Divorce from a foreigner in Poland

divorce in Poland with a foreigner

Divorce from a foreigner in Poland – how to divorce a foreigner.

Nowadays, considering the great freedom in choosing the place of residence or place of work, situations in which a Polish citizen decides to marry a foreigner are becoming more frequent. There are also situations in which spouses, neither of whom has Polish citizenship, decide to live in the territory of the Republic of Poland, however – after some time – the bonds that unite them expire, and therefore they want to obtain a divorce. Divorce from a foreigner in Poland is a topic that arouses many emotions and is a challenge for many couples. In this entry, we will try to explain the procedure for divorces of “mixed” marriages and marriages concluded by foreigners and answer a number of questions related to this topic. In our article, we explore issues related to the legal procedures that apply during a divorce from a foreigner in Poland, and we also present practical advice on how to facilitate this process.

Divorce with a foreigner from a EU country

If we are dealing with a marriage between a Polish woman or a Polish man and a citizen of another Community country, it is reasonable to reach for an EU legal act. This act is Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility, and in matters of international child abduction.

Article 3 of the cited legal act establishes general jurisdiction in divorce cases. According to it:

“Article 3. General jurisdiction

In matters relating to divorce, separation or marriage annulment, the courts of the Member State shall have jurisdiction:

a) in whose territory:

(i) both spouses are habitually resident;

(ii) the spouses were both habitually resident recently, provided that one of them still resides there;

(iii) the opposing party is habitually resident;

(iv) in the case of a joint claim or application, one of the spouses is habitually resident;

(v) the plaintiff or applicant is habitually resident if he or she has resided there for at least one year immediately before filing the claim or application; or

(vi) the plaintiff or applicant is habitually resident if he or she has resided there for at least six months immediately before filing the claim or application and is a national of that Member State; or

(b) of which both spouses are nationals.”

Article 3 therefore allows us to verify whether we will be able to effectively conduct your divorce case with a foreigner who holds the citizenship of an EU country before a Court in Poland.

Divorce with a foreigner from the EU in Poland – example:

A Polish woman lived with her German husband in Poland, in Wrocław. After separating, the husband moved to Germany, and the Polish woman remained in Wrocław. In this situation, the Polish woman can file a divorce suit with the foreigner in Poland.

Divorce from a foreigner from outside the EU

To determine whether we will be able to file a divorce suit in Poland from a foreigner from outside the EU, it will be necessary to refer to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure (KPC).

Pursuant to the provisions of art. 11031 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure:

Ҥ 1. Matrimonial cases and cases concerning marital property relations also fall within domestic jurisdiction when:

1) both spouses had their last place of residence or last place of habitual residence in the Republic of Poland, if one of them still has a place of residence or habitual residence in the Republic of Poland, or

2) the spouse who is the plaintiff has had a place of residence or habitual residence in the Republic of Poland for at least one year immediately before the initiation of the proceedings, or

3) the spouse who is the plaintiff is a Polish citizen and has had a place of residence or habitual residence in the Republic of Poland for at least six months immediately before the initiation of the proceedings, or

4) both spouses are Polish citizens.”

Based on the conversation with you and the factual circumstances presented by you – through the prism of the cited provision – we will be able to assess whether the “place of residence”/”place of habitual residence” condition is met, and thus whether there is a real possibility of conducting the case before a Polish court.

Divorce in Poland – is it possible to divorce a foreigner before a Polish court? What law is applicable?

Applying the provisions of Article 11031 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, already cited, it is possible to conduct divorce proceedings before a court in Poland and apply Polish civil procedure (CPC) to cases where there are foreigners on both sides of the proceedings.

However, this is not equivalent to applying the provisions of Polish substantive law, i.e. the Family and Guardianship Code, to such cases. According to Article 54 section 1 of the Act – Private International Law of 4 February 2011:

“1. Dissolution of marriage is subject to the common national law of the spouses at the time of the request for dissolution of the marriage.”

Example: Divorce of two foreigners in Poland – what law applies?

It is possible that – for example – a Polish court applying the Polish procedure (KPC) will have jurisdiction in a case where both spouses are citizens of India and entered into a marriage in their home country, i.e. in India. In such a case, the Polish court will apply the relevant substantive Hindu law (so-called Hindu Code) in terms of the grounds for dissolving the marriage. It is therefore possible to divorce them in Poland, despite the fact that each of the spouses is a foreigner.

Divorce from a foreigner in Poland – to which court to file a divorce petition

Finally, it is reasonable to indicate which court, in which specific city, will have jurisdiction to hear your case.

This is regulated by art. 41 of the KPC, which states:

“A claim arising from a marital relationship shall be brought exclusively before the court in whose district the spouses had their last place of residence, if at least one of them still has a place of residence or habitual residence in that district. In the absence of such a basis, the court of the defendant’s place of residence shall have exclusive jurisdiction, and if there is no such basis either – the court of the plaintiff’s place of residence.”

Once again, the concepts of “place of residence”/”habitual residence” appear, which must be properly interpreted in order to file a lawsuit in a specific Court.

Divorce lawyer for a foreigner

Therefore, if you are considering filing a divorce lawsuit with a foreigner or have already received a divorce lawsuit filed by a foreign spouse, we encourage you to contact our Divorce Law Firm. Fluent knowledge of legal English allows us to communicate directly with foreigners.

One of our main areas of activity is conducting court proceedings in divorce or separation cases. Our first step is to familiarize ourselves with your situation during a personal conversation with a legal advisor at the Law Firm and analyze the documents, and then we assess the possibility of effectively filing a lawsuit before the appropriate Court.

We are a Divorce Law Firm from Wrocław, but we can also operate outside the borders of Wrocław and the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

 

We have handled cases concerning:

– divorce between US citizens in Poland

– divorce between Indian citizens in Poland

– divorce of a Portuguese citizen with a Polish woman

– divorce of a Frenchman with a Polish woman

– divorce of an Englishman with a Polish woman

– divorce of an Irishman with a Polish woman and alimony case

[divorce lawyer] [divorce lawyer]

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