Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court has ordered the transcription of three additional same-sex marriage certificates, benefiting couples who married abroad and subsequently returned to live in Poland.
Transcription for Couples Residing in Poland
The Supreme Administrative Court has ordered the transcription of three additional same-sex marriage certificates, according to Government Plenipotentiary for Equality Katarzyna Kotula. The ruling specifically applies to couples who do not reside permanently in another European Union member state.
Przemysław Walas, Program Manager of the Campaign Against Homophobia, stated that while these couples married abroad—two in Portugal and one in Berlin, Germany—they returned to Poland to lead their lives. The court overturned the refusal decisions made by the Mazovian Voivode, obligating the Warsaw Civil Registry Office to proceed with the transcription of the foreign marriage certificates.
Legal Framework and Legislative Reform
This decision follows a November 2025 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which determined that member states must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in another EU country, even if national law does not recognize such unions. The Ministry of Interior and Administration noted that full implementation of these guidelines requires legislative changes.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Interior and Administration are currently working on solutions to amend civil registry document templates. The proposed changes involve replacing the terms “woman” and “man” with “first spouse” and “second spouse” to enable the transcription of same-sex marriage certificates.
