Legalisation of Documents When You Study Medicine or Veterinary Medicine in Poland

Poland and its people are famously warm and hospitable — but they are also, in the best sense, sticklers for doing things properly. Documents and procedures are taken seriously, and getting them right the first time will save you no end of hassle.

If you've been successful at interview and secured a place to study medicine or study veterinary medicine in Europe at a Polish university, you'll be asked to submit a further set of documents. Several of these must first be certified or legalised before the university can accept them — so it's worth understanding the process early, whether you're applying from Ireland, the UK, or further afield.

1) Certifying a Copy of Your Passport and Leaving Certificate / A-Levels

A certified copy of your passport is required, and there are a couple of routes to get this done:

• In person: the student office at the university can certify a copy of your passport on the spot, provided you bring both the original passport and a copy along with you.

• By post: if you're sending your application from home rather than travelling to Poland, you'll need to have the copy certified locally — by a Notary Public, a Commissioner for Oaths or at a Garda/Police Station. Whoever certifies it should mark the copy 'TRUE COPY', then sign and stamp or seal it.

  
  

2) Certifying and Legalising Your Leaving Certificate / A-Levels / Provisional Results

Copies of your Leaving Certificate, A-Levels need the same certification treatment as your passport above (this applies if you're submitting a copy rather than the original). On top of that, they require an additional layer of legalisation known as an Apostille. If you're submitting the original certificate rather than a copy, you can skip the certification step and go straight to the Apostille.

An Apostille is essentially a stamp of officialdom — a series of seals applied to a document so that it's recognised as legally valid in another country. Each country has its own designated authority for issuing these. In Ireland, that's the Department of Foreign Affairs, with offices in Dublin and Cork (further details here). If your qualification was issued outside Ireland, you'll find the relevant authority for your country listed here.

Trusted Partners

You can ask any solicitor's if they provide such service from certification to obtaining apostille. Many of our applicants use a Polish solicitor in Dublin - Marcin Szulc of Rostra Solicitors. Make sure toy mention StudyMedicinePoland for extra support.

A Word on Staying Organised

Choosing to study abroad — and to study medicine or veterinary medicine in Poland specifically — is no small undertaking. The academic side of things is demanding enough without the added pressure of chasing paperwork at the last minute. Deadlines have a habit of creeping up, and formal requirements like these are easy to underestimate until they're suddenly urgent.

The sensible approach is to get organised from day one: set up a dedicated folder, whether physical or digital, and keep every document, deadline, and scanned copy in one place. A shared calendar with key dates can also be a lifesaver.

And if you'd like a hand navigating any part of this — from choosing where to study in Poland to getting your documents sorted — StudyMedicinePoland.com is here to help.