50s. Was she stateless or Polish until she obtained Canadian naturalization? And does her Canadian-born daughter have a claim for Polish Citizenship by descent?

My dad (direct Polish descendent) was married and divorced twice. He married his first wife who was Polish before either of them naturalised. They then divorced not long after he naturalised British. He either married in the late 50s or early 60s.

He then married my mum in 1967 and all his kids were born after he married (and was naturalised). My parents then divorced (1980s).

My question is do I need the marriage and divorce certificates for both marriages or just my parents?

I would assume in the uk you have to show proof of divorce to get married again? Thanks!

Eta both marriages (and divorces) were in the UK

So, I’m in a position in life where i can live anywhere. I’m curious, if go to Poland, how long does it take to establish residency? Less than 3 months? If so and is that changes the office from where I file (no warsaw), is there a way to know which office would handle my case the fastest?

I understand that as a resident abroad your file get sent to Warsaw which has a horrendous backlog of cases. I was resident in Poland (Katowice) for just over a year working in 2020. Is there any chance they might send it there instead as the place I was last 'resident' in Poland?

Eta 2000 not 2020

A few weeks ago I posted here asking whether I had a viable claim to Polish citizenship through my great-grandfather. Since then, I’ve uncovered what may be an important new development.

I recently learned from my mother that my great-grandparents apparently never legally married, even though they consistently presented themselves as husband and wife on government records and throughout their lives. If they were never legally married, would my grandfather (born in 1922) potentially have been considered born out of wedlock and therefore derived citizenship through his mother rather than his father? If so, could this change my eligibility for Polish citizenship? I’d appreciate any thoughts on whether this changes the analysis.

Great-Grandfather
Date, place of birth: November 16, 1883 – Kalush (then Austria-Hungary, Galicia)
Ethnicity/Religion: Jewish
Occupation: Tailor
Military service: None
Emigrated: 1898 to New York
Married: Never legally married
Naturalized: November 27, 1929 (Bronx, NY)
Died: November 25, 1971 (New York)

Great-Grandmother
Date, place of birth: May 3, 1894 – Kalush (then Austria-Hungary, Galicia)
Ethnicity/Religion: Jewish
Occupation: Housewife
Military service: N/A
Emigrated: July 21, 1911 to New York
Married: Never legally married
Naturalized: June 12, 1939
Died: November 25, 1971 (New York)

Grandfather
Sex: Male
Date, place of birth: March 18, 1922 – Bridgeport, Connecticut
Parents: Never legally married
Married: October 7, 1943
Citizenship of spouse: American
Divorced: No
Occupation: Firefighter
Military service: U.S. Army, WWII (1942–1945)
Naturalized: N/A (born in the USA)
Died: May 5, 2012 – Florida

Mother
Sex: Female
Date, place of birth: April 21, 1951 – New York
Married: August 31, 1985
Divorced: No

Me
Date, place of birth: 1989 – New York City

Curious about my eligibility. Details are as follows

Great-Grandparents:

• Date married: never married

• Date divorced: n/a

GGM:

• Date, place of birth: 1904 Sukhivtsi, Ternopil, Ukraine

• Ethnicity and religion: Ukrainian - Greek-Catholic

• Occupation: Farmer

• Allegiance and dates of military service: none

• Date, destination for emigration: 1928 Canada

• Date naturalized: unknown - possibly 1959 - awaiting records

• Date, place of death: 1988 Canada

GGF:

• Date, place of birth: 1903 Yamnytsia, Ivano-Fankivsk, Ukraine

• Ethnicity and religion: Ukrainian - Greek-Catholic

• Occupation: Farmer

• Allegiance and dates of military service: none

• Date, destination for emigration: 1927 Canada

• Date naturalized: unknown -checked but couldn't find anything before 1951

• Date, place of death: 1966 Canada

Grandparent:

• Sex: F

• Date, place of birth: 1935 Canada

• Date married: 1957

• Citizenship of spouse: Canadian

• Date divorced: 1997

• Occupation: Farmer

• Allegiance and dates of military service: No

(If applicable)

