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Certified Polish Paternity Acknowledgment Translation
Certified translation of the documents that establish paternity in Poland, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
Uznanie ojcostwa, before the registrar
Polish uznanie ojcostwa is made before the kierownik urzędu stanu cywilnego — the head of the registry office — or before a court, and it requires the mother's confirmation, which she may give at the same time or within three months.
It can also be made before birth, and abroad before a Polish consul. The instrument names the authority, and a consular acknowledgment is a Polish civil status act rather than a foreign one.
Wzmianka on the birth act, and the copy that shows it
The acknowledgment is recorded as a wzmianka dodatkowa on the birth act, and only the odpis zupełny — the full copy — reproduces the act with its annotations. The odpis skrócony prints the current data with no indication of how it got there.
People order the abridged copy by default. If you need to prove the acknowledgment rather than the current state, order the full one.
The surname, and gendered forms
The parents declare the child's surname at acknowledgment, and Polish surnames in -ski, -cki and -dzki take feminine forms — so an acknowledged daughter of a Kowalski is Kowalska.
A US reader comparing father and daughter sees different surnames and suspects an error. It is one family name and the translation says so.
PESEL, and judicial establishment
The PESEL is the eleven-digit national number encoding date of birth and a sex digit; it does not change with a surname and is the strongest cross-check in a Polish packet.
Where there is no voluntary acknowledgment, paternity is established by court judgment (sądowe ustalenie ojcostwa), which is a different instrument and is annotated in the same way. See our Polish birth certificate page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Does the mother have to confirm?
Yes, at the same time or within three months. Without her confirmation the acknowledgment is not effective.
My odpis shows no annotation.
You have the abridged copy. The odpis zupełny carries the wzmianki dodatkowe.
Why is the daughter's surname different?
Polish surnames in -ski take -ska in the feminine. One family name.
Can it be done at a consulate?
Yes. A Polish consul can receive the acknowledgment and it is a Polish civil status act.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.