This article looks at two things people often mix up: what the visa needs in Tbilisi, and what residence needs once you are already in Poland. These are two different procedures with different translation requirements, and confusing them means paying twice.
An important caveat: requirements change, and the instructions of the specific embassy or visa centre always take precedence over this text. What is described here is the logic the process follows.
Two types of work permit
Before you apply for the visa, your employer in Poland has to prepare a work permit for you. There are two main types, and they have different consequences for translation.
Oswiadczenie (declaration)
- For short-term work
- Usually a standard or bilingual form
- Often no translation needed for the embassy
- Understanding its content is still useful for you
- Translated if a bank or other authority asks
Zezwolenie (permit, type A)
- For long-term work
- A longer document listing the conditions
- Often worth translating from Polish into Georgian
- It states your position, pay and conditions
- This is the document you must read
What to check in the permit
- The job title - does it match what was agreed
- The amount and frequency of pay
- The address of the workplace
- How long the permit is valid
- Your name in the passport spelling
One practical tip: translating the Zezwolenie is often not formally required, but it is worth it. This document states what you were hired for and on what terms. If, after you arrive, the real conditions turn out to be different, this paper is your only argument.
Which documents are translated into Polish
At the visa stage, in Tbilisi, the list is relatively short and depends heavily on the position you are going to.
Professional certificates and diploma. If you are going to a regulated profession - driver, welder, electrician, nurse, cook - documents proving your qualification are usually translated. The exact equivalent of the job title is critical here: the Polish system has its own classification. Criminal record certificate. Not required for every position, but for certain fields - especially work with children, the elderly, security and finance - almost always. This document usually needs an apostille as well. Passport. The embassy itself rarely needs it, but a Polish bank, the employer or the PESEL registration often ask for it. Details: passport translation. Family documents. Only if you are going with your family or plan to bring them later. Then you need marriage and birth certificates with an apostille.Karta Pobytu - here the rules change
This is the most important part, and exactly where people pay twice.
For the visa, in Tbilisi, our notarized translation is usually fully sufficient. But once you are in Poland and applying for the residence card - the Karta Pobytu - the local office (Urzad) often asks for a translation made by a sworn translator working in Poland (tlumacz przysiegly).
This is an internal Polish rule and we cannot change it. The practical conclusion: do not pay in advance for a notarized translation of documents you need only for the Karta Pobytu - they will be translated again there anyway.
What is still worth doing in Tbilisi: putting the apostille on the Georgian documents themselves. An apostille can only be issued in the country that issued the document, so you cannot get it in Poland. Before leaving, make sure you take the apostilled originals with you - even if you will have them translated there.
Name spelling - the most common flaw
On the Polish route the most common problem is not terminology - it is the spelling of names. A Georgian name can come out several ways in Polish documents, especially when one document is written by the employer, another is translated by us and a third is filled in by a Polish office.
The rule is simple: everywhere exactly as it is in the passport in Latin letters. Not how it sounds in Polish, not how the employer wrote it, but as it is in the passport. If the employer's document spells the name differently, that has to be sorted out before translation, not afterwards.
With us, your spelling is fixed on the first order and used in the same form in every later document, even years later - including when you bring your family members' papers.
What you will need after you arrive
The visa is the start of the process, not the end. After you arrive in Poland several procedures await you, and each has its own document requirements.
PESEL - the identification number without which banks, doctors and the tax office hardly work. It usually requires your passport and work documents, sometimes a birth certificate too. A bank account - banks often ask for the employer's document and sometimes its translation if it is in Georgian. Karta Pobytu - if you stay longer than a year. This is where the Urzad asks for a translation by a local sworn translator, as noted above. Bringing your family - a separate procedure requiring apostilled marriage and birth certificates. This is the stage where people most often get stuck, because the apostille stayed in Georgia and they are already in Poland.So our standard advice to anyone going to Poland is: before you leave, obtain and apostille every document you might need - criminal record certificate, birth certificate, marriage certificate, diploma. Translation can wait; the apostille cannot.
The process step by step
Get the permit from the employer
Oswiadczenie or Zezwolenie. Read it as soon as you receive it, or send it to us for translation - the position, pay and term are written there.
Find out what the visa needs translated
It depends on the position. Send us the visa centre's list and we will tell you which document needs a translation and which an apostille too.
Apostille first, translation after
Apostille first: on the criminal record certificate at the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on family certificates at the Public Service Hall. Then the documents are translated with the apostille on them.
Take the apostilled originals with you
Even if you will have them translated in Poland for the Karta Pobytu. The apostille is only issued in Georgia, and without it you will be stuck there.
Deadlines and where time is lost
There are fewer Polish translators in Georgia than English or Russian ones, so a Polish translation usually takes one or two working days rather than the same day. Allow for that when planning.
In reality, time is lost on the apostille. Getting the criminal record certificate and then having it apostilled are two separate procedures and are not done on the same day. If you already have a visa centre appointment, plan backwards and start with obtaining the certificate.
The price is set by agreement after we see the material and is fixed before the order starts. Guide figures: translation prices. The urgent option is a separate surcharge and applies only at your request.
Going to Poland for work? Send us a photo of the permit and the visa centre's list - we will tell you what gets translated, what needs an apostille and by when.
Call: 501 113 200Frequently asked questions
Should I translate the Oswiadczenie?
Usually not for the embassy - it is a standard or bilingual form. It is worth translating if you want to understand the terms exactly, or if a Polish bank, the PESEL office or another authority asks for it. The Zezwolenie is almost always worth translating, because it contains the detailed conditions.
Does the criminal record certificate need an apostille?
It depends on the position. For work with children, the elderly, security and finance almost always; in other cases often not. The exact answer is in the visa centre's or employer's list - send us that text and we will tell you.
Should I have the translation done in Tbilisi or in Poland?
For the visa - in Tbilisi; our notarized translation is usually enough. For the Karta Pobytu - often in Poland, by a local sworn translator, because that is what the Urzad asks for. So plan the two procedures separately and do not pay twice.
Can I get the apostille in Poland?
No. An apostille is only issued in the country that issued the document - for a Georgian document, only in Georgia. This is the most expensive mistake: a person leaves, then discovers the apostille is needed, and either comes back or has someone do it under a power of attorney.
Should I translate my diploma if I am going to do manual work?
If the position is a regulated profession - driver, welder, electrician, medical staff - the qualification document is usually needed. For unregulated work it is often not requested. Check the employer's requirements and the visa centre's list.
I will bring my family later. What should I do now?
Before you leave, get apostilled marriage and children's birth certificates, even if you do not need them yet. The reason is the same: the apostille is only issued in Georgia, and sorting it out later is much harder and more expensive than now, while you are still here.