How to get married in Poland and have a Polish wedding
Finding a Polish lady friend might not be as hard as jumping through the maze at the Polish government offices to actually make your marriage legal.
How to marry a Polish citizen
There are two types of Polish marriages, Polish civil marriage, and Church marriage. If you have a Polish church wedding this is legal. I will explain the Church wedding, as this is more common in Poland.
As with any official or significant event in your life you need to learn to be patient and collect paper. All church documents must be up to date in the last 6 months. All Polish government documents must be up to date in the last 3 months.
Polish Government
1) You need a letter from you Embassy, saying you can get married or they do not have the information regarding this. This is free.
2) You need your birth certificate translated into Polish. You can order a copy of your birth certificate from the Internet. Then you have to go to an official Polish language translator and translate this into Polish. This is about 100 Polish zloty. Or better if you have a Polish Akt Urodzenia then the process goes much easier, and its only 20 Polish zloty. You get his from Urzad Stanu Cywilnego in Polish
3)Then you go to a Polish court with your future wife/husband and partition them to marry a Polish citizen . This will cost about 100 Polish zloty. You will need an official Polish translator if you do not speak the Polish language. This will take about a few months or more in a city and much quicker if you do it in the Polish countryside.
4)At the end of this, you get a piece of paper from the Polish court that says you can marry a Polish citizen. And you take this to the priests. (After you are married by the priest you take another Piece of Paper and bring it to Urzad Stanu Cywilnego, this is some Polish office where you simply register your church marriage. Urzad in Polish is a Polish government office.)
The Catholic Church marriage
1) You need to go to classes over four weeks, these classes are kind of interesting and in Polish, so if you are learning or want to learn Polish, here is your chance and the classes are fun. Your there with a bunch of other Polish couples.
Then you have to meet together as a couple twice with a layperson from the church and each individually once. After this process, you will get a piece of paper with 7 stamps. You each need this. I think this only cost about 30 Polish złoty and the counseling is actually solid advice, not this crazy media pop psychology you might get in the west.
2) You need your birth certificate and your baptism certificate, you need your confirmation certificate or a letter from your priest back home that says you were confirmed (This is the only document that does not need to be to update).
3) You make an appointment with the main church office in your town with all your papers. They check it.
5)Your future wife’s priest and your priest will need to announce, in her and your church, that you will be married. These announcements occur on three Sundays.
That is it.You are all set for your Polish wedding.
How long does this take? It depends on you. I would say 6 months is good but if you wan to do it in 3 months I think this can be done.
Can you pay anyone to make this go faster? No.
Can I get married in the church without the government paper? Technically yes. But it would not be a legal Polish wedding and I do not know if this done. But in the eyes of the Church, you are married happily ever after.
So what do I need again to get married in Poland?
1) A court decision that says you can marry a Polish person
2) Birth certificate
3) Baptismal certificate
4) Church wedding preparation certificate
@ Anna, No worries. You are on the right track. I think a civil ceremony in the UK is fine and even recommend if you want to avoid a lot of paperwork. Then the Church wedding in Poland is 100% ok. You can take the classes in the UK of course. The church is the church and they do not care about countries. In fact he can take those classes even if he is not Catholic. All they need to know is if you took the classes. And better news, the Polish government needs official translations of documents (you have to go to an office and simply registar, in Kraków it is near Nowy Klepasz) …but the the church does not. They just want to see you have the right papers whatever language. I did translate my own documents but the priest spoke some English and looked at the original and everything was ok. Believe it or not the Church as least for me was very relaxed and helpful. They just need 1) Your marriage in the UK. 2) Baptism certificates 3) confirmation and 4)class certificates. I think this is it. If he is not catholic its ok too. I am American and my friends are Jewish and Catholic and they are married. My friend who was Chinese no religious was married in the church after paperwork and classes. My brother was married in the Church of England (he is catholic) but they both go to Catholic church and raised their son Catholic. I think the only thing that the church wants to know is 1) are you open to the possibility of having children 2) if he is not catholic will he try to stop you from being catholic or raising your children in your faith. I am a very open minded American and I think those are two very reasonable requests from the Church. Marriage and is based on for richer or for poorer, sickness and in health and good times and bad this comes from a spiritual view of life. Please let me know if this helps or you need more information.
