The following information was provided by an attorney with a civil and criminal law practice in Ruda Slaska, province of Slask, Poland, in a 26 September 2003 interview.

Until May-June 2002, residence registration regulations required citizens to register their new address each time they moved. But, amended in May-June 2002, the regulations now require only the registration of changes in one's permanent residence. This means that citizens, for example, students who move away from home temporarily to go to school, do not need to register their temporary address while away from their permanent address.

In order to register one's residence, one must go to the local Department of Civil Matters (Wydzial spraw obywatelskich, referat ewidencji ludnosci,)-the authority governing the residence registration system in Poland-and present their identification card, fill out a residence registration form and pay a fee of approximately 10 to 15 zloty (CDN$3.49-5.23 [Bank of Canada 9 Oct. 2003]). If an individual is registering a rented rather than owned residence, then he or she must get the owner to sign the residence registration form.

Only immediate family members and spouses, though not common-law spouses, have access to the names and addresses registered in the system. Common-law spouses can obtain such information only in cases pending before the courts, which require the information to deliver court documents. To obtain a name and address from the residence registration system, immediate family members and spouses must present their identification card and either their birth or marriage certificate.

Additional and corroborating information could not be obtained among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Attorney-at-law, Ruda Slask, Poland. 26 September 2003. Interview.

Bank of Canada. 9 October 2003. Quick Currency Converter. http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/exchange.htm#quick [Accessed 9 October 2003]

Dialog

Embassy of Poland

Unsuccessful attempts to obtain information from a lawyer practicing in Krakow.