Introduction: The Question Behind the Question
Do not start a nostrification procedure until the institution receiving your diploma confirms that you need one. Depending on the country, degree, and intended use, a recognition statement or a translated diploma may be enough. The employer, university, professional body, or authority handling your case should identify the correct route.
I am Monika Sypniewicz, a sworn translator of English registered with the Polish Ministry of Justice (TP/58/09, on the official list since 2009), working from ul. Ruska 41/42 in Wrocław. This guide compares the three common recognition paths and explains where a Polish sworn translation of a diploma, transcript, or supplement may fit.
The Three Paths to Recognition
Path 1: Automatic Recognition (Most People Stop Here)
Under Polish higher education law and a network of international agreements, degrees from many EU, EEA, and OECD countries are recognised in Poland by operation of law. A bachelor's or master's degree from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Australia, Canada, and a long list of other countries is treated as equivalent to its Polish counterpart for general job market purposes. There is no procedure, application, or fee.
What an employer will typically want in practice is simply a sworn translation of your diploma into Polish, so the HR department can read it and put it in your file. The same usually applies when a foreign degree appears in your karta pobytu application or other immigration paperwork. If this is your situation, you can skip straight to the section on translations below.
Path 2: A Statement from NAWA
Sometimes an employer, a professional body, or a university wants more than your word and your translated diploma. They want official confirmation of what your degree corresponds to in the Polish system. That is the role of NAWA (Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange).
NAWA issues written statements describing a specific foreign diploma: whether it entitles the holder to continue education, what Polish degree it corresponds to, and on what legal basis it is recognised. The statement is an information document, not a formal administrative decision. In practice, it is exactly what most institutions are looking for when they say they need "official confirmation" of a foreign degree. NAWA's free online qualification tool is also a useful first check for typical diplomas from a given country.
To request a statement, you submit the diploma and supporting documents to NAWA. Here too, foreign-language documents need translations, with sworn translations being the safe standard.
Path 3: Formal Nostrification at a Polish University
Nostrification (nostryfikacja) is the full formal procedure in which a Polish university examines your foreign degree and issues a certificate confirming its equivalence to a specific Polish diploma. You only need it for regulated outcomes:
- Continuing education where the foreign degree is not automatically recognised for that purpose, for example admission to certain graduate or postgraduate programmes;
- Doctoral studies in some configurations of foreign degrees;
- Regulated professions where Polish law requires a recognised Polish-equivalent degree as a condition of licensure.
The procedure is conducted by a university that runs degree programmes in the relevant discipline. The university reviews your diploma, transcript, and programme content, may ask you to sit additional examinations or complete differential coursework if the programmes diverge significantly, and then issues (or refuses) the nostrification certificate.
The fee is set by each university but capped by regulation at approximately 50% of a professor's base salary rate. In recent years, that has meant somewhere in the low thousands of złotys. The cap moves whenever the underlying salary rate moves, so check the current amount with the university where you intend to apply. Universities can reduce or waive the fee in justified cases, and it does not hurt to ask.
Timing: once you submit a complete application, the university is required to resolve it within a statutory deadline of 90 days. That clock excludes the time you spend supplementing documents or sitting any required exams. Realistically, plan for one semester from first contact to certificate.
Which Documents You Need and Which Need Sworn Translation
For a nostrification application, the standard file looks like this:
- The diploma itself: the original or a certified copy, with apostille or legalisation (see below);
- The transcript of records or diploma supplement: showing courses, grades, and credits across the whole programme;
- Sometimes, a thesis abstract or course descriptions if the nostrifying university wants to compare programme content in detail.
Ask the university conducting the procedure which documents must be submitted with sworn translations into Polish (tłumaczenie przysięgłe) and which form of certification it recognises. If it asks for a Polish sworn translation, use a translator registered with the Ministry of Justice. My guide to sworn translation in Poland explains the format.
Send the complete education document set together. The diploma, transcript, supplement, and receiving institution’s checklist are needed to confirm the scope and certification format.
Apostille First, Translation Second
If the receiving institution requires both authentication and translation, get the apostille or legalisation on the diploma before ordering the sworn translation.
The apostille is attached to the original document in the issuing country. For a US degree, this is typically done by the competent state authority; for a UK degree, by the FCDO. Once attached, it becomes part of the document, so the sworn translation can cover both the diploma and its apostille. Translating first may leave you needing a supplementary translation later.
