Poland's National Criminal Register issues certificates not only for individuals but for companies as well. The document is the zaświadczenie o niekaralności podmiotu zbiorowego (certificate for a collective entity), confirming that the company does not appear in the register under the Act on the Liability of Collective Entities.
People usually discover it exists at an inconvenient moment: three days before a tender deadline, while applying for a transport licence, or when a foreign counterparty sends a document list containing "company criminal record certificate".
The general KRK procedure - forms, fees, e-KRK and the paper route - is covered in our main guide to the Polish criminal record certificate.
When it is required
| Situation | What is asked for |
|---|---|
| Public procurement | certificate for the company plus every board member and commercial proxy |
| Licences: transport, security, finance, alcohol | certificate for the company and its managers |
| Tenders abroad | company certificate with apostille and sworn translation |
| Bank due diligence, larger financing | as the bank requires |
| Partner and vendor programmes | as the counterparty requires |
| Selling the company | a standard part of the pack |
Public procurement holds a trap: the company certificate alone is not enough. The contracting authority also checks individuals - board members, the commercial proxy, and in partnerships the partners or general partners. Where a foreigner sits on the board, a certificate from their country of citizenship joins the Polish one. How to arrange that.
How it differs from the personal certificate
Formally these are two different queries to the same register.
- Query about a person - for an individual, by PESEL or passport details.
- Query about a collective entity - for a legal person, by KRS and NIP number.
The forms are separate, and that is the first cause of rejected filings: the personal form gets submitted with company details, and the resulting document does not match the requirement.
The second difference: a collective entity certificate concerns the liability of the company itself, not the criminal records of its owners or directors. A clean company certificate says nothing about the CEO.
Three ways to obtain it
1. Online through e-KRK. The Ministry of Justice system. It needs a qualified electronic signature or a Polish trusted profile held by a company representative. The fee is PLN 20 and the document arrives as a file, usually within a day.
2. On paper. At a KRK information point at a court, or by post to the KRK Information Bureau. The fee is PLN 30 and it takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks.
3. Through a representative under a power of attorney. The answer where directors hold no Polish trusted profile - typical for companies registered remotely by foreigners.
The electronic route is cheaper and faster, but carries the limitation below.
The electronic certificate trap
An e-KRK certificate has full legal force inside Poland: contracting authorities, banks and public bodies accept it.
Abroad the problem starts. The MSZ issues apostilles only on paper originals bearing a signature and seal, and a printout of a file has neither. It then has to be notarised and authenticated by the regional court, or a paper version ordered from the start.
The rule is simple: if the document leaves Poland, order paper. We work through that logic in the article on electronic documents and the apostille.
How long it stays valid
The statute sets no expiry; the receiving side sets the rule:
- public procurement - usually issued no earlier than six months before submission;
- licences and concessions - typically three months;
- banks and foreign counterparties - three months, occasionally six.
The practical conclusion: order against a specific deadline rather than "to have on file". At PLN 20-30, a repeat order costs less than a rejected bid.
What we do
- Establishing the full list. It is almost never one certificate but a set: the company plus each manager, and for foreigners the national certificates too.
- Obtaining the certificates for both the company and the individuals, including where a director has no PESEL: how to get a KRK certificate without a PESEL.
- Apostille or consular legalisation where documents go abroad.
- Sworn translation after the apostille, never before.
- Assembling the tender pack - certificates, KRS extract, tax and social security clearances, matched to the authority's requirements.
Timelines and pricing sit on the service page. For a foreign recipient, see also our piece on apostilles for company documents.
Frequently asked questions
Does a sole trader need this certificate? No. A sole trader business is not a collective entity - the ordinary personal certificate for the entrepreneur applies.
The company was registered a month ago. Will a certificate be issued? Yes; the register will simply show no entries. The company must be entered in the KRS and hold a NIP.
Can an accountant or lawyer order it? Yes, under a power of attorney from the company. That is exactly how we work.
What if there is an entry in the register? Then a legal review is needed: what the entry covers, when it lapses, and what steps are available.
Does a certificate for the CEO replace the company one? No. Two different documents covering two different liability regimes; tenders normally require both.
What does a tender pack cost? Official fees: PLN 20-30 per certificate, PLN 30-60 for a KRS extract, tax and social security clearances free or PLN 21. The main cost is the time spent assembling it.
A company criminal record certificate costs PLN 20 and takes a day, provided you know which form to file and which channel to use. Problems start when it is ordered at the last minute and by the wrong route.
Send us the contracting authority's or counterparty's requirements - we will assemble the full pack against them.
This material is informational. Requirements differ between authorities - consult a lawyer about your situation.