How to Get Married in Poland as a Foreigner (8 Steps)
Are you looking to get married in Poland as a foreigner but you’re not sure how to navigate the Polish system? In this post, I lay out the 8 steps to get married as a foreigner in Poland if your native country doesn’t issue a ‘non-impediment to marriage’ document that is required in Poland. Countries like Canada and the U.S.A. don’t issue such a document but fear not, below you will find out exactly what you need in order to marry your Polish partner in Poland.
Ok, first a little bit of background. On a trip to Prague in 2021, I asked Kasia to marry me. Thankfully, she said yes, and I was so happy to have my better half for a lifetime of adventures. After basking in our engagement for a few months, we started searching for a wedding venue in early 2022. It took a lot of research and many visits to different venues, but eventually, we found the perfect place, Szklarnia Grodzisk. The only available slot they had was in August 2023 so one piece of advice for couples getting married in Poland, start to look for your venue right away. If you don’t, you may find that your dream venue isn’t available for more than two years. Also, start booking the other vendors you’ll need - decorator, photographer, DJ, caterer, etc. There is a lot of demand for these services so the best folks get booked early. With a date and a venue confirmed, we switched gears to a very important question, how do we get legally married in Poland given I am Canadian and Kasia is Polish?
Well, it turns out that if you are from a country where your government doesn’t issue a document stating you are eligible to enter into marriage (a ‘non-impediment to marriage’ document), it’s a bit complicated. I found there was very little information online about this entire process so I hope I can help you more easily navigate the bureaucracy and get married in Poland with as little stress and confusion as possible.
STEP 1: obtain a long-form birth certificate that states your parents’ names. I had my Canadian birth certificate but this was not sufficient because it didn’t have my parents’ names on it. For myself, I was able to order one from the Government of Ontario’s website.
STEP 2: this is a very inconvenient step. Your long-form certificate needs to be certified by a Polish embassy in the country of your citizenship. I had to go to the Polish embassy in Toronto, Canada. Luckily, we already had planned to go to Canada for a holiday so I didn’t need to travel to Canada just to receive this birth certificate. You will need to book an appointment on the Polish Consulate’s website in advance. When I was booking a visit in Toronto, they released new appointment windows 14 days in advance.
STEP 3: receive a sworn Polish translation of your long-form birth certificate. It must be translated by a registered sworn translator in Poland or else the document won’t be accepted. Make sure the sworn translator notes the seal on the document that the Polish embassy added to certify it in step 2. Without this, the document won’t be accepted.
STEP 4 (potentially optional): obtain the statement in lieu of non-impediment to marriage from your country. For Canadians, this can be obtained from a Canadian embassy in Poland. I say this step is potentially unnecessary because, in the end, I did not get this document. We were told it was necessary to submit it as part of the court case (see step 5) and that it also had to be translated by a sworn translator. After a few calls with a civil servant from our local Sąd Rejonowy v Wydział Rodzinny i Nieletnich (District Court for the Family and Juvenile Department), we were told this wasn’t necessary but a few sources did tell us it was. To be sure, speak with a local representative from your local court. In our case, it never was requested by the judge who ruled on our case.
STEP 5: compile the documents to open a court case at your local Sąd Rejonowy v Wydział Rodzinny i Nieletnichto. This case will go to a judge who will rule on your case to issue an exemption from the obligation to submit a document from your country stating that you are eligible to enter into marriage.
Here’s what you need to submit:
Two copies of your sworn translation of your certified long-form birth certificate.
The original certified long-form birth certificate
[potentially optional] Two copies of your sworn translation of the statement in lieu of non-impediment to marriage from your country.
Two scans of your passport and your Polish partner’s passport
If you have a residency card, two scans of it and your partner’s Polish identity card.
Two copies of a signed document declaring answers to the statements below. You and your partner each need to answer. You can use our completed documents as a template. The judge requested we answer these questions after we submitted our case so it will save you time if you answer these in advance.
określenie stanu cywilnego wnioskodawcy (description of the applicant's marital status)
oświadczenie o posiadanym obywatelstwie (declaration of citizenship)
czy posiada zdolność do zawarcia małżeństwa według swojego prawa ojczystego (whether he has the capacity to enter into marriage under his native law)
czy posiada pełną zdolność do czynności prawnych (whether he has full legal capacity)
czy posiada pełnię praw obywatelskich (whether he has full civil rights)
czy jest całkowicie lub częściowo ubezwłasnowolniony, czy toczyło się lub toczy się postępowanie o ubezwłasnowolnienie wnioskodawcy (whether he is completely or partially incapacitated, whether there have been or are ongoing proceedings to incapacitate the applicant)
czy kiedykolwiek pozostawał w związku małżeńskim, czy obecnie pozostaje w związku małżeńskim (whether he has ever been married or is currently married)
czy wnioskodawca jest dotknięta chorobą psychiczną albo niedorozwojem umysłowym (whether the applicant suffers from a mental illness or mental retardation)
Two copies of a document detailing your case. You can use this template and update it based on your details and the location of your Sąd.
STEP 6: submit your application containing all of the documents from step 5 to your local Sąd Rejonowy v Wydział Rodzinny i Nieletnich. You need to pay 100 zł (as of January 2023) to submit your case. You can do this at the court.
STEP 7: Wait. It took us 8 months to receive a ruling from the judge after submitting our application. We received an exemption and I no longer had to submit a document stating that I am eligible to enter into marriage. When we submitted our case, the court told us it could take up to 9 months so make sure you give yourself enough buffer so that you have time to go to the Urząd after to submit the necessary documents to get married.
STEP 8: With your exemption, you are now ready to go to the Urząd to receive the documents that will allow you to get married. The Urząd you visit will depend on where you are getting married. For example, we got married in Grodzisk Mazowiecki so we went to the Urząd there. You and your partner will need the following documents when you visit:
Passport
Residency and identity card
Pesel number (I am not sure what happens if you don’t have a Pesel number)
The judge’s exemption ruling
Certified sworn translation of your birth certificate and your partner’s Polish birth certificate.
Proof of payment (84 zł) – you can pay at the cash desk in the office or by transfer to the office's account
If you don’t speak Polish, you will need to bring someone to the Urząd who can act as your translator. It can’t be your partner but it can be a friend or family member who speaks English and Polish. They will need to have a certificate proving they are proficient in English.
At the Urząd you will set the date for your wedding, pick the surnames you will take in marriage, and choose the surnames your children will have. For civil ceremonies, the civil servant can officiate in the office or at the wedding venue. In the case of a wedding that takes place outside the office, there is a fee of 1,000 zł.
Unfortunately, in our case, there wasn’t a civil servant available to officiate on the day of our wedding due to the summer holidays. This presented a problem because the only way to have a civil wedding outside of the office is to have a civil servant officiate. If this happens to you, we recommend using the company Ślubokręt as they can help find a solution so you can still have the wedding ceremony at your venue. In this case, you need to find a priest who is permitted to marry a couple outside of the church as this is not allowed in Catholicism. Of course, having a civil marriage is because you don’t want to have a religious ceremony but Ślubokręt will help you find a priest who can do a short and somewhat secular ceremony that still allows you to be legally married.
It was a rollercoaster ride for Kasia and I to get married but in the end, it all worked out perfectly. I hope this post helps you more easily navigate Polish bureaucracy so you can get married in Poland. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.
