Changing Polish Documents - Moving from Poland to UK

My wife-to-be will be moving to England next year to live with me. She pointed out that she would have to change her key documents to her new name and address (passport, ID card, etc.)

However, she said that she will need to sign for them to collect them.

From this I can see a few problems...
1. I am not sure when we will be able to get back to Poland again (could be 6 months or more)
2. Do we really have to travel back to Poland just to sign for an ID card or Passport? Is it not possible to send it to England, and if a signature is necessary, do it at a Polish consulate for example?

3. I am assuming they will want her to return the old documents before sending the new one's. How will she travel to England with no passport.

Please forgive my ignorance, but to me it feels there are many un-necessary bureaucracies in Poland.

Sure there are, however I think in case of personal identification documents, authorities should be careful, sending it via mail or something wouldn't be a good idea...


So she will move to the UK and get married there ? I'm sure that a new passport can be delivered through the consulate... there might be some issues with producing a Polish marriage certificate (which I believe will be needed) but it probably also can be done without visiting Poland... ID card ? Never heard about it being issued abroad... when I was getting a new one 2 years ago, I had to visit a city hall, sign the papers and visit again 2 or 3 weeks later to get the new card... however, If she's going to live outside of Poland, why would she really need it ? Generally, with 10 billion Poles living in the UK and elsewhere in the world, there must be thousands of similar cases each year... and I don't believe these people come back to Poland each time... she should figure out how it works, check the websites of the institutions... call them if needed etc.

When I had to renew my passport I've done it in Poland but only because 1. It is cheaper than going through an Embassy in UK 2. I am still registered at a Polish address. She doesn't have to go back to Poland to get her name changed on her ID, an Embassy in England will do it, especially that she is marrying a British citizen. If she decides to go to Poland, then yes she has to come in to apply and then again to sign for the documents in person, and also provide finger prints for a new passport, relevant documents etc. I can't tell you for sure if a person who is no longer a Polish resident (as in have a Polish address) can actually get their documents in Poland anymore, your partner will have to check that.

Travelling to Poland is not exactly expensive, it's only 2.5 hours away on a plane and if you collect air miles (I do with BA) your return flight will cost between £30 - £80.

I also find it pretty shocking that in UK documents like passports and driving licences are sent by post. Even if it's special delivery, things still go "missing".

You mean dowód ? I've never heard about people getting them issued once abroad... my understanding is that Polish citizens are not really required to have them once living abroad... at least I've never seen or heard about dowód with foreign adress on it...

Yeah I meant passports, sorry I didn't clarify. They wanted to bring out European ID cards in UK but that's been scrapped. However they are accepted here as valid proof of ID, at least they should be. I was asked for ID in a supermarket a couple of years ago and when I presented my Polish ID card the foreign Asian assistant refused to accept it. So I said that this is valid ID and I never had problems with it, but she was still not convinced and called her English supervisor. After scrutinising the card, the supervisor informed the cashier that it is alright, because "they don't have passports over there". True story.

As far as i know you have to visit Poland to get the ID card, but a passport can be done at a consulate.

well can you renew a polish id card in England or not does anyone know

No you cannot.One has to go to the gmina office where your polish residence(last residence),Only passports are renewed/replaced by the embassy.

My partners ID card expires on 26th May 2016 but she was told that she cannot travel on it 3 months before it expires. Is this true? She lives in the Uk and wants to go back to Poland at the beginning of May 2016. And return to the Uk in the middle of May.

Not true in the slightest. As long as it's valid, it's valid for travel within the EU.

@Hopsta, your wife doesn't need a Dowód (Polish ID card) if she's going to be living in England. Her passport is adequate. She's entitled to have a Dowód if she wants one but she doesn't need one. If it expires while she's in England it's not a big deal. She can simply get it renewed next time she's in Poland if she wants to. (She can't renew it in the UK). She can get her passport details changed and a new passport issued in the UK through the Polish consulate.