International Cooperation Office

All required documents issued in a foreign language should be translated by a certified translator into Polish language, legalised and recognized in Poland as an equivalent to a Polish maturity certificate/higher education diploma.

Polish translation of the certificate / diploma and other documents made out in a foreign language, made by:

• sworn translator entered on the list of sworn translators kept by the Minister of Justice, or
• consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the country in which education system the document has been issued, or
• sworn translator registered as a sworn translator on the list of sworn translators in EU Member States, Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - parties to the European Economic Area and Member States of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE), or
• A foreign, accredited in the Republic of Poland, diplomatic mission or the Consulate of the country in whose education system the school operates.

1. LEGISLATION:
Legalisation is the certification of a document?s formal conformity with the law binding in the place of its issue or of the authenticity of the seals and signatures placed on the document. Legalisation of educational documents may thus be significant for determining the country.
In some countries, such as Poland, the internal laws oblige a qualification holder to legalise their document before taking it abroad. Legalisation of a document by the relevant authorities in the country in which it was issued increases its credibility.

Legalisation of foreign documents of education
If a country in which a given document was issued is a party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, concluded in The Hague, 5 October 1961, the document?s legalisation is replaced by an Apostille certificate attached to it. The list of countries - parties to the Convention and the institutions authorised to issue the Apostille is available here.

If a country in which a given document was issued is not a party to the aforementioned Convention, the document?s legalisation remains the responsibility of the Polish consular office in that country. Depending on the type of document, Polish consular offices will use one of the three categories of legalisation clauses:

• full legalisation - a consul confirms the authenticity of the official seal and signature as well as conformity of the document with the law binding in the place of its issue. This form of legalisation is required only for certain kinds of documents, such as notarial acts or marriage certificates;
• standard legalisation - a consul certifies that the document has been prepared in accordance with the law binding in the place of its issue;
• authentication - confirmation of the authenticity of the official seal and signatures.

2. NOSTRIFICATION
Nostrification is a procedure whereby a foreign educational qualification is compared to its Polish equivalent and their equivalence determined. The competent authorities to conduct the nostrification procedure are:

• With regard to school and maturity certificates - local educational authorities having jurisdiction over the applicant?s place of residence and, in case the applicant has no such place of residence, the local educational authorities having jurisdiction over the head office of the institution where the applicant applies for admission. Appropriate authorities for UAS in Nysa: Superintendent of Schools Office in Opole, ul. Piastowska 14, 45-082 Opole, tel. (77) 45-24-568 (Kuratorium Oświaty w Opolu): www.kuratorium.opole.pl
• With regard to higher education diplomas (university degrees) - organizational unit of a higher education institution authorized to confer an academic degree of a doktor (doctor) in a given field of science or in a given field of art providing education in an area corresponding to a field of study completed abroad.

a) Recognition of a secondary school certificate obtained abroad for purposes of admission to first cycle studies or long cycle (magister) studies in Poland

Check whether your certificate can be recognized on the basis of international agreements.

If your certificate does not come within any international agreement, its equivalence with a relevant Polish school certificate can be stated only by means of nostrification, pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 6th April, 2006, on the Nostrification of School Certificates and Maturity Certificates Obtained Abroad (Journal of Laws No. 63, Item 443).

Nostrification of school certificates and maturity certificates is conducted by local educational authorities having jurisdiction over the applicant?s place of residence or (if the applicant has no such place of residence) the local authorities having jurisdiction over the head office of the institution where the applicant applies for admission.

Appropriate authorities for UAS in Nysa: Superintendent of Schools Office in Opole, ul. Piastowska 14, 45-082 Opole, tel. (77) 45-24-568 (Kuratorium Oświaty w Opolu):www.kuratorium.opole.pl

b) Recognition of higher education obtained abroad for purposes of admission to second cycle studies, post-graduate - non-degree studies, third-cycle (doctoral) studies or initiating doctoral proceedings in Poland

If your degree gives access to further studies or the right to start doctoral proceedings in the country where it was awarded, it gives access to further studies at a given level (second cycle studies, postgraduate studies, third cycle / doctoral studies) or the right to start doctoral proceedings in Poland, pursuant to Article 191a Paragraph 3 and 4 of the Law on Higher Education of 27th July 2005.
A foreign degree may also be recognized for the purpose of further studies on the basis of an international agreement.
If your degree does not give access to further studies in a country where it was obtained, and you still wish to continue education in Poland, you have to have your degree nostrified, pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 1st September 2011, on the Nostrification of Higher Education Diplomas Obtained Abroad.

