SYRENA and KWALIFIKATOR: How to Digitally Recognize Your Foreign Diploma

The Two Tools You Will Actually Use

The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) operates two complementary tools that govern how foreign diplomas are recognized for university admission:

• KWALIFIKATOR — a public database that tells you whether your degree is recognized automatically
• SYRENA — the formal application portal that issues an electronic recognition statement

Most international applicants will need both. Start with KWALIFIKATOR; only proceed to SYRENA if KWALIFIKATOR confirms that recognition is required.

Step One: Run KWALIFIKATOR

KWALIFIKATOR checks your country, year of issue, and document type against Poland's bilateral agreements and EU/OECD/EFTA frameworks. The result is one of three:

1. Automatic recognition — your diploma is treated as equivalent to a Polish qualification by operation of law. No further procedure is required.
2. Recognition via SYRENA — you must lodge a formal application.
3. Full nostrification by a Polish university — required only in narrow cases involving regulated professions.

Ukraine, the EU member states, and most OECD countries fall into category 1. Most African and Asian applicants fall into category 2.

Step Two: Prepare Documents for SYRENA

Before opening the SYRENA portal, gather:

• Your original diploma with an Apostille (Hague Convention countries) or full consular legalization (non-Hague countries)
• The transcript of records showing all courses and grades
• A sworn translation into Polish unless the original is already in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian
• A scan of your passport

All uploads must be PDF or JPG, maximum 3 MB per file, and legible. Blurry scans are the leading cause of rejection.

Step Three: Submit and Track

Inside SYRENA you create a profile, fill in degree metadata, and upload your documents. Submission moves your case from Draft to Submitted, then to In Progress.

Standard processing takes 30 to 60 days. Strategic applicants submit in February or March for September admission to avoid the summer backlog.

The 14-Day Correction Window

If NAWA finds an error — wrong document, missing translation, illegible scan — you receive a notification with a strict 14-day deadline to correct it. Miss the deadline and your application is rejected outright. There is no extension.

Treat NAWA notifications as critical. Check your registered email daily during processing.

What You Actually Receive

A successful SYRENA decision is an electronic recognition statement signed by NAWA. It is increasingly mandatory for student visa applications and is accepted by every Polish university as proof of qualification equivalence.

Conditional Acceptance Is Gone

A common misconception persists from older guides: that universities can admit you "conditionally" pending recognition. Under current rules this is no longer permitted. You must hold the final SYRENA statement at the moment of enrollment, not at the start of classes.

Plan backwards from your enrollment deadline: 60 days for SYRENA, 30 days for translations, 30 days for legalization. Begin at least four months before your university's deadline.