Registration is an obligatory administrative procedure authorizing a vehicle to be used in road traffic. Important information outlined below pertains to the process of vehicle registration, deregistration and its temporary withdrawal from road traffic, institutions authorized to register vehicles, documents necessary for this purpose, as well as charges and fees incurred by vehicle users.

A vehicle is registered at the owner’s request by the starosta competent for the place of residence or the seat of the company (in accordance with Article 73 (1) of the Road Traffic Act). Registration of a vehicle may also be made by a starosta competent for the place of temporary residence of the vehicle owner. Poviat authorities register vehicles on their own behalf and assuming full responsibility. Vehicle registration is the responsibility of the starosta, who issues an administrative decision in accordance with applicable legal provisions.

An appeal from the decision of the starosta shall be submitted to the competent Local Government Board of Appeal (in accordance with Article 17 (1) and Article 127 (2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure).

A vehicle owned by a multi-site company or another entity consisting of separate organizational units shall be registered by the starosta competent for the seat of the company or entity (in accordance with Article 73 (2) of the Road Traffic Act).

Vehicles owned by members of foreign armed forces, civilian personnel and their family members, as well as vehicles owned by their contractors residing on the Polish territory on the basis of international agreements shall be registered at the request of military authorities of those armed forces by the starosta competent for the place of residence of these persons in Poland (in accordance with Article 73 (2a) of the Road Traffic Act).

Vehicles owned by foreign armed forces residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of international agreements shall be registered by the competent authority of Polish Armed Forces (pursuant to Article 73 (2b) of the Road Traffic Act).

Vehicles owned by the Armed Forces of Republic of Poland, the State Protection Service, the Police, the Internal Security Agency, the Foreign Intelligence Agency, the Military Counterintelligence Service, the Military Intelligence Service, the Central Anticorruption Bureau, the Border Guard, National Revenue Administration used by customs and tax service shall be registered by the competent authorities of those entities (pursuant to Article 73 (3) of the Road Traffic Act).

Vehicles owned by a diplomatic representation, a consular office or a special mission of a foreign country or an international organizations, as well as their staff, shall be registered by the Voivode of Mazovia at the request of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (pursuant to Article 73 (4) of the Road Traffic Act).

A vehicle, which has been entrusted, by a foreign natural person or a legal entity to a Polish entity is registered by the starosta competent for the place of residence or the seat of the Polish entity (in accordance with Article 73 (2) and (5) of the Road Traffic Act).

A motor vehicle, a tractor, a slow-moving vehicle that forms part of a trackless train, a moped or a trailer is authorized to enter into service only if it has been registered and provided with valid registration plates (plate) (pursuant to Article 71 (2) of the Road Traffic Act).

A vehicle registered abroad is allowed to enter road traffic in Poland provided that it meets technical requirements, is equipped with appropriate registration plates and the driver holds a document confirming the registration of the vehicle. If the document confirming registration of the vehicle referred to in paragraph 5 does not indicate that the driver is entitled to make use of the vehicle, he/she is required to hold and to present to traffic control authorities a document confirming his/her right to use the vehicle (pursuant to Article 71 (5) and (5a) of the Road Traffic Act).

A vehicle imported from a non-Member State of the European Union, following the Customs Service’s decision allowing it to be subject to the marketing authorization procedure, shall be authorized to enter into service for a period of 30 days (pursuant to Article 71 (6) of the Road Traffic Act).

The owner of the vehicle is obliged to submit an application for its registration within 30 days from the date of:

• purchase of a vehicle in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
• admission to the market by the authority of the Tasks of the National Revenue Administration of a vehicle imported from the territory of a non-EU member state;
• import of a vehicle into the territory of the Republic of Poland from the territory of an EU Member State.

If the vehicle is acquired in the territory of the Republic of Poland as an inheritance, the period of 30 days runs from the date of the final court decision establishing the acquisition of the inheritance or drawing up the certificate of inheritance.

If the owner of the vehicle is an entrepreneur conducting vehicle trading business in the territory of the Republic of Poland the deadline for submitting an application for vehicle registration is 90 days.

The obligation to submit an application for registration of a vehicle does not apply to an authorized entity who uses a professional registration certificate and professional registration plates (plate) for vehicles for which this authorized entity has a valid decision on the professional registration of vehicles.

Regulations also include an exemption from the obligation to submit an application for registration of a vehicle:

• if a certificate of destruction of the vehicle is issued before the expiry of the deadline for fulfilling this obligation;
• if the owner of a vehicle acquired in the territory of the Republic of Poland disposes of that vehicle before the deadline for submitting the application.