@Anna, well I recommendedthe UK wedding first based on what you said you wanted. I think that if you want both done at the same time in Poland you can do this it depends on time. The Church has a treaty with the government and a Church wedding can be a valid civil wedding, all you need is a marriage license from the Polish uząd. Ah yes the famous Polish urząd, it really is not that bad. I as an American had a harder time, than your guy would have if he wanted a Polish civil marriage because he is a EU citizen. In fact, I almost got married in Vegas (really Vegas because it was so stressful waiting for all this paperwork for the Polish urząd) and than return back to Poland for my real Church wedding. But I did not have to do that because the urząd paperwork came though and I got all the stamps and papers I needed on the last day. I consider the civil marriage more for paper and what you do in the church is real. But that is just me. I know people who do the civil marriage first in their country and then the Church wedding because they said it is easier. But either way is possible and really if you do not stress about it you can do it either way with planning. You just have to make up your mind what is real and important etc and you guys are both in agreement about it and when you would celebrate your wedding anniversary, I think the church day.
Thanks again 4 replay!
How long it will take us to do this things in India? How long we need to wait 4 visa!! we will apply 4 visa in polish ambasy in india? does this will change anything it will be quicker? and i want to ask as u know iam polish and my partner is indian and we expect baby after one month and he will be born in england so which pasport he will have??? does that that we will have baby 2gether will make case of his visa quicker????
Hi there,
I’m a Polish citizen and my fiance is English. We want to have a civil ceremony in England and then a church wedding in Poland- will he need all those documents mentioned by you before? Can we take those marriage lessons in a Polish church in London as this is where we live or do we have to travel to Polad for it? Uh… head hurts when thinking of it all…. Please help!
Thanks for a quick reply 🙂
So I guess it seams a lot easier to get married in England first in the civil ceremony, than to do the whole thing in Poland…
Thanks it helped a lot, I think the whole blog did- so many questions answered!!!
thank You very muche, u halped me a lot!!!! For now its all what i need to know but if anything comes up i will strate away aske u!!!!!!
Thank u again!!!!
@Kevin, As a US citizen you can live in Poland for 3 months, leave the EU via Ukraine for example for the day and come back and remain in Poland for 3 more months. You can not legally work in Poland but many people find work as you are a native speaker of English, they get paid cash. If you are engaged they might have a fiance visa like the USA does but this means you have to get married 6 months after you arrive. However, many Americans just live here illegally. I think since the EU it is more strict but your American and basically looked on well. But still many Americans are here and worry about visas. I am 100% legal but it took work. So I would first come here and teach English at one of the schools. Your a native speaker, do not take a teaching course they are a rip off, your a native speaker. Then I would worry about a visa etc after you are on your feet here after about 2 months. Then I would go to ul. Sabestiena and talk to the people there about visa options. Family and Church and values are taken seriously in Poland. I am American and I think the west is too easy so I am happy you respect your girlfriend’s family. Think of it like when you have a daughter you would want the same. 🙂 The main thing is Poles are very friendly and helpful. And if there is a will there is a way. You can get it all done like I did. Ps check out my grammar site for learning Polish grammar. polishgrammar.com I will also have an mp3 program out in a few months. mp3languagelearning.com But besides that. I recommend marriage in Poland as here love is about love, not money. Love is about being with the one your suppose to be with rather than your position in a company or your bank account.
I was very interested in your article, I have a g/f for serveral month whom now resides back at home in krakow with her family.
She is truely one in a million, she feel the same about me that I feel about her and we are talking about marrige and I want to marry her, Soon i will be in poland, and her her arms again. Her family loves me and welcomes me to marry her. they like me alot.
So now I must find work and live with her in krakow. which i hear it can be hard, but First thing is first I need to get married to her. her family likes me but want me married to her before we can sleep together in their house. but I respect that
So it is sleeping on the couch now …. So what do i need from usa to spend this up before i come to poland?
Is it possible to get the paper work started before I arrive?
please email me with any advice or help
wow thanks you for the heads up, So do i need anything besides a ticket and a passport to come live in poland?
alot of money?
I have trying to learn as much polish as I can, I don’t want to embarress her around her freinds or her family.
btw can u reccommend a place that may possible hire English speakers, I have a college education as a Surgical tech, military exp and I now work as computer repair tech here in the states.
I am not familar with krakow, but my g/f tells me not to worry, But you I’m a guy, So i like to be prepared as much as possible, like having a family children and being able to support it.
I guess you can say I don’t want to sit around all day and not be able to contribute to the house hold, having her and her mother work all the time, would make me seem like and lazy american, LOL.
For me this is a Oneway ticket, she mean that much to me, and I mean that much to here. So I am going all out, paying off all my debts, creditcard bills, selling my truck, everything i will not need or can not take with me. and start a life with her.
