Legalisation of foreign certificates and diplomas

Legalisation of foreign certificates and diplomas (information for foreigners)

University diplomas obtained outside Poland must be endorsed with an apostille or legalised in the country of issue.

Apostille

The Apostille is a certification by which official documents (including diplomas) issued on the territory of one state are recognised as legal on the territory of another state. The Apostille was introduced by the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents drawn up in The Hague on 5 October 1961 (Journal of Laws of 2005, No. 112, item 938) and applies to countries that have adopted the Convention. These countries can be found in the attached link https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41

The Apostille can be obtained from the country that issued the document. The Hague Convention website has a list of institutions issuing apostilles.

Legalisation

Legalisation is the confirmation of the authenticity of a document (e.g. a certificate or diploma) issued in another country. It should be done if it is not possible to obtain an apostille because the country that issued the document has not adopted a convention abolishing the requirement to legalise documents. If the country in which the candidate received the certificate or diploma is not on the list of signatories to the Hague Convention, the candidate should legalise the document.

Normally, legalisation of a document is carried out by the Polish consul in the country where the document was issued. For this, please contact the consulate.

Recognition of certificates and diplomas

Most High School Graduation Certificates do not require any action before the Polish authorities, as they are recognised by law. If the candidate's certificate has been issued in one of the countries listed below, he or she does not need to obtain an additional decision on its recognition.

The certificate must give the right to study in the country in which it was issued.

Recognition of education obtained abroad

The following certificates are recognised by law:

1. Issued by a school or an educational institution operating within the educational system of a Member State of the European Union, a Member State of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a member state of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) - a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, entitling to apply for admission to higher education in these countries.
2. International Baccalaureate (IB) diplomas and European Baccalaureate (EB) certificates.
3. Covered by international agreements concluded by Poland with other countries. Detailed information on the international agreements concluded by Poland can be found at the websiteof the Ministry of Education and Science.

If the certificate does not belong to any of the above-mentioned categories, it must be recognised as a document confirming eligibility to apply for admission to higher education by an administrative decision issued by the competent school superintendent.

Higher education diplomas

If a higher education diploma obtained abroad entitles to continue education or to open a doctoral thesis in the country of its issuance, it also entitles to take up studies of a respective degree in Poland. However, the above rule does not apply when:

1. the university which awarded the diploma was not an accredited university on the date of the award of the diploma or was pursuing the study curriculum which was not accredited on the date of the award of the diploma,
2. did not operate in the higher education system of any country,
3. the higher education curriculum or a part of it was pursued in contravention of the regulations of the country in which the diploma was issued.