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In depth
The Karta Polaka (Card of the Pole) is a document confirming Polish heritage, available to people of Polish descent who are not Polish citizens and who reside in the former Soviet Union (Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.). It was established by the 2007 Act on the Karta Polaka.
The Karta Polaka grants certain rights in Poland: visa-free travel, right to work without a permit, right to start a business, free emergency healthcare, and priority for certain educational programs.
The Karta Polaka is not a citizenship document — it does not grant Polish citizenship or a Polish passport. However, holders can apply for Polish citizenship through a simplified naturalization process after obtaining a permanent residence permit.
Related terms
Potwierdzenie posiadania obywatelstwa polskiego (confirmation of Polish citizenship) is the legal process by which the Polish government confirms that a person is a Polish citizen by descent.
Naturalization is the legal process by which a non-citizen acquires the citizenship of a country, typically after meeting residency, language, and integration requirements.
A Wojewoda (voivode) is the Polish central government's representative in each province (województwo), who processes citizenship confirmation applications.
USC (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) is the Polish civil registry office that maintains records of births, marriages, and deaths, equivalent to the Italian anagrafe.
AGAD (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych) is the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, holding Polish records from the Russian Partition and earlier periods.
The Partitions (zabory) were the three divisions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria from 1772 to 1795, after which Poland ceased to exist as a sovereign state until 1918.