A Polish birth, marriage or death extract, residence certificate or a Polish citizen's criminal record certificate going to another EU country doesn't need an apostille: EU Regulation 2016/1191 has exempted it since 16 February 2019. You can also skip the translation by attaching a multilingual standard form (wielojęzyczny standardowy formularz), issued in Poland by the office that issues the document, for 17 zł. Documents issued outside the EU are not covered.
We regularly get Polish certificates sent in "for an apostille for Germany". Often Germany can't ask for one, so the fee and the ministry appointment are wasted. The opposite happens too: someone assumes nothing is needed inside the EU when their document is outside the regulation. Both cases are below.
Two separate reliefs in one regulation
The regulation does two different things, and people mix them up.
First, an exemption from apostille and legalisation (art. 4). It applies to public documents from one EU country presented to authorities of another, proving one of 13 facts: birth, being alive, death, name, marriage (including capacity to marry and marital status), divorce or legal separation, registered partnership and its dissolution, parenthood, adoption, domicile or residence, nationality, and absence of a criminal record. No form is needed for this part; the exemption applies on its own.
Second, the multilingual standard form (art. 7). It's a translation aid attached to the document, available for seven subjects only: birth, being alive, death, marriage (with capacity to marry and marital status), registered partnership, domicile or residence, and absence of a criminal record. The form has no legal value of its own, means nothing without the document, and can only be used in another EU country, not in the country that issued it (art. 8).
With the form, no translation is required as long as the receiving authority finds the information sufficient (art. 6(1)(b)). If it doesn't, a certified translation made in any EU country must be accepted in all the others (art. 6(2)). So a German registry office can't reject a translation by a Polish sworn translator (tłumacz przysięgły).
The regulation applies directly in all 27 EU countries. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are outside the EU and still work with the ordinary apostille, as does the UK.
Which Polish documents are covered, and which get a form
Poland's implementing act (ustawa z 4 kwietnia 2019 r. o przedkładaniu niektórych dokumentów urzędowych w państwach członkowskich UE, Dz.U. 2019 poz. 860) lists 40 documents exempt from apostille. A form exists for only ten of them.
| Document | Where to get it | Form available | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short extract (odpis skrócony) of a birth, marriage or death record | any USC (civil registry office) | yes | 22 zł extract + 17 zł form |
| Full extract (odpis zupełny) of the same records | any USC | no | 33 zł |
| Certificate of marital status (zaświadczenie o stanie cywilnym) | USC | yes | 17 zł for the form |
| Certificate that you may marry under Polish law | any USC | yes | 38 zł + 17 zł |
| Certificate of registered address (zaświadczenie o zameldowaniu) | municipal office, in Warsaw the district office | yes | 17 zł for the form |
| Criminal record certificate from the KRK | KRK information office | Polish citizens only | 17 zł for the form |
| Court rulings on divorce, adoption, paternity | court | no | no apostille, translation if the office asks |
| Name change decision, citizenship decisions | USC, voivode, Interior Ministry | no | no apostille, translation if the office asks |
Note row two. The form attaches only to a short extract. If a foreign office insists on the full extract, it still needs no apostille, but you'll need a translation. Getting the address certificate itself is covered in our zameldowanie certificate guide.
How to order the form in Poland
The 2019 act sets the procedure. You ask the office that issues the underlying document (art. 5). Order it together with the document and you get both at once; order it later and the office has 7 days to issue it (art. 9). If you're adding a form later to a certificate (zaświadczenie) rather than an extract, bring the original certificate (art. 7).
Your request must contain:
- Your full name.
- Your PESEL number or, if you don't have one, your date of birth.
- The EU language, besides Polish, that the form should be in.
- Optionally, a correspondence address.
The fee is 17 zł (art. 8). At a Polish consulate abroad it's the equivalent of 30 euros.
One Warsaw detail: you can order the extract online through gov.pl with a profil zaufany (trusted profile), but not the form. The city's warszawa19115.pl page says plainly that the form can't be requested online, only in person or by post. You pay the 17 zł by transfer to the city account or at the cash desks of some district offices. An extract takes up to 7 working days in Warsaw if the record was drawn up there, up to 10 if it was elsewhere.
