Polish Birth Certificate - Księga Stanu Cywilnego translation

Poland has a rich history of maintaining birth, baptism, marriage and death records. The Catholic Church has been maintaining these records since late 16th century. In 1614, church parishes were mandated to record all births, baptisms, marriages and deaths.

Napoleon introduced formal civil registration in Poland in 1808. Registration records were maintained in Polish. From 1868 to 1918, registration records were maintained in Russian. After independence in 1918, records are once again maintained in Polish.

Polish Status Book and Polish Registration Law

On September 29, 1986, Poland passed the Law on Civil Status (“Prawo o Aktach Stanu Cywilnego”) which covers Birth, Marriage and Death registration. All Polish citizens have a “Status Book” or “Book of Marital Status” (“Księga Stanu Cywilnego”) in which details of Birth, Marriage and Death is recorded. This book is maintained by the Polish Civil Records Office (“Urząd Stanu Cywilnego” – “USC”). The USC is usually located in the town/city hall. Villages that do not have a USC are covered by the Communal Civil Records Office (“Urzad Stanu Cywilnego Gminnej Rady Narodowej”). In addition to records kept by the USC, a copy is also maintained with the District Courts. The USC keeps records for 100 years. Records older than 100 years are stored in the Polish State Archives (“Archiwum Państwowego”).

As per Polish law, birth of a child has to be registered in 14 days. According to Polish law, the below three types of birth/marriage/death certificates can be issued.

1] A complete and true copy (”Odpis Zupelny”)
2] An abbreviated copy (“Odpis Skrucony”)
3] An excerpt of the original record (“Wyciag”)

When applying for visas, Polish citizen should note that only the complete and true copy of the birth certificate is accepted.

Content of Polish Birth Certificate

The complete and true Polish birth certificate (“Odpis Zupelny”) has the following information:

• Child’s first, middle and last name
• Sex of the child
• Date and time of birth of the child
• Place of birth
• Full name of both the parents
• Mother’s maiden name and whether she is legally married
• Occupation of parents
• Residence address
• Date and place of birth of parents

Persons of Polish Descent in United States of America

It is estimated that 15 to 20 million persons of Polish descent live all over the world. The largest concentration of persons of Polish Descent is in the USA where the number is estimated to be around 10 million. Chicago has a large concentration of Polish speakers.

Since Poland joined the European Union, there has been significant emigration of Poles to Western Europe. Emigration and drop in birth rate has lead to stagnation in the growth rate of the Polish population.

Certified Translation of Polish Birth Certificate

The USA has the largest Polish diaspora. Polish citizens who plan to immigrate to the USA or stay in the USA on a long term visa (either to study or work or marry), need to apply to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The USCIS requires that that the applicant should submit a certified translation of all documents that are in Polish, such as the Polish Birth Certificate. The person translating the document must certify that he/she is fluent in both English and Polish. In addition, he/she must also certify that the translation is an accurate and complete translation of the original document.

USCIS requirements related to translation certification are documented in Federal Regulation “8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)” of “U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Immigration regulations/Powers and duties; availability of records”.

To ensure that documents translated from Polish to English are USCIS and other USA public and private organization compliant, use the expert services from Polish certified translator .