Polish passport at a consulate in the UK: booking, fee, collection (2026)

In short

• A Polish passport at a Polish consulate in the UK is issued by the Consular Section of the Polish Embassy in London or by the Consulates General in Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast. An adult applies in person and books the appointment in the e-Konsulat system (the Polish consular booking system).
• The fee for an adult passport is £123, paid when you submit the application (as of November 2026, gov.pl).
• The consulate recommends booking at least 3 months before your passport expires or before you travel (as of November 2026, gov.pl).
• You cannot apply for a Polish ID card (dowód osobisty) at a consulate or collect it there: the application is made in Poland (gov.pl).
• After renewing your passport, update your UKVI account if you have settled or pre-settled status.

Where to apply for a passport and how to book

Four offices issue passports in the UK (gov.pl: Placówki, as of November 2026). You can apply at any of them, but you collect the finished passport where you applied (gov.pl). You book through e-Konsulat, and the booking rules depend on the office:

In London, people who arrive more than 30 minutes late may be refused entry and must book a new appointment. The embassy building in the cover photo is not where applications are made: that is the Consular Section at 10 Bouverie Street.

How to apply for a passport step by step

Adults must apply in person: you cannot do it online or by email (as of November 2026, gov.pl).

1. Book an appointment in e-Konsulat. Booking is free, and as a rule you cannot book a passport appointment by email or phone.
2. Get a photo. If there is no photo, or it does not meet the requirements, the consul will not accept the application. You need a colour photo on paper, 35 x 45 mm, taken no earlier than 6 months before the application, with your face taking up 70-80% of the photo, on a white background. Check the official gov.pl guidance for the rules on head coverings and glasses, including exceptions and supporting documents.
3. Bring proof of identity: a valid passport or a valid ID card (if one was issued). If your surname changed after a marriage abroad, you need a copy of the Polish marriage certificate (gov.pl).
4. At the appointment a consulate employee completes the application in an electronic form and takes your fingerprints, and you confirm the details with a signature on a tablet.
5. Pay when you submit the application and keep the confirmation with your application number: it lets you track the case online.

The consulate recommends booking at least 3 months before your passport expires or before you travel (as of November 2026, gov.pl). Waiting times usually get longer before the summer holidays, school breaks and festive periods, and in the first half of the year they can be several weeks longer than in autumn in some consulates.

A child's passport. A passport costs £40 for a child under 12 and £62 for a child aged 12 to 18 (as of November 2026). A child cannot get a passport without a PESEL number (the Polish national identification number), and a PESEL is assigned only after the birth certificate has been transcribed into the Polish register (gov.pl). We cover the details in our guide A child born in the UK: Polish birth certificate, PESEL and passport.

How much a passport costs at a consulate

The amounts come from the consular fee table valid from 1 January 2026 (as of November 2026, gov.pl: Opłaty konsularne). Check that the table has not changed before your appointment.

• Adult passport: £123, paid when you submit the application in cash or by credit or debit card (a card is preferred). In London you can also pay by a bank-certified cheque.
• Temporary passport (gov.pl): £18 while you wait for a biometric passport. For another purpose it costs £44 during office hours, £88 outside office hours and £175 on a non-working day (this is not always possible). The urgent procedure involves an additional fee.
• Reduced fee (gov.pl): available to, among others, a school or university student aged 18 to 26, a pensioner or disability pensioner (under Polish rules only) and a holder of the Karta Dużej Rodziny (Large Family Card), but only one reduction applies. You show the original supporting document at the appointment (it cannot be sent later or as a scan). Confirm the amount with the consulate.
• No fee: a person who is 70 or older on the day of the application.

Collecting your passport, postal delivery and activation

You collect your passport at the office where you applied: it cannot be sent from another consulate or from Poland. Bring your previous valid passport (or a valid temporary passport) when you collect it. London hands over finished passports without an appointment from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (as of November 2026, gov.pl). When you apply, a consulate employee will give you an estimated collection date; the consulate websites do not give a fixed processing time.

Postal delivery is an exception (gov.pl: Collecting a passport by post): only in particularly justified cases may the consul (but need not) waive personal collection, so raise it when you apply. You must then bring a prepaid Special Delivery return envelope (up to 100 g) with a full UK address and a completed request to send the passport by post. You cannot buy the envelope at the consulate. Waiting is longer than with personal collection. The consul will not post the passport to a person staying outside the district of the consulate where the application was submitted. A passport received by post must be activated online by you; you need, among other things, the 16-digit application number from your confirmation (it starts with "53"). Without activation you may have problems at the border.

