By law
A child acquires Polish citizenship by birth when (Art. 14 of the Act on Polish Citizenship):
- at least one parent is a Polish citizen - regardless of the place of birth,
- the child was born in Poland and the parents are unknown, have no citizenship or their citizenship is undetermined.
Citizenship is also acquired by a child found in Poland whose parents are unknown (Art. 15) and by a child adopted by a Polish citizen if full adoption took place before the child reached the age of 16 (Art. 16).
Together with a parent
Recognition of the parents as Polish citizens or granting them citizenship covers a child under their parental authority (Art. 7 para. 1). When only one parent acquires citizenship, it covers the child if the other parent has no parental authority or has given consent (Art. 7 para. 2).
A child who has reached the age of 16 must personally consent to acquiring citizenship (Art. 8).
A separate application for recognition of a child
A child with a permanent residence permit, EU resident permit or right of permanent residence can be recognised as a Polish citizen when (Art. 30 para. 1 points 4 and 5):
- one parent is a Polish citizen or has had Polish citizenship restored,
- and the other parent, without Polish citizenship, has given consent.
In these cases you do not need to confirm knowledge of Polish (Art. 30 para. 2) and no stamp duty is paid. The application is submitted by the child's legal representatives (Art. 32 para. 1).
If a child was born abroad to a parent with Polish citizenship, the child may be a citizen from birth - see confirmation of citizenship.