Polish apostille for use in the UK, US, Australia and beyond
If you need a Polish birth certificate, marriage record or KRS extract to land at HMRC, the IRS, a Texas court or Companies House, it has to carry an apostille. The 1961 Hague Convention covers 125+ countries (UK, US, Australia, Canada since 2024, and most of the EU), and a single apostille from MSZ in Warsaw is all the receiving authority needs. Polish documents, USC certificates included, are stamped at the MSZ, ul. Krucza 38/42, for 60 PLN. For Hague countries: one stamp. For non-Hague countries (the UAE or Qatar, for example), it's the full chain: MSZ legalisation, then the destination embassy.
Hague 1961 covers public documents. We've sent stamped papers to all 50 US states, to Companies House, to Australian DFAT-recognising agencies, and to consulates for non-Hague jurisdictions. Each route is slightly different.
Issued by USC (urząd stanu cywilnego), apostilled by the MSZ like every other Polish official document. We pull a fresh odpis zupełny first. Your old certificate from 2015 won't pass at HMRC or an American county clerk.
Akt notarialny first has the notary's signature authenticated by the regional court (sąd okręgowy, 26 PLN, at least 2 working days), then gets the MSZ apostille. We use this route weekly for clients selling property abroad or filing pełnomocnictwo with a UK conveyancer.
Company extracts for opening a US bank account, registering a UK subsidiary, or bidding for a contract abroad. Fresh wypis only. KRS goes stale at 3 months and KYC officers do check. If it's urgent: odpis aktualny, express apostille and DHL for 700 PLN.
Zaświadczenie z KRK is the standard ask for UK Skilled Worker visas, US green cards, Australian 482 visas, and Canadian PR. KRK ages out at 6 months, so apostille it the day it's issued.
Polish university diplomas are apostilled by NAWA, not MSZ - a separate agency with its own queue. School certificates go through the regional kuratorium oświaty, and the matura certificate through the OKE that issued it, both free of charge. We route each to the right office. Recognised by ECCTIS in the UK, WES in Canada, and by every US state board we've encountered.
Wyrok rozwodowy for remarrying in California, an inheritance ruling for probate in New York. Court documents need the court president's clause, then MSZ. Two-step, but routine.
Got a US birth certificate, UK marriage cert, or Australian degree and need it to work in Poland? Each Hague country issues its own apostille. We coordinate with local partners (UK FCDO, US Secretary of State, DFAT Canberra).
The UAE, Qatar and a few others are still outside the Convention, so instead of an apostille the document gets MSZ legalisation, then the destination embassy in Warsaw, sometimes followed by a ministry stamp in the destination country. Budget 3-4 weeks plus embassy fees. Canada (since January 2024), China (since November 2023), Saudi Arabia (since December 2022) and Vietnam (since September 2026) have joined the Convention, so a single apostille now does the job there.
Most cases are MSZ-only. The stamp itself is same-day at the counter; what takes time is getting the source document and catching a slot.
We confirm the document type, the receiving country, and which authority back home will see the stamp (court clerk, registrar, bank KYC, embassy). That dictates the chain. A divorce decree for the UK is one thing; the same decree for a court in the UAE is another.
Old certificates rarely fly. We order a fresh odpis from USC (24-48 hours in Warsaw, up to a week if the act is held in another voivodeship), or a current KRS wypis from the registration court.
Notarial acts and court papers get the regional court president's clause (sąd okręgowy). Medical specialist documents go to the Ministry of Health first. University diplomas don't go to MSZ at all - they're apostilled by NAWA on a separate track. Skip the right step and MSZ rejects on the spot.
We book through legalizacja.msz.gov.pl and file in person at the Warsaw legalisation desk. The 60 PLN is an opłata skarbowa paid in advance to Centrum Obsługi Podatnika, not at the counter, and Poland issues no electronic apostille - paper originals only.
Filed in person, the stamp is issued during the visit, capped at 10 documents per person per day. Posted to al. Szucha 23, it takes up to 30 days. MSZ has no express tariff - anyone selling you one is selling their own queueing.
Sworn translation into English (or the destination language) if needed - send us the scan and we reply with the price and turnaround. Apostille itself is bilingual, but the underlying document usually isn't. DHL Express to wherever, or onward to a Warsaw embassy for non-Hague legalisation.
Most cases need just the original plus an ID scan. The trip-ups are 'I only have a photocopy' or 'my certificate is from 2018'.
MSZ stamp is 60 PLN, regional court pre-auth for notarial acts is 26 PLN, embassy legalisation varies. Our handling fee covers the filing, the queue, and the courier.
* LegalWin fees only. State fees pass through at cost: 60 PLN MSZ apostille, 26 PLN regional court pre-auth for notarial acts, embassy legalisation fees set by each embassy. Sworn translation is priced per document.
Each Hague country issues its own. For the UK it's the FCDO legalisation service: £45 per document plus postage, usually up to 25 working days. For US documents it's the Secretary of State of the issuing state, not federal: New York SoS in Albany for a NY birth certificate, California SoS in Sacramento for a Californian one. Federal documents (FBI background checks, IRS forms) go through the US Department of State in DC. Australia routes through DFAT in Canberra. We coordinate with partners on each side.
Tell us the document and where it's going. We confirm the chain, file at the MSZ in Warsaw (1-3 business days once the document is ready) and courier it to your destination.
