Recently, public administration authorities have tightened the criteria for foreigners to acquire Polish citizenship. This concerns the so-called procedure before the provincial governor. Under this procedure, a foreign national who has resided in Poland for a specified uninterrupted period, has a stable and regular source of income, and demonstrates proficiency in the Polish language at an appropriate level, had the right to apply to the provincial governor to be recognized as a Polish citizen. This procedure did not involve the provincial governor’s discretion; therefore, if a foreign national met the conditions listed above, the provincial governor was required to recognize that foreign national as a Polish citizen.
Recently, however, provincial governors have begun to make it more difficult for foreigners to acquire Polish citizenship through this procedure. The provision in Article 31(2) of the Polish Citizenship Act has become the tool used for this purpose. This provision authorizes the competent authority to refuse to grant Polish citizenship to a foreign national if that person poses a threat to national defense or security, or to public safety and order. This applies to individuals convicted of serious crimes, those who habitually violate the legal order in Poland, or those acting to the detriment of our country—for example, through espionage or terrorist activities.
The problem is that the aforementioned provision has begun to be routinely abused by provincial governors, who have recently started applying it even to foreign nationals for receiving traffic tickets. Foreign nationals who have fallen victim to this practice by the authorities have begun to seek assistance from our law firm. Fortunately, we are already seeing the first signs of relief for these individuals in the courts. Our law firm’s appeals are being upheld in all of these cases. Administrative courts agree with our argument that the fact of receiving a traffic ticket does not in any way prove that a foreign national poses a threat to public safety and order. In fact, accepting a traffic ticket does not even prove that the person who received it committed a traffic violation. Furthermore, a number of other circumstances are also important when making an assessment in this regard. This is a positive development, because ultimately it is a matter of common sense, but also of ensuring that the number of Polish citizens grows in the face of the demographic challenges we face.
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