Sworn translation into Polish

A sworn translation (tłumaczenie przysięgłe) is the standard of official translation in Poland: it is produced by a translator entered in the state register of the Ministry of Justice, and that translator’s personal seal makes the document acceptable to any Polish institution. MovaPro has worked with the Polish market since 2012 and arranges sworn translations remotely — no hunting for a translator in your voivodeship, no waiting lists, no local middlemen markups. And when your institution does not actually require a przysięgły translation, we will say so honestly and offer a noticeably cheaper notarized translation from Kyiv instead.

What a tłumacz przysięgły is — and why the seal is not a formality

A tłumacz przysięgły is a sworn translator who has passed a state examination administered by Poland’s Ministry of Justice, taken an oath, and been entered in the official register. Every translation they produce is stamped with a personal round seal showing their name, language pair, and register number, and the translator bears personal liability for the accuracy of the text. That is why a translation under this seal has legal force throughout Poland: the receiving institution does not need to check the translator’s credentials — the state has already vouched for them.

A Ukrainian notarized translation is not the same thing. In Ukraine, a notary certifies the signature of a qualified translator, and under Ukrainian law this is a fully official format. But the Polish legal system has its own standard, so a number of institutions recognize only a translation by “their own” sworn translator:

• USC (urząd stanu cywilnego — civil registry offices) — marriage registration, transcription of birth certificates;
• courts, prosecutors, notaries — any procedural or notarial matters;
• KRS — company registration and changes to corporate documents;
• Polish universities (uczelnie) — for some admission and recognition procedures;
• most voivodeship offices handling residence legalization.

Banks, employers, landlords, schools, and kindergartens, on the other hand, usually accept a notarized translation from Ukraine. The boundary between these groups is not absolute — which is why the first step is always to ask your specific institution, in writing.

Two routes: sworn translation in Poland or notarized from Kyiv

We deliberately offer both routes, because the “right” translation is the one your particular institution will accept at a reasonable price.

Route one — a sworn translation in Poland. We work with partner sworn translators from the Ministry of Justice register and arrange the translation fully remotely: you send us a scan, we confirm the price and timeline, the translator completes the work, you receive a scan of the finished translation immediately, and the stamped paper original arrives by post to your address in Poland. No searching for an available translator in your city and no trips with the originals.

Route two — a notarized translation from Kyiv. If your institution accepts a notarized translation, we can do it faster and cheaper: translation into Polish at a fixed rate, with the notary right in our office, so certification happens the same day without separate trips between offices. The procedure is described on the notarized translation page.

How do you choose? Send your institution a short written question: “Czy akceptują Państwo tłumaczenie poświadczone notarialnie wykonane za granicą, czy wymagane jest tłumaczenie przysięgłe?” (“Do you accept a notarized translation done abroad, or is a sworn translation required?”). A written answer protects you from a rejection at the counter. Unsure how to phrase it? Send us the institution’s name and the type of procedure — we will advise free of charge.

Typical documents: what people translate for Poland most often

After years on the Polish market, we see the same scenarios again and again, each with its own document set.

Karta pobytu and residence legalization. The voivodeship office packet: birth and marriage certificates, criminal record certificates, education documents, sometimes proof of income. Offices accept some documents with a notarized translation and demand a sworn translator for others — practice varies between voivodeships, so checking in advance matters most here.

Marriage and transcription at USC. Marriage registration in Poland and transcription of Ukrainian certificates (entering the record into Polish civil status books) is classic przysięgły territory: USC offices almost always require a sworn translation of birth, marriage, or divorce certificates.

Study: nostryfikacja and admission. For recognition of a school-leaving certificate (the matura equivalent) or a diploma, and for admission to Polish universities, people translate certificates, grade transcripts, and diplomas. Requirements differ even between faculties of the same university — check the rules of your specific rekrutacja.

Employment. Employers under the Kodeks pracy are usually more flexible: diplomas, employment record books, work experience certificates, and qualification cards are in most cases accepted with a notarized translation from Ukraine.

ZUS and pension cases. To have Ukrainian work experience counted, people translate employment record books, certificates of service and earnings, and pension certificates. The volume here can be substantial — remember that a discount applies from 5 pages.