And advice or extra information would help me out tremendously, THX 😉
@Kevin, All you need is your passport. You can pull money from an ATM or “Bankomat” here. Work? There are 100s of jobs. Look at school in the center. Bring a laptop if you have one or buy a cheap on here at the computer market on Saturday or Sunday. Everyone speaks intermediate English and Polish is very hard to learn so be patient. I have lived here for almost 5 years and its very nice. Same as the USA but much cheaper. The most important thing is relax and do not worry. You are among friends in Poland. Its a nice place. You can teach English conversation or at a school. Also when you get here shoot me an e-mail and we can even meet if you would like. If you are worried about money I ate at “milk bars” my first year or two here. You will see what a milk bar is. Karmaliska street has most of the schools to look for work. WIFI at many cafes if you want internet. But really Krakow is a major city and it will be like back home, except your in Poland. Always let the women walk first through a door and refer to most people as “Pan” or “Pani” as this is formal language. If you are Catholic a very nice church to go to is the Dominican church downtown, near the US embassy. Let me know how you are doing in Poland.
@Agnieszka, I do not know. I know that in the USA he would get a visa. Its called a Fiancee visa of U.S. Citizen-The fiance of an American is about a citizen of another country who intends to travel to the United States to marry and take up indefinite residence after marriage can get this visa. But I am not sure if Poland has this, but I think yes. I think if there is a will there is a way and even if Poland does not have this you can enroll him in a school and get a student visa. This all you have to ask at the Polish embassy or urząd because I am not an expert on Polish law, but I know somethings. Marriage is serious so I think you need to ask these questions now. Pozdr
Hi there
I have question. My boyfriend will come at July to Poland and we plan to get married.I want to know if his visa wil expire during the time we will wait for marriage ceremony.What should we do? The Polish Urząd will give my boyfriend visa or something like this? Because i know that he will have to have valid visa to get married in Poland with me.
Pozdrawiam
@ Dave, My experience was not as hard I am sorry to hear about your troubles with getting married in Poland. I know it is very stressful, I was just as stressed if not more. However, thank you very much for the post. I wish I could help you more that other than saying that this is often the experience of any person getting married in a foreign country, sometimes its easy sometimes its hard. If you have all your documents in order and translated it will be possible, sometimes easy sometimes hard. I think its a little bit because you might not speak Polish? So I think it might be a language problem a little. Think of the USA if some Chinese guy goes to an office and can not speak English, he does not get the same respect, even if your future wife is there its not the same. But Polish is very hard to learn so no one expects you to know it, while the whole world does have some level of English. So no worries. Also your situation is something that has not been seen by the lady in the Polish office, so she does not know who to handle it. I would recommend just be persistent and do not give up. I did not and had a wonderful wedding. Before I got married they misspelled my name on one document and that mean I could not get married. This was 3 days before my wedding, so I begged with the Polish office and complained and they got the manager to approve it. So Yes it can be problems, but I think this is like any marriage the bride and the groom are very stressed. Main thing is do not worry. Let me know who you do.
If he is married to you he will get a visa for Poland, if you apply. This means he will eventually be able to work and live in Poland legally. Since Poland is part of the Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone he will be able to move and vacation freely here since there are no boarder checks through most of Europe. However, if he wants to work in another EU country he will have to get a visa. He can apply though your Polish passport, usually if you are living in this country as the EU does not want to break up families. However, this work visa is not guaranteed, but usually he can get it. If he applies for a Polish passport that will take several years, although officially 3 years if he is living and working and has applied in Poland, in reality much more, like over 5, maybe 7 years. This is the best way to have visa free work and life in all of Europe. But for vacation no worries they do not check boarders anymore, except to the UK.
Getting Married in Poland sounds Great, just dont expect things to run Smoothly. I am Due to get married in 16 Days in Zakopane. We have been planning it for 6 Months. I Have done everything i needed too. A weekend of Wedding lessons (That i didn’t understand a Word of). The Paper trail is Shocking. Nobody believes in Communicating with each other, if they do it’s all about Paper and Rubber Stamps. Everybody tells you different things on what is needed.
I am having Huge problems with the Registry office, Some of my papers are caught up in the Polish Post Office Strike. I Have Fax copies of Everything all Translated in to Polish by a Sworn translator. The woman at the Registry office does not understand that my Adoption Certificate is my Birth Certificate as It does not say ‘Birth’. My Birth Cert has a Different name on it. She now tells me i have to be Registered in Poland at an address in my Parish (Even though i do not live here)
Once i sort this mess out, i still have to get Approval from the Catholic Church in Krakow!!!! (To be fair to the Church, they are bending over Backwards to be as Helpful as possible)
I have spent in excess of 40,000ZL on this Wedding and its balancing on the edge of a Mountain…..
Now, dont get me Wrong, I Love Poland, but Jeez who let them Join the EU , when they are Clearly so not Ready in so many Aspects.
I Will report back and let you know if my Dream Marriage goes ahead…….
