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Suslo Optimal Solution
Attorney-at-law Dr Joanna Susło, Ph.D.
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile phone / WhatsApp: + 48 668 841 990
Statistical Identification Number (REGON): 380671665
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Were you born abroad? Was your child born in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom or Australia? Did you get married outside Poland, or did a member of your family die abroad and you need a Polish civil status record?
A foreign birth certificate, marriage certificate or death certificate can be entered into the Polish civil status register. This procedure is called the transcription of a foreign civil status record.
Transcription is often needed by people living outside Poland who want, among other things, to obtain a Polish passport, a PESEL number, regularize their civil status in Poland, conduct an inheritance case or use a Polish copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate in Poland.
Importantly, in many cases you do not need to come to Poland in person. The matter can be handled through a Polish consulate or – in appropriate cases – through an attorney acting directly before a Civil Registry Office in Poland.
In this guide, we explain step by step how to register a foreign civil status record in Poland, what documents need to be prepared, when an apostille is required, whether a certified translation is necessary and how to complete the procedure without travelling to Poland.
Transcription consists in transferring the content of a foreign civil status document into the Polish civil status register.
The basic rules governing transcription are set out in the Act of 28 November 2014 – Law on Civil Status Records.
The following may primarily be subject to transcription:
After the procedure has been completed, the relevant record is created in the Polish civil status register and the interested person may obtain a Polish copy of the birth, marriage or death certificate.
This is not a re-registration of the event itself. The Polish authority does not establish again that a person was born, got married or died. The content of the document previously issued by the competent foreign authority is transferred into the Polish register.
There may be many reasons. Most often, transcription is carried out when a person living outside Poland needs a Polish civil status record for further administrative, court or family proceedings.
This may include, among other things:
In practice, a foreign civil status certificate often becomes one of the first documents that must be prepared before starting a further procedure in Poland.
Not in every situation. The mere fact of birth, marriage or death abroad does not mean that transcription in Poland must always be carried out immediately.
There are, however, situations in which having a Polish civil status record is required or, in practice, necessary in order to carry out further actions.
This applies in particular to certain passport matters, obtaining a PESEL number by a person born abroad, or situations in which a Polish authority must rely on information contained in the Polish civil status register.
Therefore, before starting the procedure, it is worth determining not only whether the foreign certificate can be transcribed, but also what the purpose of registering it in Poland is.
No. In many cases, there is no need to come to Poland in person.
A person living in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia or another country may use several options.
For a person living several or even several thousand kilometres away from Poland, the possibility of acting through an attorney means that there is no need to arrange a trip solely for the purpose of submitting documents to a Civil Registry Office.
The application may primarily be submitted by the person to whom the event recorded in the foreign certificate relates.
In appropriate cases, the application may also be submitted by a person who has a legal interest in having the transcription carried out.
For example, in the case of a child’s birth certificate, it is not necessary for both parents to submit the application jointly.
If the matter is handled by another person, it should be determined whether that person will act as an attorney and whether the scope of the power of attorney covers all necessary actions.
The exact list of documents depends on the type of certificate, the country in which it was issued and the content of the document itself.
The following are most commonly required:
One of the more common problems is ordering the wrong type of document abroad.
In many countries, several versions of the same certificate may be obtained – a short form, a full form, an informational version or versions containing different scopes of information.
For transcription purposes, it is advisable to obtain a document containing the fullest possible information, particularly in the case of a child’s birth certificate.
The document should, in particular, make it possible to correctly determine the parents’ details. A short-form certificate may confirm the fact of birth but may not contain the information necessary to prepare a complete Polish civil status record.
As a rule, for the purpose of transcription, the original foreign civil status document or a document having appropriate official status under the law of the country in which it was issued must be presented.
An ordinary photocopy, scan or photograph of the certificate will generally not be sufficient to carry out the procedure itself.
A scan is, however, very useful at an earlier stage. On its basis, it is possible to check:
An apostille is a certification of the official character of a document intended for use in another country that is a party to the Hague Convention.
