How to get married in Poland?

how to get married in Poland

Formalities. Certainly not the first thought after saying YES to your engagement ring. We know, legalities can give any bride a headache even when you are getting married in your own country. And getting married abroad? Seems like a bit of a challenge. 

However, though formalities might be the least favorite point on your ‘to do wedding list’, they are surely one of the most important ones. So how to get through them painlessly?  Here’s what you need to know about how to get married in Poland. 

Marriage in Poland

In order to get married in Poland you have two options:

  1. you can complete the formalities in Polish Embassy in your country of residence, or
  2. do the same in Polish Civil Register Office – called Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (USC).

With all our hearts, if you getting married in Poland, we recommend the second option. This kind of visit is just a perfect opportunity to visit some wedding venues (check out our recommendations), met with wedding subcontractors (especially your wedding planner) and taste a little bit of polish atmosphere and culture before the big day.
But if you have absolutely no time to visit Poland remember that if you choose to complete the formalities in Polish Embassy the first thing you have to do before the visit is to call the consul department and make an appointment (takes approx. one month to get one). After that, during the long-awaited meeting you both shall sign a Letter of Assurance.

formalności

Now let’s focus on the second option. At least once before the wedding you are obliged to visit USC in Poland and present to the Director the following documents:

  1. documents confirming your identity (both of you) with photographs (preferably passports),
  2. copies of your birth certificate. If a copy is drawn up in a foreign language, you should attach a sworn translation into Polish by one of the sworn translators on the list published by the Polish Ministry of Justice or the Polish consul,
  3. persons who have previously been married are required to attach additional documents certifying their current civil status and full capacity to get married,
  4. in addition, foreigners wishing to get married in Poland need to submit a document certifying they are free to marry, issued in their country of origin, along with a sworn translation into the Polish language (Letter of Assurance).

DO NOT FORGET THAT:
The birth certificate is valid for 3 months from date of issue. Letter of Assurance is valid for 6 months from the date of issue for civil weddings and 3 months for church weddings. So do not rush too much 🙂

If one of you do not speak polish, you will have to bring a sworn translator to Register Office. The whole visit takes about 1 hour. The good news is that in this case you do not have to make any appointment.

And what if you want to get married in a church? Well, that will be a little bit more complicated. But hey! Nothing that cannot be done!
In the case of a concordat catholic marriage you will have to submit (at the place of worship) all the documents required to conduct the marriage rites according to the traditions of a given church or religious association. In most of the cases that will be:

  1. baptism certificate,
  2. confirmation of attendance of family counseling meetings,
  3. (and sometimes) a certificate of completion of premarital education classes,
  4. all along with your Best Man and Maid of Honour’s personal details.

But even in this case you won’t avoid visit in Register Office, where you need to collect (before visiting the church) a Letter of Assurance (certificate of no impediment).
So now, we have provided you the most basic formal requirements. Not as terrifying as it may seem, is it?
And remember, even though you might think, that a trip to Civil Register Office in others country might not be the best idea to spend a weekend, you can always combine it with some other wedding responsibilities, or at least, get a little bit of sightseeing out here. How about one of the last romantic engagement weekends with just the two of you?

In any case, good luck! It all not as difficult as it might seem and your wedding consultants are always willing to help!

 

2 Comments

  • Alina
    02/05/2016 17:54

    Thank you very much for all this information. I am thinking of getting married in Poland and this will be very useful to me.

  • 24/10/2016 09:44

    It can be interesting country for a wedding!

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