What does the 1920 act say?

Under Art. 11 of the act of 20.01.1920, Polish citizenship was lost by acquiring a foreign one, and children under 18 lost it together with their father (Art. 13, see the article on children under 18). But the same Art. 11 has a separate paragraph for men obliged to military service: they could take foreign citizenship only with permission from the Polish authorities, "w przeciwnym razie wobec Państwa Polskiego nie przestaną być uważane za obywateli polskich", otherwise Poland would not stop treating them as Polish citizens. So for the US the man was already American, and for Poland he was still Polish.

The exception does not cancel the loss, it postpones it. In case II OSK 1115/21, the grandfather naturalised in the US on 13.07.1928 and kept Polish citizenship because he had no release from the obligation. He lost it in September 1933, on his 50th birthday, when the obligation ended. His son, born in 1925, was eight at the time and lost citizenship with him. That is why the children's ages are counted on the date of loss, not the date of naturalisation.

When the obligation ended: three acts in a row

The age limit changed twice over these years. Count by the act in force at the time:

PeriodActObligation ended
until 31.08.1938act of 23.05.1924at the end of the year he turned 50
01.09.1938 – 28.05.1950act of 9.04.1938at the end of the year he turned 60 (art. 12)
from 29.05.1950act of 4.02.1950from 18 to 50 inclusive, officers to 60 (art. 9)

Raising the limit to 60 did not bring back those who had already left the obligation: anyone free because of turning 50 under the old rules did not fall under the 1938 act (art. 189). A man born in 1887 left the obligation in 1937 and lost citizenship then. A man born in 1888 was still under the obligation on 1.09.1938, so his limit moved to 1948. The exact day within the year is counted in different ways: the act speaks of the end of the year, while in II OSK 1115/21 the court took the 50th birthday itself. If a child turned 18 in that very year, work out both options.

The 1950 act lowered the limit to 50 again and did not keep privates over 50 under the obligation. The text of the act implies that for such a man the postponed loss took effect on 29.05.1950. We found no court ruling on this exact point, so this is our reading of the act, not settled practice.

If the obligation was still running on 19 January 1951

The 1920 act was in force until 18.01.1951 inclusive. The 1951 act that replaced it did not take citizenship away for naturalisation as such, and courts check the ancestor's military status only up to 19.01.1951 (II OSK 1200/20, II OSK 1426/20). So if your ancestor's obligation had not ended by that day, the postponed loss never took effect: citizenship remained and passed to his children. Under the 1950 act this concerns privates who were no older than 50 at the time, and officers up to 60. We do not give an exact birth date as the threshold: "inclusive" is counted in different ways, and this is exactly where it pays to do the maths with a lawyer.

The release: not always a separate paper

The exception works only as long as your ancestor had no release from the obligation. There were several ways to get one:

  • before 1938: a release because the man was seeking foreign citizenship (art. 90 of the 1924 act);
  • after 1.09.1938: a release on request through the district authority and the komendant rejonu uzupełnień (art. 11 of the 1938 act);
  • after 1.09.1938, for those living abroad: a man who proved his foreign citizenship became free of the obligation from the moment a Polish consulate recorded it (art. 10 ust. 1 lit. b). There may have been no separate request for a release at all.

This is what matters most for your case. In II OSK 1406/21 the release itself was not found in the archives, but a consul general's letter saying the grandfather had permission from the Polish authorities for a foreign citizenship was accepted by the court as sufficient proof, and the case was lost. The court added that a missing document does not mean it was never issued: the archives were destroyed in the war. In II OSK 2838/15 a consul's letter that reported the naturalisation to Poland and asked for a decision on loss of citizenship worked the same way. On the other hand, it is the authority that must at least make the loss plausible, and "the documents have not survived" is no ground for refusal (II OSK 1393/10).

So the case turns not on whether a release sits in the file, but on whether there is a trace that a Polish consul knew of the naturalisation: recorded the foreign citizenship, or wrote about permission from the Polish authorities or about loss of citizenship. No such trace: a strong position. Such a consul's letter exists: the case gets noticeably weaker.

How to work it out for your ancestor

  1. Find the date of naturalisation. Where to look for the file in the US, Canada and the UK is covered in the article on naturalisation records.
  2. Take your ancestor's year of birth and use the table above to find the day his obligation ended.
  3. If the obligation was still running on 19.01.1951, there was no loss through naturalisation. If it ended earlier, that day is the date of loss.
  4. Work out the children's ages on the date of loss. Those under 18 lost citizenship with their father, older ones kept it.
  5. Gather everything the family knows about your ancestor and a Polish consulate after naturalisation: whether he reported his foreign citizenship to a consul, whether he asked for permission or a release, whether any consul's letters about him survive. The strength of the case depends on it.
  6. Check separately whether your ancestor served in a foreign army: that is a different ground for loss, and the military exception does not protect against it. There is a separate article on the army and Selective Service.

An example. The ancestor was born in 1905, naturalised in the US in 1929, and his son was born in 1935. On 19.01.1951 the ancestor was 45 and the obligation was still running, so he never lost Polish citizenship, and his son kept it too. If instead the ancestor was born in 1887, the loss took effect in 1937, and all his children under 18 on that day lost citizenship with him. With a calculation like this you apply to the voivode for confirmation of citizenship, or from abroad through a Polish consul; how that differs from Karta Polaka is explained in the article on the two procedures. This is a working theory, not a guarantee: show a complicated case to a lawyer.

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Sources

FAQ

My great-grandfather naturalised in the US in the 1920s and never served in the army. Did he keep citizenship?

It depends on his year of birth. If his obligation was still running on 19.01.1951 and he had no release, there was no loss. If it ended earlier, citizenship was lost on that day, and with it for his children under 18.

There is no release in the naturalisation file. Does that mean citizenship survived?

Not necessarily. After 1938 the mere fact that a consul recorded the foreign citizenship could count as a release, and courts accept a consul's letter as proof (II OSK 1406/21, II OSK 2838/15). What matters is whether a consul knew of your ancestor's naturalisation.

Does the exception apply if the Polish line runs through a woman?

No. It applies only to men who carried the military obligation. Different rules govern the female line, and there the date of marriage becomes decisive.

What if my ancestor served in the US army?

That is a separate ground for loss (Art. 11 pkt 2), and the military exception does not protect against it. Registering with Selective Service is not service; see the article on Selective Service.

PLTest Editorial Team

We prepare content based on official sources — the texts of the acts from ISAP, judgments of the Supreme Administrative Court and gov.pl guidance — and fact-check every legal claim before publishing. Questions in the PLTest database are verified against the experience of hundreds of users who have already gone through the consul interview.