It confirms, among other things, the authenticity of the signature and the capacity in which the person signing the document acted.
Whether an apostille is required depends, among other things, on:
Canada has been a party to the Hague Convention since 11 January 2024. In relation to Canadian civil status certificates intended for transcription in Poland, attention should be paid to the requirement to obtain the appropriate apostille.
In the United States, the procedure for obtaining an apostille depends, among other things, on the authority that issued the document. Civil status certificates are primarily state documents, and therefore the procedure must be determined for the particular state.
Special rules simplifying the presentation of certain public documents issued in one EU Member State in another EU Member State apply.
Therefore, it should not automatically be assumed that every foreign document always requires an apostille.
As a rule, a document drawn up in a foreign language and submitted in Polish transcription proceedings must be presented together with an official translation into Polish.
Depending on the legal basis and the place where the procedure is conducted, an appropriate translation may be prepared, among others, by:
In certain procedures, it is also possible for a consul to certify the conformity of a translation prepared by another person.
Not necessarily. If the matter is to be handled in Poland by an attorney, a practical solution may be to send the original certificate to Poland and have it translated by a Polish sworn translator.
This makes it possible to avoid a situation in which the client incurs the cost of a translation that the Polish authority subsequently does not accept.
Yes. In many cases, transcription can be carried out by an attorney acting in Poland.
The attorney may, among other things:
For people living in Canada, the USA or Australia, this is often the simplest way to complete the proceedings without travelling to Poland.
The application may be submitted to any chosen Head of a Civil Registry Office in Poland.
People staying outside Poland may also use the services of Polish consular offices.
If an attorney is appointed in Poland, the application may be submitted directly to a Polish Civil Registry Office.
First, it should be determined whether the document held is the appropriate civil status document and whether it contains sufficient information.
If the certificate held is only a short-form version, it may be necessary to order a more complete document.
It must be determined whether additional authentication is required for a document from the particular country.
The foreign document must be prepared in a form allowing it to be used before a Polish Civil Registry Office.
Before submitting the application, the information contained in the foreign certificate should be compared with existing Polish civil status records.
The application is submitted to the appropriate Civil Registry Office directly or through a consul or attorney.
The Civil Registry Office may request additional documents if the information is incomplete or discrepancies arise.
Once transcription has been completed, a Polish copy of the civil status record can be obtained.
There is no single practical processing time for all cases.
The following factors are relevant, among others:
A case involving a complete document and consistent information will generally be simpler than proceedings requiring additional clarification of surnames, parents’ details or submission of further certificates.
The cost depends on how the matter is handled.
Potential costs to be taken into account include:
Consular fees are determined in local currencies and may change, so the current fee schedule of the relevant consular office should be checked before submitting the application.
This is a very common problem.
Differences may include, for example:
In such cases, automatically copying the information exactly as it appears in the foreign document is not always the best solution.
It may be possible to apply for adaptation of the spelling to the rules of the Polish language or correction of the information on the basis of Polish civil status records.
It is worth resolving this issue before submitting the application, particularly if the Polish certificate is subsequently to be used to obtain a passport.
Civil status registration systems differ between countries.
A foreign birth certificate may, for example, not contain:
In such a situation, it may be necessary to provide additional birth or marriage certificates of the parents.
Transcription may sometimes also be carried out where the information is incomplete, but the resulting Polish record may not contain information required for subsequent procedures.
This is particularly important when applying for a PESEL number and a Polish passport.
Depending on the circumstances, transcription may be accompanied by the need to supplement or correct the civil status record.
For example, if the foreign birth certificate of a child does not contain the mother’s maiden name, but this information follows from her Polish birth certificate or marriage certificate, it may be possible to supplement the information accordingly.
However, each such situation must be assessed individually on the basis of the documents.
Yes. Not every document presented as a foreign civil status record can automatically be entered into the Polish register.
Problems may arise, among other things, where:
A refusal is issued in the form of an administrative decision against which the appropriate remedies are available.
For many people living abroad, this is the main reason for carrying out transcription.
