Nostrification of Matriculation Certificate

I. The nostrification is made by Chief Education Officer  respectively for the residence place of the person applying for nostrification and  in case of the lack of such a place – Chief Education Officer respectively for the residence place of the institution in which the applicant intends to submit the certificate.

II. To nostrificate the certificate an applicant is obliged to submit the following:
1. An application for nostrification together with a statement that the submitted certificate has not been nostrificated previously in Poland (see the form specimen)
2. The original certificate or its duplicate authorized by:

• A Polish Consul in the country where the school is located or
• A Polish Consul in the country in which educational system the school operates, or
• A diplomatic mission or a consulate accredited in Poland in which educational system the school operates, or in which the process of education has been carried out.

Attention: Duplicate is a document issued in case of  the loss of the original, NOT the copy of the certificate testified by the notary public.

3. If a school leaving certificate has been issued by an institution working in an educational system of the country participating in Hague Convention of 5th October 1961   (Law Gazette 112 of 2005 position 938 and 939), the legalization is carried out in a form of “Apostille” placed in the document or attached to it. The register of the countries belonging to the Convention or the institutions entitled to issuing “Apostille” can be obtained at: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=1

4. In case of applying for acknowledging a certificate as an equivalent to a primary or lower secondary school leaving certificate it is obligatory to hand in an additional  confirmation concerning the period of school education abroad (taking into account the first year of school education but referring to those who are not younger than 6 ) - if it has not been stated in the certificate.

5. In case of applying for acknowledging a certificate as an equivalent to a vocational, comprehensive, technical or postsecondary school leaving certificate it is obligatory to hand in papers concerning the course of education abroad including:

• Register of subjects and obtained marks
• Number of hours per subject
• Scheduled number of classes in a school abroad necessary to obtain a certificate (taking into account the first year of school education but referring to those who are not younger than 6) – if it has not been stated in the certificate.

6. While applying for acknowledgement of a school leaving certificate or Matura exam (A-level) certificate obtained abroad as an equivalent of a certificate issued in Poland, it is necessary to have an official confirmation that the school leaving certificate can be used for applying to any college or university in the country where the certificate has been issued.

Such a confirmation can be issued by:

• Educational authorities of the country where the certificate has been issued, or
• A diplomatic mission or a consulate accredited  on the premises of Poland, or
• A Polish consul in the country where the certificate has been issued.

7. Original translations of the documents enumerated in point 1, 2 made or confirmed by the certified translator included in the list of translators of the Ministry of Justice or a Polish consul in the country where the document has been issued.

Attention: The translation must be based on the original certificate. If the certificate has been issued in a language with an alphabet different than Latin, the copy of the document should be enclosed to the translation.

8. The copies of the above-quoted documents.

9. A document confirming identity (ID, passport, residence permit)

10. If the applicant is not the certificate owner, an authorisation made by the certificate owner has to be attached according to the enclosed form specimen.

III. Diplomas of International Baccalaureate or European Baccalaureate do  not have to be subjected to the process of nostrification.

1. The acknowledgement of the equivalence of education in Poland does not guarantee an automatic acknowledgment of education in other EU countries.

2. School certificates (issued in the course of education) are not to be nostrificated. They constitute the basis to continue education in the Polish system. The decision of admitting a student to a relevant class and term is made by the school headmaster.

3. The certificates issued in countries under bilateral agreements with Poland concerning the recognition of education are automatically accepted according to these agreements.   

4. Certificates issued during the validity of bilateral agreements which have expired will still be acknowledged according to these agreements.

5. The register of international agreements about bilateral acknowledgement of education can be found at http://www.buwiwm.edu.pl/uzn/podstawy.htm
The list of countries participating in Hague Conventions of 5th October 1961 and institutions authorized to issue “Apostille” can be found at: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=1