Poland in the UK

You can apply for a passport at any Polish consular office. Please note that both the application and collection of your new passport must be completed at the same office.

IMPORTANT! Honorary consuls are not authorized to issue passports.

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

You must schedule your appointment to apply for a passport through 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 temporary 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.

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.

1. Fee for a temporary passport issued for the delivery time of the biometric passport is 14 GBP. 
2. Fee for a temporary passport issued for other purpose than to cover the biometric passport delivery time is 35 GBP.
3. The fees must be paid at the office counter when submitting the application. 
4. 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).

IMPORTANT! Reduced fees do not apply If a temporary passport is issued. Such fees are only applicable to issuing biometric passports.

You will receive the temporary passport as soon as possible.

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

You must collect your temporary passport in person at the same office where you submitted your application.

On the day of collection, please bring your previous passport or temporary passport to the consular office. It will be voided (except for pages with valid visas) and returned to you.

IMPORTANT! In justified cases, especially if traveling to the consular office is particularly difficult, the consul may waive the requirement to collect your temporary passport in person. Please discuss this option when you file your passport application. You will need to submit a reasoned written request to the consul (a special form is available at the consular office) and cover the postage costs. The consul will then send your new temporary passport to the specified address via a secure postal or messenger service, if possible.

The consul will void your current passport or temporary passport before sending the new one.

IMPORTANT! If you have chosen to have your new temporary passport mailed to you and still possess your current document, and you know that the new passport is ready for collection, please send your current document to the consul for voiding. The consul will then return the voided document along with the new temporary passport.

IMPORTANT! We do not send temporary passports to citizens residing in Poland. Additionally, temporary passports issued by a domestic authority (province governor) cannot be sent to individuals living abroad.

If the consul rejects your application for a temporary passport, you can appeal to the minister for internal affairs through the consul.

You may not appeal a decision refusing to issue you a document if the decision was made on request of a court or another authority conducting proceedings.

Can I get a temporary passport?

A temporary passport may be issued to persons:

• staying outside the territory of the Republic of Poland (if they so wish and file an application for such document to be issued);
• whose fingerprints cannot be physically taken and this obstacle is temporary;
• in urgent situations:

- to return to the place of residence,
- related to their illness (an evidence to be provided),
- related to illness or burial of a family member (an evidence to be provided),
- related to professional activities (an evidence to be provided),
- related to compulsory education of persons who do not have capacity for legal transactions or have limited capacity for legal transactions and are under 18 years of age, to the development of their individual skills, or to provide care to such persons if necessary.

IMPORTANT! A temporary passport is valid for the period stated therein, but not longer than for 365 days from the date of issue.

IMPORTANT! Honorary consuls cannot issue temporary passports.

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

You can file an application with the consul to issue you a temporary passport to return to Poland. Remember to bring the temporary passport issued by the consul with you when you collect your new passport from the office (in Poland).

I lost my passport. What should I do now?

You must immediately inform the passport authority if you lost your passport. The authority abroad is the consul.
On the day when you inform about the loss of your passport, it becomes invalid.
IMPORTANT! If you find the passport which you had reported lost in the consulate, you should immediately return it to the passport authority (to the consul if you are abroad).