Record number of ethnic Poles repatriating from ‘the East’: daily

In the first four months of this year, Poland’s Office for Foreigners issued a total of 4,300 permanent residence permits to such people; that's almost 50 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Last year, authorities issued 7,100 permanent residence permits to holders of the so-called Polish Card, or people of Polish descent living in various post-Soviet countries east of Poland. This year officials expect a new record.

Five years ago, only 1,500 such permits were issued.

The Polish Foreign Ministry is receiving a growing number of Polish Card applications from those interested in returning to the country of their ancestors, the newspaper said.

This increased interest in repatriating and acquiring Polish citizenship results from less paperwork and more financial assistance following legal changes introduced by Poland’s parliament last year, according to Rzeczpospolita.

The foreign ministry in Warsaw says the Polish Card is a document that can be granted to "people who do not have Polish citizenship or permission to reside in Poland and who are citizens of the former Soviet Union states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan."

The card can be granted to "a person who declares belonging to the Polish nation" and meets a set of conditions, the ministry says on its website. (str)

Source: Rzeczpospolita, msz.gov.pl