An entrepreneur conducting vehicle trading business in the territory of the Republic of Poland or the production of vehicles is also excluded from the obligation to submit an application for registration of new vehicles purchased in the territory of the Republic of Poland and imported from the EU and outside the EU.

A vehicle shall be registered on the basis of documents referred to in Article 72 (1) of the Road Traffic Act:

• proof of ownership of the vehicle or a document confirming that the vehicle has been entrusted to a particular person (if the vehicle has been entrusted by a foreign natural person or a legal entity to a Polish entity) It does not apply to a vehicle that has been already registered on the territory of the Republic of Poland and there has been no change of ownership of this vehicle since its last registration, in case the vehicle is re-registered at the request of the owner of this vehicle due to a change of his/her residence (seat) – as far as the ownership is confirmed.
• one of the documents:
  • EC certificate of conformity together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry;
  • certificate of conformity together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry,
  • the certificate of conformity referred to in Article 27(1) point 2 of the Act of 14 April 2023 on approval systems for vehicles and their equipment, together with a statement containing the data and information about the vehicle necessary for registration and registration of the vehicle,
  • individual vehicle approval certificate together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry,
  • national individual vehicle approval certificate referred to in Article 2(1) item 33 of the Act of 14 April 2023 on approval systems for vehicles and their equipment together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry,
  • decision on the authorization of individual vehicle approval,
  • recognition of the national individual approval certificate referred to in Article 64(2). 1 of the Act of 14 April 2023 on approval systems for vehicles and their equipment, together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry,
  • certificate or EC individual vehicle approval certificate,
  • EU individual vehicle approval certificate referred to in Article 2(1) point 32 of the Act of 14 April 2023 on approval systems for vehicles and their equipment together with a statement containing data and information necessary for the registration of the vehicle and the registry
    – if required; EC certificates of conformity, certificates of conformity and declarations containing data and information about the vehicle necessary for registration and registration of the vehicle may be signed with a mechanically reflected signature
• certificate of positive result of technical inspection of the vehicle, if required, or the vehicle’s registration certificate or another document issued by a competent authority of the Member State confirming the performance of technical inspection and its validity period,
• certificate of registration in the case of registered vehicle,
• a document confirming import clearance, if the vehicle has been imported from the territory of a non-Member State of the European Union and has been registered for the first time,
• a document confirming the payment of excise duty on the territory of the country, or a document confirming the lack of obligation to pay excise duty on the territory of the country, or a certificate of exemption from excise duty pursuant to relevant legal provisions, if a passenger vehicle or a vehicle classified as "other vehicle", "quadricycle" (L7e approval category) or "lightquadricycle" (L6e approval category), a truck (homologation category N1), sub-type "van", "van/platform", "truck/passenger", "off-road vehicle", "multi-purpose" or "van" or a special car (homologation category M1 and N1) has been imported from a Member State of the European Union and is registered for the first time. In the case of purchasing a passenger vehicle or vehicle classified as "other vehicle", "quadricycle” (L7e approval category) or "light quadricycle" (L6e approval category) from a specialized showroom, as defined in legal provisions pertaining to excise duty, a document confirming the payment of excise tax in the country may be replaced by a declaration issued by the specialized showroom, confirming that it holds the original document or a copy of the document confirming the payment of excise duty for the vehicle.

In case of loss of registration certificate of vehicle registered abroad, a duplicate of that document or a document issued by the registration authority competent for the place of the vehicle’s last registration, confirming the data contained in the lost document and necessary to register the vehicle, should be presented instead. If the registration authority competent for the place of the vehicle’s last registration abroad refused to issue duplicate registration certificate or a document confirming the data contained in the lost document, the starosta may request that authority to confirm those data. The confirmation of these data obtained, in paper or electronic form, shall replace the document confirming the data contained in the lost document necessary for vehicle registration.

Exceptions in terms of documents required for the registration of vehicles are set forth in Article 72 (2), (2a) and (2b) of the Road Traffic Act. In individual cases, on the basis of applicable laws, registration authority shall decide on the applicability of the exemption.

From June 4, 2021, the possibility of registering a new vehicle through a car sales showroom was introduced, in accordance with Art. 73c of the Act - Road Traffic Law.

The owner of a new motor vehicle, trailer or moped purchased at a showroom for sale of motor vehicles, trailers or mopeds may authorize the showroom or an authorized representative of this showroom to submit an application for vehicle registration or to receive a decision on temporary vehicle registration, a temporary permit and legalized registration plates (plates).