If you do plan to get Married in Poland, just be warned that nobody will make it Easy for You, I doubt you will have the Same Problems as me, but Trust me… You will have Problems. Don’t let this Put you off, just be forewarned!
The Other thing that makes me Laugh/want to Kill is the Polish Pride themselves on their fantastic use and Grasp of the English Language, That is until a Problem arises, then Conveniently it’s all forgotten!!!!
Aaarrrrgggggghhhhhh!
If we will get married. My future husband will be able to move from Poland to another country like me or not? If we will want to go somewhere abroad he will have to aply for visa? Or he will be able to move around without problems? Im curious about it because we want to go somewhere for holiday this summer and it would great if he wont need visa.i cant wait for our special day.
Pozdrawiam
Hi
i am irish divorced and planning to marry my polsh girlfriend next year in poland, i was very interested to read that this may be possible in a church, is this true? we are both catholic
@BB Why not get married in the church? Look the church, in my experience and all my friends, the church, was the easy part. They are very helpful, it was the paper chase for the Polish office that can be tiring, but not impossible. The church might mean a lot to your girlfriend as Poland like Ireland is a catholic country. I am very glad I got married in the Church, it just take a few more steps. If your asking the rules of the church regarding being remarried, many people I know have been remarried in the catholic church. How? They got an annulment. This might takes a year but it can be a reality if you want it to be. Many people I know got an annulment and got remarried. In Ireland and Poland it is less known, but in America its more common. Why? Life is about second chances. So if you were married in the church before try to get this ASAP. An Annulment does not decrease the seriousness of marriage, as of course marriage is serious. But even the church despite, what you might think believes in second chance. Jesus’ life was about ‘the spirit of the law was more important than the letter of the law’. So even if you get a lot of no-s from someone about annulment, even a priest, I think you can get one. If you have any question please ask.
Hi Mark,
I am an Irish citizen wiahing to get married in krakow next year.
We will not be invited guest and would prefer a church wedding.
do you have any contact details of any wedding planners?
Are we required to spend a few days or a week in krakow before getting married?
@Martina, You are both Irish? I know a Catholic Church that is run by English speaking priests if that is what you want and could recommend places for the reception etc. You are not required to spend anytime in Krakow. However, I guess my question is what about all the paperwork etc. I think in theory you can do that in Ireland. What do you need guidance, more the church or the laws for getting married in Poland.
Hi there, i`ve seen you are of great help to everybody! its good to know there are people with warm feelings towards others:-) I am Polish and would like to get married to my boyfriend who is African, residing in Poland but without really legal documents.Does he just need a passport and a birth certificate together with bachelor`s certificate? do we need anything else? is civil or church procedure easier?and also, how long does it take for him to be able to work legal in Poland? how does it look from paper work point of view? does he get a visa? can he travel outside Poland being my husband? we would like to move to UK after marriage, how soon do you think it could happen? please advise and thanks for your help!
A civil marriage is the easiest as the church wedding adds extra paper,but if you are in Love and marriage is forever, I would go for the church wedding. Once you are married you can apply for a visa to work in Poland. But just being married does not give you the right to work you must apply for a visa in Poland. You have to apply and wait for a visa like everyone else, if you are married. Once married you can travel anywhere in the EU as you are in the EU zone and it has no boarder checks except the UK. If you want to work in the UK you can but must apply for a visa again. Its a spousal visa, if your wife, an EU citizen works, in the UK you can too, but the UK must give you a visa, like other counties and she must be with you working, you can not just go there. So until you are EU citizen, which will take officially 3 years but in reality 5 to 7 years you must get visas to work.
To be married you wife must go to the Polish office and get all the paperwork done. Birth and legal documents, you must be legal in Poland in someway. You can not be illegal. You do not need a degree, this is love not a job application, but all the legal documents must be in order. Read all what I have written above in this blog and you will see what you need. Also you will need to go to court. The judge will check you very carefully to see if the marriage is real. He will ask you about your counties laws of marriage. If you are legal in Poland the Police will check you, Do not be offended, they checked me and all my neighbors, they asked my neighbors what I was doing in Poland who am I etc.
So Poland is a super country, but they check and recheck a lot. You wife can do all the paperwork but you need to focus on getting your countries paperwork legal official and translated by an official translator, as well as legal stamps on your passport. If you over stay your welcome in the EU as a tourist you will be deported, as were my American friends. I am American and I think the EU is not as easy on illegals as the USA.
I have read the advices you gave to people and i can rightly say that i have gained a lot from it.I am an African and i have a Polish girlfriend,we have been dating for 2 years now,i am in Europe for my Masters Degrees but after finishing my education i will be going back to Africa this summer.We are planning of getting married but i will prefer us getting married in Africa,i will like to know how easy it will be for us to get this register down in Poland because my girl wants us to live in Poland.
