Poland plans tougher citizenship rules for foreigners {May 2026}

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration said the planned changes would end what it called “automatism” in granting Polish citizenship and replace it with a model based on a foreigner’s real connection to Polish society, culture and the state.

Under the proposal, foreigners seeking Polish citizenship would have to meet stricter conditions. The ministry said the aim was to avoid “the mistakes made in the past by other countries handing out citizenships.”

One of the main changes would extend the required period of legal residence to eight years. This would include three years of temporary residence followed by five years of permanent residence.

The ministry said this would allow authorities to make a more reliable assessment of an applicant’s conduct and ties to Poland.

The plan would also introduce a state exam on Polish history and constitutional values. The ministry said the test would be designed to confirm that a future citizen understands and accepts the foundations of the Republic of Poland and the European Union.

Applicants would also have to make a formal declaration of loyalty. The ministry said a loyalty act and a tax residency requirement would provide a guarantee that the applicant "ties their life and economic interest exclusively to Poland."

The proposal would also tighten language requirements. The ministry said stronger Polish-language rules were needed so new citizens could fully function in society.

"Citizenship will be treated as an earned privilege, not a formal certificate," the ministry said, adding that the legislation was being drafted with national security and social cohesion in mind.

The government first presented the assumptions behind its planned amendment to the Polish Citizenship Act in October. At the time, it said applicants would have to take a test of about 40 questions and know Polish at least at the B2 level, which means upper-intermediate proficiency.

The issue has also become part of a broader political debate. In September, President Karol Nawrocki sent his own citizenship bill to the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.

His proposal would extend the minimum period of uninterrupted residence in Poland from three to 10 years for foreigners seeking recognition as Polish citizens.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński criticized the president’s proposal, saying Poland did not in practice grant citizenship after only three years. He said the real period was "not shorter than eight years" and argued that simply extending the time requirement oversimplified a wider problem.

Law and Justice (PiS), the main opposition party, also submitted its own citizenship bill in October. It proposed a 10-year residence period, a steady income requirement, and a stricter Polish-language exam at the C1 level.

For foreign spouses of Polish citizens, the bill would have required six years of continuous residence in Poland.

The lower-house rejected the PiS bill in January. During the debate, Deputy Interior Minister Magdalena Roguska said work was continuing on the government’s own proposal.

At the B1 level, you shift away from basic "survival" phrases and begin handling most everyday interactions independently. You can understand standard, clear speech about familiar matters like work, school, and leisure. You can easily navigate travel situations throughout Poland. .You are capable of creating simple, connected texts on personal interests. You can describe dreams, hopes, events, and briefly justify your opinions.

B2: You can comprehend the main ideas of complex, concrete, or abstract texts, including technical discussions in your professional field. You can interact with native Polish speakers smoothly without causing strain for either party. You can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain the pros and cons of various options.

The C1 level marks the entry into the "proficient user" category, allowing you to use Polish flexibly for demanding professional and academic purposes. You can read and understand long, demanding texts and recognize implicit, hidden meanings or cultural nuances. You express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. You can formulate clear, well-structured, and highly detailed text on complex subjects

“No changes were made to thr voting laws”

Then they are going to have the same problems over and over just like we do. And it is the using of the foreigners that is doing it.

By placing all these requirements for the simple gaining of a passport they are not considering that this will basically effect those that are considering a permanent stay for legal uses. But since they are giving it a possible 10 year life, their politics within their country will take a beating as the availability over coming into the country just to vote is handed to them on a plate. In the US we call it a green card. It is a get into jail for free.

wy69

“But they can’t vote if they aren’t citizens.”

That rule is the same as the US...but they do. I’ve seen it many times in California when I lived there. Here are four of the ways the elections have been defrauded by individuals. And remember, I’m not showing you the ones that did to get a count, just the method it was done as there were many using these ways while providing the names of those that did and a source where I found them:

False Registration

In 2024, Samunta Shomine Pittman was charged by the state in Fulton County, GA, with 70 counts of felony fraudulent entries for filling out and letting others fill out fictitious names on voter registration applications while canvassing for the Coalition for the People’s Agenda, a left-wing advocacy group.

Fraudulent Use of Absentee Ballots

Kimberly Zapata, the former Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director, was charged by the state of Wisconsin with one felony count of misconduct in public office and 3 misdemeanor counts of absentee ballot fraud after requesting military absentee ballots under false names and sending them to a Wisconsin state legislator’s home during the 2022 election.

Duplicate Voting

Richard Rosen was charged by the state of New Hampshire with one felony count of voting in more than one state after voting twice in the 2016 General Election. He voted by absentee ballot in Holderness, New Hampshire, before the election and again in person in Belmont, Massachusetts, on election day.

False Registration

https://electionfraud.heritage.org/

Then there was the fraudulent actions of vote counters and polls:

Fraud concerns as 500 blank ballots from recent elections found near Renton dumpster

https://komonews.com/news/local/election-fraud-concerns-king-county-500-ballots-from-recent-washington-state-elections-found-near-renton-dumpster-mail-in-voter-system

A redo election, also known as a revote or special election remedy, is the process of voiding election results and holding a new election:

North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District (2018)

https://ballotpedia.org/Redo_election

Election officials continue to count ballots in many states two weeks out from the 2024 election, sparking unfounded theories about suspicious “ballot dumps” and accusations of election interference.

https://www.wral.com/story/fact-check-no-ballots-counted-after-election-day-don-t-mean-elections-were-stolen/21740926/

So you see, there are all kinds of things that make an election fraudulent. And they will run into them with the process of allowing people to vote that shouldn’t using a passport as an excuse for people to remain in the country as much as 8 years not as a citizen and not demanding citizenship so they can alter votes.

wy69

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) only covers employees. The FLSA defines employee as “any individual employed by an employer” and employ is defined as including “to suffer or permit to work.” The concept of employment in the FLSA is very broad and is tested by “economic reality.”

Remember that not all Federal laws share common definitions. Therefore a determination of employment status must be made separately under each law, including the FLSA. For example, if a worker is not an employee for purposes of tax law, he or she may still be an employee under the FLSA.

https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/whd/flsa/scope/er13.asp

And there are a number of people working in this status in many states. And you can legally work in the U.S. without a Social Security Number (SSN). You must hold valid work authorization from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), such as a valid work visa or Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

But that constitutes employment and makes you available to vote if you have a post number and in many states a box will suffice.

wy69

The EFF is still new to Europe and is not widely used yet.

Mandatory nationwide identification systems have been implemented in a number of countries including Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Peru, and Spain. Only three are European.

https://www.eff.org/issues/national-ids

According to International IDEA’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Elections Database, 35 per cent of 130 surveyed countries capture biometric data as part of their voter registration process.

Twenty-five per cent of surveyed countries use biometric information to identify voters at polling stations. In many cases, this involves manual verification, such as a poll worker checking a voter’s appearance against a photograph on a voter list. Only 9 per cent of the surveyed countries use an electronic biometric identification system, in which a computer verifies the identity of the voter.

BVR is predominantly used in Africa, West Asia and Latin America. Some countries collect only photos, such as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, while others only fingerprint scans, such as Morocco, Columbia and Peru. Many collect both, like Mexico, Nigeria and Mozambique. Still others like Brazil do more by collecting signatures in addition to photos and fingerprints.

https://www.idea.int/news/five-things-know-about-biometric-voter-registration

Whereas it is a good idea in it’s efforts, it still is a work in progress in most countries in Europe and in the west. Wish is wasn’t. And I don’t sere it being used in the States as it will be challenged in court for years.

wy69

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.