For civil registry extracts, the form attaches only to documents issued from the electronic register after 1 March 2015 (art. 3(2)). An older extract won't do; you need a fresh one, and if the record still sits only in an old paper book, the USC migrates it to the register first, which adds a few days.
Criminal record certificates: separate rules
The form for a KRK certificate is issued only at the KRK information office (Biuro Informacyjne KRK), ul. Czerniakowska 100, Warsaw, in person or through someone holding your written authorisation, and paid in cash (17 zł). Three conditions apply: you're a Polish citizen, the certificate shows no convictions, and box 12 of the request has "Kartoteka karna" ticked. We obtain KRK certificates under a power of attorney, including for people who have already left Poland: certificate of no criminal record costs 500 PLN for a Polish-language PDF with all state fees, an MSZ apostille on it is another 500 PLN, and we quote the sworn translation by language.
When you still need an apostille
This is where most mistakes happen. The regulation doesn't help in five situations.
The document is going outside the EU. The US, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Georgia, Ukraine: you need an MSZ apostille, or legalisation for countries outside the Hague Convention. See apostille or consular legalisation.
The document was issued outside the EU. A Ukrainian or Belarusian birth certificate for a German or Spanish office isn't covered (art. 2(3)). The issuing country apostilles it; see foreign documents for Poland for how that works.
A criminal record certificate for a foreigner. This is the one people miss. Art. 2(1)(m) exempts criminal record certificates only when issued for an EU citizen by that citizen's own country. A Polish KRK certificate for a Ukrainian, Belarusian or Kazakh citizen falls outside the regulation even when it's going to Czechia or Spain, so it needs an apostille like any Hague-country document. The same goes for a Polish certificate for a citizen of another EU country, such as a German living in Poland: Poland is not their country of citizenship. More on the certificate itself in how to get a KRK certificate.
The document isn't on the list. Diplomas, notarial powers of attorney, KRS company extracts and medical certificates aren't covered. Between EU countries the ordinary Hague Convention applies to them.
You want an apostille anyway. Nothing stops you from getting one voluntarily (art. 1(1)), but an authority in another EU country can't demand it for a listed document.
One more limit from the regulation itself: it simplifies the paperwork but doesn't deal with recognising the legal effects of a document (art. 2(4)). The office will take your Polish document without an apostille; what effect it has there is decided by that country's law.
One family, two different answers
An example. A Ukrainian citizen has lived in Warsaw since 2019, and his son was born there. The family is moving to the Netherlands, and the municipality asks for the child's birth certificate and for the father's criminal record certificate.
For the son's short birth extract a Dutch-language form will do: 22 zł plus 17 zł, no apostille, no translation. The KRK certificate is another story. The father isn't an EU citizen, so the regulation doesn't cover it: it needs an MSZ apostille for 60 zł plus a sworn translation. The advice "inside the EU you don't need anything" fails here: without the apostille the certificate would simply be refused.
Common mistakes
- Apostilling a Polish certificate for an EU country. That's 60 zł and an MSZ appointment for something no EU authority may require. If you do need one for a USC document, see apostille on USC certificates.
- Asking for a form with a full extract. It only exists for the short one.
- Sending the form without the document. It's attached to the extract or certificate and proves nothing alone.
- Sending a foreigner's KRK certificate, including one for a citizen of another EU country, to an EU country without an apostille. See above.
- Using the form at a Polish office. It only works in another EU country.
FAQ
Do I need an apostille on a Polish birth certificate for Germany?
No. Germany is in the EU and birth records are covered by Regulation 2016/1191. To avoid a translation, add a German-language form to the short extract for 17 zł.
How much does the multilingual standard form cost in Poland?
17 zł at a Polish office, the equivalent of 30 euros at a consulate. The document itself is paid separately, for example 22 zł for a short extract.
Can I order the form online?
Not in Warsaw: in person or by post at a USC. The form for a KRK certificate is issued only on site at the KRK information office.
Does the form work in Norway, Switzerland or the UK?
No, those countries aren't in the EU. You'll need an MSZ apostille and a translation that meets the destination's rules.
This is a general overview. Check the specific receiving office's requirements before you file, especially when the document concerns a non-EU citizen.