Criminal Record Certificate Online via e-KRK 2026

A few years ago, getting a zaświadczenie o niekaralności (criminal record certificate) meant walking to a punkt informacyjny KRK (KRK information point) or to the court, queuing, and paying 30 PLN for a stamped sheet of paper. Today you can run the whole thing from your sofa through the e-KRK system, and it costs 10 PLN less.

Below we walk through it step by step: how to file for the certificate online, which electronic tools you actually need, how many days the result takes, and whether the digital file carries the same weight as the paper original. One thing up front - if you have neither a Profil Zaufany nor a qualified signature, you cannot file through e-KRK yourself. We come back to that at the end.

What e-KRK Is and Who Issues the Certificate

The zaświadczenie o niekaralności is issued by the Krajowy Rejestr Karny (KRK, the National Criminal Register) under the Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości (Ministry of Justice). This is the single official source for a Polish criminal record certificate. Online submission runs through the e-KRK system on the Ministry's website, and the electronic result arrives within up to 10 days, though in practice it is often faster.

e-KRK is the same register with an online intake window bolted on. You fill in the application on the site, sign it electronically, pay online, and a few days later a PDF with the Ministry's qualified seal shows up in your account. No visits, no queues, no chasing an original across town.

One detail trips people up constantly: there are two types of certificate. The one about a physical person (you) is the "zapytanie o udzielenie informacji o osobie." The one about a legal entity (a company) is the "zapytanie o udzielenie informacji o podmiocie." A foreigner who needs the certificate for a job, for legalisation, or to file documents almost always needs the first - "o osobie."

The Price: 20 PLN Online vs 30 PLN on Paper

The saving is direct and easy to see.

The digital route is cheaper by design. The state nudges people online to take the load off the intake points. For 20 PLN you get a full document that most Polish offices, employers, and banks accept in electronic form.

Payment inside e-KRK happens online, by card or fast transfer through a payment gateway. There is no separate trip to a cashier or post office; the receipt is generated automatically and attached to your application.

What You Need to File Through e-KRK

Here is the real limitation. To submit the application online and sign it electronically, you need one of two tools:

• Profil Zaufany - a free state-issued electronic signature. It is set up by citizens and by foreigners who hold a PESEL and a confirmed profile (through a bank, a confirmation point, or mObywatel).
• Podpis kwalifikowany - a paid qualified electronic signature from a commercial provider. It works even without a PESEL, but it costs money and takes separate setup.

Without one of these two, you cannot sign the application in e-KRK. The system simply will not let you past the signing step. This is exactly where most foreigners get stuck: you can open the account, you can fill in the form, but you have nothing to sign it with.

Beyond the signature, you will need:

• passport details and birth data (place, date, parents' names - the form has these fields);
• your PESEL, if you have one (it speeds up identification, but for "o osobie" it is not always required);
• a correspondence address;
• the purpose of the certificate - sometimes you have to state it (for an employer, for a public authority, and so on).

Step by Step: Filing the Certificate in e-KRK

Here is the procedure as someone with a Profil Zaufany goes through it.

Step 1. Logging in

Open the Ministry of Justice's e-KRK site and log in with your Profil Zaufany or qualified signature. The system creates an account where your applications and finished documents are stored.

Step 2. Choosing the type of request

Select "zapytanie o udzielenie informacji o osobie" - the request for information about a physical person. That is your own certificate. If you accidentally pick "o podmiocie," the system will ask for company data instead of your own.

Step 3. Filling in the form

Enter your personal data: name, surname, date and place of birth, citizenship, parents' names, PESEL (if you have one), and address. The details must match your passport letter for letter. A mismatch in how your name is transliterated leads to a certificate issued for "a different person," or to the application being rejected.

Step 4. Signing

Sign the application electronically through your Profil Zaufany or qualified signature. This is the make-or-break step; without a valid signature, it does not go through.

Step 5. Payment

Pay the 20 PLN online, by card or fast transfer. The receipt attaches to the application automatically.

Step 6. Waiting and receiving

Wait for the result. By law it is up to 10 days, but in practice the certificate is often ready in 1-3 working days. The finished document appears in your account as a PDF carrying the qualified electronic seal.

How to Download and Print the Electronic Certificate

Once the certificate is ready, a PDF file appears in your e-KRK account. Here is what matters about it.

The electronic document is valid in electronic form - with the Ministry's qualified seal built into the file. You can verify its authenticity online through the electronic signature embedded in it. If you simply print the PDF on your home printer, the printout on its own does not carry the legal force of the original. It becomes a copy, and the seal is "lost" in printing.

So:

• if an office accepts documents electronically, send them the PDF file itself, not a printout;
• if you need a paper original with a "wet" stamp, the electronic route is not for you - you need a paper certificate from a punkt KRK or the court;
• some authorities accept a printout of the electronic certificate as an informational copy, but check in advance whether that works for them.

In practice, in Mazowieckie today most employers and offices accept the electronic PDF without fuss, especially when the paperwork is filed online anyway. But for use abroad, or for a notary, you usually need a paper original plus an apostille.

The Legal Force of the Electronic Document

The electronic certificate from e-KRK is a full official document, not a draft. It is signed with the qualified seal of the Ministry of Justice, and in electronic circulation its legal force equals that of a stamped paper certificate.

The key condition: that force holds as long as the document stays electronic. A PDF with the embedded signature can be checked and its authenticity confirmed. The moment you print it, you have ordinary paper with no protected seal, and it is no longer the original.

Which gives you a simple rule: where they accept documents electronically, send the file. Where you need a paper original, order the paper certificate from the start.

When You Still Need a Paper Certificate

The electronic route is convenient, but not universal. A paper certificate from a punkt KRK is needed when:

• the document goes abroad and requires an apostille - the apostille is placed on a physical original;
• an office expressly demands an original with a "wet" stamp (certain notaries, courts, consulates);
• the certificate has to go into a paper file - for a licence or a tender, say, where the committee works with hard copy;
• you have neither a Profil Zaufany nor a qualified signature and no PESEL - in which case online filing is simply not available to you.

If the certificate is meant for use abroad, an apostille is usually added, and sometimes a sworn translation as well. We cover that in detail in our piece on the apostille for a criminal record certificate. For getting the certificate itself in Poland, with all the form and filing nuances, see our breakdown of the KRK criminal record certificate.

Common Mistakes We See in Clients

Over years of work in Warsaw, we have a short list of where people trip up in e-KRK:

• Wrong transliteration of the name. One spelling in the passport, another in the form. The certificate comes back "for the wrong person."
• Picking the wrong request type. Someone needs a certificate about themselves but selects "o podmiocie" (about a company) and gets stuck.
• No signature. Account created, form filled, and nothing to sign with - no Profil Zaufany, no qualified signature.
• Printing the PDF and taking it to an urząd as an original. But the office wants either the electronic file or a paper original with a stamp.
• Ordering the electronic version when an apostille is needed. No one apostilles a printout, so they had to reorder the paper certificate and lose time.

The last two are what most often bring people to us: the clock is ticking and the certificate is "the wrong one." Better to decide at the start exactly what you need it for.

Filing online through e-KRK is the fast, cheap way to get a criminal record certificate - if you have a Profil Zaufany or a qualified signature. If you have neither, or you are not sure which certificate fits your case and whether an apostille will be needed later, we handle the whole thing for you, from filing to the finished document. Order your criminal record certificate with LegalWin and skip the forms and the signature headache entirely.

This is general information, not individual legal advice. Every situation is different - book a consultation with us about your specific case.