Apostille on Polish documents for CIS countries: 2026 table

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova are all parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, and Poland objected to none of them joining. A Polish document for these countries needs only an apostille from the MSZ (Poland's foreign ministry): 60 PLN per document, no embassy visit. In the region, only Turkmenistan remains outside the Convention.

Country table: apostille or legalisation

We checked each country in October 2026 against the status table published by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), which now lists 130 Contracting Parties. The Convention has applied to Poland since 14 August 2005, so for countries that joined earlier, the apostille has worked with Polish documents from that date.

One detail trips people up. When a new state accedes, existing parties may object, and then the Convention doesn't apply between them. Austria, Belgium, Germany and Greece objected to Uzbekistan's accession; the same four objected to Kyrgyzstan; Austria, Belgium and Germany objected to Tajikistan. Belgium later withdrew its objections for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and Germany withdrew its objection for Kyrgyzstan. Poland isn't on any of these lists. So if a German or Austrian website says a document for Uzbekistan needs legalisation, it is talking about German or Austrian documents. A Polish document goes to Tashkent with an apostille.

Polish documents that most often travel to these countries

A birth certificate for a child born in Poland. Order a paper odpis aktu urodzenia (birth certificate extract) from a USC civil registry office and have the MSZ apostille it. An ePUAP printout of an electronic extract won't do, because the MSZ certifies paper only; we explained why in electronic documents and the apostille.

Marriage or divorce documents. An odpis aktu małżeństwa goes straight to the MSZ. A divorce judgment first needs certification by the prezes sądu okręgowego (president of the regional court), and only then the MSZ apostille.

A Polish university diploma. NAWA apostilles it, not the MSZ, and the review can take up to 60 days from registration. School certificates are certified by the kurator oświaty, and the świadectwo dojrzałości (secondary school leaving certificate) by the OKE exam board that issued it. Details in diplomas via NAWA and the kuratorium.

A criminal record certificate. You need a paper KRK certificate, apostilled by the MSZ.

A power of attorney from a Polish notary. The sąd okręgowy certifies the notary's signature first, then the MSZ adds the apostille. If your country has a consulate in Poland, ask whether it certifies powers of attorney. For Ukraine that route exists and is shorter; we covered it in apostille on Polish documents for Ukraine.

A KRS extract for a Polish company, for a branch, a bank account or a contract in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. It also needs a signature and seal; a plain printout won't work. Our express option is 700 PLN: the extract, an express apostille and DHL delivery. Company paperwork is covered separately in apostille on corporate documents.

Getting an apostille after you've left Poland

This is where most people get stuck. The MSZ and NAWA return documents by registered letter, not by courier, and only to addresses in Poland, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Almaty, Tashkent, Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi and Chișinău aren't on that list. If you live there, the application has to name a recipient in Poland (pełnomocnik do doręczeń).

Someone else can file in person at the MSZ for you, provided they carry a written authorisation (upoważnienie) you've signed by hand. Appointments are booked through e-Konsulat, and the 60 PLN fee is paid in advance to the Centrum Obsługi Podatnika account; it can't be paid on site. Postal applications take up to 30 days. What the visit to ul. Krucza in Warsaw looks like is described in apostille in Warsaw.

Our process: you courier the original to our Warsaw office, we pay the fee, book the slot, file the document and send it back with the apostille by DHL.

An example. A graduate of a Warsaw university goes home to Tashkent without apostilling his diploma. His employer there asks for an apostilled diploma, and NAWA won't post documents to Uzbekistan. The way out is a pełnomocnik do doręczeń in Poland who files with NAWA, collects the diploma once it's processed and ships it by courier. Had he filed with NAWA before leaving, he could have collected it himself.

What to sort out before you leave Poland

If you're heading home for good, some documents are far easier to handle while you're still here. An apostille is attached to one specific copy, so order as many paper odpisy from the USC as there are offices that will want one, and apostille them all at once. Each apostille is 60 PLN; reordering from abroad means shipping originals again and finding a recipient in Poland. File your diploma with NAWA at least two months before departure, since the review takes up to 60 days. Order the KRK certificate close to the date it will be submitted: the KRK laws set no validity period, but the recipient may insist on a recent one. And arrange in advance for someone in Poland to collect documents and file at the MSZ for you; a written upoważnienie with your handwritten signature is enough there.

Translation: which language and where

The apostille is filled in in Polish. Receiving authorities nearly always want both the document and the stamp translated, so the apostille comes first and the translation after it.

The Polish Ministry of Justice list of sworn translators covers Kazakh, Uzbek, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Romanian, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and, of course, Russian. A Polish sworn translation can itself be apostilled at the MSZ for another 60 PLN, so the recipient sees two apostilles: one on the original and one on the translation.

Before ordering a translation in Poland, ask the receiving authority whether they'll accept it. They may require a translation certified by a notary in their own country, in which case a Polish translation with an apostille is wasted money. If you do need it done here, send us a scan and we'll quote price and turnaround for that document; see the sworn translation page.

Turkmenistan: legalisation instead of an apostille

Turkmenistan isn't in the HCCH table, so a Polish document for use there goes through two-stage consular legalisation. First the MSZ certifies the document: 26 PLN per document, booked through the same e-Konsulat system, with notarial documents certified by the sąd okręgowy beforehand. Then the document goes to the Turkmen consulate accredited in Poland, under its own rules and fee. Our fee for MSZ legalisation with coordination of the sworn translation is 1,000 PLN; the embassy step isn't included. The general scheme is in apostille or consular legalisation.

Do I need the Kazakh or Uzbek embassy in Warsaw to stamp my Polish document?

No. Between Hague parties the apostille replaces consular legalisation, so no embassy stamp is needed on a Polish document. Of the countries in this article, only Turkmenistan requires the consulate step.

Can the Polish embassy in Astana or Tashkent issue the apostille?

No. Polish documents are apostilled only in Poland: by the MSZ in Warsaw, by NAWA for diplomas, and by the kurator oświaty or the OKE for school documents. Polish consuls don't act as intermediaries for apostilles. Kazakh or Uzbek authorities apostille only their own documents.

Mistakes we see most often

1. An electronic odpis or e-KRK printout instead of a paper document.
2. Translation ordered before the apostille, leaving the stamp untranslated.
3. A document posted to the MSZ with a return address in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan.
4. Advice from a German website about legalisation for Uzbekistan or Tajikistan applied to a Polish document.
5. An apostilled document for Kazakhstan taken to the embassy for an extra stamp. Hague parties don't need that step.

If your documents are going to several countries, or you're unsure whether to translate in Poland, we can map the route in a 300 PLN consultation, credited towards the service if you go ahead.

MSZ apostille on a Polish document for CIS countries - 500 PLN; legalisation for Turkmenistan - 1,000 PLN →