Poland enables civil registry transcription for same-sex marriages contracted abroad
New civil status forms with three gender pairings took effect on 23 August 2026, following rulings by European and Polish administrative courts.
New registry forms enter into force
On 23 August 2026, a regulation issued by the Ministry of Digital Affairs took effect across Poland, enabling civil registry offices to transcribe marriage certificates of same-sex couples wed abroad. The decree, issued on 22 May 2026 by Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski and countersigned by Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, introduces three distinct variants for civil status documentation: woman and man, woman and woman, and man and man. These templates apply to full marriage certificates, abbreviated certificates, and registry data certificates, replacing previous forms restricted to fields labelled "woman data" and "man data". Transcribed documents will include an explicit notation stating that the record originates from a marriage contracted outside Polish territory.
Government representatives presented the change as an administrative correction for citizens married abroad. Katarzyna Kotula, the Government Plenipotentiary for Equality, described the entry into force on social media.
This is not a revolution. It is another step in the long march for equality. As of today, new document templates take effect, which for the first time in the Polish legal system recognize same-sex couples.
Legal path from Berlin to Luxembourg
The regulatory change follows a series of court decisions that began with the marriage of Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan in Berlin in 2018. In 2023, Poland's Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) referred a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the recognition of same-sex marriages. The CJEU ruled in November 2025 that European Union member states must recognize same-sex marriages lawfully contracted in another member state, even if domestic law does not provide for such unions. In March 2026, the NSA ordered a registry office to transcribe the Trojan couple's marriage, stating that technical limitations of the IT system did not exempt administrative organs from executing judicial rulings. In May 2026, a Warsaw registry office performed the first transcription of the Trojan certificate, though one spouse was recorded under the "woman" field prior to the new regulation.
- Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan marry in Berlin
- Supreme Administrative Court submits preliminary question to European Court of Justice
- CJEU rules EU member states must recognize same-sex marriages from other member states
- Supreme Administrative Court orders transcription of foreign same-sex marriage certificate
- Ministry of Digital Affairs publishes regulation introducing new civil registry templates
- Regulation enters into force across Polish civil registry offices
Local administration and legal appeals
Speaking on Polsat News on 23 August 2026, Krzysztof Gawkowski addressed potential resistance from municipal officials, such as local authorities in Zakopane who expressed opposition. Gawkowski stated that applicants facing refusal should appeal to administrative courts, where judicial precedent from the NSA and European tribunals will apply. He argued that local governments refusing transcription would ultimately lose their cases in court.
I feel joy. Immense joy, because finally in Poland we have a law that gives the right to dignity.
Legal specialists noted the administrative obligations of registry heads. Attorney Mateusz Wąsik of the KMA law firm explained that registry heads cannot reject applications without formal administrative review.
It is not the role of an official to decide whether to accept an application or not. Every application should be accepted, and only based on legal analysis and the determination of whether the application has formal deficiencies can such an application potentially be deemed incomplete or a negative decision be issued.
Political debate over constitutional limits
Conservative commentators and the Ordo Iuris legal institute challenged the regulation, arguing that administrative transcription conflicts with Article 18 of the Polish Constitution, which places marriage as a union of a woman and a man under state protection. Critics argued that altering civil status documentation formats by ministerial decree bypasses the statutory process in parliament. Legal counsel clarified that transcribing a foreign certificate records an existing legal status established abroad and does not introduce same-sex marriage into domestic Polish law. Forms for marriages performed within Poland remain restricted to heterosexual couples.
