Legalization/Apostille
On which certificates is legalization or apostille required
In cases of high school leaving certificates recognized under the administrative decision of the Polish Education Superintendent, legalization/apostille is required.
Legalization is carried out by:
1) Polish consul in the country, where certificate was issued, or in the country in which educational system a school operates;
2) educational authorities in the country, where a certificate was issued, or in the country in which educational system a school operates;
3) an embassy or consulate of the country, where certificate was issued, or in the country in which educational system a school operates located in Poland or in other EU, EFTA or OECD country;
If a certificate was issued by a country – party to the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961 abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, a certificate must be submited along with the Apostille attached to it. Check if the country in which the certificate was issued is a party to the Hague Convention:
https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members
Below you can check if your certificate is exempt from legalization or apostille, if the country in which you received your certificate is not on the list, it means that legalization or apostille is required. Take care of the legalization / apostille of the certificate before proceeding with the qualification.
Which certificates do not require legalization or apostille
Candidates with foreign certificates issued in the education systems of the following countries are exempt from having legalization or apostille on the certificate. The exemption applies to certificates issued in the following countries:
AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CHILE, CROATIA, CYPRUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GREECE, SPAIN, IRELAND, ICELAND, ISRAEL, JAPAN, CANADA, KOREA, LIECHTENSTEIN, LITHUANIA MEXICO, NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND), GERMANY, NORWAY, NEW ZEALAND, PORTUGAL, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SWITZERLAND, SWEDEN, TURKEY, USA, HUNGARY, GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY.
In addition, legalization or apostille is not required for the following certificates:
- Diploma IB (International Baccalaureate) – diplomas issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva,
- Diploma EB (European Baccalaureate) – diplomas issued by the European Schools in accordance with the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools,
- Certificates, diplomas and other documents issued abroad by schools or educational institutions in accordance with the principles laid down in bilateral agreements on mutual diploma recognition – documents issued in: Ukraine, China (gaozhong)