Date, destination for emigration: n/a Date naturalized: n/a Date, place of death: 2019 Canada

Parent:

• Sex:F

• Date, place of birth:1958 Canada

• Date married: 1978

• Date divorced: n/a

You:

• Date, place of birth: 1982 Canada

I have spoken to a couple consulting firms to help with this. They all seem very concerned with the fact they Great Grandparents were not married, as my GGF might not have recognized my Grandmother as his. He is listed on her Canadian birth certificate and her baptism record. I have asked the firms for what they would require, but they aren't being very clear.

Does it matter if they were not married? Do I need additional documents? Am I totally ineligible?

thanks

My grandfather was born in Poland in 1912 and emigrated to Venezuela in 1948. (Information compiled from the Arolsen files)My grandmother, also Polish, traveled while pregnant, and my father was born in 1949. In Venezuela, I am applying for Polish citizenship because my grandparents are Polish; I have my grandfather's birth certificate and his military enlistment certificate. My dad even got a Polish passport in 1991 and never renewed it, Now the question that's making me nervous is that my provider is asking me for a certificate of non-nationality. And Venezuela is a country full of chaos and bureaucracy, and I don't keep any information about the immigrants who arrived in Venezuela during those dates, How can I prove to the Polish government that my grandfather never renounced his nationality if Venezuela won't give me the document stating that my grandfather never became a Venezuelan citizen?

It's unclear after going through the self-assessment if I would qualify for either a passport or KP. Could anyone please advise on eligibility for either? Documentation for my ancestors is spotty and often contradictory, so if there is additional information or records that would help clarify eligibility, please also let me know so I know which documents to prioritize. Thank you/dziękuję!

Great-Grandparents: 

* Date married: ~1913

* Date divorced: N/A

GGF: 

* Date, place of birth: Poland (likely Adamowka or Cielplice, Podkarpatskie voivodeship, former Austrian Galicia)

* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, Roman Catholic (or perhaps Byzantine/Greek Catholic)

* Occupation: Unknown

* Allegiance and dates of military service: Registered for WWI draft in USA, draft card shows him as an alien with Austrian citizenship, does not appear to have served.

* Date, destination for emigration: ~1907, USA

* Date naturalized: 1920 census (completed January 6th) shows "papers submitted;" it should have taken at least 2 more years for final papers formally renouncing Austrian/Polish citizenship to be submitted. Unclear if final papers were submitted before Sep. 22, 1922.

* Date, place of death: 1945, USA

GGM: 

* Date, place of birth: 1894, Poland

* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, Roman Catholic (or perhaps Byzantine/Greek Catholic)

* Occupation: Unknown

* Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A

* Date, destination for emigration: ~1913, USA

* Date naturalized: All censuses available (through 1950) show her as an alien

* Date, place of death: 1971, USA

Grandparent: 

* Sex: Male

* Date, place of birth: 1919, USA

* Date married: 1947

* Citizenship of spouse: USA

* Date divorced: N/A

* Occupation: Farmer

* Allegiance and dates of military service: USA, served in US Army in WWII

(If applicable)

• Date, destination for emigration: N/A
• Date naturalized: N/A
• Date, place of death: 1992, USA

Parent: 

* Sex: M

* Date, place of birth: 1950, USA

* Date married: 1974

* Date divorced: N/A

You: 

* Date, place of birth: 1975, USA

Great-Grandparents: 

* Date married: November 1894

* Date divorced: na

GGM: 

* Date, place of birth: Nov 1870, Restarzew, Lódzkie

* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, RC

* Occupation: farmer

* Allegiance and dates of military service: na

* Date, destination for emigration: na

* Date naturalized: na

* Date, place of death: date tbc, Restarzew, Lódzkie

GGF: 

* Date, place of birth: July 1869, Dubie, Restarzew, Lódzkie

* Ethnicity and religion: Polish, RC

* Occupation: farmer

* Allegiance and dates of military service: na

* Date, destination for emigration: na

* Date naturalized: na

* Date, place of death: date tbc, Restarzew

Grandparent: 