The template of the application prepared by the minister responsible for computerization together with a description of the service is available at: https://www.gov.pl/web/gov/zarejestruj-pojazd-za-posrednictwem-salonu-sprzedazy

Temporary vehicle registration shall be carried out by the starosta competent for the place of residence (registered office) or temporary residence of the owner of the vehicle, issuing the decision of temporary registration of the vehicle, temporary permission and legalization of number plates (plate) of the owner of the vehicle (in accordance with Article 74 (1) of the Road Traffic Act).

In case when the vehicle travels from the place of purchase or receipt in the territory of the Republic of Poland, vehicle can also be temporary registered by the registration authority competent for the place of purchase of the vehicle or its receipt in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Pursuant to Article 74 (2) of the Road Traffic Act, temporary vehicle registration shall be carried out:

• ex officio - following an application for vehicle registration,
• at the request of the vehicle’s owner, in order to enable:

♦ exporting the vehicle abroad,

♦ driving the vehicle from the place of purchase or receipt on the Polish territory,

♦ driving the vehicle to the place where it shall be subjected to the necessary technical inspections or repair.

Ex officio temporary vehicle registration can be performed by the registration authority even if documents referred to in Article 72 (1) point 6 and 6a of the Road Traffic Act are not attached to the registration application. Pursuant to Article 74 (2a) of the Road Traffic Act, these documents should be submitted prior to issuing the certificate of registration.

Conditional temporary vehicle registration shall be carried out if the owner of the vehicle submits a statement confirming that the ownership of the vehicle shall not change during the period between the registration and issuing a certificate of registration (pursuant to Article 74 (2b) of the Road Traffic Act).

A vehicle registration can be temporarily registered for a maximum of 30 days. This period may be extended once for additional 14 days in order to clarify issues related to vehicle registration (in accordance with Article 74 (3) of the Road Traffic Act).

Following the expiry of the temporary registration, the temporary certificate of registration and license plates shall be returned to the authority that has issued them, with the exception of exported vehicle (in accordance with Article 74 (5) of the Road Traffic Act).

If the vehicle owner intends to use the de-registration of a vehicle ex officio in order to export the vehicle abroad, together with the application for temporary vehicle registration he submits a statement, under pain of penal liability for making false statements, that the vehicle will be exported abroad.

After the expiry of the period of temporary registration, the registration plates shall be returned to the authority which issued them, except in the case where the vehicle is exported abroad (pursuant to Art. 74. (5) of the Road Traffic Law Act)

The owner of the vehicle, or the entity referred to in Article 73 (2) and (5) is obligated to collect the decision on vehicle registration and the registration card within 30 days from the date of filing the application for vehicle registration.

Certificates of registration, temporary certificates of registration, legalized registration plates and their duplicates are issued for a fee (in accordance with Article 75 (2)).

• registration certificate or a duplicate of registration certificate – PLN 54.00;
• temporary certificate of registration for a vehicle with a set of stickers on temporary registration plates;
• in the case of ex officio performed temporary registration – PLN 13.50;
• in the case of exporting a vehicle, traveling from the place of purchase or receipt on the Polish territory or due to the necessary technical inspection or repairs - at the request of the owner of the vehicle – PLN 18.50;
• for issuing a temporary certificate of registration at the request of the owner of the vehicle in the cases referred to in Article 74a (2,4,5 and 8) of the Road Traffic Act - PLN 18.50;
• a set of stickers on registration plates or a duplicate of stickers on registration plates – PLN 12.50;
• a set of stickers on temporary registration plates or a duplicate of stickers on temporary registration plates – PLN 12.50.

• automobile – PLN 80.00,
• motorcycle – PLN 40.00,
• moped – PLN 30.00,
• individualized – PLN 1000.00,
• historical:

        ♦ automobile – PLN 100.00,

        ♦ motorcycle – PLN 50.00.

• automobile – PLN 30.00,
• motorcycle – PLN 12.00,
• moped – PLN 12.00.

Legal basis: Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 4 August 2022 on fees for issuing certificates of registration, temporary certificate of registration and registration plate (plates) and their duplicates (Dz. U. item 1848).

In addition to the above, other fees are charged in the process of vehicle registration, including stamp duty, a registry fee and fees set forth in separate legal provisions.

The document confirming admission to road traffic of a vehicle not previously registered on the territory of the Republic of Poland or abroad: motor vehicle, moped, agricultural tractor or trailer - in order to testing these vehicles as a part of the activities conducted by the empowered entity - is a professional registration certificate along with professional registration plates.

“The empowered entities” authorized as part of their activities to use a professional registration certificate and professional registration plates are:

• an entrepreneur having its registered office on the territory of the Republic of Poland, and in the case of an entrepreneur having its registered office abroad - a branch of the company responsible for production, distribution (sales conducted as part of trade) or testing of vehicles previously not registered on the territory of the Republic of Poland or abroad;
• an approval unit or research unit of manufacturer of a vehicle and its equipment and parts, conducting tests of a  vehicle and its equipment and parts.

