The request, submitted through diplomatic channels by Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek, covers 19 of the 26 criminal charges brought against the fugitive politician.
Ziobro is under investigation over alleged corruption at the Justice Fund, a state scheme set up to compensate crime victims and overseen by his ministry under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government.
Prosecution spokeswoman Anna Adamiak said the narrower scope reflected a Warsaw court's July ruling on Ziobro's pretrial detention, which found seven of the charges, relating to alleged supervisory failures, less likely to be substantiated than the rest.
Prosecutors accuse Ziobro of running an organised criminal group and using his position as justice minister to direct subordinates to break the law, steering Justice Fund grants to favoured recipients and interfering in the awarding of contracts.
The US Department of Justice will now review the request.
If it proceeds, a federal judge would then rule on whether extradition is legally permissible.
A favourable ruling would then go to the US Secretary of State for a final decision; an unfavourable one would be binding.
Adamiak said such proceedings typically take several months to a few years, depending on the complexity involved.
'A question for the other Donald'
Asked at a Monday press conference about the "realistic chances" of extradition and when it might happen, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk replied: "Given that Zbigniew Ziobro is probably hiding in the United States, I could say that is a question for the other Donald" – an apparent reference to US President Trump.
Tusk said his government would pursue "all available means" to bring such politicians before a Polish court, though this depended on "good cooperation" with the countries where "fugitives" were staying.
The PM added that Poland now had "excellent cooperation" with Hungary on this front, following a change of power there in May.
"We are waiting for positive signals from Washington," he added. "Will they come? I do not know."
From Hungary to the US
Ziobro has been in the US since May, having previously spent time in Hungary, where he was granted international protection under then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
A Polish court approved his arrest in February, and a wanted notice was later issued.
Prosecutors also sought a European arrest warrant, but Warsaw's regional court refused to issue one this month.
Ziobro announced on 10 May – shortly after Orbán's party lost Hungary's election – that he was in the US.
He said he had not fled Poland and was travelling on a document issued alongside his Hungarian asylum status.
At the time, Żurek said he would seek Ziobro's extradition.
In early July, Hungary revoked refugee status for Ziobro, his wife Patrycja Kotecka-Ziobro, and Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister also under investigation over the Justice Fund.
Their travel documents were invalidated as well.
(ał)
Source: PAP