@Lex you are married in one country you are married in all, but to make it official in Poland you need to go to the Polish office. If your girlfriend is Polish she will know. You need all, and I mean all your documents translated by an official translator into Polish.
iam so happy with your important information,but i need you to help me.iam from egypt and i have apolish girlfriend for 1 year and she visit my home in cairo and i visit poland for amonth and now we want to get marry in october but we will marry in poland and i realy need to know what documents i need from egypt to take with me to poland,please try to answer me as soon as possible
@Amed read what I have written above in the post on Marriage in Poland and the 50 other comments the answers are there. Further if you have a Polish girlfriend why is she not taking care of it? I am curious why I get so many requests from people from Africa who have Polish girlfriends and the girlfriend who speak Polish and are Polish citizens have not looked into this? Or further who have not take the time to read my blog on marriage in Poland first.
I would want the ceremony to be held in my country and he wants it to be held in Poland. Can we have a Polish Catholic wedding and an English Methodist one? Or would one have to be just a blessing?
@Kate I do not know for sure. However, I think you can have both. The reason is marriage in a legal sense is only a legal thing. Not a church thing. You can get married legally and have a church wedding at another time. The only thing you can not have is two legal weddings because you are already married. So you could get married in the catholic church in Poland and make that your legal wedding and get married in your church back home also. Or the other way around. The Polish government has a treaty with the church to allow the Church wedding be counted as legal wedding. But also if you are already married legally in England you can get married in the church in Poland. The only thing that would be the problem is if one of the churches do not allow this. All you have to do is ask your priest and minister. However, lets say one allows it the other does not. Get married first in the church that does not allow it and then in the church that allows it. I can understand your reasons 100%. Because both of you are in love and want to feel good about your marriages in each of your faiths so try very hard to find a way.
Hi. I am planning on getting married (Church) to my Polish girlfriend next year (2009). I am an Irish citizen, Catholic, never married – she is Polish citizen (living in Ireland for past 7 years), Catholic, never married. We will get married in a small city/town Tomaszów Mazowiecki.
What is the procedure to allow us get married?
@Barry, That is great about your marriage. Ok here is what you need. 1) Your birth certificates translated by an official translator into Polish. This is the main thing for the government. 2) for the church, you need baptism, confirmation and a certificate you did the marriage classes. That is the main thing. Please read the top of my blog for all the details. You will have no problem as you are an EU citizen and Catholic. It will be easy. I would start the process with the local government office and talk to them. The church part is really easy and they are nice, its the government which is sometimes hard as they do not have too many foreigners getting married and even they do not know what they need. But basically you birth certificate.
About marriage. I highly recommend it. I really love being married.
@mo, I understand what you are saying, I can not sit still either. Try to learn Polish. If you study Polish to the point of master, you will find it a huge advantage. Huge. I know its hard but many people have done it, just go to the Irish arms and talk to the owner in Krakow he is one of them. Knowing the language is one of the hardest but worthwhile tasks you can do. I live in Krakow, Poland by the way and maybe sometime we will connect.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the priceless yet rare info on this blog. i’ve literally gone through every comment posted here and i think i do have a clue on what i have to do to get married here. However, whilst im on this tendious and beauracratic process of verifying my paper work for marriage, can u please give me a heads up on what i can lay my hands on? aka work. i dont have a work permit yet nor a residence permit. I’m only working my way into the system but as a man, i just can’t be a potato couch for a good 6 months. Please advice accordingly. im based in Kracow at the moment which is a beautiful city but dont have any friends yet so to say!.
i am from india and i want to marry a polish girl please write me what documents i need to get marry in poland and what type of marriages are there in poland , and whats is the easy way to get marry in poland,as i am hindu and my fiancee is christian.
Jatin, read what I wrote in the post how to get married in Poland. This has all the information you need. If you have further questions ask.
Hi Jo, If you are your partner have all the birth certificates etc, you need to attend a marriage classes, it could be in the UK of course. The Church is the church and they do not care about national boundaries. The classes are actually not bad, it is also fun to be there with a bunch of other couples. So once you have your birth, confirmation (often simply in a note from your parish priest in the UK where you got confirmed) and class certificate together, and you have meet with the priest in Poland. They will make an announcement for 3 Sunday’s in the current church you attend. So if you go to Church in the UK then they make these announcements in your church not the church you are getting married in. This is basically a public announcement tradition. You will need witnesses for the marriage when you get married. These could be your bridesmaid and bestman as is usually the case, they do not have to be catholic. Technically the legal marriage is before or after the religious marriage, it is in the church and you sign a paper. Technically you need ID as its a legal document you are signing, but I do not know if you have to worry about this as they will know you. We just signed it in the church before the church wedding. The church and the nation of Poland have a treaty which says if you are married in the Catholic church you are married legally. If you have a marriage licenses. All you really need for the wedding from the legal stand point is the marriage licenses. The legal stuff is all connected to this licenses. For us, the church was fun, light and breezy, the Polish Uz?d or offices were more difficult. I guess you are not legally getting married in the UK first and just getting it all done in Poland? If so, legal documents are required to get the marriage license, such as Passports, birth certificates etc. That I could talk to the Uz?d in the town you are getting married in. I really love being married and I highly recommend it. So best wishes.
