How do you get a Polish passport while living in the United States?

You apply in person at a Polish consular office, where a staff member completes the application electronically, your fingerprints are taken, and you pay the fee, which is $165 for an adult. For someone born in the United States, two things normally have to be in place first: a Polish birth record made by transcription of the American one, and confirmed Polish citizenship.

What has to be in place before you book an appointment?

A consul issues a passport only after confirming your identity and Polish citizenship: from a valid Polish passport or identity card, if you have one, or from the Polish registers. Where there are doubts, the consul may ask for a document confirming citizenship issued under the Citizenship Act, such as a voivode's decision (Articles 38 and 40 of the Passport Documents Act).

The consulate explains that for people born abroad and never registered as residents in Poland, a Polish birth record created by transcription is a necessary condition for a PESEL number, Poland's personal identification number, which is printed in the passport. The request for PESEL itself is made at the passport appointment. If the transcription was done while confirmation of citizenship was still pending, the passport application is accepted only after the voivode has decided that you are a Polish citizen.

According to the consulate, registering U.S. civil-status events in Poland, such as a birth or a marriage, is mandatory when you apply for a Polish identity document or a PESEL number. Transcription through a consulate costs $71. You can file it in person or by mail, with a translation made by a sworn translator or certified by the consul.

Where do you apply, and what happens at the appointment?

At any Polish consular office in the United States: the consular section of the Embassy in Washington or the consulates general in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York. Appointments are booked through the e-konsulat system. Honorary consuls do not issue passports, and the passport is collected at the office where you applied.

Appearing in person is required by law (Article 30). At the appointment you confirm the data on an electronic form and sign it on a signature pad. Bring a color photograph measuring 35 × 45 mm, taken no more than six months earlier (Article 41). Fingerprints are taken from everyone aged 12 or over (Article 42).

When the passport is ready you collect it in person. You can also ask at the appointment for it to be sent, at your cost, to an address within that consulate's district, which the consul may allow in justified cases (Article 59). A passport received this way has to be activated online with the 16-digit application number from your receipt.

How much does it cost and how long is it valid?

• passport for an adult: $165, valid for 10 years,
• passport for a child under 12: $53, valid for 5 years,
• reduced fee, for example for children aged 12 to 18, students aged 18 to 26, and people receiving a Polish retirement or disability pension: $83,
• no fee for applicants aged 70 or over,
• temporary passport: $59, or $24 when issued while you wait for the regular passport; valid for up to 365 days.

These are the consular fees published for the United States as updated on January 1, 2026. They are paid when you apply, by card, cash, money order, or cashier's check (the Los Angeles consulate does not accept cards), and they are not refunded once the application is filed (Article 24). Personal checks are not accepted.

Can a child get a Polish passport at a consulate?

Yes, with the consent of both parents (Article 43). A parent can give consent on the application at the consulate, or in writing with a signature certified by a notary or a passport authority. If the parents disagree, a family court decision replaces the missing consent. For a child who is outside Poland, the Act also allows a passport with only one parent's consent in special cases, where the other parent's consent is impossible or very difficult to obtain and the child's welfare supports it.

A child aged 5 or over has to be present when the application is filed. For a child under 12, the application can also be filed through the Polish government's online service, after logging in under Polish rules on electronic identification (Article 31).

Which passport should you show when entering Poland?

The Polish one. The Polish Border Guard explains that Polish citizens, meaning everyone whose PESEL record confirms Polish citizenship, are obliged to use Polish documents to cross the border, even if they also hold another citizenship. This follows from Article 3 of the Citizenship Act: a dual citizen has the same rights and obligations toward Poland as anyone else and cannot rely on the other citizenship before Polish authorities.

According to the Border Guard, a citizen whose Polish documents expired or were lost abroad may be allowed to enter in order to return, but will need a valid Polish passport, temporary passport, or identity card to leave again. Which passport to use when leaving and entering the United States is a question of U.S. law.

How we help

We take care of the steps that do not need you in person: confirming citizenship, transcription of U.S. records, and correcting data that would block a PESEL number. We tell you when everything is in place to book the consular appointment, which you attend yourself.

This article is general information about Polish law, not legal advice about your situation, and it does not describe U.S. passport rules. Legal basis: the Act of January 27, 2022 on Passport Documents (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 196), Articles 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 56 and 59; the Act of April 2, 2009 on Polish Citizenship (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2025 item 1611), Article 3; the Act of November 28, 2014 on Civil Status Records (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 393), Article 104; together with information from the Polish consular offices in the United States, including the consular fee schedule updated January 1, 2026, and from the Polish Border Guard. Fees and procedures change, so check them before your appointment. If you would like help getting ready, describe your situation.