Poland in the UK

You can apply for a passport in any Polish consular office. Please note that you need to apply for and collect your new passport in the same office.

IMPORTANT! Honorary consuls cannot issue passports.

Yes, you need to file a passport application in person.

You can book your appointment to apply for a passport via the e-Consulate system.

IMPORTANT! You no longer need to fill out the passport application in paper. Your passport application will be filed electronically during your visit in a consular office. A consular officer will file your application using an electronic form. You will just need to confirm all your data are correct and sign your application on a dedicated device (signature pad).

• A colour biometric photograph – read what the photo should look like.
  Filing the photograph together with the application is mandatory. You cannot replace the photograph or send it later. If no photograph is attached to your application or the photograph does not comply with requirements, we will notify you that your passport application will have been rejected.
• A valid passport / temporary passport or a valid identity card (if issued) confirming your identity and Polish citizenship.
  IMPORTANT! If you apply for a passport and there are justified doubts as to your identity, citizenship or other details required to file a passport application, the consul may ask you to submit additional necessary documents.
• Bring an abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish birth certificate if you do not have the PESEL number.
• Bring an abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish marriage certificate if you do not have the PESEL number and you got married. This document must be submitted by both men and women, whether they have changed their names upon marriage or not.
• If your surname has changed when you married abroad – bring an abridged or unabridged Polish marriage certificate.
• A document confirming your eligibility for a reduced passport fee (e.g. student ID, pensioner ID, etc.).

We may ask you to submit additional documents if we cannot establish your identity and / or citizenship based on the data in documents presented or the data available to us in our records and registers, or if the data are unclear or inconsistent:

• an abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish birth certificate,
• an abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish marriage certificate,
• a decision of the province governor confirming your Polish citizenship,
• a valid foreign identity document.

IMPORTANT! Take your current passport / temporary passport with you when you apply, even if it has expired.

The passport fee is 96 GBP. 

The fees must be paid at the office counter when submitting your application.

Accepted forms of payment: cash, postal order made out to the appropriate consular office, credit and debit cards (except at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Belfast), cheque (only at the Consular and Polish Diaspora Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London).

You are eligible for a 50% discount if:

• you are a pupil or a student (aged between 18 and 26),
• you are a pensioner,
• you are a disability pensioner,
• you are an old age pensioner, disability pensioner or person with disability; eligibility is based on Polish provisions (the Old Age and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Funds Act of 17 December 1998, the Social Pension Act of 27 June 2003 and the Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act of 27 August 1997),
• you are wholly dependent on your spouse who is an old age pensioner, disability pensioner or a person with disability in the meaning of the above provisions,
• you stay in a residential home or care facility or you rely on social assistance in the form of fixed allowances pursuant to the provisions of the Social Assistance Act of 12 March 2004 (Dz.U. 2021, items 2268 and 2270, and 2022, items 1 and 66),
• you receive a carer’s allowance, attendance benefit or allowance paid to carers of persons with disabilities, granted pursuant to the provisions of the Family Benefits Act of 28 November 2003 and the Act on determining and paying allowances to carers of 4 April 2014,
• you are a veteran or a person to whom the provisions of the Act on veterans and certain persons being victims or wartime and post-war repressions of 24 January 1991 apply,
• you are a person classified as an anti-communist resistance activist or a person repressed for political reasons pursuant to the Act on anti-communist resistance activists and persons repressed for political reasons of 20 March 2015,
• you are a person whose involvement in regaining independence and sovereignty by Poland or respecting political human rights in Poland have been confirmed by the Head of the Veterans and Repressed Persons Office by means of decisions issued pursuant to Article 117, item 4 of the Old Age and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Funds Act of 17 December 1998,
• you are a soldier doing territorial military service,
• you are a veteran who suffered harm in the meaning of the Veterans of Foreign Missions Act of 19 August 2011,
• you are a rescue firefighter serving in the voluntary fire service and a person who has been granted a rescue worker benefit pursuant to the Voluntary Fire Service Act of 17 December 2021,
• you are a volunteer serving in entities entitled to undertake mountain rescue efforts,
• you are a member of a large family in the meaning of the Large Family Card Act of 5 December 2014 and hold a Large Family Card.

IMPORTANT! If you want to benefit from the consular fee discount, you need to present a document confirming your eligibility while submitting the passport application. These documents cannot be sent / presented later on. 

You will not pay for your passport if:

• you turn 70 on the day of application or earlier,
• you stay in a nursing home or a residential care facility and your travel abroad is related to a long-term treatment or a surgery,
• you receive a permanent benefit from the social service and your travel abroad is related to a long-term treatment or a surgery,
• your passport has a technical defect,
• you file your passport application prior to the expiry date of your current passport to remove a discrepancy (for example in your name, surname, date of birth, place of birth or PESEL number),
• you hold a final court decision that renders invalid a decision of the passport authority refusing to issue or voiding your passport document.