Hi Mark I have a few questions surrounding getting married in Poland. I am getting married on Poland of the 25th July next year, both myself and my partner are English citerzens however my mother is Polish. I have met with the Church in Poland and they have agreed to marry us as I am Catholic and have been attending Polish church in the UK. I have all my religious certifications and so does my partner. What are the next steps that I need to take in order to have a legal church wedding in Poland? Any advise would be great! Thanks Jo
Thats great thanks for the advice. I have also been informed I need to bring a certificate of non impediment (Lex Loci) to the Polish UZ?d. I can obtain this from my registra in my borough of council however they have informed me that the Polish Embassy have a validation period. Do you know if that certificate has to be valid within 6 months of receiving it or within 3 months?
Many Thanks
Jo
Hi Jatin, Poland is a very legal and document strict country. There is no way you can get married if the date is different on your passport and you birth certificate. They check everything many times carefully. I am not joking. That is my opinion. In a Polish office someone wrote one letter of my middle name wrong and it was big problem until I took care of it. You have to get the dates right on these official documents or you will have no chance you will get married, visa or anything else. They will ask you to leave the country. They will not allow it. It does not matter you are a nice person. Further, for a church wedding you need to get court and legal permission first. If you do not have a EU passport or the USA with permission to live in the EU, you have a lot of work ahead of you and a long time to wait. Why is your girlfriend not helping you with this? She should help you with this as you have a year of hard work ahead of you I think. I had over 6 months of work and I already had a ‘Polish green card’ and a Polish roots, worked legally in Poland, know Polish and am Catholic. If your an EU citizen no problem, USA citizen I think it is easier. But I think they look at people from non European countries very carefully as everyday on my blog I have many people all over the Africa and Asia writing me that they want to marry a Polish girl. So many I do not allow their comments as they boarder on spam. They are filled with typos and do not look real in my opinion. They are just people just wanting to get into Poland and the EU to get a visa. About the Christian religion, that is another topic. What can I say? Read the bible, I think the religion is amazing and if you are serious about it, it will change your life. Ask me any questions about this if you want. Good luck with your marriage in Poland.
hi thanks for ur information posted on 25th, i am hindu and i dont have much information about christian religion as i amgoing to marry a polis citizen she is christian, if i do marriage in church how long it will take . and do i need to register marriage in court after gettinmg marry in church so that i could apply for long stay in poland. i will be in poland next week for six months. so very short time and i have some problem with my birth certificate my date of birth differ than my passport so can i use any other document than birth certificate. or i can use a birth certificate with mistakes as it is as they will not ask about my passport and my marriage will get registered as i need three documents my 1)birth certificate with wrong date,2) my residence certificate, and 3)unmarried certificate will apply soon after entering in poland. is it possible.
Hi,
Can you please clarify what is reqired for my forth coming wedding . I am a British citizen leaving with my Polish partner and young son in England . We all have birth certificates and passports with my son having one from each country .We are planning to get married in Poland, but most probably a registry office wedding not a church wedding .My religion is (church of england) and my partner is (catholic) . Is this likely to cause any problems? also if marriage was acceptable, is it still valid within the UK. Please advise on what to do and what paper work may be required.
Thanks Mark
Mark, the good news is this. If you are married in Poland you are married all over the world. UK, US, everywhere. I was married in Poland and in the US I am married. I do not have to do anything. More good news. My older brother how has been married for 25 plus years is Catholic, his wife Church of England. In my mind, it does not matter, they are Christian religions with the same rite. This should not be a problem with anyone, ever. First if you get married in an office, they do not care about your religion. All you need is translated birth documents. Your an EU citizen, so it should not be hard as mine where I had to get court approval. I think you have to go to the Uząd in the city you will get married in and get the application, and bring all the translated documents birth etc, I listed above (letter from your embassy for example that says your free to marry) Hmm You may or may not need a letter from the court. All they are checking is if under UK law you an get married, that is are you over the age of 18 for example.
Church Wedding, if she wants a Church wedding, not a problem, the church works with you. If it is in Krakow, I know an English – Polish priest that knows what to do. But I guess that depends on your personal convictions.
