Poland - Apply for Passport

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Procedure

1. Obtain necessary documents
2. Fill in the "Application for Passport" form
3. The passport application must be submitted and collected in person by the holder, following the verification of the data contained in the microprocessor.
4. Pay the passport fee

Obtain a Polish passport abroad

1. Visit the Polish consulate and submit the same documents as required in Poland.
2. Should there be any doubt as to the applicants Polish citizenship, they are required to submit a document certifying their Polish citizenship or, apply for it via the consulate at the competent Polish Office.
3. If the applicant has no PESEL number (Polish identification number), the consul submits an application for assignation.

Track Progress of Your Passport Application

1. Find your application number on the receipt for the submission of the passport application which you received at the Office.
2. Open the Passport Information Portal: http://www.paszporty.mswia.gov.pl/portal/portal/default/paszpstat
3. Type in your application number on the box provided.

• You will receive one of the four possible messages, depending on the Progress of your application:
  • application was accepted
  • application was rejected
  • personalization of the document
  • passport is awaiting collection

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Required Documents

• filled in passport application
• two identical photographs according to the requirements laid down in the legislation
• an abbreviated or unabbreviated copy of birth certificate in the case of the first passport application
• an abbreviated copy of a marriage certificate if the applicant got married abroad
• a receipt of payment of the passport fee

NOTE:

• For information regarding photograph requirements follow link: http://www.paszporty.mswia.gov.pl/portal/content/p2i/30_techniczne/20_foto.html#faq_edit

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of the Interior

ul.Stefana Batorego 5

02-591 Warsaw

MI headquarters phone number: (+48 22) 621 20 20

Eligibility

Polish passports are issued to Polish citizens

Fees

Passport fees:

• 140 PLN for a 10-year passport
• 30 PLN for a passport for a child who, on the day of submitting application, was under 7
• 60 PLN for a passport for children aged 7 to 13
• 30 PLN for a temporary child passport
• 45 PLN for a temporary passport

The following persons are exempt from the passport fee:

• persons over 70
• persons living in social welfare centres or care centres or benefiting from social assistance and receiving a permanent allowance, if they travel abroad to receive a long-term therapy or undergo surgery
• persons who applied for passport replacement due to its technical default
• soldiers sent to serve abroad, excluding professional soldiers

The following persons are entitled to a 50% passport fee allowance:

• pensioners, disabled persons exclusively dependent on their spouses,
• persons living in social welfare centres or care centres or benefiting of social assistance and receiving a permanent allowance
• combatants and other victims of war and post-war repressions
• minors and students

A discounted passport fee applies to:

• a change of surname, name or other data included in the passport
• a change of physical appearance of the passport holder, which may hinder their identification
• the lack of free space for visas and stamps confirming passing the border in the current valid passport

A double fee is collected when:

• the previous passport has been lost or destroyed for reasons attributable to owner thereof

NOTE:

• Fees for passports issued abroad vary and are specified in the Ordinance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on consular fees.

Validity

A passport issued in Poland is valid:

• for 10 years from the date of issue
• for 5 years in the case of children aged 5-13
• for 1 year (a temporary passport) for children under 5

NOTE:

• Non-biometric passports issued earlier shall remain valid until their expiration date.
• Passport expiration does not deprive its holder of the right to return to the Republic of Poland on the basis of this document.
• In the case when a passport holder declares false Polish citizenship, a passport authority issues a decision to invalidate their passport.
• Passport documents during their validity period shall remain a property of the Republic of Poland.

Documents to Use

Please attach documents which can be used by people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents which would help other people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Processing Time

The time for passport issue is specified by the authority issuing the passport. An average waiting time for the document issued in the country does not exceed 30 days.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

Passports and temporary passports are issued and modified in Poland by a voivode locally competent for the permanent place of residence of a person applying for the passport, and abroad by a Polish consul.

The Minister of Interior exerts supervision over passport and temporary passport procedures. By consent of the minister of interior, a passport and temporary passport may be issued by a office other than the locally competent one.

Required Information

A list which displays the kind of information which is required to complete the procedure.
e.g.
1. Date of Birth.
2. City or County of Birth.

Need for the Document

A passport is an official document which entitles its holder to cross borders and stay abroad. It is also a proof of Polish nationality and identity of the holder of the document based on the data it contains.

A passport is an official document in the form of a book containing 40 visa pages and a personalized page. The size of the document is 125 mm+/- 0.75 mm x 88 mm +/-0.75 mm. A book produced by the Polish Security Printing Worksconsists of the following parts:

• Cover;
• Endpaper;
• Personalized page;
• Glossary;
• Visa page;
• Microprocessor.

To know more: http://www.paszporty.mswia.gov.pl/portal/content/p2i/10_paszporty/20_zabezpieczenia.html#faq_edit

Information which might help

For traveling inside the European Union, as well as to Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, Croatia and the British dependencies in Europe (i.e., Gibraltar, Jersey, Isle of Man, Guernsey), Polish citizens can use their national ID card.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• Polish Passport: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_passport
• Passport Information Portal: http://www.paszporty.mswia.gov.pl/portal/
• Polish Ministry of Interior Website: http://www.msw.gov.pl/en?dzial

Others

Biometric passports were introduced on 28 August 2006.

The introduction of electronic security features into passports such as a chip with encoded data of the passports holder is a vital modification.Other than fulfill the obligations of the EU membership, the introduction of the new passport template, will primarily facilitate the reduction of material losses as a result of crime of identity theft or document forgery. This document also raises Polands prestige internationally as it is one of the most modern documents in the world.

Issuing passports with biometric features requires both technical and organizational changes. All offices accepting applications and centres releasing personalized documents should be furnished with new IT equipment and appropriate software. Due to limited funds for the introduction of biometrics, it is impossible for the State Treasury to finance the equipment for passport issuing centres, which issue at least several hundred passports annually. Consequently, voivodes had to select the optimum locations for passport centres, so that all citizens are able to obtain their passports within the statutory time limit. Simultaneously, it was necessary to ensure security of the system. All employees of such centres are obliged to meet the legal requirements regarding personal data protection, i.e. obtain proper security clearances.

Introducing biometric passports, the Ministry of Interior and Administration was provided with financial EU support within the SCHENGEN FUND for one of the biometric passport projects, i.e.biometric passport for Polish citizens and Polish biometric documents for foreigners.

• Voivodeship refers to one of the provinces (wojewdztwa) of Poland, and there are 16 voivodeships or provinces:
  • Greater Poland Voivodeship (wojewdztwo wielkopolskie)
  • Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo kujawsko-pomorskie)
  • Lesser Poland Voivodeship (wojewdztwo ma?opolskie)
  • ?d? Voivodeship (wojewdztwo ?dzkie)
  • Lower Silesian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo dolno?l?skie)
  • Lublin Voivodeship (wojewdztwo lubelskie)
  • Lubusz Voivodeship (wojewdztwo lubuskie)
  • Masovian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo mazowieckie)
  • Opole Voivodeship (wojewdztwo opolskie)
  • Podlaskie Voivodeship (wojewdztwo podlaskie)
  • Pomeranian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo pomorskie)
  • Silesian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo ?l?skie)
  • Subcarpathian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo podkarpackie)
  • ?wi?tokrzyskie Voivodeship (wojewdztwo ?wi?tokrzyskie)
  • Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (wojewdztwo warmi?sko-mazurskie)