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In depth
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. The confirmation is retroactive — the applicant is deemed to have been a Polish citizen since birth.
The process is governed by the Polish Citizenship Act of 2009 (as amended). Applications are filed with the Wojewoda (provincial governor) of the applicant's last place of residence in Poland, or with the Polish consulate abroad.
Polish citizenship passes by blood with no generational limit, provided the line was never broken. The historical overlay (partitions 1795-1918, WWII 1939-45, border changes 1945) creates documentation gaps that Our network of genealogists specialize in bridging.
Example
A Polish-American whose great-grandfather emigrated from Warsaw in 1912 can apply for potwierdzenie to confirm Polish citizenship.
Related terms
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.
Galicia was the region of partitioned Poland under Austrian rule (1772-1918), covering what is now southern Poland and western Ukraine.
Haller's Army (Błękitna Armia, the Blue Army) was a Polish military force formed in France during WWI (1917-1919) that fought for Polish independence, and whose members are presumed to have been Polish citizens.