English Section

Poland to register same-sex marriages concluded abroad

22.05.2026 22:00
Poland will allow same-sex couples who married abroad to register their marriages at any civil registry office in the country, following the publication of a new government regulation.
Digitalisation Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski holds up a new marriage certificate template at a press conference in Warsaw on Friday.
Digitalisation Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski holds up a new marriage certificate template at a press conference in Warsaw on Friday.Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

The regulation, signed by the ministers of digitalisation and internal affairs, was published in the official Journal of Laws on Friday.

It comes into force in three months.

Deputy Prime Minister and Digitalisation Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said couples would no longer need court rulings to complete the process.

"You can take a marriage certificate, come to Poland, carry out the transcription. Full stop," he said, adding that the procedure was "simple" and the decision "certain".

Transcription means entering a foreign civil status document, such as a marriage certificate, into Polish official records.

Under the new rules, civil registry forms will be updated to reflect whether a marriage is between a man and a woman, two women, or two men.

Gawkowski stressed that the regulation applied to all registry officials without exception.

"There are no better or worse officials. Everyone is equal before the law," he said.

He acknowledged some might refuse to comply, but said he would not pre-empt any decisions.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the measure last week, describing it as a matter of the rule of law, human dignity and rights.

The move comes after a November ruling by the European Court of Justice, which found that EU member states are obliged to recognise same-sex marriages concluded in other member states.

Poland's Supreme Administrative Court subsequently ordered a Warsaw registry office to transcribe a marriage between two men who wed in Berlin in 2018.

(ał)

Source: IAR, PAP