Things to Consider
Getting married in Poland as a foreigner is a complicated and lengthy process. In my experience, it took 10 months, and I consider myself relatively lucky as it was quite fast.
If you have the option to get married in the United States or another country, you should take it. Most likely, the process will be less convoluted and more straightforward.
You’re going to need several documents:
- Passport
- Birth Certificate
- Single Status Affidavit
- Termination of Prior Marriage Affidavit (If Applicable)
- Freedom to Marry Affidavit (More On This Later)
All of these documents must be apostilled and translated into Polish.
Please read the information from the Polish government.
Also, check out the information from the US embassy.
My Experience
I arrived in Poland in June of 2022, and soon after, we started the process of getting married.
Due to our circumstances, we intended to get married in Poland. Our plan was to move to the United States after getting all our loose ends tied up in Poland.
I knew it would be easier to get married in the United States than in Poland. I just didn’t realize how hard and how long it would take.
Before leaving the United States, I made sure to bring apostilled versions of my Birth Certificate and Single Status Affidavit.
Getting Documents in the United States
I was born in Illinois, so I had to order a copy of my birth certificate from my county’s clerk office. Luckily, they use the vital check service, which streamlined the process.
The apostille process in the United States is done on a state basis, and each one has a different procedure.
Unfortunately, I could not order an already apostilled birth certificate from vital check. As I was living in Florida at this time, I would need to wait for the birth certificate to be mailed to me and then I would need to mail it back to the Illinois Index Department in Chicago.
I didn’t have enough time for that. So I paid for an expedited copy to be sent to my Dad, and he was able to apostille it on my behalf in person at the Illinois Index Department in Chicago.
He then gave it to my friend’s Mom who happened to be coming to Florida to visit my friend.
Here is more information on apostilling in Illinois.
The other document I needed was a Single Status Affidavit. Since I was living in Florida, I ordered this document again through vital check.
The awesome part was, in this case, vital check was able to pre-apostille the document for me. During the checkout process, it prompted with a question about document use, which let me select Poland as the destination country.
Going to the Registry Office in Góra
Also known as Urząd Stanu Cywilnego.
After arriving at the office, we assumed incorrectly that we had all the necessary documents. The head of the office asked us, “why are you trying to get married in Poland?”, as it would be so much easier in the United States.
The big problem we ran into is that the United States does not have a Freedom to Marry Affidavit; no such document exists. The US Embassy has a letter in both English and Polish explaining that the US does not offer it.
According to the Embassy, you should be able to print out this document and bypass the need for a Freedom to Marry Affidavit.
Perhaps in a bigger city like Warsaw, Wrocław, or Kraków, the registry office might accept this and move forward with the process. I have heard anecdotally from other Americans that they accepted the document.
However, the registry office in Góra did not accept the letter.
They informed us that we would need to open a legal case with the regional court to have the requirement of a freedom to marry affidavit waived.
Okay, awesome, as if the Karta Pobytu (Temporary Residence Card) process wasn’t complicated and stressful enough, we now needed to go to court in order to get married.
Opening a case at the Regional Court in Głogów
Also known as Sąd Rejonowy.
We had to drive an hour away to Głogów, Poland.
Annoyingly, my wife is registered as living in a village right across the border of Województwo wielkopolskie (Greater Poland Voivodeship), in Województwo dolnośląskie (Lower Silesian Voivodeship).
The city of Leszno has a regional court and is only a 15-minute drive away. But since it’s not located in Lower Silesia, we had to go to Głogów.
Not to mention, the court hours are much worse than bank hours, and they find every excuse to be closed.
Anyways, we have all my documents, the printed letter, and the application to open the case filled out. You can find a copy of the application here.
We pay the court fees, I can’t remember how much, but it wasn’t a lot.
Now it’s time for the long wait.
I believe around a month or two after applying, we received a letter of confirmation from the court.
Going to the US Consulate in Kraków
In October, we received a letter from the court saying we needed a different letter from the US Embassy or Consulate.
They didn’t like this cookie-cutter letter from the website.
They said we have 7 days to respond to this with a valid letter, or the case would be dismissed.
Sorry for the potato quality.
Well, I didn’t really have any other choice; I had to figure out how to go to Kraków or Warsaw immediately.
I called both places and called. I don’t know why everything in Poland is like this. When you call somewhere, more often than not you will get a line busy and get disconnected.
When you do finally connect, the phone will ring and ring until it disconnects. After about an hour of this, which really isn’t the worst. Much better than the court in Głogów or the Lower Silesian Region Authority. I got connected to the Kraków consulate.
