A foreign document entitling to undertake studies at the appropriate level should be certified in the form of an apostille or legalization.

Apostille is a certificate on the basis of which official documents (including certificates and diplomas) issued in the territory of one state are considered legal in the territory of another state. Apostille was introduced by a convention abolishing the requirement to legalize foreign official documents, drawn up in The Hague on October 5, 1961 (Journal of Laws of 2005 No. 112, item 938) andapplies to countries that have adopted this convention.

You will get Apostile in the country that issued the diploma. A list of all countries- parties to the Convention and addresses of institutions issuing Apostille can be found here.

Legalization is confirmation of the authenticity of a document (e.g. certificate or diploma) issued in another country. It must be carried out if it is not possible to obtain an apostille, because the country that issued the document did not adopt a convention abolishing the requirement to legalize documents. If the country in which you received the diploma is not on the list of signatories of the Hague Convention, you should legalize this document. Usually, the document is legalized by the Polish consul in the country where the document was issued. Contact the consulate and ask about the procedure for legalizing documents.

If you are a holder of a document issued in one of the countries listed below, you should legalize it at a Polish diplomatic unit appropriate for your country:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, China (excluding Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong, Macao), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Philippines, Gambia, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Yemen, Jordan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Qatar, Kenya, Congo, North Korea, Cuba, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates.

A list of Polish diplomatic units abroad is available on the website Ministry of Foreign Affairs.