IMPORTANT! If you want to be exempt from the passport fee, you need to bring documents confirming that you meet one of the above criteria.

When you apply for a passport, a consular officer will give you an estimated collection date. You will also receive a written confirmation of your passport application. On the receipt you will find your passport application number, which is useful if you want to track the progress online (See if your passport is ready). 

If you need the ID document urgently, for example because of a travel at short notice, you should additionally apply for a temporary passport that will cover the waiting time for the delivery of your biometric passport. You will get it sooner than the biometric one. 

IMPORTANT! If you are planning to travel abroad with a temporary passport, check current rules of entry and stay of foreigners in the country of your destination. Make sure that you can cross the border with a temporary passport and check the required validity period (at entry and departure).

You will collect the passport personally in the same office where you submitted the application.

On the collection day of the new document bring your previous passport / temporary passport to the consular office. It will be cancelled (except for pages with valid visas) and returned to you.

IMPORTANT! In justified cases, especially if the travel to the consular office is particularly difficult, the consul may waive the requirement of collecting your passport in person. Discuss this when you file the passport application.​​​ Remember that you will have to submit a reasoned written request to the consul (a special form is available at a consular office) and pay the postage. The consul will send your new passport to the indicated address via postal or messenger service operator, ensuring the security of the document if possible.

The consul will void your current passport / temporary passport before the new one is sent to you.

IMPORTANT! If during your passport visit you have chosen your new passport to be posted to you and you still have your current document with you, and you know that your new passport is ready to be collected, please send your current document to the consul as it has to be voided. The consul will then return your voided document together with the new one.

IMPORTANT! We will not send passports to citizens staying in Poland. It is also not possible to send passports issued by a domestic authority (province governor) to a person staying abroad.

The consul will refuse to issue you a passport on the request of:

• a court that is conducting proceedings in a criminal case, proceedings concerning a fiscal crime, proceedings related to a minor or civil proceedings against the passport applicant,
• an authority conducting preliminary proceedings and an authority conducting enforcement proceedings in a criminal case, including proceedings concerning a fiscal crime, against the passport applicant.

In these two cases you may not appeal against the decision of the consul refusing to issue you a passport.

The consul refuses to issue you a passport when:

• based on the submitted documents and available registers, the passport authority has not been able to confirm the details of the passport applicant that need to be entered into the passport / temporary passport,
• based on submitted documents and available registers, the passport authority has not been able to confirm the Polish citizenship of the applicant,
• the applicant has failed to pay the required fee for a passport / temporary passport.

Refusal to issue a passport document is made by a consul by means of a aadministrative decision.

How can I appeal?

If a consul issues a decision refusing to issue you a passport, you can appeal that decision through the consul to the minister competent for internal affairs. You may not appeal a decision refusing to issue you a passport if that decision has been made on a request of a court or another authority conducting proceedings.

Can I apply for a passport if my current passport expires in a few years' time?

You can apply for a new passport.

Do I have to apply for a replacement passport if my personal data have changed?

You must replace your passport if the following data have changed or need to be corrected: surname(s), name(s), date and place of birth, sex, PESEL number. 
If this is the case you shall apply for a new passport within 90 days from the day of:

• delivery of the final administrative decision or the binding court ruling stating the change, 
• drafting of a marriage certificate stating the change of surname, or – if the marriage was entered into before a consul or a foreign authority – from the delivery date of a copy of the marriage certificate.

My passport ran out of space for visas and border crossing stamps, but it expires in a few years' time. Does it need to be replaced?

The replacement is not obligatory. However, if your passport lacks space for visas or border crossing stamps and you plan to travel abroad, you should apply for a new passport. 
Please consider applying for a new passport even if you are not planning a trip abroad to avoid difficulties when a sudden trip becomes necessary. 

Can I apply for a passport if I lost my personal ID and my new 10-year passport is waiting to be collected in Poland?​​​​​​

You can apply for a temporary passport at a consular office. Remember to take with you the temporary passport issued by a consul as you return to Poland to collect the new one.

What should I do if the passport is waiting to be collected in Poland and I am not planning to travel to Poland soon?

Contact the consul on that issue.

Is it possible to have the passport sent from another consulate or from Poland?

No, you need to collect your new passport in the same office in which you applied for it.

How do I get a passport if I was born abroad, I have never had a Polish passport or personal ID, I have never lived in Poland but one of my parents used to have a Polish passport?

You should submit a request to confirm your Polish citizenship. After receiving theprovince governor's decision confirming your Polish citizenship, you will have to register your foreign birth certificate and marriage certificate in Poland. This way you will get a copy of a Polish birth certificate and a Polish marriage certificate.

You will need to bring the following documents to your passport visit: a passport photo, an abridged or unabridged copy of a Polish birth certificate, abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish marriage certificate, the decision confirming your Polish citizenship. You will also need to present a valid ID card with a photograph.