Polish passport by descent: how to get one after confirming your citizenship

A positive decision confirming Polish citizenship is a significant moment, but it is not the last step. The decision proves you are a Polish citizen; it does not give you a passport, and it does not put you in the Polish civil records. Getting from the decision to a Polish passport by descent usually takes three further steps: transcribing your foreign civil status records, obtaining a PESEL number, and applying for the passport itself. This guide explains each one. If you have not yet confirmed your citizenship, start with this guide to Polish citizenship by descent.

Key legislation: Act of 28 November 2014 on Civil Status Records (Prawo o aktach stanu cywilnego); Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish citizenship; Act of 27 January 2022 on Passport Documents; Stamp Duty Act.

The three steps at a glance

1. Transcription: your foreign birth certificate, and marriage certificate if you married abroad, is entered into the Polish civil register.
2. PESEL: you receive the Polish personal identification number.
3. Passport: you apply for a Polish passport at a consulate or in Poland.

The order matters. A Polish passport is issued on the basis of Polish civil records, so the transcription has to come first.

Step 1: Transcription of your foreign birth certificate

Transcription (transkrypcja) means entering the content of a foreign civil status record into the Polish register, faithfully and literally, both in language and form. The result is a Polish birth certificate that exists alongside your foreign one.

For a Polish citizen applying for a Polish identity document or a PESEL number, transcription is mandatory. In practice this is the step every descendant born abroad has to complete, because until it is done there is no Polish birth record to issue a passport against.

Where to apply: at any civil registry office (urząd stanu cywilnego) in Poland, or from abroad through a Polish consulate. You do not have to use the office nearest to any family connection.

What you need:

• the original foreign birth certificate or an official copy of it, issued by the competent authority,
• a sworn translation into Polish, unless the document is a multilingual EU standard form,
• the application for transcription,
• your identity document for inspection.

Fee: 50 PLN (about $14) in stamp duty for the full copy issued after transcription. A power of attorney, if someone applies on your behalf, costs a further 17 PLN (about $5).

Timing: registry offices handle transcription promptly, and where they need to verify something, within 30 days. Applications made through a consulate take longer, because the file is sent to Poland.

If you married abroad

If you married outside Poland, your marriage certificate should be transcribed as well. Without it, your Polish records show you as unmarried under your birth name, which causes problems later if you use a married surname. Consulates ask for the Polish marriage certificate as part of a first passport application for anyone who married abroad.

Missing data and spelling

Foreign certificates often lack information that Polish records require, such as a parent's family name at birth. In that case the record can be supplemented (uzupełnienie) or corrected (sprostowanie), each for a further 39 PLN (about $11). It is worth doing at the same time as the transcription rather than discovering the gap when applying for a passport.

Transcription reproduces names exactly as written in the foreign document. If your family name was anglicised or its Polish diacritics were lost on emigration, you can ask for the spelling to be adapted to Polish rules, but only where the Polish records support it.

Step 2: Obtaining a PESEL number

The PESEL is the Polish personal identification number used by government offices, banks, doctors and employers. Almost everything administrative in Poland asks for it.

A common misunderstanding is that transcription automatically produces a PESEL. It does not: the registry office enters your birth record but does not assign the number. For a Polish citizen living abroad, the PESEL is assigned when you apply for your first Polish identity document, which in practice means your first passport: the consul sends the PESEL request after accepting the passport application and confirming your identity and citizenship. People who settle in Poland can also obtain it by registering their residence (zameldowanie).

In other words, for most descendants abroad, steps 2 and 3 happen together.

Step 3: Applying for a Polish passport by descent

Where to apply: at any Polish consulate abroad, booked through the e-Konsulat system, or at any passport office in Poland run by a voivode. You collect the passport at the same office where you applied, so choose the location accordingly. Official guidance for applicants in the United States, in English, is published on the Polish consulates' passport page at gov.pl.

In person: passport applications are made in person, because your fingerprints are taken as part of the application for applicants from the age of 12. You also need a biometric photograph that meets the Polish specification.

What you need for a first adult passport:

• the original decision confirming your Polish citizenship,
• your Polish birth certificate, which is why transcription must come first,
• your Polish marriage certificate, if you married abroad,
• a biometric photograph,
• your foreign passport as proof of identity.

How much does a Polish passport cost?

In Poland, the standard fee for an adult's ten-year passport is 140 PLN (about $38).

