British In Poland

One of the roles of the British Embassy in Poland is to help British people travelling or living in Poland. Most people know that they will help you if you lose your passport or give advice if you manage to get yourself arrested, but they can also provide business advice and give guidance on things such as transferring large sums of money (for example if you are buying a house here).

A few months ago I was browsing their website and was a little bit miffed to see the front page was plastered with "Living and Working in the UK" featuring lots of help for Polish people going to the UK. I don't have any problem with that - but should there not be at least SOMETHING on their website giving advice for Brits "Living and Working in Poland"?

So back in October 2007 I sent the following email to them:

Hi

I was looking at the website of the British embassy in Poland. There is
a lot of information for Poles going to the UK, but not so much help for
Brits in Poland.

For example, can you point me towards any resources that explain about
things such as:
* temporary and permanent registration in Poland
* how I can go about getting a mobile phone contract
* registering a car
* opening a bank account
* polish language lessons

It would be nice to know what the official procedures are as I am often
giving conflicting information when I ask in Polish offices.

Thanks.

Ben

After not hearing back from them I then forgot all about it. Then last week something bizarre happened. After a delay of only 6 months I got a reply. Someone might find something useful in it so I shall quote it in its entire glory:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email.

The British Embassy may signpost you towards organisations who may offer you professional help.

Here are some useful contacts with reference to your enquiry:

RESIDENCY IN POLAND

Poland is now a full member of European Union and you have the right to live here without visas and permits. However, after an initial stay of 3 months in Poland, you should contact

DEPARTMENT FOR FOREIGNERS at the relevant Voivod Office to apply for registration of your stay in Poland.

This office should also provide you with information about permanent residency in Poland.

For more information referring to different issues for British residents abroad please enter:

www.direct.gov.uk/BritonsLivingAbroad/fs/en

You may also find useful the following webpages :

www.msz.gov.pl ( Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, information available in English)

www.fco.gov.uk/traveladvice

(Travel Advice prepared by FCO)

and the British Embassy in Warsaw website: www.britishembassy.pl

You may also find useful the assistance of a professional agency (relocation agencies) that assists foreigners in many issues like: Settling-in Services; Home Finding Programme; Medical; Taxes etc.This is : POLAID, contact MR Olgierd Chrobak, 00-082 Warszawa, tel: 0048 600431204 email: olgierd.chrobak@polaid.pl , PRO Relocation, ul. Kaniowska 41, 01-529 Warsaw, tel. +48 22 869 04 40, info@prorelo.com, www.prorelo.com, Pryma Agency, www.pryma-cudzoziemcy.pl .

Right hand cars cannot be registered in Poland. You may consider contacting the relevant department of the Ministry of Transport and Construction at the following address for clarification of this issue:

Ministerstwo Transportu i Budownictwa
Departament Dróg i Transportu Drogowego
Ul. Chalubinskiego 4/6
00-928 Warsaw
tel. 022 630 12 40

I hope you find this information helpful.

Regards,

Consular Section

Well I am impressed that if you do email them then they eventually will reply. Whether it's worth them bothering to reply after 6 months is another question...

I just hope that if ever I should have the misfortune to get arrested in Poland then their consular assistance people are are little quicker than the rest of the departement....

With reports of anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million Poles now living in the U.K. it does indeed seem strange that I went “against the flow” and now live in Poland. But after marrying a Polish girl and becoming disillusioned with life in England we decided to make a change.

Not wanting to commute into london until I'm 65, getting burgled just before Christmas 2005 and seeing the groups of sometimes 30 or more hoodies congregating on street corners were the deciding factors. We looked at the possibility of moving to Poland and soon realised that with the equity in our house, we could have the same sized house mortgage-free in Poland. With no mortgage to worry about and very low living costs I realised that this would buy me enough time to try and start a business of my own.

So in 2006 I sold my car and bought an old van. In September we put the house on the market. In October we quit our jobs, loaded up the van and drove to Poland.

It took us a little time to get organised over here, but in 2007 we bought a house south of Kraków, we bought a car and in February 2008 our first baby was born. So everything looks set for the future.

I have been toying with the idea of setting up a website based on the novelty of being (what feels like) the only Brit in Poland.

I thought it might be interesting and helpful to someone somewhere to know what it's like to live here or how to go about doing things such as registering a car, or importing a motorbike.

When I get time I will do something with the Polish language lessons that I got half-way through writing too...

Anyway welcome to my blog, if you are an expat in Poland then say hello.

Ben