A concordat wedding is the most common solution. Since 1998, the bride and groom no longer have to separately marry civil and church marriages. From then on, the concordat wedding is both a legal act and a church ceremony. All Roman Catholic people can take a concordat wedding and avoid unnecessary formalities related to civil marriage. Thanks to this, we reduce the number of visits to the Civil Registry Office (USC) to a minimum. Of course, it is still possible to separately marry civil and church weddings, but such cases are rare.
A concordat wedding, like a church wedding, is usually concluded in the parish of the bride or her chosen one. If you choose a different parish, you will need permission from parish priests. Such a document is called a “license”.
Step 1
A concordat wedding – a visit to the parish office
The first step is to visit the parish office where the wedding will take place. Go there between 6 and 3 months before the wedding. Take with you:
Confirmation certificates of brides (you will receive them in your parish offices, documents are valid for 3 months)
baptismal baptism certificates (you will receive them in your parish offices, documents are valid for 3 months)
certificate of participation and completion of the pre-marital course and meetings in the family counseling center (can be reported at a later date)
Identity Cards
On the basis of the collected sets of documents, the church clerk will prepare a prenuptial report and will write pre-wedding announcements. Announcements are given for two weeks in the parish of the bride and groom. Unfortunately, it is up to you to inform your parish about the planned wedding and a request to make announcements (the parish in which you are married will not do this for you).
Step 2
A concordat wedding – application to the USC
For less than 3 months before the wedding you should report to the Civil Registry Office. You must have with you:
Identity Cards
short copies of birth certificates
widower / widow must bring the death certificate of the spouse
In the USC you will answer a few formal questions to which you do not have to prepare. The only thing you should determine before your visit is the name your wife will take after entering into a relationship, because you will have to give it to an official.
On this basis, the Civil Registry Office will issue a certificate on the absence of circumstances precluding marriage. The certificate is valid only for 3 months (so the wedding must take place in the next 3 months).
Step 3
Once again to the parish office
Once you have a certificate from the Civil Registry Office you will return to the parish office where you are married (depending on the parish office, go there from week to day before the wedding). The documents you have to bring are:
certificate on the absence of circumstances precluding marriage (document from the Civil Registry Office)
a certificate of attendance and completion of the pre-marital course and meetings in the family counseling center (if you have not already provided it)
confirmation of reading announcements in fiancé parishes
Step 4
Just before the concordat wedding
Just before the wedding:
bring to the office a certificate of pre-confessional confessions
on the wedding day you will sign the agreement on the civil-legal consequences of the concordat marriage; relevant documents are also signed by witnesses and a clergyman
Step 5
Formalities after the concordat wedding
After the marriage, within 5 days from the date of the marriage, the Church is obliged to send a set of documents to the Civil Registry Office. He draws up the marriage certificate. If everything happens without any problems, after 2 weeks you can go to the Civil Registry Office to collect your shortened marriage certificate.
Charges:
stamp duty – PLN 84
a shortened copy – PLN 22
complete copy – PLN 33
fees in the church – what ‘grace’ (usually ‘what grace’ far exceeds the other fees)
