I was born in Canada to Polish immigrants and I’m currently going through the process of applying for a Polish passport. My parents got me one as a kid but it expired a while back and had no PESEL number.
I’ve got an upcoming appointment at the Polish Consulate and have now learned that I’ll need to have my Canadian birth certificate registered in Poland first before I can apply for a Polish passport.
The Consulate has been extremely slow and incomplete with their email replies and they don’t pick up their phone during their phone hours so I’m hoping I can get some answers here.
My questions to people who’ve been through this process:
1. Can I register my birth certificate and apply for a polish passport at the same time? Wondering if I need to book another appointment or if this can all be done in one go.
2. How long does registering the birth certificate take? [According to their website](https://www.gov.pl/web/canada-en/registration-of-foreign-birth-certificates-in-a-polish-registry-office) it says they’ll immediately forward the documents, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s registered right away.
3. We get to pick which Register Office to send our birth certificate to for registration. Does it matter which one we choose? I don’t know any so am impartial. Really I’d prefer to choose the one that will register my birth certificate the fastest (if wait times vary among them). Does anyone have recommendations for which Register Office to pick?
4. Their website says:
*”Also, if one of the spouses does not have a Polish birth certificate and the marriage of the child’s parents was not registered in Poland, we recommend you to present the original of that parent’s birth certificate”.*
Both my parents have Polish birth certificates but they got married in Canada so their marriage isn’t registered in Poland. Does this mean I should get my parents’ marriage certificate translated too, or will their Polish birth certificates suffice?
5. Did anyone work with a sworn translator that they can recommend? Looking for someone with a quick turnaround time (a week).
Thank you for all the help in advance!!!
PS: I am doing all of this because I’ll be studying abroad in Europe next year with plans to eventually relocate there permanently so to me it makes more sense to get my Polish passport (EU citizenship) now instead of applying for a student visa. I am completely fluent in Polish and have strong cultural ties to Poland so it would mean a lot to have my Polish passport. Solidarity!
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by super-intelligence