Warszawa 19115 - Miejskie Centrum Kontaktu

In order to acknowledge the paternity of a born or conceived child, it is necessary to file a declaration at the Civil Registrar’s Office. The declaration is filed by both parents. Here you will find out how to do it.

1. Come to the Civil Registrar’s Office of your choice in Warsaw. Detailed information can be found in the section Application and collection location.
2. There, you will file a declaration of acknowledging paternity - the man declares that he is the child's father and the mother confirms this.

[!] A foreigner who does not speak Polish makes the declaration in the presence of an interpreter. The interpreter must come to the Civil Registrar’s Office together with the child's parents.

1. Your identity documents for inspection - IDs or passports.
2. Foreign women must provide foreign copies of civil-status certificates confirming the marital status of the child's mother, translated into Polish by a sworn translator.
3. A final court decision to deny paternity if the mother's husband, who is not the child's biological father, has been entered as the father on the child's birth certificate already drawn up.

If you want to know what your rights are in relation to the processing of your personal data in this case, please read our Information Clause.

You do not have to pay a fee for filing the declaration.

You can handle the matter at the Civil Registrar’s Office of the City of Warsaw of your choice.
[!] You will not be able to handle the matter at the office located at:

• al. Solidarności 80 (Wola),
• ul. T. Chałubińskiego 8 (Movement of Foreigners Section).

Civil Registrar's Office of the City of Warsaw.

The head of the Civil Registrar’s Office will accept your declaration immediately.

If the head of the Civil Registrar’s Office refuses to accept the declarations necessary for acknowledging paternity, you will receive a written refusal. You have 14 days to appeal from the decision to the family court with jurisdiction over the seat of the Civil Registrar’s Office.

1. A declaration of acknowledging paternity can be filed at the Civil Registrar’s Office by a person who has reached the age of 18. A person who does not have full legal capacity can only file such a declaration before a court.
2. Acknowledging paternity may take place if there is no presumption that the father of the child is the mother's husband, i.e. 300 days after the cessation or annulment of the marriage.
3. Acknowledging paternity cannot take place if paternity proceedings are pending.
4. It is possible to acknowledge the paternity of a child: 
   • born (minor) and 
   • unborn, if conceived.
     [!] Paternity of a child who is of full age cannot be acknowledged.
5. A child who has reached the age of 13 must consent to changing the surname when acknowledging paternity.
6. Acknowledging the paternity of a child can take place either before the head of the Civil Registrar’s Office or before the guardianship court.
   [!] Abroad, the declaration of recognising a child may be made before a Polish consul or a person designated to perform the functions of a consul - if the recognition concerns a child at least one of whose parents is a Polish citizen.
7. If the life of the mother or the man from whom the child descends is in imminent danger, acknowledging paternity may also take place before a notary, a mayor or head of a given local government unit, a county chief administrative officer, a provincial marshal, a district or municipal secretary.

1. Act of 28 November 2014. - Law on civil status records.
2. Act of 25 February 1964. - Family and Guardianship Code.
3. Act of 16 November 2006 on stamp duty.

Version 1.0 of 11.04.2024.