Frequently asked questions

No, and I say that loudly, on purpose. I'm a consultant who has personally completed both the Polish and Romanian processes. I help with research, document strategy, translations, apostilles, language preparation, and consulate readiness. If your case raises a genuinely legal question, I'll tell you directly and recommend you consult a licensed immigration attorney for that issue.

No, and nobody honestly can. Approval is always at the discretion of the government authority reviewing your file. What I can do is make sure your application is as complete, well-documented, and well-prepared as it can possibly be, which is most of the battle.

Yes. I work with clients globally. Most are in the US, Canada, and the UK, but eligible ancestry doesn't respect borders, and neither does this service. Document strategy varies by where you live (and which consulate has jurisdiction over you), and that's part of what we map on the Roadmap Call.

Both are reacquisition routes for descendants of former Romanian citizens. They differ in how the citizenship was lost and how many generations they reach, and which one fits a given family isn't always as obvious as the summaries online make it look. Filing under the wrong article wastes months. In my own family, my mother filed under Article 10 and I filed under Article 11: same ancestor, two different articles. Sorting this out is one of the first things we do on a Roadmap Call.

Poland: no Polish-language exam or eligibility interview for citizenship confirmation. The application itself is completed in Polish and foreign documents generally need Polish translation, but there's no personal language test (nobody should assume that stays true forever, given the direction Europe is moving). Romania: most Article 10/11 applicants must prove B1-level Romanian through an accepted certificate or qualifying Romanian-medium education, unless exempt (former Romanian citizens, and applicants 65 or older at filing). After approval, applicants complete a Romanian-language oath process. B1 is reachable from zero in 1 to 2 years of well-directed study, and the language pathway is built into every Romania service tier.

Romania: up to the great-grandparent level under Article 11. Poland: there's no formal generational limit; what matters is that the citizenship chain was never broken, which is harder to maintain across more generations. If your only connection falls outside what current rules support, I'll tell you upfront rather than take your money.

Document gathering typically runs 3 to 9 months depending on archives. Government processing after filing is roughly 1 to 3 years for Poland and 2 to 3 years for Romania. Those are estimates based on current backlogs, not promises. The total journey is measured in years, which is exactly why starting before rules tighten further matters. For Romania, the waiting years double as your language-learning years.

Plan for roughly $500 to $1,500 USD in out-of-pocket costs: archive fees, certified copies, apostilles, sworn translations, government filing fees, and shipping. Document-heavy cases can run higher. The variables are how many documents need translation and how cooperative the archives are, and Romania's language path adds tuition depending on your route. You get a written, line-item estimate of all of it on the Roadmap Call, before you spend anything. You pay providers directly wherever possible; anything I front is billed at cost with receipts.

No, but it requires local coordination. Records from territories that formed part of interwar Poland may now be held in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, or elsewhere, depending on the exact town, the historical date, shifting borders, the religious denomination, and the record type; Volhynian, Galician, and Vilnius-area records shouldn't automatically be treated as belonging to the same modern archive system. Moldova and northern Bukovina hold records relevant to Romanian Article 11 cases, since those territories were part of historical Romania. Archive procedures vary: some accept remote requests, while others require specific forms, local payment methods, or an intermediary. I coordinate retrieval, certification, and apostilles through established local channels for each jurisdiction; my own family's Polish records came from exactly these kinds of archives.

Not necessarily. Naturalization files from countries like the US, Canada, and the UK can be substantial documents, and what matters for a Polish descent case is specific, not everything in the file. Which sections are relevant, how to handle them for the application, and what to hold in reserve for potential supplemental requests is part of what we work through on the Roadmap Call. Getting this wrong means paying for translations you didn't need. Getting it right can save several hundred dollars.

Some cases genuinely need one: contested cases, court appeals, complex legal questions. Most descent cases don't. They need accurate document strategy, the right translations, and someone who knows what the consulate actually wants. Law firms charge $5,000 to $10,000+ USD for that; some publish packages in the five figures. Even some non-law-firm consulting services now publish starting prices of $6,000 or more for a single applicant on a comparable case. That's a $1,000 USD-class problem wearing a $10,000 USD price tag.

Yes, at a lighter scope and lower price: research, document gathering, and archive coordination for other EU countries. I'm upfront that it's outside my firsthand specialty: I've lived the Polish and Romanian processes; for other countries I bring strong research and document skills, not personal experience. See the Other EU page for where each country's program currently stands.