Polish from UK want to get married in Poland. Can the paperwork be arranged from here? marriage preparation?

Hello
We want to get married in Zakopane as we love the place! I'm Polish having lived in UK for 15 years and other half is English. Having read up on it a little online it seems that there will be a lot of running around to get things signed off etc? Is it possible to see a catholic priest here and have the classes here rather than in Poland? And all the paperwork etc can it be arranged from here? I can't see getting all that time off from work unfortunately to sort it all out? Any advise /suggestions would be great! Thank you

Is it possible, but only if the priest who's going to marry you allows it.


No, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you're going to need to bite the bullet, come here for a week and get it all done......and it all has to be done 3 months before the wedding takes place.

I would be more inclined to contact a Polish Catholic priest in the Uk for advice ( which there are many) than seek advice from this forum which is a hotbed of atheism. Yes you can arrange all your paperwork in the Uk! It must be all translated to Polish. Yes you can both get married in zakopane, there is a stunning church in WItow just outside of Zakopane and a wonderful karczma there built in the traditional goral style for a reception.

Thank you

Why would an RCC priest in the UK know about the Polish state requirements for, to give just one example, a certificate of no impediment?


Can you go into details about how to get a certificate of no impediment from the British embassy in the UK?


If your problem with PF is that some people here don't share your religion, you might like to note that while faith might be able to move mountains, it's not going to convince a Polish bureaucrat to sign off on something if the paperwork isn't in order.

That's very true. You may as well contact a British catholic priest in the UK (given that the RCC in Britain has survived through the stormy times of Henry VIII) for that matter and he will be able to guide you much better on this issue than those people on the PF who are the priests of nihilism in this hotbed of atheism.

Would you care to explain why a priest in a country he has never been to and only knows that one of former bosses is from would know more about the paperwork in that country than people who have lived there themselves for decades and have been through the process themselves? Or did you just write that post to try to insult people?

Z how on earth would a British Catholic priest know about Polish marriage laws? You do say the oddest things!

Thank you for your constructive advise/suggestion Ziemowit as it may be possible that a priest from in the yUK may
possibly know since one of his jobs is to marry people.
It is also possible that he was in the seminary with a fellow Polish priest that he could ask.
I think it would be a good choice for a starting point as I haven't read anything better besides insults.


He ain't the only one. lol

It would be about as wise as asking an RCC priest in the UK for advice on the procedure in Italy for obtaining a birth certificate on the basis that his job includes registering births and his boss goes to Italy on a very regular basis.

If I were them, I would marry under civil law in the UK and then fly to Zakopane to have a church marriage and wedding. A British Catholic priest would know about the RCC marriage law. The civil British marriage is recognized in Poland, so all they have to deal with would be the church law on marriages.

In Poland, if you are going to marry in church and you had not been married under civil law prior to that, the Church acts as a civil office here as well and notify the civil office about the marriage afterwards. But if you had been married under civil law first, you present the current certificate of marriage to the priest.

Catholic priests are most helpful when you are in a bind and no doubt MUCH more educated on the matter then the
Nihilism Priests here on this forum.
As you have noticed they offer nothing constructive to help you out with your dilemma, only insults.
I know many people from the U.S.A. that got married in Jamaica and all the paperwork was taken care of in Jamaica.
The United States government had nothing to say or do about it.
I wouldn't think the Catholic marriage classes required would be different from country to country so you could take them in the yUK.
Another place you might want to check is a travel agent that plans marriages and honeymoons in foreign countries.
They might be able to help you as they deal in such plannings and may have dealt with such an issue before.
Good luck and hopefully the posts in this thread that are totally off topic will be deleted and a warning issued to the
rude people that posted them.

That's very interesting. Could you perhaps explain the similarities in the paperwork needed by an American getting married in Jamaica and an English person getting married in Poland? I'd be particularly keen to get your thoughts about the need to obtain a a certificate of no impediment which is acceptable to Polish authorities. Don't you think that the fact the British government is willing to get involved in the process of obtaining such makes it easier for British citizens to get married here than it is for US citizens to get married here? I mean what with there being no need for Brits to go to court etc.

For UK residents a Certificate of No Impediment is available from your local district registry office.
Should you be living abroad at the time then it will need to be legalised as well, you send it to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London for this.

mal1989 It would be a good idea to contact the officiating priest in Poland and ask if he would be happy for you to have instruction in the UK. As you say, you don't have time to do it over here. A young couple I know had to attend meetings every week for about a month. The Uk priest could then write a statement confirmimg that he has given the instruction (this might have to be translated for the benefit of the Polish priest). I'd advise against contacting a Polish priest in the UK if you are already cohabiting. They can be a bit sniffy about this. As for the civil side, you're going to have to take a holiday here to get that sorted out. If you intend to marry this summer, you might find considerable difficulty in finding a place for the reception at this stage. People wait a year or even longer to book some places.

