If you are preparing to marry in the Catholic Church please read very carefully the following informations.

Introduction
You can make arrangements for a marriage in our Parish or fulfil the necessary paper work through our office if you meet one of the following conditions:

• you are an English speaking foreigner living in Warsaw for more then 6 months and you attend our church;
• you are a Pole marrying a foreigner and your fiancée needs an assistance;
• you intend to marry outside of Poland in an English Speaking country.

Procedures Before seeing the priest
step 1) Note that in Poland all  Church marriages are considered  Concordate Marriages. This means that a marriage taken in the Catholic Church in Poland entails and enjoys all the civil consequences. It also means that the Catholic Church in Poland cooperates with the State in this regard. Priests are held civilly responsible for implementation of the legal procedures.

Step 2) Collect the NECESSARY DOCUMENTS:
– Valid baptismal certificate (3 months valid, with a clear written declaration stating that you are free to marry); A baptismal certificate lacking a statement on a freedom to marry will be rejected.
– STATE PRE-MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE concerning a freedom from illegal impediments  issued by Deputy Office of Civil Affairs in Poland (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego). In a case of a couple already civilly married, a Certificate of a Civil Marriage contract must be presented. No steps will be taken unless the above mentioned documents are presented.

OTHER DOCUMENTS:
-if you were previously married, and the marriage was considered null and void  by the Catholic Church, then you must present the necessary document;
– if you were previously only civilly married and divorced, present a valid Court Statement;
– in case of a doubt concerning your actual civil state, you may be asked to present two witnesses to testify you are free to marry;
– confirmation certificate (if not stated on the baptismal cert.);
– if you don’t belong to our Parish, you will be asked to present a letter from your Pastor, permitting to fulfil all the legal procedures outside of his parish. The letter is called: “substituition letter” (in Polish: substytucja).
– God did not say, you are not to fall in love with a non-catholic. If such is the case then the non-catholic part will have to produce some other evidence of a freedom from impediments to marry. This is usually done in a form of a sworn testimony of two credible witnesses and the party involved.
– civil documents: ID card or Passport;
– Certificate of Completion of a Pre-Cana course

Step 3- make an appointement with your Parish priest;– filling the form of Pre-nuptial Inquiry. This is a secret act, in a form of friendly interrogation, concerning your free will to marry;

– if one of the parties involved is not Catholic, there is an additional requirement. Z dispensation “for mixed marriage, or “disparity of worship” is to be obtained from the Local Ordinary. This is done by the Parish Priest but you will be asked to sign some documents. Sometimes other dispensations must also be required. This depends on particular cases;
– Wedding Banns to be announced in the Parishes where you actually live. It usually takes two weeks;
– if you marry outside Parish, you will have to obtain a Licence Letter. In virtue of such a letter you can be married in any other church, provided of course, you had obtained a previous agreement of the priest in a parish you want to be married;
-if you intend to marry outside of Poland, the Licence must be approved by the Local Ordinary. In our case it is the Office of the Archbishop of Warsaw for the Discipline of Sacraments. tel. 22 53 17 233 sakramentalne@mkw.pl  A personal visit will be required.