Legalisation of foreign documents of education
Legalisation is the certification of a document’s formal conformity with the law binding in the place of its issue or of the authenticity of the seals and signatures placed on the document. Legalisation of a document by the relevant authorities in the country in which it was issued increases its credibility.
A. Legalisation with Apostille
If a country in which a given document was issued is a party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, concluded in The Hague, the document’s legalisation is replaced by an Apostille certificate attached to it. The list of countries – parties to the Convention and the institutions authorised to issue the Apostille is available here:
https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41
B. Normal Legalisation
If a country in which a given document was issued is not a party to the aforementioned Convention, the document’s legalisation remains the responsibility of a Polish consular office in that country. Depending on the type of a document, Polish consular offices will use one of the three categories of legalisation clauses: full legalisation, standard legalisation, authentication.
More information about legalization or apostille is available here: https://nawa.gov.pl/en/apostille-and-legalization/apostille-or-legalization-what-do-i-need
The list of Poland's missions abroad is available at: www.msz.gov.pl/en.
Translation by a sworn translator
All official documents issued abroad should be translated into Polish by:
· a Polish sworn translator registered on the list of translators published by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland
The list of Polish sworn translators may be found here:
· the consul of the Republic of Poland in the country in which documents were issued
· a person registered as a sworn translator in an EU member state, an EFTA member state, an EEA member state, or an OECD member state.
· an accredited diplomatic representative to Poland, or the consular office of the country in whose territory, or within whose educational system the documents in question were issued
More information about the Recognition of Academic Qualifications may be found:
- on the website of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education:
https://nawa.gov.pl/en/recognition/recognition-for-academic-purposes
- on the ENIC-NARIC network website: http://www.enic-naric.net/
Health insurance:
All foreign students are required to hold disease and accident insurance in the territory of Poland. Two options are available:
- insurance from Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (the National Health Fund), NFZ, ul. Batorego 24, Kraków,
- a policy from an insurance company based in Poland.
In respect of EU citizens, their European Insurance Health Cards are deemed valid.
Legalization of stay:
All foreign students who wish to study in Poland are required to legalize their stay .
- The citizens of the EU and Switzerland are only required to register their stay;
- Non-EU foreigners must hold an entry visa or a temporary stay permit.