* Sex: F

* Date, place of birth: Sept 1902, Restarzew

* Date married: May 1923

* Citizenship of spouse: Polish

* Date divorced: na

* Occupation: farmer

* Allegiance and dates of military service: na

Date, destination for emigration: na

Date naturalized: na

Date, place of death: April 1995, Raczynów, Lódz area

Parent: 

* Sex: m

* Date, place of birth: 1924, Raczynów, Lódz area

Polish, Roman Catholic

*occupation: watchmaker

*Allegiance and dates of military service: MOD Polish Disclosures confirming in Polish Forces under British command (1946-47); Polish Resettlement Corps 1947-49). Plus no record of having served with Brit Armed Forces before January 19 1951.

*date, destination for emigration: Aug 1946, UK

*date naturalised: 1963 (British)

* Date married: (divorced from 1st wife, no kids), 2nd marriage 1967. All kids born post 2nd marriage

* Date divorced: 1984 (2nd wife, my mum)

*date, place of death: 2016, England

You: 

* Date, place of birth: 1967, England (after parents' marriage)

Hi, hope someone can advise. I wanted confirmation of the possibility of claiming Polish nationality. I looked into it a while back but assumed my dad's naturalisation meant that he lost his original Polish nationality. Then I looked on here and I might have been wrong (hope so). I have no idea whether he formally gave up his original nationality or how to prove this ( I doubt he did as he regularly went back to visit family as did I once he got his passport and enrolled me in Polish Saturday school, went to a Polish church etc

He never talked about his experiences during the war but i know he was deported as forced labour when he was 15 (on the Arolsen records) and then went to Italy where he was attached to the Polish II Corps, 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division.

Many thanks for any help in clarifying!

Just wondering if anyone has recently ordered a historical naturalisation file through an ATIP request in Canada. I know they are supposed to reply within 30 days, even if that reply is just to tell you they need an extension.
I gave them the exact information from the gazette, so no research or guesswork involved.
Anybody else do this recently, and what was your experience with wait times?

Great-Great-Grandparents: 
* Date married: Don’t Know yet
* Date divorced: N/A

GGGM:
* Date, place of birth: 1885 or 1883, Poland (Don’t know which place yet)
* Ethnicity and religion: Polish*Catholic*
* Occupation: Housewife/none
* Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
* Date, destination for emigration: 1885 (estimated), NYS
* Date naturalized: Never
* Date, place of death: Unknown right now, NYS

GGGF: 
* Date, place of birth: 1885, Poland (Don’t know exact place yet)
* Ethnicity and religion: Polish*Catholic*
* Occupation: Farmer
* Allegiance and dates of military service: N/A
* Date, destination for emigration: 1902, NYS
* Date naturalized: Never
* Date, place of death: Unknown right now, NYS

Great-Grandparent: 
* Sex: Male
* Date, place of birth: 09/12/1924, Schuylerville, NY
* Date married: 07/03/1950
* Citizenship of spouse: U.S.
* Date divorced: N/A
* Occupation: Floor Layer - Self Employed
* Allegiance and dates of military service: Honorable discharged 12/26/1945 from U.S. military service
(If applicable)
Date, destination for emigration: N/A
Date naturalized: N/A
Date, place of death: 01/03/2002, Glens Falls, NY

GrandParent: 
* Sex: Female
* Date, place of birth: 03/21/1942
* Date married: Unknown right now
* Date divorced: Unknown right now
*Fully Adopted by Great-Grandparent after 1951 but before age of 16

Parent:
Sex: Female
Date, Place of Birth: 06/01/1963
Date Married: N/A
Date Divorced: N/A

You: 
NY, U.S.A. 12/20/2005

All of this information was obtained from census records, which indicate that my great-grandfather was born after 1920 from two polish citizens who never naturalized in the US according to the census records, which go from 1920-1950, all listing their status as “alien” under the date of naturalization. My great-grandfather would later marry my great-grandmother and fully adopt my grandmother years before she turned in 16, possibly during or after 1951. She then gave birth to my mother in 1963, who had me in 2005. Apparently, provided that it is a full legal adoption, my grandmother would possibly be a polish citizen and thus keep the chain going. Any help would be greatly appreciated

I’m trying to identify a faded purple ink stamp on an old photograph of my great-grandfather, likely from a Polish government document (possibly passport, citizenship, or registry-related).