I explained the situation, which led to audible annoyance on their end. They said the court was supposed to accept the cookie-cutter letter. Anyways, they allowed me to make an appointment the next day to get a more personalized letter.
So I booked some last-minute train tickets from Wrocław to Kraków. The next morning, I got up around 4 AM to take a tram to the train station. From there, I got to Kraków around 10 AM. I waited for a couple of hours, and finally, I had my meeting with the Consulate.
This being my first time in a consulate, I didn’t really know what to expect. My first mistake was having a backpack with me, as the train journey took multiple hours, I had some books and my Laptop with me.
The guard at the consulate would not let me in wearing that. In a panic, I ran across the street to a bookstore, but the shop owner would not watch my bag. I found a bar next door, and the bartender was much nicer, so I paid her 50zł to watch my bag for 20 mins.
Now I was let inside after they inspected my passport and US driver’s license. They told me to go to this big locker apparatus mounted on the wall. They instructed me to put my phone in a slot and take the key.
I was really surprised how intense the security was here. There was a line of people, and I presume they were people applying for visas, etc…
I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I stood in line. Suddenly, a consulate worker noticed and was like, “Oh, US Citizen!” Things moved fast, and they told me to step out of the line. They directed me to the US Citizen services part of the consulate.
The guard next to a door unlocked this elaborate security door. They told me to head on through to the next building.
I walked through a very nice-looking courtyard and walked into the US Citizen services building.
Inside this building were some chairs and a TV with BBC World News playing. There were a couple of booths with thick plexiglass. I was the only person there besides 2 other workers.
I told them the situation, and they were quite kind, a rarity in dealing with all of this bureaucracy. They said, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We will write you an official consulate letter addressed to you, stating that no freedom to marry document exists.”
In 10 minutes, they had it done for me. It was written in both English and Polish on the fanciest embossed US Letter paper I have ever seen. They also signed it.
I was thrilled; there’s no way the court wouldn’t accept this.
The bottom of has some text, saying this is a sensitive document. But It’s literally just a document with my name saying they don’t have a freedom to marry document. Shrug
I got home, and the next day it was mailed to the court.
Court Date
Finally, we got a letter (this was after repeatedly calling the court and sending letters about the matter) saying our court date was set for February 17th.
They had to arrange a translator for me, as I’m not a fluent Polish speaker. This probably slowed it down, along with the winter holidays.
We arrived, and I had never been in front of a judge, let alone a judge in a foreign country.
We met with our translator standing outside the courtroom, and she was nice.
Finally, we went in front of the judge. They asked me to sit across from my wife in the courtroom.
By the way, the judges in Poland wear cool chains.
This was not our judge; in fact, I have no idea who he is, but he has that cool chain.
The judge confirmed our details and looked at my passport.
She asked me where I was born and when.
Then I was asked, why do I want to get married?
How do I make money, where do I work?
Finally, if I am in good mental health? Which I thought was kinda funny since anyone going through this ordeal to get married must be insane.
They asked my wife a similar set of questions, with the added question being, is he the one? Meanwhile, the translator distilled hundreds of Polish words down into 3-4 word English sentences, which I also found kinda funny. The translator told me, “your wife very positively answered the ‘is he the one’ question.”
Finally, we left the room, and 20 minutes later, we were called back in to be told that the court approves our waiver of the freedom to marry document.
This was a huge relief; finally, this part of the process was over.
Back to the Registry Office
A month later, we received a letter from the court certifying their decision. I was a little disappointed with how short and simple it looks.
The head of the office was now satisfied, so she said all we need to do is hire a translator and come back to begin the marriage process.
This was pretty exhausting. We had to figure out a good time for the office and a translator. Luckily, we found a nice woman who does some document translation on the side in Góra.
Within a week, we were back in the office. Now together, I was asked some more questions to make sure I want to get married, etc… We signed a document, and this step was over. We were now ready to have a civil ceremony.
Again, we were at the mercy of the registry office and translator. But we managed to get a date, and keep in mind, some people wait months for a date. Our date would be April 15th. This meant we had a few weeks to prepare.
At this point, we didn’t want a traditional wedding. We didn’t want to wait, as my immigration status hangs on me getting married. I also didn’t have a single person from my side at the wedding. We were also planning on moving to the US after the wedding, so we wanted to save money.
We hope in the future to renew our vows with a fancier ceremony.
The Wedding
On April 15th, at the registry office in Poland, we finally got married.
Almost an entire year later, we managed to do it.
Don’t forget the champagne or the 2 witnesses you need for your civil ceremony.
It was a small ceremony with my wife’s immediate family, but finally, it was over.
I would get married to my wife again in a heartbeat, but would seriously consider doing it somewhere other than Poland.
Me and my beautiful wife.
