Poland to allow transcription of foreign same-sex marriages

New regulations regarding the transcription of foreign same-sex marriage certificates into the Polish civil registry take effect on August 23, 2026. Following a regulation from the Ministry of Digital Affairs, all Civil Registry Offices (USC) in Poland must now facilitate the registration of marriage documents issued abroad for same-sex couples.

The change introduces new document templates that accommodate three types of unions: male-female, female-female, and male-male. These updates replace previous forms that relied strictly on gendered labels like ‘woman’ and ‘man’ to avoid administrative friction. The Ministry of Digital Affairs, led by Krzysztof Gawkowski, stated that this move aims to protect the dignity and rights of citizens and end ‘administrative fiction.’

The implementation follows rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Supreme Administrative Court. However, the move remains highly controversial. The Constitutional Tribunal previously ruled that the regulation was unconstitutional, arguing that transcription should only apply to marriages that align with the constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a woman and a man. The government has contested the status of these rulings, framing the change as a necessary administrative correction to ensure legal certainty for families.