Poland in Australia

You can submit your application at a competent local Polish consular post.

Yes, documents have to be submitted in person. 

You can book your appointment via the e-konsulat system.

Declaration needed for the recognition of paternity is made in the form of report. The declaration is signed by the child’s parents, a consul and the child, if he/she has reached the age of 13, who puts his/her signature in the report and information about his/her consent or refusal of consent to a change of the surname.

The fee is 82 AUD.

The consul will accept a declaration during an appointment at a consulate.

If the consul accepts a declaration on the recognition of paternity, the parents will receive a written certificate confirming the recognition of paternity. You can collect the document personally during your appointment at a consulate.

If the consul refuses to accept the declarations necessary to recognise paternity on the grounds of their inadmissibility, the consul will notify in writing the mother and the man who claims paternity, within 7 days from the refusal date, of the refusal’s reasons and the possibility of recognising paternity before a guardianship court.

What is paternity recognition?

Paternity is recognised when the child’s biological father makes a declaration that he is the father of the child, and the child’s mother (immediately or within three months of the man’s declaration) confirms that the father of the child is that man.

It is also possible to recognise paternity of a conceived child before the birth as well as of a child conceived as a result of an IVF procedure before transferring reproductive cells to the woman’s body. In the latter case, the paternity recognition declaration must be made before the head of the Register Office — consular staff do not have powers to do so.

The paternity recognition declarations must be unanimous. If the declarations of the woman and man are not unanimous, paternity is determined by judicial recognition.

Paternity can be recognised with respect to:

• A conceived child
• A born child, until the child has reached the age of majority
• Child who dies before reaching the age of majority — within six months of when the man submitting a declaration on the recognition of paternity discovered the death of the child, but not later than when the child would have reached the age of majority

As a result of paternity recognition, the recognised child bears:

• If the parents submit unanimous statements on the surname — the surname of one parent or a hyphenated surname combining the parents’ surnames
• If the parents do not submit unanimous statements on the child’s surname, the child will bear the surname composed of the mother’s surname with the father’s surname attached

Changing the name of a child who has reached the age of thirteen requires the child’s consent.

Is paternity recognition equivalent to adoption?

Paternity recognition is a civil law institution different from adoption. The recognition of paternity involves the acknowledgement of a biological link between the man who is the adopter and the child. On the other hand, adoption involves the creation of a legal link between the adoptive parent and the adoptive child, the same one which exists between the parents and their biological children, in the knowledge that there is no relation by blood.

My partner has given birth to a child in Poland and is going to stay there in the coming months. I am currently unable to travel to Poland. Can I make a declaration on the recognition of paternity before a consul and my partner before the head of a Register Office in Poland?

Yes, you can. In such a situation, the consul will only send the man’s declaration on the recognition of paternity to the relevant Register Office, while the child’s mother will have to confirm that fact within three months.

My partner is Australian and does not speak Polish. Does this exclude the possibility for him to make a declaration on the recognition of the child before a Polish consul or the head of a Register Office in Poland?

No, in that case the law only requires that an interpreter should be present. This does not need to be a sworn translator from the list of the Ministry of Justice. However, in the case of an interpreter who is not a sworn translator, it will be necessary that they make a declaration (under criminal liability) that they will carry out the tasks assigned to them conscientiously and impartially, keeping the confidentiality of legally protected secret and guided by integrity and ethics in their conduct. The person performing the role of interpreter should have command of legal terminology.

My partner’s husband died several years ago. We want to get married. Will I be able to make a declaration on the recognition of her daughter from the first marriage?

There is no such possibility because in that case there is no biological relationship between you and your partner’s daughter. In such a case, the adoption procedure will be the right one.

We have our son’s foreign birth certificate without the details of my partner as his father. Should we first correct the foreign certificate and transcribe it to the Polish register or transcribe it and make statements on the recognition of paternity?

In this case it will be up to you. From a legal point of view, both paths are allowed.