Legalization

Legal Basis

Legalization activities are carried out by the Polish Chamber of Commerce pursuant to art. 12 in connection with sec. 1, 2 and sec. 4 point 3 of the Act on Chambers of Commerce of May 30, 1989 (Journal of Laws No. 35 of 1989 and No. 75 of 1992), as amended, for entities registered in Poland, pursuant to the provisions of the said Act on Chambers of Commerce and objectives set out in the statute of the Polish Chamber of Commerce.

Types of documents legalized by the Polish Chamber of Commerce:

1. Commercial as well as export documents, including invoices, declarations, specifications, contracts, power of attorneys and translations other than sworn.
2. Transport documents, for example bills of lading, transport invoices and other documents related to the transport.
3. Certificates issued by General Veterinary Inspectorate, General Sanitary Inspectorate and State Trade Inspectorate.
4. Certificates and attestations issued by authorized units of state administration and local government.
5. Certificates of origin issued by the customs offices subjected to the requirements of the recipient’s country.
6. The Chamber can also issue an additional certificates of non-preferential origin of goods if the foreign recipient of the goods requests such a certificate in connection with the payment for the goods (these certificates are issued on the basis of certificates of origin issued by the customs office, on the forms of the Polish Chamber of Commerce).

Polish Chamber of Commerce DOES NOT legalize the following documents:

1. bank certificates and bank reports,
2. certificates and decisions issued by IRS,
3. judicial documents including those issued by the court of arbitration,
4. long-term and short-term supplier’s declarations,
5. electronically generated customs declarations,
6. administrative documents subjected to Apostille legalization,
7. photocopies or unsigned documents,
8. translations prepared by sworn translators and documents confirmed by a notary, the legalization procedure of such documents is specified in the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice.

IMPORTANT: Please note that the following documents do not meet the originality criterion therefore cannot be legalized:

1. both internal and external documents, which are photocopied and then originally signed by the representation (e.g. a photocopy of the ISO certificate originally signed by the company’s representation),
2. documents signed by the representation both electronically and originally (e.g. certificate of analysis issued by the manufacturer with a scan of the lab technician’s signature and the original representation’s signature),
3. electronic printouts, e.g. from CEIDG, KRS, REGON or other electronic registers, even with the signatures of the authorized representatives of the company,
4. commercial agreements with photocopied signatures of a foreign party,
5. photocopies of the documents certified as true copies, regardless of who has made the confirmation (e.g. copies of certificates of origin issued by the customs office). The Chamber will legalize the originally signed copies, provided that the original document or originally signed duplicates are also being legalized.

Requirements that must be met by the exporters in order to legalize the documents

Only companies registered in Poland may apply for the legalization of the documents. The entity applying for a certificate of origin or legalization (types of documents listed above) is required to register in the Chamber as an exporter (registration is one-time and free of charge) and submit the following documents:

1. Governing documents, documentation from registration authorities confirming that the applicant is a business owner:
   • Certificate of the REGON identification number,
   • Decision or confirmation of the issuance of a tax identification number (NIP)
   • Signatures of persons authorized to represent the applicant’s enterprise (the form must be filled in front of a person who is authorized to perform legalization activities).
2. Authorization document with the complete list of persons eligible for executing the formalities concerning the legalization process (e.g. signing the application form, invoices etc.). Authorization must be originally signed by a person appearing in the company’s governing documents (owner, president, board member, proxy).

Documents eligible for legalization

Documents intended for legalization are ought to be submitted by the entrepreneur in the number of copies specified in the application form and one additional copy intended for documentation purposes. The additional copies will remain archived in the Legalization Department of the Polish Chamber of Commerce. All copies of the documents submitted for legalization must contain original signatures of persons authorized to represent the enterprise. An application form filled by the exporter must be attached to the documents submitted for legalization. WCCI charges fees for legalization activities based on the Price List issued on January 2, 2018 (see below).

STEP BY STEP

1. REGISTRATION (one time) – The Exporter provides a complete set of registration documents (NIP, REGON, KRS) and signatures of persons authorized to represent the company.

2. PROCESS OF LEGALIZATION – Along with the application, the exporter submits the documents for legalization in the required number of copies and an additional copy for the Chamber. All copies must be originally signed by an authorized persons. After confirming the correctness of the submitted documentation, the exporter pays the applicable fee.

3. All documents legalized or issued by the Polish Chamber of Commerce, together with an invoice for the service, are handed over to the exporter in person or in another agreed form (e.g. via courier).

APPLICATION FORMS

– Application form for the legalization