Thank you for confirming that for us Roger as I thought Catholicism standards are practiced identically world around.


I would try contacting the local diocese to get answer for that one.


Go badger someone else for an arguement.

Harry, would you expect a Polish RCC priest to have forgotten protocols in his native land on the Wizzair/Ryanair flight to the Island. Your comments are worthy of stand up comedy.

Mal1989, it was sage advice you have been given re: having your Civil wedding in the UK especially id the UK will be your place of living long term.

As for a Church wedding in Poland the main questions will be

1. Are both of you Catholic

If yes, you will be asked to provide proof of baptism from your parish.
Also you will be asked to provide your confirmation papers, if you have not been confirmed then its off to study group you must go, this can be done in the UK. Your priest in the UK will have to communicate with the priest in Poland this is the reason I suggested a Polish priest in the UK as your man of choice.

A word of advice if you decide on a smaller town in the mountains then Zakopane things will get done more swiftly. The Tatras are not so busy during the summer months and they like to grab as much business as possible. In small towns everyone is connected to each other by blood somewhere down the line :-) Good luck with it all.

Don't worry about the screamers as I mentioned originally Polishforum is a hotbed for Atheists many of them don't get out too often...

Mal1989 here is the Church I mentioned parafiawitow.pl

At best it will need to be translated into Polish by a sworn translator (good luck trying to use a translator sworn anywhere other than Poland). At worst (and more probably) it will be rejected by the local office on the grounds that they have never seen one before and why haven't you got anything from you embassy saying the paperwork is in order? I'd most certainly want to get a letter from the embassy stating that the CNI is valid and in their opinion there are no reasons why the local office should not marry you.


No argument, I'd just like to know why knowledge about Americans who marry in Jamaica should be applied to a Brit who wants to marry in Poland. Or why a British priest should know any more about getting legally married in Poland than he does about getting a birth certificate in Italy.


As has been mentioned above, going to a Polish RCC priest as a co-habiting couple is not a good idea. And perhaps you could explain why a Polish priest in the UK needs to know about the civil process of CNIs and registered addresses for foreigners at all, let alone being up to date on the latest requirements? I shall look forward to laughing at your reply.

Why would Mal1989 be asked about a CNI if he has a Civil wedding in the UK.

As for riding Rogers comment, most Catholic priests are interested in helping the couple.

As Mal1989 is Polish by birth and speaks Polish unlike you Harry, he should not have a problem making things happen, it just takes a little patience and talking to the right people.

Not everybody wants to have a civil wedding in the UK first and then have the church wedding at a later date; some people want their friends and family to be there for their actual wedding. Personally I don't see the problem, but some people definitely do. As the OP has clearly said in the first post "We want to get married in Zakopane" and not 'We want to have a blessing of our marriage in Zakopane', she may very well be one of the ones who wants everybody at the actual wedding.


'He' appears to be a she, I wonder who you used to post as.

Mal1989, as you are a Polish national, your wife will require the following

More information available at wedding-in-poland.com/documents-required.

Documents required for foreigners wishing to get married in Poland
A foreigner wishing to marry a Polish citizen on Polish territory, or to marry another foreigner on Polish territory, is required to furnish the following documents:

1. Birth certificate - must be TRANSLATED by a sworn translator (Polish authorities require that the sworn translation be issued within three months of presenting for marriage)

2. Certificate of No Impediment - a written statement from the Embassy verifying that you are legally FREE to marry. This should include the following information:

· Full name
· Date of birth
· Address
· Marital status
· Father's full name
· Mothers full name and her maiden name
3. Passport
4. Certificate of REGISTRATION (for permanent residents only)
5. Documentation verifying that you're legally allowed to get married in accordance with your national law

Happy with the answer Harry, you are so negative and difficult. Get a life.

As far as I'm aware, the embassy issue CNIs only to people who have an address in Poland. That is what a comparison of this site gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/poland/uk/uk_england/partner_local/opposite_sex and this one gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/poland/other/poland/partner_local/opposite_sex suggests.


No, temporary residents also need to present their residency permit.
In order to get married in Poland, one must evidence that one is legally in Poland: that means a residency permit and a maldunek, or a visa and a maldunek, or just a maldunek (if one has been at the address one gives for more than three day, or is it five?)


How does that differ from the CNI?


It's not me who is difficult (in my opinion anybody brave enough should be allowed to marry on the spot), it's the defenders of the red tape here who are difficult. Expecting the worst and planning for it are the only ways to do it when dealing with red tape here.

If Mal1989, wants find out what is required they cab contact wedding-in-poland and deal with people who do the job professionally.

You can, but the priest may require a larger than normal donation for non catholic person.