How to send a letter to a Polish office so that it counts

First: what kind of letter is it?

The channel that counts depends on the letter.

Your letter	Ways that count	Email?
A letter in a case: an appeal (odwołanie), a ponaglenie, a request to open a case, an answer to a summons	Post (Poczta Polska), in person, e-Doręczenia, or an account in the office’s own online system	No
A letter to a tax office	The same	No
A complaint (skarga) or a proposal (wniosek) about how an office works	Any of these	Yes
A request for public information	Any	Yes
A petition	On paper or electronically	Yes
A complaint about your employer to the labour inspectorate (PIP)	Post, in person, e-Doręczenia	Only with a signed file
800+, Dobry Start, Aktywny Rodzic	Only your ZUS profile (PUE/eZUS)	No
A letter to a landlord or a company	Any way you can prove	Yes

In the k.p.a., a letter in a case is a podanie: a request, an explanation, an appeal. The rule: “podania wniesione na adres poczty elektronicznej organu … pozostawia się bez rozpoznania”. A podanie sent to an office’s email address is left unexamined, unless a special rule says otherwise (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.). Tax letters go the same ways, under the Tax Ordinance (art. 168 § 1 and 12 § 6).

By post: Poczta Polska, registered

• Send it as a registered letter (list polecony) from a Polish post office of Poczta Polska. Keep the receipt (potwierdzenie nadania): it is an official document (art. 17 of the Postal Law).
• The posting date counts. A letter posted there by the last day is on time, even if it arrives later (art. 57 § 5 pkt 2 k.p.a.). The law names the “designated operator”; from 2026 to 2035 that is Poczta Polska (UKE decision of 28 November 2025).
• With a courier or another company, the posting date does not count. What counts is the day the office gets your letter.
• Outside Poland: posting with the national post of another EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein also keeps the deadline (art. 57 § 5 pkt 2), and so does handing the letter in at a Polish consulate (pkt 3). From Ukraine, use a consulate or e-Doręczenia.
• Sign it by hand (art. 14 § 1a and 1d k.p.a.). Keep a copy of what you send.

In person: at the registry desk

• Take two copies to the office’s registry desk (kancelaria).
• Ask for a date stamp on your copy. The office must confirm that you filed the letter if you ask (art. 63 § 4 k.p.a.).
• You can also tell an official, who writes it down in a record (protokół) (art. 63 § 1). If you cannot sign, someone you authorise signs for you, with a note saying so (art. 63 § 3).

Online: e-Doręczenia

e-Doręczenia is the state’s electronic registered mail. Sending a letter to an office through it is free (art. 52 ust. 3 of the e-delivery act).

• Not ePUAP. A letter that a person sent to an office through ePUAP had the same legal effect only until 31 December 2025 (art. 147 ust. 2 of the e-delivery act). gov.pl now sends letters to a gmina, ZUS or a tax office through e-Doręczenia, and keeps ePUAP for courts, prosecutors, the police and bailiffs.
• On time: a letter sent to the office’s e-Doręczenia address by the last day keeps the deadline once you have the proof of receipt (dowód otrzymania) (art. 57 § 5 pkt 1 k.p.a.). It is issued when the letter reaches the office’s address (art. 41 ust. 1 pkt 2 of the e-delivery act). The proof of sending (dowód wysłania) alone is not enough. Save both as PDF.
• Sign it. An electronic letter to an office needs a qualified electronic signature, a trusted signature (Profil Zaufany) or a personal signature (Polish e-ID card) (art. 14 § 1a and 1d k.p.a.). If your letter is an attached PDF, sign the file itself. A scan of a letter signed on paper is only a copy (gov.pl).

How to send it:

1. Get Profil Zaufany and an e-Doręczenia address (see below).
2. Log in at edoreczenia.gov.pl and write a new message. Find the office in the address search (Baza Adresów Elektronicznych).
3. Attach your letter as a PDF and sign the file. The mObywatel app cannot sign with Profil Zaufany (gov.pl).
4. Send it. Keep the proof of sending and the proof of receipt.

You can also use the gov.pl form Wyślij pismo ogólne (send a general letter). By default it sends through e-Doręczenia.

Then offices write to you there (art. 7 ust. 1). A letter from an office that you do not open counts as delivered on the day after 14 days from its arrival (art. 42 ust. 2), so read the email alerts and check the box.

