The fact is, that there are no bigger complications with this than with pre-wedding formalities for a strictly Polish pair. So the devil is not as black...
If there are no special requirements in a certain parish, arranging the formalities in church should be similar to the actions taken by two Polish citizens. You can also count on priest’s kind advice.
I think it is more important to describe the civil law activities – very specific and formalized – which the Bridal Couples fear the most.
You have to start from a notion in the foreigner’s (in this case British) Registry Office to receive a Superintendent Registrar's Certificate of no impediment to marriage pursuant to the marriage with foreigners. According to English law the document is valid for 3 months, and you will wait for it about 3 weeks. You also need to find your Certified copy of an entry. If you have only one copy of that document, you should see to making an additional duplicate for your home archive, since the original document has to be left in the files of the Registry Office. Now both documents – Superintendent Registrar's Certificate and Certified copy of an entry – have to be translated by a state-registered translator.
The Polish side prepares their Certified copy of an entry.
Depending on the Registry Office and nationality, a document confirming the foreigner’s registered temporary residence in Poland may also be required.
Next the Bridal Couple should go to a Polish Registry Office (not less than a month before the planned wedding date so as to avoid the procedure of acquiring approval for reducing the waiting time) with a valid passport (foreigner) and identity card (Polish citizen), and documents mentioned above (English citizen has to have both the original and translated documents). Based on the documentation and declarations filled in on the spot, the Registry Office prepares a certificate of no impediment to marriage either for the Bridal Couple (for concordat wedding needs) or to the files if the Pair decided to get civil wedding.
If the English side or the witnesses do not speak Polish, both arranging the formalities in a Polish Registry Office and the civil wedding ceremony have to be held with the assist of a state-registered translator.
In case of a civil wedding, a few days before the ceremony the Bridal Couple have to give the first and last names of their witnesses and pay 75,00PLN. The witnesses have to bring their valid identity cards/passports to the ceremony.
Church wedding ceremony is shaped freely and depends mostly on the Bridal Couples expectations and the priests’ language skills, however the civil wedding is very formalized. The declaration of will is translated in the following order: Registry Office Superintendent – translation to English – English side, and Registry Office Superintendent – Polish side – translation to English.
The marriage certificate is ready immediately after the civil wedding or in about two weeks after the concordat wedding, and has to be translated by a state-registered translator to register the matrimony abroad. |
What does a wedding e.g. of Polish woman and English man look like? How to arrange all the formalities and what to start from?
