Certified translation Polish–German

The multilingual EU form

As the European Commission sets it out, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 simplifies presenting certain public documents inside the EU — among them birth, name, marriage, registered partnership, domicile and the absence of a criminal record: the apostille requirement falls away, and the formalities for certified copies and translations are simplified. You can also ask the issuing authority for a multilingual standard form whose purpose is to avoid having to provide a translation. The form accompanies the document; it does not replace it.

Source: commission.europa.eu (checked 5 November 2026)

When the translation really does fall away

The Standesamt in Cologne states the practical side in its checklist for registering a marriage concluded abroad: a translation is not necessary where you present an international document. For another procedure — a birth certificate for a university, say — whether that office treats it the same way is its own call. So ask the Polish registry office (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) for the multilingual form first, and the German office whether it works from one. Only if one of those two answers is no do you need a certified translation — and then you order it here.

Source: stadt-koeln.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Odpis skrócony and odpis zupełny

The Polish registry office issues the register copy in two cuts: abridged (odpis skrócony) and complete (odpis zupełny). The complete version shows the entry with every later endorsement, the abridged one only the current state in short form. For German procedures in which how a name is carried or an earlier marriage matters, the complete copy is the safer choice. We translate both; which one to submit is told you by the office you are submitting to.

What the EU form does not cover

The list of documents covered is, in the European Commission's account, confined to civil status and a few adjacent proofs. A university diploma, a transcript, an employment reference or a court order is not on it — there is no multilingual form for those papers, and a certified translation remains. For educational papers you order the qualification as a Diploma / Educational Degree and the list of marks separately as a College Transcript.

Source: commission.europa.eu (checked 5 November 2026)

Court orders and divorces

Polish divorces arrive as a judgment of a regional court (sąd okręgowy), often with a separate endorsement that it is final. For submission to a German court, § 184 GVG applies: the language of the court is German. We carry the judgment over with its heading, operative part, reasons and all endorsements; recognition of a foreign decision is decided not by the translation but by the competent German court or state justice administration.

Source: gesetze-im-internet.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Names, Polish letters and older documents

Polish is written in Latin script, so no transliteration arises — the diacritics ł, ś, ż and the endings -ska and -ski stay in the translation as the document has them. Older documents from regions whose administrative language changed deserve a closer look: entries in several languages and scripts can sit side by side there. Tell us beforehand, so we can check that we cover the document in full.