Kathie, All sounds great. I am not a know it all but I can tell you what I think.
a) Nothing really is frowned on in 2008. Really. My friends have done it every way. All different dress codes to standard of behavior. There are some traditions that you can talk to your husband about such as kneeling and the parents before going to the church and them giving you love and blessings and wishes. Or that you are welcomed in the reception with bread etc. But these are just according to who traditional you want to make it your marriage.
b) If you are already married in Canada, you are already married. I do not think you need to register anything in Poland, why its not about the Polish office, you are just hear for the blessing.
c) Premarital – I do not know. I took them in Poland, they were kind of fun and good for my Polish. But for a blessing you might not need them, a priest would know better.
d) Yes, any priest can bless your marriage – marry you. It is your wedding. He will need your marriage certificate to look at, but its the church not the government so if he speaks or understand a little English he will not need it translated.
e) Lots to do in Poland for the family. I love horses and horsebak ridding and Poland has a great tradition. Yes there are beautiful green golf course too. Anything you have in Canada you have here. But I think in my opinion, there are 10,000 music students in Krakow or Warsaw if you want a foofy wedding hire a few for violins etc. – or even a performance for a small student theater group, doing something in English or Polish if it will last a long time, like three days. I think prices are low in Poland so the limit is not the money but your imagination. There are very talented people here. Spas are great and everywhere and cheap in Poland compared to the ones I use to go to in Montreal on St. Laurant Street. The ultimate spas are the Slovkaian cordial springs. They are amazing but a day trip. Depends what city you are in. I think another ideas is hire a guide for a day and take the people around. A guide can show people a lot and can be in Polish and in English. I have lived in Poland for 5 years and a history buff and do not know everything about my city and still learning. There are million things you an do for your pre wedding plans. Stag party. I guess. But really, I am not a stagy guy. A lot of stag type stuff can be found. But for stag stuff you can also use your imagine if you want to keep it clean. Paintball to Mountain trip. I do not like drinking. I went out for a night of smoke free clubbing with some of my friends and hers. For your marriage in Poland I think its really about imagination rather than cost. Let me know if this helps or does not or you have other question about marriage or the party.
Hi There,
I’m Canadian, my fiancé is Polish and he has absolutely no intention of ever living in Poland again. We’re both Roman Catholic, and plan to get hitched at a quickie church ceremony in Canada.
However, we’re planning a lavish wedding reception at a castle in Poland, and would like to know if it’s possible to just have a priest bless the marriage/renew our vows without any registration.
There’s a romantic little chapel on the castle grounds and we’d like to have the service there, instead of the village church. We also plan to accommodate 60 of my fiancé’s local family at the castle for three days for some RnR, and to avoid drunk driving. Ideally, we would like to have the entire wedding reception contained on the grounds of the castle for three days.
Questions:
(a) What’s the etiquette for modern affluent weddings in Poland, and is this practice frowned upon?
(b) Are we required to register our foreign marriage in Poland?
(c) Do we have to take the premarital course?
(d) Can a priest friend from another parish in Poland bless our marriage on the grounds of the castle? We would like to take our vows on the banks of a lake…
(e) Is there a way to blend Polish and North American wedding customs in order to make both families comfortable? We’re thinking about the following activities to entertain his family for three days – golf outing, horseriding, spa treatments, getting to ‘know you’ dinner on Thursday, family dinner and Stag party on Friday and wedding reception on Saturday.
Your comments and suggestions will be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you…
Kathie
Dear markbiernat,
I have been reading your advise to people from the very beginning. Those are really invaluable.
I have a case for you and I would really appreciate if you can advise a little bit.
I m a non EU-Citizen, and as all in cases above, my sweatheart is Polish, a very kind, trustworthy and a family oriented person. I would like to marry with her in Poland and would like to spend rest of my life with her in Poland. In the case of I’ll be able to marry with her in Poland, how is the legal process for working legally in Poland after marriage ( i am assuming it should be a bit easier)? or in other words what should I do in order to get a job legally? I am a fluent English speaker and German with a MBA from US University. What would be the legal process to be able to apply for a position?
Thank you very much for your advise in advance!
Can.
Hiya,
Thanks for the valuable information and helpful suggestions. We’ve decided to shelve the Stag idea and instead do something more cultural and family oriented. Our wedding planner at the Castle promised to arrange the recreational and social activities including the bread and salt throwing, a folklore performance, kayaking, carriage rides, and some “rock n’ pop” wedding night clubbing, all within the confines of the Castle. However, we’re still trying to find a spa in the Poznan area; and you’re absolutely correct; the prices are much lower than those you’ve visited in Montreal.