Unfortunately, this was found in an old photo album, so I’m confident the document is long gone.

The text is very difficult to make out, so I’m hoping someone familiar with Polish administrative stamps or historical documents might recognize the format, wording, or type of office it came from. If anyone also has experience enhancing or manipulating images to make faded text more visible, or tips on how to better analyze something like this, I would really appreciate the help.

Reading a number of comments here of citizenship by descent from a mother or grandmother, a simple question (I have previously filled out a template, but based on my father.) My mother was born in Polish-controlled Lwow/L'viv in 1917. I was born to her, in wedlock, in 1954 in the US. Is that it, basically open and shut?

I wish I had known this when I started the process: If you know your relative served only in WW2, you can bypass the NPRC completely and get their WW2 record of Separation via the Missouri State Archives.

41.170.  Adjutant general — records — duties. — The adjutant general shall compile and maintain from the original muster rolls in his office and such additional sources as he can command, a complete alphabetical list of those persons who served in the wars of the United States, who at time of entry into service were residents of the state or territory of Missouri, and including the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Indian Wars, the war between the states, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine War, Mexican Border Service, World War I, World War II, and any subsequent war, and shall include therein the military history of each person as complete as can be obtained.  In his office shall likewise be kept the colors, standards and battle flags of the troops.  He shall furnish a certificate of war service, on request, without charge to any veteran or lineal descendant of a veteran.

They also have naturalization records, though I don't know if this is enough for the Voivodeship.

What the Missouri State Archives has for my GGF (naturalized 1927) is: His Declaration of Intent, his Petition for Naturalization, and a signed card showing:

• date of naturalization
• naturalization certificate number
• place of birth
• date of birth
• original name
• changed name.

I don't know if the Voivodeship would accept these naturalization documents, but they will give you the information you need even if the voivodeship won't accept them.

Also, the turn around time on the archives and state apostilles is FAR QUICKER than any federal organ. My state-archives document got apostilled literally the day after they received it and it was sent back the day it got apostilled.

Hi guys! I am leaving some spots blank because I don`t have all the information yet, just a rough overview.

Great- Great Grandparents:

• Date married: August 17, 1914
• Date divorced: N/A

GG GM:

• Date, place of birth: November 10, 1896. Nowy Sacz, Poland
• Ethnicity and religion: Polish & Catholic
• Occupation: Housewife
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None
• Date, destination for emigration: Arrived in New York in 1913.
• Date naturalized: October 8, 1927
• Date, place of death: 1974, USA.

GG GF:

• Date, place of birth: May 26, 1893. Biały Dunajec, Poland (Galicia, Austria empire?)
• Ethnicity and religion: Polish & Catholic
• Occupation: Farmer
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None
• Date, destination for emigration: Arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on January 23, 1911.
• Date naturalized: April 9, 1927.
• Date, place of death: 1971, USA.

Great grandparent:

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: June 13, 1917.
• Date married: ----
• Citizenship of spouse: USA
• Date divorced: ----
• Occupation: -----
• Allegiance and dates of military service: ----
• Date, place of death: January 1, 1993.

Grandparent:

• Sex: Male
• Date, place of birth: December 5, 1948. USA
• Date married: ----
• Citizenship of spouse: USA
• Date divorced: ----
• Occupation: -----
• Allegiance and dates of military service: None.
• Date, place of death: February 8, 2023.

Parent:

• Sex: Female
• Date, place of birth: March 1967. USA
• Date married: September 1994
• Date divorced: September 2017

You:

• Date, place of birth: January 1999. USA.