If a person was born abroad and is not registered as a resident in Poland, preparing a Polish birth record may be a necessary step preceding the assignment of a PESEL number in connection with a passport procedure.
Transcription itself does not, however, automatically result in the assignment of a PESEL number.
No.
Transcription of a birth certificate and confirmation of possession of Polish citizenship are two separate procedures.
A person may have a Polish birth record and at the same time – if required by the circumstances – be required to conduct separate proceedings for confirmation of possession of Polish citizenship.
In practice, in the case of people born abroad many years ago, the sequence often looks as follows:
Transcription of a foreign marriage certificate may have significance for the surname used by the spouses in Poland.
A problem arises particularly where the foreign marriage certificate does not contain information about the surname used by the spouses after marriage.
In appropriate cases, when carrying out transcription, it is possible to make a declaration concerning the surname used after marriage.
If the application is submitted by only one spouse, the possibility of making declarations on behalf of the other spouse is limited.
Therefore, in the case of a marriage certificate, before starting the procedure it is worth determining:
A foreign death certificate may be transferred to the Polish civil status register.
Transcription is often needed in matters concerning a person who died abroad but:
A Polish copy of the death certificate may subsequently be used, among other things, before a court, notary, bank or public authority.
Transcription of a death certificate is not, however, in itself a condition for obtaining a certificate for the transportation of a body or ashes to Poland.
A Canadian birth certificate may be entered into the Polish civil status register.
In the case of Canada, two elements are particularly important:
In the case of Ontario, Polish consular authorities indicate the Certified Copy of Birth Registration.
This is important because a person who has only a short-form Birth Certificate may not have a document containing all the information required to prepare a complete Polish civil status record.
Yes – according to the current guidelines concerning transcription, Polish consular offices in Canada require the Canadian document intended for this procedure to bear an apostille.
Canada joined the Hague Convention with effect from 11 January 2024.
No. The application can be handled through a Polish consular office or submitted in Poland through an attorney.
An American Birth Certificate may also be subject to transcription.
In the USA, a particular issue is that the system for issuing civil status records is not uniform at the federal level.
Documents are issued by the relevant state or local authorities.
Therefore, a person born, for example, in New York may have a different procedure for obtaining a certificate and apostille than a person born in Florida, Illinois or California.
Also in the case of the USA, personal travel to Poland is generally not necessary solely for the purpose of submitting an application for transcription.
A birth certificate issued in the United Kingdom may be transferred to the Polish civil status register.
First of all, it should be checked whether the document held contains the full information required by the Polish Civil Registry Office.
A document drawn up in English should be submitted together with the required official translation into Polish.
A person living in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland may use the competent consular office or complete the procedure directly in Poland through an attorney.
An Australian birth certificate may be transcribed into the Polish register.
As in the USA, attention should be paid to which authority and in which part of Australia issued the document.
Before starting the procedure, it should be checked:
In Australian matters, the method of preparing the translation may also be of particular importance, including the possibility of using translations prepared by translators holding appropriate Australian qualifications, provided that the requirements for using such a translation in Polish proceedings are met.
The procedure is similar to that for a birth certificate.
The following will usually be required:
Before starting the proceedings, particular attention should be paid to the issue of the surname after marriage.
The appropriate foreign death certificate is required for transcription.
For example, in relation to documents from Ontario, Polish consular offices indicate the Certified Copy of Death Registration.
The requirements concerning an apostille must then be determined and an official translation of the document must be prepared.
The application may also be submitted in Poland by a duly authorized attorney.
In practice, a client living abroad may complete the procedure as follows:
As a result, the client does not need to come to Poland solely in order to carry out formalities before the Civil Registry Office.
In many cases, yes.
Legal assistance with the transcription of a foreign civil status record may cover the entire process – from reviewing the foreign document to obtaining the Polish civil status record.
The scope of assistance may include:
If you live in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia or another country, the first step may be to send a scan of the certificate you currently have. This makes it possible to assess whether the document is suitable for transcription and what further steps will be necessary.
Yes. A foreign birth certificate may be transferred to the Polish civil status register by way of transcription if it meets the requirements provided for under Polish law.
