How to register your address in a rented flat in Poland: step by step

Yes – you can register your address (zameldowanie) in a rented flat, and if you live there permanently or for more than 3 months, the law actually requires it. Your lease agreement is the document confirming your legal title to the premises, so as a rule you do not need the owner's signature on the form. You have 30 days from moving in to do this – or 4 days if you are a non-EU foreigner.

Does a tenant have to register?

The registration obligation arises from the ustawa o ewidencji ludności – the Population Register Act (consolidated text Dz.U. z 2026 r. poz. 384) and applies to everyone staying in Poland, whether they live in their own or rented premises (Art. 24). You must register no later than the 30th day after arriving at a given place (Art. 27(1)).

• Permanent stay (pobyt stały) means living at a given address with the intention of staying there permanently (Art. 25(1)).
• Temporary stay (pobyt czasowy) means staying at another address without the intention of changing your place of permanent stay (Art. 25(2)). For a Polish citizen, this means a stay away from the place of permanent stay of more than 3 months (Art. 25(4)).
• You can have one place of permanent stay and one place of temporary stay at the same time (Art. 27(2)).

Important for both parties: registration serves record-keeping purposes only and merely confirms the fact that you are staying at the address (Art. 28(4)). It gives the tenant no right to the premises and does not make it harder for the landlord to end the tenancy. The fear some owners have that "a registered tenant can't be thrown out" has no basis in the law.

Do you need the owner's consent?

The Act distinguishes two situations:

• You have your own legal title to the premises – a tenant does, because the document confirming legal title may in particular be a civil-law agreement (Art. 28(2b)), i.e. a lease agreement. In that case you present the agreement.
• You have no legal title – e.g. you live with a partner who is the tenant. In that case your stay is confirmed on the form by the owner or another person or entity holding legal title to the premises, who shows a document confirming that title (Art. 28(2) and (2a)).

If the owner refuses to confirm, or you have no documents, you can still submit the registration with an explanation. The office will then conduct proceedings and – if it establishes that you actually live at that address – register you by way of an administrative decision. A "no registration" clause in the agreement does not remove the statutory obligation to register. It usually stems from the belief that registration gives the occupant some rights – which, as explained above, it does not.

Temporary or permanent registration in a rented flat

With a fixed-term agreement – including an occasional lease (najem okazjonalny), which can last no more than 10 years – the natural choice is a temporary stay until the day the agreement ends. If you move out earlier, you must deregister (Art. 33(1)).

How to register step by step

At the municipal or city office

1. Prepare your identity document (ID card or passport) and the lease agreement.
2. Fill in the form for registering a permanent or temporary stay (available at the office and on gov.pl).
3. Submit it at the municipal office (urząd gminy) responsible for the address of the rented flat – you can also do this through a proxy (Art. 24(4)).
4. The official registers you as soon as a complete application is accepted. You will receive a certificate of temporary registration on request.

Online (e-meldunek)

A Polish citizen can register electronically through the service on gov.pl. The form is signed with a trusted profile signature (podpis zaufany), a personal signature (e-ID card) or a qualified signature (Art. 28(1)(2)). The tenant attaches the lease agreement in electronic form or a scan of it (Art. 28(2a)). From 1 January 2026, electronic applications are sent via e-Doręczenia (the e-Delivery service). Automatic registration without an official's involvement is only possible for a person whose title to the premises is entered in the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) (Art. 28(2f)). A tenant usually does not fall into this group, so their application is reviewed by an official.

Document checklist

• ID card or passport,
• lease agreement (shown at the office; online – as a file or scan),
• completed form for registering a permanent or temporary stay,
• for people without their own title to the premises – confirmation of stay from the owner or another holder of legal title, plus a document confirming that title,
• if using a proxy – a power of attorney.

Registration itself is free. The 17 zł fee applies only to the certificate of temporary registration.

Registering as a foreigner in a rented flat

• Citizens of the EU, EFTA and Switzerland and their family members must register no later than the 30th day after arrival (Art. 41(1)–(2)).
• Other foreigners – no later than the fourth day after arrival (Art. 41(3)). They cannot register online, and a foreigner without a PESEL number must attend in person (Art. 40(3)).
• A foreigner whose stay in Poland does not exceed 30 days is exempt from the registration obligation (Art. 42(2)).
• For a temporary stay you present, among other things, a visa, residence card or another document listed in Art. 43(3). The declared length of stay may not exceed the period of your legal stay in Poland (Art. 41(4)).

Foreigners signing an occasional lease agreement may also find our guide on guarantees for foreigners useful.

Occasional lease and registration

A tenant under an occasional lease registers in the rented flat on the same terms as under a standard lease – the occasional lease agreement is their legal title to the premises. Two documents are, however, often confused:

• The certificate of registration confirms, for record-keeping purposes, where you live.
• The statement from the owner of other premises – known on the market as a "guarantee" (poręczenie) or an "address for the occasional lease" – is a mandatory attachment to the agreement. In it, the owner of other premises consents to the tenant and the people living with them moving in should the obligation to vacate the rented flat be enforced (Art. 19a(2)(3) of the Act on the Protection of Tenants' Rights – ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów).

The statement does not mean you are registered at the indicated address, and a certificate of registration cannot replace it. We explain more in what is a guarantee for an occasional lease.

Changing your registration does not affect the agreement. What matters is something else: whether you can still move into the premises indicated in the statement. If you lose that possibility (e.g. the owner sells the premises), you have 21 days to indicate other premises and provide a new statement. Otherwise the landlord may terminate the agreement with at least 7 days' notice (Art. 19a(3) and Art. 19d(5)). If you have no family or friends who could make such a statement, you will find the options on our occasional lease documents page.

Deregistering after the tenancy ends

A temporary registration ends when the declared period expires. You must deregister if you leave the premises earlier or if you have a permanent registration there (Art. 33(1)). If a former tenant fails to do so, the owner may apply for an administrative decision deregistering them (Art. 35).

Frequently asked questions