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Civil-status records and criminal record certificates for Polish authorities

Birth certificate, marriage certificate, criminal record certificate — the documents that come up most often at a Polish office. Before ordering a translation, check one thing: some extracts need no translation at all, and a foreign record sometimes has to be entered in the Polish register first. Below: the order of steps and what the law says.

Key facts

  • Multilingual extracts from EU states (Vienna Convention) need no translation. [11]
  • Translations may be made by a Polish sworn translator, an EU/EEA sworn translator or a consul. [11]
  • A KRK criminal record certificate costs PLN 30 on paper and PLN 20 online. [13]

Before ordering a translation: check the type of extract

  • Convention No. 16, signed in Vienna on 8 September 1976, introduced multilingual extracts of birth, marriage and death records — issued on forms A, B and C precisely where using an extract would otherwise require a translation (Art. 1). [12]
  • Such extracts have the same value as extracts issued under the domestic law of the state of origin and are accepted WITHOUT legalisation or equivalent formality in every state bound by the Convention (Art. 8). [12]
  • In registry-office practice this means that abridged extracts on Vienna Convention multilingual forms issued by EU member states need no translation. Before paying for a translation, check whether your extract is one of these. [11]
  • NOTE — the office applies this exemption to extracts from EU states. Documents from outside the EU (e.g. from Ukraine) will need a translation. [11]

Who may translate a civil-status record

  • Documents in a foreign language are submitted together with an official translation into Polish. [11]
  • The translation may be made by: a sworn translator on the list kept by the Minister of Justice, a sworn translator from an EU/EEA state, or a consul. [11]
  • You can check a Polish translator’s credentials on the Minister of Justice list — by seal number, language, city or voivodeship. [9]
  • If a translation already exists, you do not have to order a new one: a sworn translator may check and certify a translation made by someone else (Art. 13(1) of the Act). [8]

When a foreign record must be entered in the Polish register

  • Transcription (transkrypcja) is the faithful, literal transfer of the content of a foreign civil-status record into the Polish civil-status register. [11]
  • It is MANDATORY when a Polish citizen concerned by the foreign document has an earlier civil-status record drawn up in Poland and requests a civil-registration act, applies for a Polish identity document or has applied for a PESEL number. [11]
  • Applications for transcription of a birth, marriage or death record are handled within one month at the latest, and particularly complex cases within two months at the latest. [11]
  • The order matters: the translation is ordered for the document you will actually submit. If your case requires transcription, settle that at the registry office first. [11]

Criminal record certificate (KRK)

  • Obtaining information about a person costs PLN 30 on paper and PLN 20 electronically. [13]
  • You can apply through the KRK e-Platform (requires a trusted profile or a qualified signature), in person at the Information Office or an information point, or by post. [14]
  • A certificate issued in Poland is in Polish — a translation is needed when you submit it abroad. Conversely, a foreign certificate for a Polish authority requires a translation into Polish under the rules described above. [11]

Apostille: on the document, not on the translation

  • An apostille certifies the official character of a domestic document to be used abroad — it confirms the signature, the capacity of the signatory and the authenticity of the seal. [10]
  • In Poland apostilles on civil-status records and KRK certificates are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Education documents are different: university diplomas — NAWA, school certificates — the Ministry of National Education. [10]
  • The fee is PLN 60 per document. Matters handled in person are completed during the visit where possible; applications sent by post are processed within 30 days of receipt. [10]

Based on the official sources listed below (as of August 2026). Requirements are set by the authority receiving the document — confirm them there before ordering a translation. We do not accept documents for translation.

Request to sworn translators

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Lingverra produces a precise translation in the original layout and makes your work up to 95 % easier — you check the marked spots, certify and are responsible for the translation.

See Lingverra for translators

Sources

All information above comes from official sources:

  1. ENIC-NARIC Polska (NAWA) — Zasady tłumaczenia dokumentów w procedurze uznania wykształcenia
  2. Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości — Tłumacze przysięgli (lista, ustawa z 25.11.2004)
  3. NAWA — nostryfikacja dyplomów ukończenia studiów
  4. Umowa PL–UA o pomocy prawnej z 24.05.1993 r., art. 15 (Dz.U. 1994 nr 96 poz. 465)
  5. NAWA — Apostille dla ukraińskich dyplomów i świadectw
  6. Umowa PL–RF o pomocy prawnej z 16.09.1996 r., art. 15 (Dz.U. 2002 nr 83 poz. 750)
  7. Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości — obrót prawny z Federacją Rosyjską
  8. Ustawa z dnia 25 listopada 2004 r. o zawodzie tłumacza przysięgłego — tekst jednolity (Dz.U. 2017 poz. 1505)
  9. Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości — wyszukiwarka listy tłumaczy przysięgłych
  10. Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych — Apostille
  11. Transkrypcja zagranicznego aktu stanu cywilnego — procedura urzędu stanu cywilnego (portal samorządowy gov.pl)
  12. Konwencja nr 16 o wydawaniu wielojęzycznych odpisów skróconych aktów stanu cywilnego (Wiedeń 1976, Dz.U. 2004 nr 166 poz. 1735)
  13. Krajowy Rejestr Karny — koszt zaświadczenia o niekaralności
  14. Gov.pl — Uzyskaj zaświadczenie z Krajowego Rejestru Karnego
  15. Ustawa o zawodach lekarza i lekarza dentysty — tekst jednolity (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 37)
  16. Ustawa o zawodach pielęgniarki i położnej — tekst jednolity (Dz.U. 2011 nr 174 poz. 1039 ze zm.)
  17. NIPiP — przyznawanie prawa wykonywania zawodu pielęgniarki lub położnej cudzoziemcowi (art. 35 i 36)
  18. Ministerstwo Zdrowia — prawo wykonywania zawodu pielęgniarki lub położnej na określony zakres czynności (art. 35a)
  19. Ustawa o kierujących pojazdami — tekst jednolity (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1226)
  20. Rozporządzenie Ministra Infrastruktury z 5.08.2025 r. w sprawie wydawania dokumentów stwierdzających uprawnienia do kierowania pojazdami (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1073)
  21. UN Treaty Collection (MTDSG) — Convention on Road Traffic (Wiedeń, 8.11.1968): lista stron
  22. Gov.pl — Wymień zagraniczne prawo jazdy na polskie
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