NOTE: Diplomas confirming the completion of higher education abroad does not give access to further studies in Poland if:

• institutions which issued them or institutions in which the education was provided:
  - were not accredited higher education institutions on the date of issuing the diploma or implemented a study programme which did not have accreditation on the date of issuing the diploma, or
  - do not operate within a higher education system of any country, or
• a higher education programme or its part was implemented against the provisions of the country in which the education was provided.

c) To get the Board of Education's recognition of your certificates you should submit the following documents to the office in Opole:

• Application for instituting the nostrification procedure;
• The original certificate or its duplicate legalized by:
  - the Consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the country in which the school operates, or
  - the Consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the country of whose education system the school is a part of, or
  - a foreign, accredited in the Republic of Poland, EU Member States, the Swiss Confederation or Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - parties to the European Economic Area, mission or the Consulate of the country in which the school operates, or a foreign, accredited in the Republic of Poland, diplomatic mission or the Consulate of the country of whose education system the school is a part of.

Should a school certificate obtained abroad be issued by an institution operating within the education system of a country being a party to the Hague Convention of 5Th October, 1961, Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Items 938 an 939 of No. 112 of the 2005 Journal of Laws), a person applying for nostrification of his/her school certificate obtained abroad shall enclose with the application the original of his/her school certificate or its duplicate, or its true notarized copy with an Apostille provided on the document or attached to it. Should a person elect to submit a true notarized copy of his/her school certificate, he/she must also present to the nostrifying authority, for viewing purposes, the original of the school certificate, or its duplicate. The list of countries - parties to the Convention and the institutions authorised to issue the Apostille is available here.

• If in the certificate there is no information about course units completed, course load and grades obtained in the previous level of education, applicant should attach to it following documents:
  - Transcript of Records from a final examination;
  - List of courses and subjects completed with all the grades obtained in those;
  - Document outlining the curriculum, covering in particular the list of classes indicating the ratings obtained from them and the number of hours worked on the lessons;
  - Document stating that the certificate entitles to apply for admission to higher education of all types of higher education college in the country issuing the certificate;
• Declaration that the documents in question have never been subjected to any nostrification procedure in Poland;
• Declaration that recognition is needed to apply to the University of Applied Sciences in Nysa;
• In the case where the petitioner is acting by the statutory representative (parent, carer) or proxy, he files a document confirming the action on behalf of the applicant, in particular the authorization;
• Copy of the ID / Passport / Visa;
• Copies of all submitted documents;
• Document stating formally one's willingness to study at the University of Applied Sciences in Nysa;
• If the school certificate / degree diploma obtained abroad contain no clause confirming the right of its holder to seek admission to any higher education institution in the country in whose education system the institution that issued the certificate operates, there is a need to attach to the application a document certifying the existence of such a right, issued by:
  - The educational authorities in the country within the education system of which such a certificate was issued, or
  - A foreign, accredited in the Republic of Poland, diplomatic mission or the Consulate of the country in whose education system the school operates, or
  - The Consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the country within the education system of which such a certificate was issued
• A-level certificate of Polish language(or equivalent / Czech students should have additional confirmation made by Polish Embassy in Czech Republic).

The Board of Education needs the copies of all the certificates stating your level of education (original documents for inspection).

Candidates, who are the Ministry of Education grant holders are accepted on the basis of documents sent by the Ministry of Education.

Certificates confirming completion of a year of education are not validated. The school headmaster, in agreement with student?s parent, decided directly about enrollment of a student on the basis of such a certificate. In problematic cases, contact with the Education Office competent for a given school is suggested.

d) The following certificates are recognised without validation in Poland:

• IB diplomas (International Baccalaureate);
• EB diplomas (European Baccalaureate);
• Secondary school certificates / Maturity certificates obtained in the education systems of EU Member States, Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - parties to the European Economic Area and Member States of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE), which means secondary school certificates/diplomas or maturity certificates/diplomas or other documents, authorizing its holder to seek admission to any category of higher education institutions in the country within the education system of which the certificate was issued and the school or institution that issued the document is approved by the country on which territory or in which education system it operates.
  
  That includes Secondary school certificates / Maturity certificates obtained in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Dania, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, Lichtenstein, Latvia, Luxemburg, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, USA, Hungary, Great Britain, Italy.

• all certificates and diplomas considered equal to adequate Polish certificates under international bilateral agreements concluded by Poland;

Legal frames for nostrification:

• Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science on the Nostrification of School Certificates and Maturity Certificates Obtained Abroad (6 April 2006)
• Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 1st September 2011, on the Nostrification of Higher Education Diplomas Obtained Abroad
• Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 8th August, 2011 on the Nostrification of Academic Degrees and Degrees In the Area of Art Obtained Abroad.