The Polish registration authority (starosta or President of city) proper for the location of the empowered entity, issues at the request of this entity a decision on professional registration of vehicles along with blanks of professional registration certificates and professional registration plates after paying the fees.

Professional registration certificate confirms the right to perform test drives for a period of 30 days or for 6 months from the date of completing the blank of a professional registration certificate by the proper empowered entity - but not longer than until the date of expiry or repeal of the decision on professional registration for which were issued blanks of professional registration certificates.

• decision on professional registration of vehicle - PLN 100,
• blank of professional registration certificate - PLN 10,
• professional registration plates:

        ♦ automobile – PLN 80.00,

        ♦ motorcycle – PLN 40.00,

        ♦ moped – PLN 30.00,

• set of stickers on professional registration plates: - PLN 12.50.

Requirements related to professional vehicle registration are set out in Chapter 2d in Section III of the  Road Traffic Act.

A vehicle shall be subject to deregistration by the competent authority for the place of its last registration at the request of its owner (in accordance with Article 79 (1) of the Road Traffic Act) in the following situations:

• transfer of the vehicle to an entrepreneur who provides dismantling services or an entrepreneur operating a vehicle collection point, on the basis of a vehicle certificate of destruction referred to in paragraph 2 or in Article 24 (1) point 2 or Article 33 (3) of the Act of 20 January 2005 on the recycling of end-of-life vehicles, or an equivalent document issued in another country,
• theft of the vehicle, if the owner has submitted an appropriate statement under penalty of perjury,
• export of the vehicle if the vehicle is registered or disposed of abroad,
• destruction (scrapping) of the vehicle abroad,
• documented permanent and complete loss of vehicle holdership without any changes to ownership rights,
• delivering an incomplete vehicle to an entrepreneur who provides dismantling services or an entrepreneur operating a vehicle collection point, on the basis of a certificate of destruction of an incomplete vehicle, referred to in Article 25 (1) point 2 or Article 33 (3) of the Act of 20 January 2005 on the recycling of end-of-life vehicles, or an equivalent document issued in another country,
• withdrawal of the vehicle from the market, referred to in Article 41 of Regulation 167/2013, Article 46 of Regulation 168/2013 or Article 51 of Regulation 2018/858 respectively.

In the case of delivering to an entrepreneur who provides dismantling services or an entrepreneur operating a vehicle collection point a vehicle other than specified in Article 3 (4) of the Act of 20 January 2005 on the recycling of end-of-life vehicles, the entrepreneur shall issue a certificate of destruction of the vehicle, in accordance with requirements specified in Article 24 (1) point 2 or Article 33 (3) of the Act (pursuant to Article 79 (2) of the Road Traffic Act).

A template of the certificate of destruction is defined in the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 23 August 2022 on invalidating documents of end-of-life vehicles, templates of certificates issued for these vehicles, storage of certificates and keeping a register (Dz. U. item 1850).

In the case of receiving information from the competent authority for registration of vehicles in Member State other than the Republic of Poland that a vehicle coming from Poland was re-registered in that Member State – the Polish registration authority shall deregister a vehicle ex officio (Article 79 (3a) of the Road Traffic Act).

The registration authority deregisters the vehicle ex officio when a temporary registration certificate for export purpose of the vehicle abroad has been issued (art. 74 (2)(2)(a) of the Act - the Road Traffic Law) and the owner of the vehicle has made the statement referred to in art. 74 (6) of the Road Traffic Act.

In accordance with Article 79 (4) of the Road Traffic Act, deregistered vehicles shall not be subject to re-registration, with the following exceptions:

• vehicles recovered after theft,
• historical vehicles,
• vehicles that are at least 25 years old, recognized by an automotive expert as unique or of particular importance for the history of the automotive industry,
• farm tractor and trailers,
• exported or disposed of abroad, as referred to in Article 79 (1) point 3 of the Road Traffic Act.

Temporary withdrawal of vehicles from road traffic, at the request of the vehicle owner or the entity referred to in Article 73 (2) and (5), shall be imposed by the starosta having jurisdiction over the place of its last registration, on the basis of a decision on temporary withdrawal of the vehicle from road traffic (Article 78a (1) of the Road Traffic Act).