About the kneeling thing – I’ve never been to Poland, but my in-laws have holidayed with us twice in different countries, so the question is, do I still need their love and blessings? Also with regards to alcohol – is it best to have an open bar with free flowing Vodka and Chardonnay or limit alcoholic intake? I was told that it’s traditional to have fist fights and brawls at Polish weddings, because of too much alcohol. It’s not about money, but I would hate to have some ultimate fighters trash the Castle and disrupt our special weekend. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
And, as a Polish citizen would my husband have to notify the government that he got married in another country? Perhaps for pension or tax reasons, but he’s still got another thirty something years before retirement, and has neither practiced nor worked in Poland before.
Sincere Thanks
Katie
i got information from you about marriage in poland before. now i am in poland to apply for civil marriage and i got my birth certificate from embassy of india then i visited related court they charged fees 100 zloty for issuing a document, they told it will take two-three months. after getting this document i will apply in other marriage office/court with my residence certificate, birth certificate and this document issued by poland govt. Is this certificate is like able to get marry document you explained above? when i visited in office to ask about document they told me i need . date of birth, residence, and unmarried certificate from india or it can be obtained from poland too thru court. as i told you i have applied this document. but i am little doubtful .. if i am from india then how poland government can issue document about my marriage status. do i need both. as i have applied for a document in poland. should i get unmarried certificate from india too. i am asking you because i am waiting for document from court that i applied earlier. if i need any document about my unmarried status document too then i will ask in india about this.
Is the document able to get marry document and unmaried status document are same? i am little doubtfull about this. waiting for ur reply. biee
@Katie Regarding you make husband to the wedding legal in Poland, I would not as technically its legal anyway and going to an Uząd would only make life more complicated. Just my opinion. To get pension I think you have to work for 25 years in Poland anyway; and taxes I do know law 100%, but if he is paying taxes in Canada he should not have to pay taxes in Poland, at least ethically, if he is not living in Poland. As an American living in Poland I pay taxes to both counties, but I avoid double taxation as there is a treaty between the countries to a certain limit. It makes my tax life complex though. I use to work do taxes professionally, and my personal opinion is why make your life complicated. You guys are Canadians even if he has a Polish passport. The kneeling, do not worry about it. Its only a tradition. The drinks are an issue, but its your wedding. What we did is I think we had one bottle of Wodka for a toast, but after that only wine lots of wine and other people could buy drinks, which no one did. But my wedding was not as big as yours and many people like to drink at weddings. Me I had many bottles of wine and juice etc was good enough. People were less likely to abuse wine. Some weddings in Poland are dry. Yes really. So no worries what your choice is. I did not want my wedding to be a free for all. Many people like hard drinking, but I do not care it was my day not theirs; hard choices I know – its a personal choice, no one should be offended either way as its your wedding and you are going all out for the guests in many ways.
Stag party its great you dropped it 🙂 I mean I am a cool American guy and everything but I really only want to be with my wife (then fiancee) and not with some stripper or hung over, even if its the cool thing to do. I was more focused on her as its a very stressful time.
Jatin, you need to get your unmarried status from you Embassy not from Poland. Than you must translate this into Polish. Your country not Poland must give you the ok. Then the judge will review it. A lot of times the people in the Polish offices do not know as they do not have many foreigners getting married.
Can, What you say about marriage and love is great, but why is she not helping you with this? Here is the thing. I have traveled many times to many middle eastern counties and I keep going back because I like the culture, but, I guess I am skeptical about you, since I created this post on how to get married in Poland; I have gotten 100s and 100s of e-mails (I delete most of them) from Turkish and Arab guys (you are from Turkey) asking how to get a work visa in Poland after they marry a Polish girl. They always write about work visas after some hokey cheesy thing about how they are devoted forever to their Polish girl. They write about work visa questions not about marriage questions. Why does their beloved who is Polish and speaks Polish help you with this? Answer me this first and then I will let you know about your work visas.
Can, It may seem rude but every week I get flooded with e-mails from Arab and turkish guys that want to marry a Polish girl and I mean lots of e-mails. They all start off how much they love the girls and end with how can I get a work visa. I have written many of them and asked me why they do not ask their girlfriend or anything else about them and they never write back. For the most part I think they are not interested in love but rather how to get married in Poland for a work visa for Europe and many are willing to pay big money for this. Up to 10,000 dollars to get married to a Polish girl. If you really are getting married for love then reply to this post. But like the 100s of other requests from Arab and Turkish and African guys that claim they are getting married in Poland, I am skeptical. I mean, I live in Poland and I do not see 100s and 100s of arab guys here married to Polish girls. I do not see any in fact. So how can my little blog get 100s and 100s of requests from Arab guys, and I live in a big city, and I see none? But if you are real reply to my post.