Applications at consulates are charged under the consular fee schedule instead, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised from 1 January 2026. The adult passport fee at Polish consulates in the main countries of the Polish diaspora is:

• United States: 165 USD
• Canada: 226 CAD
• United Kingdom: 123 GBP
• Australia: 234 AUD

Reduced fees apply to students aged 18 to 26, holders of a Large Family Card and pensioners, among others, provided you bring proof of eligibility to the appointment. Applicants aged 70 or over receive the passport free of charge. Children under 12 pay a lower fee, for example 40 GBP in the United Kingdom.

Accepted payment methods differ between consulates, and some accept only cash or money orders, so check the consulate's own page before your appointment.

Validity: an adult's passport is valid for ten years.

Passports for children

Children who hold Polish citizenship follow the same sequence: transcription of their foreign birth certificate, then a passport application, which also assigns their PESEL. For a child's first passport, the consulate asks for the original Polish birth certificate of the child, so the transcription must be completed first. One parent can apply for the transcription.

Both parents must consent to a passport being issued for a minor. How that works in practice:

• If both parents attend the appointment, each gives consent at the consulate by signing on the electronic signature pad.
• If only one parent attends, the other parent can give consent in one of three ways: online through the gov.pl e-service using a Polish trusted profile, by registering it in person before a consul or at a passport office in Poland, which is free and needs no appointment, or by sending the original written consent with a signature certified by a notary or a passport authority. Scanned consent forms sent by email are not accepted.
• If parents disagree, or one parent's consent cannot be obtained, a decision of a family court allowing the passport to be issued is needed instead.

Consent is not required from a parent whose parental rights have been terminated, suspended or restricted by a court with regard to the passport, and where a parent has died, a death certificate is presented instead. Both parents need valid identity documents: a consul cannot accept a parent's consent without one. The child's passport can be collected by either parent, at the same consulate where the application was made. For children under 12, an online application is also available through the gov.pl e-service.

If your children were born after your own Polish citizenship was confirmed, remember that they are Polish citizens by descent too, and do not need a separate confirmation decision provided the chain is recorded properly.

Common problems and how to avoid them

• Names that do not match across documents: the most frequent obstacle. Bring every document showing a name change, including marriage and naturalisation records.
• Foreign certificates missing required data: apply for supplementation together with the transcription.
• Short-form certificates: some countries issue abbreviated birth certificates that do not qualify. Request the full, long-form version.
• Booking the passport appointment first: consulates will not issue a passport before the transcription is complete, so do it in the right order.
• A missing parent's consent for a child's passport: arrange the other parent's consent before the appointment, since an emailed scan will not be accepted.

How long the whole process takes

From a positive citizenship decision to a passport in hand, the realistic range is from a few weeks, if everything is done in Poland with complete documents, to several months through a consulate. The transcription is usually the slowest part from abroad; the passport itself is typically issued within about a month of the application in Poland.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a PESEL to get a Polish passport? For a Polish citizen living abroad, the PESEL is assigned as part of the first passport application, so you do not need to obtain it separately in advance.

Can I apply for the passport without being in Poland? Yes. Both the transcription and the passport application can be handled through a Polish consulate, though the passport application must be made in person at the consulate.

How much does a Polish passport cost abroad? At Polish consulates, an adult passport costs 165 USD in the United States, 226 CAD in Canada, 123 GBP in the United Kingdom and 234 AUD in Australia, with reduced fees for students and pensioners and no fee for applicants aged 70 or over. In Poland itself, the standard fee is 140 PLN.

Do both parents need to be present for a child's passport? No, but both must consent. A parent who cannot attend can give consent online, in person before a consul, or by sending an original written consent with a notarised signature. If parents disagree, a family court decision is needed.

Do I have to give up my other passport? No. Polish law does not require it. Within Poland, however, a Polish citizen is treated as Polish and should use Polish documents to enter and leave the country.

What if my documents show different spellings of my name? Bring evidence of every change, and apply for supplementation or correction of the transcribed record where needed. This is the most common cause of delays.

Is the citizenship decision itself enough to travel? No. It confirms your status but is not a travel document. You need a Polish passport or identity card.

Help with the process

The steps above are administrative rather than contentious, but they are where applications most often stall, usually over names, missing data or documents in the wrong form. Assistance with confirmation cases and the steps that follow is described on the page about Polish citizenship by descent.

Legal position: September 2026. This article is for information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case. Fees are subject to change, particularly consular fees.

Contact: +48 509 831 745 or the contact form.