Temporary withdrawal applies to the following types of registered vehicles:

1. trucks and trailers with a total permitted weight exceeding 3.5 tons,
2. tractor units,
3. special vehicles,
4. buses,
5. Passenger cars in connection with the need to repair the vehicle due to damage the essential structural elements:

• in the cases referred to in Article 81 (11) (b) and (6),
• in the event of significant damage

A vehicle (points 1-4) may be temporarily withdrawn from road traffic for a period of 2 to 24 months. It may be extended, although the total period of withdrawal from traffic cannot exceed 48 months from the date of its first withdrawal.

A passenger car (point 5) may be temporarily withdrawn from road traffic for a period from 3 to 12 months without the possibility of extending this period, and not earlier than after 3 years from the date on which the period of temporary withdrawal specified in the last decision on its temporary withdrawal.

The owner of the vehicle or the entity referred to in Article 73 (2) and (5) is obliged to provide a parking space outside a public road, a residence zone and a traffic zone.

The requirement for admitting a passenger car to the road traffic after its temporary withdrawal is the an additional technical inspection of the vehicle confirmed in the central register of vehicles. If there is no information about an additional technical inspection in the central register of vehicles, the admission into road traffic is based on the submitted certificate of an additional technical inspection of the vehicle.

Pursuant to Article 78a (3) of the Road Traffic Act, the decision on temporary withdrawal of the vehicle from road traffic shall be issued for a fee once the owner of the vehicle or the entity referred to in Article 73 (2) and (5) - has deposited the certificate of registration and registration plates of the vehicle to the starosta competent for the place of the last registration.

The fee for a decision to temporarily withdraw from road traffic for a period of two months a truck and a trailer with a maximum permissible weight of 3,5 tonnes or more, an articulated lorry, a special vehicle or a bus is PLN 80.

In case of withdrawal one of the above vehicles from road traffic for a period longer than two months, but not longer than the authorized period of temporary withdrawal referred to in Article 78a (4) of the Road Traffic Act, the fee shall be increased by the following sums for each subsequent month of temporary withdrawal from traffic:

• PLN 4 – from the 3rd to the 12th month,
• PLN 2– from the 13th to the 24th month,
• PLN 0.25 – from the 25th to the 48th month.

The fee for a decision to temporarily withdraw from the road traffic for a period of three months a passenger car is PLN 80.

If a passenger car is withdrawn from traffic for a period longer than 3 months, but not longer than the period of permissible temporary withdrawal of the vehicle from road traffic, the fee is increased for each subsequent month of temporary withdrawal of the vehicle from traffic by PLN 4.

Legal basis: § 6 of the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 23 December 2004 on the temporary withdrawal of vehicles from road traffic (Dz. U. of 2023 , item 87).

• Road Traffic Act of 20 June 1997 (Dz. U. of 2023, item 1047, 919, 1053, 1088, 1123, 1193, 1234, 1394, 1720, 1723, and 2029),
• Act of 14 June 1960 – Code of Administrative Procedure (Dz. U. of 2023, item 775),
• Act of 20 January 2005 on the recycling of end-of-life vehicles (Dz. U. of 2020, item 2056),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 31 August 202 on registration and marking of vehicles and requirements for registration plates (Dz. U. of 2022, item 1847 and 2023, item 1255),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 31 August 2022 on specific tasks of competent authorities related to the entry of vehicles into service and templates of related documents (Dz. U. of 2022 item 1849 and 2023, item 1208 and 2685),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 4 August 2022 on fees for issuing certificates of registration, temporary certificate of registration, registration plate (plates) and the control sticker and their duplicates (Dz. U. item 1848),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 16 August 2022 on the distribution of blank certificates of registration and temporary certificate of registration (Dz. U. item 1789),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 23 December 2004 on the temporary withdrawal of vehicles from road traffic (Dz. U. of 2023,  item 87),
• Regulation of the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy of 2 May 2012 on manufacturing and distribution of registration plates and legal markings (Dz. U. of 2020, item 717, of 2021, item 2265, of 2022, item 1885 and of 2023 item 432),
• Regulation of the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy of 13 April 2012 on the mode of legalization of registration plates, technical conditions and templates for legal markings (Dz. U. of 2016, item 1084 of 2019, item 1273, of 2022, item 129 and 2023, item 786),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 14 June 2004 on the procedure of annotating a registered pledge in registration certificates of motor vehicles (Dz. U. No. 145, item 1542),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 23 August 2022 on invalidating documents of end-of-life vehicles, templates of certificates issued for these vehicles, on the storage of certificates and keeping a register (Dz. U. item 1850).
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 March 2019 on professional registration of vehicles, markings and fees related to professional registration of vehicles (Dz. U. of 2023 item 2616),
• Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 March 2019 on manufacturing and distribution of professional registration plates and legal markings and on the mode of legalization of professional registration plates (Dz. U. item 547).