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What is citizenship?

The history of mankindmankindmankind is the history of societies and nations. Societies, especially in today's world, may be multinational. Societies and nations in specific historical conditions were created by states that had, among others, providedto provide withprovided them with a sense of security and defined behavioral norms written in the law. This way, a special bond was formed between states and members of societies. We call this bond citizenship.

In today's world citizenship is a legal bond connecting an individualindividualindividual to a state, on the basis of which the individual has specific rights and obligations to the state, and the state has duties and rights to the individual. The determination of matters related to citizenship, and in particular the methods of its acquisitionacquisitionacquisition and possibly also the losslossloss, belongs to the state itself.

Ways of acquiring citizenshipto acquire/obtain (citizenship)acquiring citizenship are regulated by the national law of individual countries. However, states have rather limited possibilities of legal interpretation related to citizenship. Therefore, the legal methods of acquiring citizenship may be divided into primary and secondary.

Primary ways of acquiring citizenship

Secondary ways of acquiring citizenship

In Poland the right of blood is applied. A child acquires – by law – Polish citizenship by birth from parents, at leastat leastat least one of whom has Polish citizenship, regardlessregardlessregardless of the place of the child's birth. According to the Polish law, the right of the soil may also be applied. This happens when a child is born or found in the territory of the Republic of Poland and both parents are unknown, their citizenship is undefined or they have no citizenship. Then the child acquires Polish citizenship under the law. The Polish law also permitsto permitpermits the acquisition of citizenship by adoption. A child adopted by a person or persons possessing Polish citizenship acquires Polish citizenship if the full adoption took place before the child was 16 years old.

The President of the Republic of Poland may grant Polish citizenship to a foreigner, at the foreigner’s requestat the requestrequest. Foreigners residing in Poland may apply for Polish citizenship through a voivode competentcompetentcompetent for the place of their residence, and if they reside abroad – through an appropriateappropriateappropriate consul. In the case of foreigners who apply for Polish citizenship and have previously lived in the territory of the Polish state, it is possible to shorten the procedures and recognize them as Polish citizens. To apply for Polish citizenship by recognition, foreigners have to:

• reside in Poland on the basis of specific permits, and within a long term (at least 3 years) legal stay in Poland have integrated with the Polish society,

• be able to speak Polish,

• have a place to live and a source of income,

• respect the Polish law,

• be of no danger to the state’s defense or security.

This right applies especially to refugees, people with no citizenship, children and spousesspousespouses of Polish citizens, as well as people of Polish originoriginorigin. Recognition of citizenship does not require a decision of the President of the Republic of Poland, but may take place in the course of administrative proceedings, in which the first instance is the appropriate voivode.

Citizenship loss

The terms of citizenship loss are determined by each state under its internal law. Most often (also in Poland) however, the principle is applied that citizenship may be waivedto waivewaived only by the citizen himself, although in this case the state authorities ensureto ensureensure that the renunciation of citizenship does not lead to statelessness.

According to the UN Convention of 1954, the creation stateless persons, i.e. persons with no citizenship, should be avoided. Being a stateless person is disadvantageousdisadvantageousdisadvantageous to an individual because of the lack of protection from a state and its consular services or the lack of civil rights of children of such a person, especially if the right of blood is in force in a given country. When parents are known but have no citizenship, children cannot get their citizenship.

The conditions of waiving citizenship are, for example:

• acquisition of citizenship of another country - this may result in the loss of citizenship already held. In democratic countries, dual citizenship is traditionally recognized, even if such a possibility has not been entered into the law,

• joining the military service of another country - there are countries that have mercenary troops. Often, former soldiers from other countries are recruited to them (an example may be the French Foreign Legion). If, however, the interests of a state having such an army are contrary to the interests of the state of which the person is a citizen, he may lose his citizenship,

• marriage with a citizen of another country – rarely the spouse's country recognizes only one nationality. Even then, however, the regulations of the international law are important.

A legal bond, connecting an individual with his state, called citizenship, arisesto arisearises in many ways. The existence of this relationship results in mutual rights and obligations. Nowadays, the legal systems of states allow or tolerate the possession of more than one citizenship. Poland belongs to a group of countries in which citizenship is acquired by birth from parents who are Polish citizens (the right of blood). At the same time art. 34 par. 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland states that a Polish citizen cannot lose his Polish citizenship unless he renouncesto renouncerenounces it himself. After Poland's accession to the European Union, Polish citizens automatically acquired citizenship of the European Union.

Keywords

citizenship, naturalization, repatriation, visa, primary/secondary ways of acquiring citizenship, citizenship by birth, right of blood, ius sanguinis, right of the soil, birthright citizenship, ius soli, foreigner, recognition of citizenship, the Polish Card, a stateless person

Glossary