Ex officio
- A foreigner living in Poland gets a PESEL number ex officio when registering for permanent or temporary stay - the municipality applies for it (Art. 7 para. 1 point 3, Art. 16 para. 1 and Art. 17 para. 1 point 2 of the Act on population records). See: address registration.
- A child born in Poland gets a PESEL number when the birth certificate is drawn up - the head of the civil registry office applies for it (Art. 17 para. 1 point 1).
On application
A person who, under other rules, must have a PESEL number can get it on application (Art. 7 para. 2 and Art. 16 para. 2):
- you submit the application in writing, on paper, with a handwritten signature, at any municipal office (Art. 18 para. 1),
- a foreigner from outside the EU, EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom must appear in person - except children born in Poland (Art. 18 para. 1a),
- the application states the legal basis and documented data; defects must be removed within 7 days (Art. 18 paras. 2 and 3).
An intermediary cannot submit the application for you when personal appearance is required. We can prepare the application and documents and book an appointment.
What PESEL is for
PESEL is needed, among other things, to set up Profil Zaufany - see Profil Zaufany. From 1 November 2026 it is also required to enter a sole proprietorship in CEIDG - see foreigner as a sole trader.
As an adult you can block (reserve) your PESEL number free of charge to make fraud more difficult, e.g. a loan taken out in your name (Art. 23e).