Documents from Ukraine for a residence card in Poland

For a residence card (karta pobytu), family reunification or marriage in Poland, Ukrainian documents are filed with a Polish translation made by a sworn translator. We obtain the Ukrainian part of the file: duplicate certificates, extracts, certificates, add an apostille when needed and deliver the originals to you. We have been doing this since 2012, remotely, under a power of attorney.

When Ukrainian documents are needed in Poland

• Temporary residence for family reunification. Voivodeship offices ask for documents proving the family relationship: birth and marriage certificates.

• Other residence card grounds. Work, study, business, permanent residence. Each ground has its own checklist, and Ukrainian documents appear in it often: civil status certificates, register extracts, diplomas.

• Moving from temporary protection. EU temporary protection for Ukrainians has been extended to 4 March 2028, and the Council of the EU has recommended preparing transitions to other legal statuses.

• Marriage at a Polish registry office (USC), child registration, inheritance. Birth, marriage and divorce certificates.

Apostille for Poland: when it is needed

Ukraine and Poland are bound by the 1993 Agreement on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Matters. Its Article 15 provides that official documents of one state are recognised in the other without legalisation. The Polish Embassy in Ukraine notes, however, that an authority may still ask for an apostille.

In practice some voivodeship offices state in their checklists that foreign civil status records must carry an apostille or a confirmation by a Polish consul. We therefore check your voivodeship's checklist and add an apostille when it is listed.

Polish translation

The Polish Act on Foreigners requires documents in a foreign language (other than identity and travel documents) to be filed with a Polish translation by a sworn translator (tłumacz przysięgły). We pass the originals to the translator and check that the Latin spelling of names matches the passport.

Documents we obtain in Ukraine

• Duplicate birth, marriage, divorce and name change certificates and civil status register extracts. Originals issued by authorities of the Soviet republics are not accepted for an apostille. An apostille can be placed on a copy certified by a Ukrainian notary, and if the receiving authority wants an original document, we obtain a duplicate in the current Ukrainian format.

• Criminal record certificate on paper, with or without an apostille, depending on the authority or employer.

• Unified State Register extracts and sole proprietor extracts to prove business activity.

• Real property rights certificate.

How we work when you are abroad

1. Tell us which procedure and which authority the documents are for. If you already have a checklist from the immigration office, consulate or your lawyer, send it together with a copy of your passport.
2. We match the checklist against what Ukrainian authorities actually issue and confirm which documents we will obtain, in what form and with which apostille.
3. Some documents are released only to the person or their representative. For those we draft a power of attorney, which you sign at a Ukrainian consulate or before a local notary with an apostille.
4. We obtain the documents, have them apostilled by the competent authority and check that names in Latin script match your international passport.
5. We send you scans for review and deliver the originals to you, your representative or your lawyer abroad.

If your case is handled by a lawyer abroad

If a lawyer or consultant in your country of residence handles your case, we work with them directly. The lawyer sends us the list of documents, we obtain the Ukrainian part of the file and keep the firm informed at every step. See For immigration lawyers: documents from Ukraine.

Other certificates and extracts are listed in the section Obtaining certificates and extracts.

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