Cars. To register a car bought under an umowa kupna-sprzedaży, you translate the purchase agreement, the vehicle registration document, and previous registration papers — the wydział komunikacji usually requires a sworn translation.

Apostille and the legal-assistance treaty

For most countries, Ukrainian public documents are apostilled first — at the Ministry of Justice (civil status and court documents) or the Ministry of Education (education documents) — and only then translated, so that the apostille stamp itself appears in the translation. With Poland the situation is milder: a bilateral legal-assistance treaty means official documents of the two countries are recognized without additional legalization, so in most cases no apostille is needed. Which authority covers your particular document — our free apostille route finder will tell you.

There is a caveat, though: some institutions read the treaty narrowly and ask for an apostille anyway — this happens with some universities, banks, and employers. The rule is the same: confirm the requirement with your specific institution in writing before ordering. If an apostille does turn out to be necessary, we can affix it in Ukraine before translation — in exactly that order, otherwise the stamp remains untranslated and the document may be turned away. A detailed breakdown of Polish requirements is on the Documents for Poland page.

Names, surnames, and Polish diacritics

The most common reason a Polish institution returns an otherwise flawless translation is the spelling of a name. In the translation, the name and surname must match the international passport letter for letter: Oleksandr, not Aleksander; Yuliia, not Julia. Even a one-letter discrepancy means the documents formally belong to “different people.”

That is why with every order we ask for the passport page with the Latin spelling and lock it in for the entire document set, so every document matches the others. Polish names, surnames, and place names in Ukrainian documents are rendered with correct diacritics (ł, ą, ę, ż, ś) — to a Polish registrar, Łukasz and Lukasz are different names.

Turnaround and what the finished document looks like

Timelines depend on the route. The notarized translation from Kyiv is the fastest: standard documents such as certificates are usually ready the next day, and our pace for larger texts is 8–10 translation pages per day. The notary works in our office, so certification adds no extra days.

A sworn translation in Poland takes longer: on top of the work itself there is the individual translator’s schedule and postal delivery of the paper original. You receive a scan of the finished translation immediately, so if your institution accepts documents online or lets you bring the original later, there is no need to wait for the post. We will give the exact timeline for your document together with the quote.

A finished sworn translation is a paper document sealed and signed by the translator on every page. A notarized translation is bound to the original or a copy of the document and sealed with the signatures of the translator and the notary.

The most common reasons documents get rejected

Four mistakes we regularly see in clients who first ordered a translation elsewhere:

1. Wrong certification format. A notarized translation submitted where a przysięgły one is required — or the opposite: paying extra for a sworn translation where a notarized one would have been enough. The cure is simple: a written question to the institution before ordering.
2. Apostille after translation. If an apostille is needed but was affixed after translation, the stamp remains untranslated — and the document goes back for a second round.
3. A name that does not match the passport. The translation followed “transliteration rules” instead of the actual spelling in the international passport. If the passport is not at hand, our free transliteration tool shows the official spelling.
4. Not everything translated. The back of a certificate with its stamps, a seal on an official letter, or a diploma supplement left out of the translation — to a Polish institution, that is an incomplete document.

We check every one of these points before handing over the work — which is why we ask for scans of all pages, reverse sides included.

What it costs

Service	Price
Translation from/into Polish (notarized route)	UAH 430 per 1,800 characters with spaces
Notarization of the translator’s signature	UAH 400 per document
Certification with the agency’s stamp	UAH 100 per document
Sworn translation in Poland	on request — depends on document type and volume

Sworn translation pricing follows Polish tariff rules and depends on the document, so we quote the exact figure after seeing the scan — usually within the same 15 minutes. A discount applies from 5 pages. Current rates for all languages are on the prices page.

How to order

1. Send scans or good photos of your documents via the order form, by email, or in a messenger — along with the name of the receiving institution.
2. Within 15 minutes we will reply: which translation format your case requires, what it will cost, and when it will be ready.
3. You approve the price and we do the work: notarized — in Kyiv with the notary in our office, sworn — through a translator from the Polish register.
4. You receive a scan as soon as it is ready, and the paper original by Nova Poshta within Ukraine or by post to your address in Poland.

If you are not sure which translation you need, do not order blind. Write to us, describe your situation, and we will recommend, free of charge, the cheapest option your institution will accept.