Whether you need an apostille at all depends on the institution: nostrifying universities generally require it for the diploma, while an employer reading your CV almost never does. My guide on apostille vs. sworn translation in Poland explains which countries are in the Hague Convention and what legalisation looks like for those that are not.
Two Special Cases Worth Knowing About
School Certificates Go Through the Kuratorium
Everything above concerns higher education diplomas. Secondary school certificates follow a separate track through the regional education authority (kuratorium oświaty). This includes a foreign high school diploma that you need recognised before applying to a Polish university. The logic is similar: many certificates are recognised automatically by law or treaty, and the rest go through a recognition procedure at the kuratorium. Sworn translations of the certificate and grade lists are required there too.
Regulated Professions Have Their Own Procedures
If you are a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, lawyer, architect, or member of another regulated profession, nostrification of the degree is only one part of the process and sometimes not the right one. Regulated professions have separate professional recognition procedures run by the relevant ministry or professional chamber, with their own document lists and exams. Before commissioning any translations, ask the body that licenses your profession in Poland exactly which documents they want and in what form. I can translate to whatever specification they give you. It is much cheaper to ask first than to translate twice.
What the Translations Cost
My pricing for education documents is straightforward:
- Higher education diploma (English): from 120 PLN as a fixed price per document;
- Transcripts, diploma supplements, course descriptions: billed per standard page (1,125 characters), from 55 PLN per page from English into Polish. See full rates on my pricing page;
- Thesis abstracts: also per standard page, quoted individually based on length.
A diploma, transcript, and supplement vary considerably in length and density. Send scans of the complete set through the contact page. I will provide a free quote within 30 minutes during office hours and confirm the delivery date after reviewing every page.
A Quick Decision Guide
- Applying for a normal job? You most likely need nothing more than a sworn translation of your diploma. Check whether your country is on the automatic recognition list; it probably is.
- Employer or university wants official confirmation? Get a NAWA statement for your specific diploma; translation of the diploma will be needed along the way.
- Continuing education, doctorate, or regulated profession? Formal nostrification (or the professional recognition route). Apostille the diploma at home, then order sworn translations of the diploma, supplement, and anything else the university lists.
- Recognising a school certificate? Head to the kuratorium oświaty, not a university.
If your move to Poland also involves swapping your driving licence, my guide to exchanging a foreign driving licence in Poland walks through that process step by step. The licence also needs a sworn translation and usually has a stricter deadline than your diploma.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need nostrification to work in Poland?
Often not. Degrees from most EU, EEA, and OECD countries are recognised automatically for general employment purposes. An employer can simply accept your degree, and in practice asks only for a sworn translation so the documents in your personnel file are in Polish. Nostrification becomes necessary only when the law attaches specific consequences to the degree, such as admission to further studies, doctoral programmes, or licensure in a regulated profession. If nobody has explicitly told you to nostrify, check the automatic recognition rules before starting the procedure.
What is a NAWA statement?
It is a written confirmation issued by the National Agency for Academic Exchange describing what your specific foreign diploma corresponds to in the Polish system and on what legal basis it is recognised. It sits between doing nothing (automatic recognition) and full nostrification: faster and lighter than the university procedure, but more authoritative than your own assurances. Most employers and many universities accept it as sufficient confirmation.
Which documents need sworn translation?
For nostrification, the university may request the diploma, transcript or diploma supplement, and additional documents such as a thesis abstract. A NAWA application and an employment file have different requirements. Ask the receiving institution for its current list before ordering translations; then send me the requested English-language documents for a quote.
Apostille first or translation first?
If the institution requires both, apostille first and translation second is usually the practical order. The apostille becomes part of the original diploma, so the sworn translation can cover the diploma and apostille together. Confirm the institution’s authentication requirements before ordering.
How much does a diploma translation cost?
An English-language higher education diploma has a fixed price from 120 PLN. Transcripts and diploma supplements are billed per standard page from 55 PLN, and dense supplements often cost more than the diploma itself. I quote the exact total and confirm the delivery date after reviewing the complete package.
Let Me Take the Translations Off Your Plate
Send scans of your diploma, transcript, and the receiving institution’s document list through the contact page. You will receive a free quote within 30 minutes during office hours, with the delivery date confirmed after I review the complete package.