In the following entry, you will acquire the necessary steps for the procedure of recognition of a foreign judgment by a Polish court and how to do it.
When do you have to do this?
The procedure of recognition of a foreign judgment by the Polish Court is necessary:
- as regards divorce judgments issued by courts of non-EU countries which were issued before July 1, 2009
- as regards divorce judgments issued by courts of EU member states, which were issued before May 1, 2004
What should be done in order for your divorce decree to be recognized before the Polish Court.
Firstly, if you’re abroad and don’t have anyone who can collect letters for you in Poland, and you want to start the procedure of recognizing a foreign judgment by a Polish court, then you will be required to appoint a representative in Poland. It may be an attorney-at-law or legal advisor practicing in Poland or the closest relative (parents, siblings, spouse). This will allow you to avoid the time-consuming delivery of correspondence abroad - which significantly lengthens the court proceedings - but will also save costs related to translations.
Therefore, to legalize a foreign divorce in Poland, granting us power of attorney to allow the process and procedure of the case to be fulfilled.
An application for recognition of a foreign court judgment concerning a Polish citizen.
When one of the parties resides in Poland, is submitted to the district court competent for her place of residence in Poland.
We submit an application to the District Court in Warsaw for recognition of a foreign court judgment concerning a Polish citizen in the event that both parties live abroad.
We submit an application for recognition of a foreign court.
The application should include:
- name, surname and address of the applicant,
- name, surname and address of the representative for service in Poland (if appointed),
- name, surname and address of the participant in the proceedings (ex-wife, ex-husband), and if the current address is unknown, provide the last known address or submit a certificate from the authorities of the state of last residence that the address is unknown,
- date and place of the marriage (if the marriage was concluded abroad, a transcription of the marriage certificate should be made beforehand),
- the nationality held by the spouses on the date of filing the petition for divorce and which they currently hold
- justification of the legal interest in requesting recognition of the judgment (for which the applicant needs recognition of the judgment)
- explanation of whether a divorce case was pending in Poland (then you should provide the court before which the case was pending and the file reference number.
The application must be accompanied by:
- original divorce judgment with a certificate of the competent court that the judgment is legally binding and 4 (four) copies of this judgment along with its legalization
- original translation of the divorce judgment with the clause of validity into Polish, made by a sworn translator registered on the list of sworn translators in Poland and 4 (four) copies of this translation, and if the translation is made abroad, 1 (one) copy of this translation must be certified by the Consulate of the Republic of Poland
- original copy of a marriage certificate from the registry office in Poland (currently issued, i.e. with the date of issue up to 3 months back) + 4 (four) copies of a copy of the certificate - if the marriage was contracted in Poland or registered in Polish registers of marital status
- confirmation of payment of the court fee on the application
- Power of attorney - if we submit the application through an attorney-in-act
All documents must be submitted in person or by an attorney at the office of the territorially competent district court in Poland or sent by registered letter to the address of the Court.
When submitting the application, you must pay a court fee which currently amounts to PLN 300.
If the place of residence of the former spouse is unknown or he does not speak Polish (and he has not appointed a representative for service in Poland), the costs may increase due to the need to appoint a guardian for a participant in the proceedings unknown from the place of residence or due to the need to translate court documents.
We would also like to point out that the Polish court may refuse to recognize a foreign judgment, e.g. in a situation where the foreign judgment is not yet final in the country of its issuance or belongs exclusively to the jurisdiction of Polish courts or the fundamental rights of defense were violated during its issuance, a default judgment was issued without the opposing party's shares were violated or the principles of the legal order were violated in the course of its delivery
Polish Descent helps with the procedure of recognizing foreign divorces in Poland for clients from all over the world.
If you need our help in this matter, please contact us at:
contact@polishdescent.com
