Frequently Asked Questions

PoloniaRoots is an independent genealogy research service based in Poland. Working with Polish parish registers, civil records and archives is what we do every day. We created PoloniaRoots as a separate service with one purpose: to help Polish Americans, and Americans of Polish descent, trace their families from the United States back to the Polish village and parish.

Because American research starts somewhere else. A family in Chicago, Buffalo or Pittsburgh begins with a naturalization file, a draft card or a passenger manifest, not with a Polish parish book, and the report has to make sense to someone who does not read Polish. PoloniaRoots combines both sides: we read the American records for the clues, then search the Polish, Russian, German and Latin records in Poland, and explain everything in plain English.

The research is carried out in Poland, within reach of the state, diocesan and parish archives that hold Polish records. When registers are online we use the scans; when they are not, we request them in writing or consult them on site. Our clients are in the United States, and the whole project runs by email, so you never need to travel or call Poland.

Yes. Every project is handled in English, from the research plan to the final report, and every record we find is translated in full into English. We also read Polish, Russian, German and Latin records, including old handwriting, which is what Polish genealogy requires.

We do the research ourselves. Your project is not passed on to an anonymous subcontractor: the search is planned, carried out in the records and written up in your report by PoloniaRoots. Payment is handled by Stripe, so we never see your card details, and our terms, privacy policy and refund policy are published on this site.

Poland has thousands of people called Jan Kowalski, so a matching name is never enough. Before we attach a record to your family it must agree with what else we know: the parents’ names, the ages, the house number, the witnesses and the dates in your American documents. When two candidates remain, we show you both, with the evidence for and against each, instead of choosing one for you.

Yes, and we encourage it. Every record in the report is given with an image of the original entry and its full citation: the archive, the collection, the volume or year and the entry number. Anyone, including another genealogist or a Polish consulate, can go back to the same page and read it for themselves.

Only as leads. Online trees are often copied from one another, and indexes are made by volunteers from difficult handwriting. We use them to decide where to look, then read the original register. Nothing goes into your report on the strength of an index or an online tree alone.

No honest genealogist can, because no one knows in advance what survived. What we do guarantee is how the work is done: the hours you pay for are spent on your case, every search is documented, and you are told clearly what was found, what was not and what else could be tried. If the research plan shows your goal does not fit the project, we tell you before the hours are used, and if the plan does not convince you, you get 100% back under the Plan-First Guarantee.

Yes. Within two business days of receiving your payment and completed order form we send the research plan: which archives, which records and in what order. If an archive is slow to reply, we tell you and continue with the parts of the search that do not depend on it. You are never left wondering whether anyone is working on your case.

It is used for your research and nothing else. We do not publish identifiable details of your case without your written permission, archives receive only what they need to answer a specific inquiry, and we never sell your information or use it for advertising. The privacy policy gives the details.

Old records sometimes reveal a birth outside marriage, a second family or a tragedy nobody spoke about. We report such findings accurately, because they are part of the family’s history, but we explain them privately and with care, and with the historical context that makes them understandable.

Usually yes. A surname, a rough arrival date and a US city are often enough to locate an immigration record, and that record frequently names the village. FOCUS10 with the goal Ancestral Village Identification exists for exactly this situation.

Possibly. American records may name the empire that ruled an ancestor’s village rather than a modern country. If other evidence points to Polish ancestry, “Russia” can be a clue to the Russian partition, but it can also refer to other parts of the empire. We compare place names, language and family records before choosing archives.

No - this is the most common misconception. Losses were severe and uneven. Some parishes lost everything; others have unbroken registers back to the seventeenth century. Duplicate copies were often kept separately from the originals and survived. Which situation applies to your family is itself a research question.

No. Everything is done remotely: you choose a project, send your family details on its order page, pay through Stripe and receive the report by email. Requests to and visits at Polish archives are part of the research, not something you arrange.

Yes. Poland’s historical communities kept their records separately: Jewish civil registers, Lutheran parishes, Greek Catholic parishes. Tell us the family’s background if you know it, so the search goes to the right registers.

Because answering your question properly is the work. Deciding whether a family can be traced means examining records, and that takes research time. Publishing fixed prices is what lets every client receive a considered answer rather than a guess - and you know the full cost before you commit. Paying first is not a leap of faith: under the Plan-First Guarantee you read your research plan before any research begins, and if it does not convince you, you get 100% back.

Projects start at $1,290 for ten research hours and one goal. Every price is on the projects & prices page, with what each project includes. Archive fees, copying, correspondence and translation are included; there are no extras.

Through Stripe, using a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. We never see your card details. Projects are paid in full before research begins.

Yes. A gift certificate can cover a FOCUS10 or ESSENTIAL25 project, or any amount from $100 toward any service. We email you a printable certificate with your message within one business day, and the recipient redeems it whenever they are ready.

Instead of a sales call, the free project finder recommends the right project in two questions, and every price and what it includes is published. After you order, the Plan-First Guarantee protects you: you read the research plan before any research begins, and if it does not convince you, you get 100% back. If your goal does not fit the project you chose, the plan says so before any hours are used.

Time spent in records, correspondence with archives, reading and translating, analysis and writing the report. It does not include waiting for an archive to reply.

FOCUS10 usually takes 3-5 weeks, ESSENTIAL25 6-10 weeks, STANDARD50 3-4 months and PREMIUM100 4-6 months, counted from the day we have both your payment and your completed order form. Polish archives answer written requests in their own time, typically four to six weeks; when one is slow we tell you and continue with the parts of the search that do not depend on it. See all delivery times.

Whatever the question needs: parish and civil registers, population books, conscription lists, land and notarial records, passport files, European departure lists, American manifests, naturalization files, draft cards, Social Security applications and Polish-American parish records. The four chapters describe each of them.

Yes. Nineteenth-century Polish records are written in Polish, Russian Cyrillic, German Kurrent script or Latin, often in the same family. Every record we find is translated in full into English.

Yes. Our genetic genealogy service analyzes existing AncestryDNA or MyHeritage DNA matches for one agreed family-history question. The price is $2,750 for one completed autosomal test on one platform, with an English report. It does not include a DNA test kit, medical interpretation or a guaranteed identification. Read the scope and access requirements on our DNA match analysis page. Do not send passwords or raw DNA files through the order form.

Many former Polish parishes lie outside today’s borders. Their registers may be in Warsaw, in Lviv or in a regional archive across the border. We establish where the books are now and tell you in the research plan which of them the project can cover.

A written narrative in English, an image of every document found, full translations, a complete source list including unsuccessful searches, family group sheets and, on larger projects, a pedigree chart. Delivered as a PDF.

A negative result is documented in full: every archive and register searched, the years covered and why the search failed. It has real value - it stops you or a future researcher repeating the same work. The refund policy states the financial terms.

You can keep the report for your family research. Before publishing or sharing it beyond your family, check any conditions attached to record images and information about living people. Section 8 of our terms explains permitted uses.

We do not edit online trees on your behalf, but on request we include a GEDCOM file of every person found, which you can import into Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch or any genealogy program.

Yes. The Printed Heirloom Report is your report printed on archival paper in a cloth-bound binder, shipped to a US address.

We help with the part that decides most cases: assessing your line of descent against Polish citizenship law and obtaining the Polish records an application needs. We are a research service, not a law firm, and we do not promise an outcome. Start with the Citizenship Assessment, or read how citizenship by descent works.