Transcription (registration) of a foreign birth certificate in the Polish registry of civil status

No, the documents can be submitted in person or by mail.

Make an appointment using the e-konsulat system .

1. transcription application (available at a consular office or download),
2. the original of the child’s foreign birth certificate, containing the names and surnames of the parents,
3. translation of a foreign birth certificate by a sworn translator or consul,
4. Moreover, if one of the spouses does not have a Polish birth certificate, and the marriage of the child’s parents has not been registered in Poland, we recommend that the original parent’s birth certificate be submitted (apostille or legalization may be required, unless otherwise provided for in separate regulations) along with a translation made by a sworn translator or consul. Without submitting the above document, the transcription may be performed, however, the transcribed act will not have all the data and it may not be possible to assign a PESEL number and produce a passport document.

Remember! Documents drawn up in a foreign language must be submitted together with an official translation into Polish made by:

• sworn translator entered on the list kept by the Minister of Justice
• Sworn translator authorized to make such translations in the Member States of the European Union or the European Economic Area (EEA)
• consul.

The fee is 50 EUR.

The consul will immediately forward your application to the head of the registry office indicated by you.

You can collect the Polish copy of the certificate in person at the consulate or it can be sent by post.

The head of the registry office refuses to transfer a foreign marital status certificate (transcription) if:

• the document in the issuing country is not recognized as a marital status document or is not valid or has not been issued by a competent authority, or raises doubts as to its authenticity, or confirms an event other than birth, marriage or death,
• the foreign document was transcribed in a country other than the state of the event,
• it would be contrary to the fundamental principles of the legal order of the Republic of Poland.

The refusal to transfer a foreign marital status certificate will take the form of an administrative decision, which may be appealed against to the locally competent voivode. 

Do both parents need to be present to submit a transcription request?

No, the presence of both parents is not required when applying for the transcription of their child’s birth certificate. An application to the selected head of the registry office for transcription may be submitted by the person concerned by the transcribed event or by another person who demonstrates a legal interest in transcription.

Can a transcription request be submitted by someone other than the parent?

A transcription request may be submitted by a person “who demonstrates a legal interest in the transcription”. Therefore, cases of submitting applications, e.g. by unrelated persons or local institutions, are assessed individually.

My partner gave birth to a child in Senegal. On the birth certificate of our child, my details are indicated as the child’s father. But in Poland, the partner’s divorce case is still pending. In the case of transcription, will the details of her husband as the father of the child be entered in the Polish birth certificate?

No, the child’s father’s data will be the same as in the foreign birth certificate. During the visit, you will be asked to indicate the address of your partner’s husband. After the transcription, the head of the registry office will notify her husband about registering the child’s birth certificate and entering your details as the child’s father. He will also inform the husband of the partner that if he himself feels that he is paternal, he can bring a case to court for the denial of paternity.

Is drawing up a Polish birth certificate associated with assigning a PESEL number?

Not completely. In the case of people born abroad and not having their place of residence in Poland, the preparation (as a result of transcription) of a Polish birth certificate is a prerequisite for assigning a PESEL number. But the application for assigning this number to the child is submitted only during the passport visit. In the case of people who have transcribed in connection with the pending proceedings for confirmation of Polish citizenship, an additional condition for accepting a passport application (and granting a PESEL number) will be obtaining a positive decision of the voivode on having Polish citizenship.

The data in the foreign birth certificate of our child was recorded without Polish diacritics. How does this relate to a transcription request?

In such a case, you can submit an application for the adjustment of the spelling in the act prepared as a result of transcription to the rules of Polish spelling or an application for correction of data based on your marriage certificate or your birth certificates. However, while the registry offices in Poland correct the data of the parents in the birth certificate of their child on this basis (as persons who already have the marital status files in Poland), they do not always correct the data of the child itself. This may lead to a situation where the parents’ data will be saved in accordance with the Polish spelling rules, and the child’s data without Polish diacritics.