How to get a PESEL and registration address in Poland in 15 minutes

It is already known that PESEL is a mandatory document for all foreigners working in Poland since 2019. Apparently, this is true, because now if you want to get a registration address, you must first get a PESEL. Even in 2018, this was the case, which I can confirm from personal experience. For those who don’t know, PESEL is the number of the general electronic population registration system in Poland. Let me just say that PESEL is used almost everywhere in everyday financial life. Below I will list only those situations from my personal experience that I remember:

• When calculating the PIT tax return at the end of the year
• When buying a car, it is written in the purchase agreement. Poles often ask for this, and when a foreigner who does not have PESEL buys a car, the Pole often does not know what to do next
• When taking tests for a sanitary and epidemiological book
• Also when going to the hospital or dentist
• When applying for a permanent residence card
• When applying for a job
• When buying car insurance
• If you want to register a business in Poland
• If you want to take out a loan or credit in a Polish bank

There are many other situations where PESEL is required, but I first listed those I have encountered myself and then those I have heard about.

How did I receive PESEL in Poland?

I didn’t really worry about this issue, I lived quietly and without PESEL, and I had an account in a Polish bank for a long time. But when I accidentally received this document 10-11 months ago, I only now realized how useful it has been to me on many occasions. But more on that later.

So, it all started with the fact that I needed to register my own car. The technical inspection period was already approaching, and I had no room for a stamp in my car’s technical passport, and besides, I needed to change it anyway, because I was determined to register the car in Poland for myself. To register a car in your name, you need a registration address in Poland. Having a one-year visa and having agreed with my previous boss, he said that he would have no problem getting me a registration address in Poland in his apartment in Mikołów, which he rents out.

We agreed on a certain day, because I had arrived in Mikolów the day before and stayed in a hostel. And so we met at 9 o’clock in the morning near the city council in Mikołów (Urząd Miejski w Mikołowie). We entered, and I was given a form to fill out with basic information. I paid an official fee of either 12 or 15 zlotys, I don’t remember, and was given a PESEL, then a notice of temporary registration address (zameldowanie na pobyt czasowy). PESEL was issued for life.

In 15 minutes I came out happy and started the process of car registration. The registration address in this process was only one of a huge number of puzzles that actually formed the picture of registration. It was great that I also received PESEL, because in the evening I bought car insurance online on a Polish website and there, among other things, I had to enter PESEL.

Where else did I need the Polish PESEL?

A month and a half later, in December 2018, I applied for permanent residence and there, too, I had to enter my PESEL data. Then, in April 2019, I filed my tax return electronically, and I also had to enter my PESEL, because without it, it constantly showed an error. Then in June 2019, I applied for a job under an employment contract (umowa o pracę) and I also needed this PESEL. Then in July, I got a job as a remote translator for 2 companies on the basis of a mandate contract, and in order to get paid for my work, I needed a PESEL to create a contract. As you can see, PESEL is a necessary thing and not only worthwhile, but also a must-have.

The main difference between NIP and PESEL is that NIP is issued by the tax office (Urząd Skarbowy) and therefore is issued for tax purposes, and PESEL is a universal register of all persons residing in Poland permanently or temporarily for more than 3 months.