01 / 08
Birth certificate
Registering a child born in Poland; odpis for a foreign national; recognition of a foreign birth certificate.
USC · BUSC · Recognition
Civil status acts (USC)
Polish birth, marriage and death certificates
Akty stanu cywilnego — Polish civil-status records issued by USC: birth, marriage and death certificates. Foreigners need them for PESEL, marrying an EU citizen, recognising a foreign certificate in Poland (umiejscowienie), registering a child born in Poland, and TRC, PR and citizenship applications. We work directly with USC and BUSC — collect odpisy, secure apostilles, arrange sworn translations.
Issuance
7 days
standard · up to 30 daysState fee
22–39 PLN
short / full extractRecognition
50 PLN
foreign-act recognitionWhere
USC + BUSC
local or centralisedWhat we handle
USC keeps three types of registers — we work across all of them.
02 / 08
Marriage certificate
Marriage to a Polish citizen or another foreigner at USC; recognition of foreign marriage.
03 / 08
Death certificate
Registering a death in Poland; recognition of a foreign death certificate; odpis for inheritance.
04 / 08
Foreign-act recognition (umiejscowienie)
Entering a foreign certificate into the Polish USC register. Required for divorce, inheritance, second marriage, name change.
05 / 08
Correction & supplementation
Fixing errors: dates, names, places. Through USC or civil-court order.
06 / 08
Name change
Foreigner name/surname change via USC with justification — 30–60 days.
07 / 08
Apostille on Polish acts
Voivode issues apostille on Polish USC odpisy for foreign use.
08 / 08
Act reconstruction
Reconstruction of a lost act through civil-court ruling.
Timeline
Standard recognition + apostilled odpis cycle — 2–3 weeks.
- 01
Consultation
30 minIdentify act type, purpose, issuing country.
- 02
Document gathering
3–7 daysCollect originals from the issuing country, secure apostille, arrange sworn translation.
- 03
Recognition application
1 dayFile with USC (often Warszawa-Śródmieście — fastest).
- 04
USC review
7–30 daysUSC head verifies, enters the act into the Polish register, issues a Polish odpis.
- 05
Odpis pickup
1 dayShort (22 PLN) or full (33 PLN) extract.
- 06
Apostille / translation
3–5 daysVoivode apostille and sworn translation if needed.
/ documents
What we need
Exact list depends on act type and issuing country.
- Passport (original + copies)01
- PESEL (if any)02
- Foreign birth/marriage/death certificate (original)03
- Apostille or legalisation on the foreign document04
- Sworn translation into Polish — we handle it05
- Divorce/spouse death certificate — for marriage recognition06
- Spouse consent — for surname change after marriage07
- Completed application — we prepare it08
Our fee
Fixed price. USC fees billed separately at actual rates.
Consultation
Free
30 minutes · case reviewPopularOdpis collection
from 250 PLN
Application, USC, courierForeign-act recognition
from 700 PLN
Full umiejscowienie cycleApostille + translation
from 350 PLN
Voivode + sworn translator* LegalWin fees. USC fees (22/33/50 PLN) and sworn translations (~80 PLN/doc) billed separately.
Legal basis
- §01Civil Status Records Act of 28 November 2014
- §02MSWiA Regulation on USC odpis templates
- §03Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (apostille)
- §04Stamp Duty Act of 16 November 2006
- §05Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 (intra-EU legalisation removal)
/ questions
Frequently asked
It's entering a foreign certificate into the Polish USC register. After umiejscowienie you receive a Polish odpis accepted by every Polish institution without translation. Required for second marriage, inheritance, name change, citizenship.
/ Send request
USC certificates handled end-to-end
Free consultation: identify act type, issuing country, purpose. From USC filing to apostilled Polish odpis — typically 2–3 weeks.