Temporary passport, loss and changes of details

A temporary passport is issued by the consulate to, among others, a person abroad waiting for a passport applied for at the same consulate, or in an emergency (for example illness, a family funeral, an urgent return or work matters), once documents are presented (gov.pl, as of November 2026). In an emergency, phone the consulate. A temporary passport is valid for no more than 365 days.

A lost or damaged passport (gov.pl): report it to the consulate without delay. Reporting is free and does not need an appointment, unless you are applying for a new passport at the same time. The passport becomes invalid on the day you report it, and if you find it later you can no longer use it or withdraw the report. After the report the consul may issue a temporary passport for your return to your place of permanent residence.

Changes of details: you must replace your passport if you change your surname, first names, date or place of birth, sex or PESEL number. The old passport becomes invalid automatically 120 days after the data is changed in the PESEL register. A passport for a person aged 12 or over is valid for 10 years, and for a child under 12 for 5 years.

ID card abroad: what you cannot do at a consulate

According to gov.pl (as of November 2026), you cannot apply for a Polish ID card at a consulate or collect a finished ID card there. Abroad you can apply for a passport, but for an ID card only after you return to Poland (gov.pl: Dowód osobisty - informacje). A Polish citizen living abroad can apply for an ID card only while in Poland (gov.pl: Uzyskaj dowód osobisty). The same applies to a child's ID card.

In Poland you apply at any municipal office (urząd gminy), regardless of where you are registered. Issuing the ID card is free, and you wait a maximum of 30 days (longer in special cases). You collect the card in person at the office that accepted your application: a stay abroad is not grounds for collection by a proxy. Planning to move back for good? We have collected the things to arrange in our guide Moving back to Poland from the UK: checklist.

What you can do at a consulate is report a lost or damaged ID card (gov.pl): in person, by post or by fax. The consul passes the case to the municipality that issued the card, which invalidates it immediately. Reporting is free. If you are 18 or over and report your ID card as lost, your PESEL number will be restricted automatically.

Passport, ID card and your UKVI account when travelling to the UK

You enter the UK on a valid passport, and a valid national identity card is enough only in certain cases; the document must be valid for your whole stay (GOV.UK, as of November 2026). You can enter on an ID card if you are an EU citizen with, among other things, settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, an EUSS family permit or a frontier worker permit. A valid national identity card can also be used if you have applied for settled or pre-settled status and received confirmation that your application is valid, provided you are not applying as a joining family member, unless you have a valid or expired EUSS family permit.

If you have EUSS status (an eVisa), after getting a new passport update your UKVI account details and travel on the passport added to your account: if your details are wrong, the carrier may refuse to let you travel (GOV.UK: eVisa). We describe the steps in our guide EU Settlement Scheme: settled and pre-settled status, share code. A list of documents to check after you arrive is in our guide Your first 30 days in the UK: a checklist.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The application rules and fees are the same across the UK; only the offices and booking systems differ (as of November 2026, gov.pl: Placówki). Scotland is covered by the consulate in Edinburgh, Northern Ireland by the consulate in Belfast, and Wales by the consulate in Manchester, which also covers the north and middle of England and the Isle of Man. The London district includes Greater London, Bristol, Kent and Essex, among others.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for a passport at a consulate outside my district?

Yes, you can apply for a passport at any Polish consulate (gov.pl, as of November 2026). However, you collect the new passport at the same office where you applied: you cannot move it to another consulate or to Poland.

How long do I wait for the finished passport?

The consulate websites do not give a fixed processing time (gov.pl, as of November 2026). A consulate employee will give you an estimated collection date when you apply, and you can check online whether your passport is ready.

Will an agent who charges a fee get me an appointment?

Do not use such offers. The embassy calls the activity of intermediaries offering passport appointments dishonest, and booking in e-Konsulat is itself free (gov.pl, as of November 2026).

Can an honorary consul issue my passport?

No. An honorary consul does not issue passports or temporary passports and does not accept reports of a lost passport (gov.pl, as of November 2026). You apply in London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast.

Where to get help

• Consular Information Centre (Centrum Informacji Konsularnej): +44 (0) 203 0789 618, on working days in Poland, 9:00-17:00 (the website does not state the time zone; as of November 2026, gov.pl: Polish Embassy in London).
• Emails for passport matters: London londyn.paszporty@msz.gov.pl, Manchester manchester.paszporty@msz.gov.pl, Edinburgh edynburg.paszporty@msz.gov.pl, Belfast belfast.konsul@msz.gov.pl.
• Phone of the Consular Section in London (only for matters already under way): +44 (0) 207 8228 900, Monday to Friday, 8:00-16:00. The numbers of the other offices are on their gov.pl pages (links above).
• Urgent consular intervention when a Polish citizen in the UK is in immediate danger to life or health: +44 203 0789 621. The line is not for questions about passports or office opening hours.