Yes. A marriage concluded abroad may be entered into the Polish civil status register on the basis of a foreign marriage certificate.
Yes. A foreign death certificate may be subject to transcription and a Polish death record may be prepared on its basis.
Not in every case. Transcription is not a procedure reserved exclusively for Polish citizens. What is relevant is the existence of grounds for transcription and – if the application is submitted by another person – an appropriate legal interest.
No. In many cases, the matter may be handled through a consul or by an attorney acting directly before a Civil Registry Office in Poland.
In appropriate cases, yes. A lawyer may act as an attorney before a Polish Civil Registry Office within the scope of the power of attorney granted.
For the transcription procedure itself, the appropriate official document is generally required, and an ordinary scan or photocopy does not replace the original certificate. A scan is, however, sufficient for a preliminary review of the document.
No. The apostille requirement depends on the country in which the document was issued and the applicable international regulations.
Under the current procedures concerning Canadian certificates submitted for transcription, an appropriate apostille is required. Canada has applied the Hague Convention since 11 January 2024.
It depends on the type of document. For example, for Ontario, Polish consular offices indicate the Certified Copy of Birth Registration, which contains a broader scope of information.
In the case of American documents, the appropriate method of authentication must be determined for the particular document and the state in which it was issued.
Yes. A British birth certificate may be transcribed into the Polish civil status register.
Yes. However, the type of document, its content, authentication requirements and translation requirements should first be verified.
As a rule, a document in a foreign language should be submitted together with an official translation into Polish, unless specific regulations exempt the document from such a requirement.
This should not be assumed. The translation should meet the requirements applicable to documents submitted to a Polish Civil Registry Office.
Yes. In many cases, a practical solution is to have the document translated by a Polish sworn translator.
No. The presence of both parents and joint submission of the application are generally not required.
No. However, if only one spouse carries out certain actions concerning the surname, that spouse cannot automatically make the relevant declaration on behalf of the other spouse as well.
If the foreign document records the surname without Polish characters, in appropriate cases it is possible to apply for adaptation of the spelling to the rules of the Polish language or correction of the information on the basis of Polish civil status records.
It must be determined whether this is an error in the foreign document itself or a discrepancy between documents. This determines whether the issue should be resolved in the country where the certificate was issued or as part of the procedure before the Polish Civil Registry Office.
It may be necessary to submit an additional birth or marriage certificate of the mother in order to supplement the information in the Polish register.
No. Transcription may be a necessary step enabling the subsequent assignment of a PESEL number, but transcription itself does not automatically result in the assignment of the number.
Not always. This depends on the circumstances of the particular person, in particular on the issue of Polish citizenship and possession of a PESEL number.
No. Registration of a civil status record and confirmation of possession of Polish citizenship are separate procedures.
Not automatically in every case. The content of the foreign certificate and the declarations made by the spouses concerning their surnames are relevant.
This is not the same procedure. Recognition of a foreign divorce judgment and entering the appropriate annotation in the Polish register are subject to separate rules.
It may be required or very useful, particularly where proceedings are conducted before a Polish court, notary or another institution and it is necessary to prove the death on the basis of documents functioning within the Polish system.
Depending on the documents and the nature of the discrepancy, it may be possible to combine transcription with appropriate applications for correction or supplementation of the information.
A refusal is issued in the form of an administrative decision. The decision may be challenged in accordance with the rules of administrative proceedings.
It is best to first check the document you currently have before ordering an apostille, translation or sending the original to Poland. This helps avoid the costs associated with preparing the wrong version of the certificate.
Transcription of a foreign civil status record makes it possible to register a foreign birth, marriage or death certificate in Poland.
For people living in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia, the most important information is that completing the procedure generally does not require a personal trip to Poland.
Before submitting the application, however, it is important to carefully check:
Proper preparation of the documents before starting the proceedings helps reduce the risk of being requested to supplement missing documentation and makes the entire procedure considerably easier.
Dr Joanna Suslo, Attorney-at-law
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile WhatsApp 24/7: + 48 668 841 990
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