In order to use a document confirming your formal qualifications (a certificate or diploma) in a country other than the one where they were awarded, you need to follow recognition procedures applied in the host country. A foreign diploma (degree) may be recognised in Poland pursuant to different procedures, depending on the country in which it was awarded and the purpose of the recognition.

Different regulations apply to diplomas awarded in the EU Member States and the countries with which Poland has concluded a bilateral agreement on mutual recognition of qualifications. In all other cases, qualifications may be recognised as an equivalent to the Polish ones only on the basis of the so-called nostrification procedure.

Foreign qualifications may be recognised for the purpose of admission to further studies or academic career (academic recognition) or for the purpose of practising a profession (professional recognition).

Like all other EU Member States, Poland has its own national legislation regulating academic recognition. In addition, however, qualifications are recognised for academic purposes in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European region, which was ratified by Poland in 2003 and entered into force on 1 May 2004.

In the case of professional recognition, the recognition of qualifications obtained in the so-called regulated professions should be distinguished from the recognition of qualifications in other professions. A regulated profession is a profession which may be practised only by those who have fulfilled qualification requirements and other conditions laid down in separate legislation. Within the European Union, the regulated professions are subject to EU Directives. Qualifications in non-regulated professions are recognised by the employer.

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