Profil Zaufany and an e-Doręczenia address for a foreigner

You need a PESEL number for both (art. 20ad ust. 1 of the informatisation act; art. 14 ust. 1 pkt 7 of the e-delivery act). Without a PESEL, send your letter by post or in person.

Profil Zaufany (trusted profile) is free (gov.pl). Ways to get it:

• Online through your bank, if it offers this (art. 20c ust. 1 pkt 3 of the informatisation act). The list of banks is limited (gov.pl).
• In person at a confirmation point: a voivode’s office, a tax office, ZUS, the NFZ or a Polish consul (art. 20c ust. 2). Bring a passport or a residence card. Any point will do, also abroad (gov.pl).
• With temporary protection (PESEL UKR): when you apply for the PESEL at a gmina, it is set up automatically if you give your email and mobile number and agree. Or later, at any gmina office, with a valid travel document (art. 110c of the act on protection of foreigners).

The video call with an official needs a Polish ID card or a Polish passport (gov.pl). A profile is valid for 3 years and can be extended (gov.pl). For a foreign phone number, call the helpline +48 42 253 54 50, on working days from 7:00 to 18:00 (gov.pl).

An e-Doręczenia address (applying is free, gov.pl):

1. Fill in the application on gov.pl and sign it with Profil Zaufany (art. 14 ust. 3 pkt 1 and art. 15 ust. 1 of the e-delivery act).
2. Wait for the email that says the address was created (art. 15 ust. 6).
3. Log in at mObywatel.gov.pl, open “Twoje skrzynki” and click “Aktywuj” (gov.pl). The address is entered in the register once it is active (art. 15 ust. 7).

The deadline: how to count it

• Do not count the day of the event, such as the day you got the decision (art. 57 § 1 k.p.a.).
• If the last day is a Saturday or a public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day (art. 57 § 4).
• If you send your letter to the wrong office in time, it still counts as on time. That office must pass it on (art. 65 § 1–2).
• A letter with no address is left unexamined (art. 64 § 1). For other gaps, such as a missing signature, the office must ask you to fix them within at least 7 days (art. 64 § 2).

When email is enough

• A complaint or a proposal about how an office works: email is allowed (§ 5 of the 2002 regulation on complaints and proposals). It names email; it does not name ePUAP. Give your name and address, or it is left unexamined (§ 8 ust. 1). The office must deal with it within a month (art. 237 § 1 and 244 § 1 k.p.a.).
• Public information: the law sets no form for a request (art. 10 of the public information act). The office must answer within 14 days, or tell you why it needs up to 2 months (art. 13).
• A petition: on paper or electronically. Give your email address (art. 4 ust. 1 and 5 of the petitions act).
• The labour inspectorate (PIP): a complaint about your employer by email counts only if the attached file is signed with a trusted, qualified or personal signature. A scan of a signed paper does not count (pip.gov.pl).
• A landlord or a company: the rules for offices do not apply. Your letter takes effect when it reaches them so that they can read it; an email, when it arrives in their inbox that way (art. 61 of the Civil Code). Any way works if you can prove it arrived. Best: a registered letter with a return receipt (za potwierdzeniem odbioru). Or keep the sent email, or ask them to sign and date your copy. If your contract says how to send notices, follow it.

Applications with one channel only

• 800+, Dobry Start, Aktywny Rodzic: letters to ZUS go only through your ZUS profile (PUE/eZUS), not by post, e-Doręczenia or email (art. 13a ust. 7 of the 800+ act; § 15 ust. 6 of the Dobry Start regulation; art. 35 ust. 8 of the Aktywny Rodzic act). For 800+, ZUS must let you use a computer at its offices and help you file (art. 13a ust. 10).
• A residence permit: an application filed from 27 April 2026 goes only through MOS (art. 106c, 203c and 219c of the Foreigners Act). An appeal in such a case does not go through MOS: send it by post, in person or through e-Doręczenia (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl).

After you send it

• The office answers to your e-Doręczenia address if you have one. If not, on paper through Poczta Polska or by registered letter (art. 39 § 1–3 k.p.a.).
• Tell the office if your address changes, or a letter sent to the old one counts as delivered (art. 41).
• Living outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein? Name a person in Poland to receive your letters, unless they reach you through e-Doręczenia. If not, letters stay in the file and count as delivered (art. 40 § 4–5).

What Respubliko does, and what it does not

Respubliko writes the letter in Polish, the office’s language, whatever language you read this in. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. We never send anything for you, so the proof stays with you.

If an office says your letter was not filed, or a deadline has passed, get free legal help.