Buying property in Poland from abroad in 2026: power of attorney and transfers

You can buy property in Poland from abroad without travelling to the country: an attorney signs the notarial deed (akt notarialny) on your behalf, and you pay the price by bank transfer into the developer's escrow account. There is one condition – the power of attorney must take the form of a notarial deed, because the agreement itself takes that form. Below we explain where to have such a power of attorney drawn up (at a Polish consulate or with a foreign notary plus an apostille), how much it costs, how to plan your transfers and which taxes a buyer faces.

Key points

• A power of attorney for a developer agreement (umowa deweloperska) and for a flat sale agreement must take the form of a notarial deed (Art. 99 § 1 of the Civil Code).
• A Polish consul can draw up a notarial deed – from 2026 the consular fee for a deed with one certified copy is EUR 400, which is approx. PLN 1,750 at the NBP rate of 25 September 2026.
• A document from a foreign notary needs an apostille (Hague Convention countries) or legalisation by a Polish consul, plus a sworn translation.
• A notarial deed is signed in the presence of a notary – Polish law does not allow a deed to be signed over a video call.
• TM Invest listings include 1,101 available flats in developments that are already completed (as of 27 September 2026) – the simplest option for buying remotely.

Who can buy a flat in Poland while living abroad?

A Polish citizen living abroad buys a flat on the same terms as someone living in Poland. Buying a flat as a member of the Polish diaspora requires no additional consents – what counts is citizenship, not place of residence.

As a rule, a foreigner does not need a permit either if they are buying a self-contained residential unit (Art. 8(1)(1) of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners). The permit from the Minister of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) mainly concerns houses and plots. We describe the details and exceptions in our guide Buying a flat in Poland as a foreigner.

What form of power of attorney do you need to buy a flat?

The rule in Art. 99 § 1 of the Civil Code is simple: if a legal act requires a special form, the power of attorney for it must take the same form. A developer agreement and a transfer-of-ownership agreement require a notarial deed (Art. 40(1) of the Developer Act, Art. 158 of the Civil Code). That is why an ordinary signed letter, even with a certified signature, is not enough – you need a power of attorney in the form of a notarial deed.

Step	In person	Through an attorney	Required form of the power of attorney
Reservation agreement (umowa rezerwacyjna)	yes, also with a qualified electronic signature (electronic form = written form)	yes	written (the reservation agreement is in written form)
Developer agreement	yes, at a notary in Poland	yes	notarial deed
Sale agreement for a completed flat / transfer-of-ownership agreement	yes, at a notary in Poland	yes	notarial deed
Payments into the escrow account	yes, by transfer from any country	not needed	–
Handover inspection (odbiór) and defects report	yes	yes	no special form – written in practice
Mortgage agreement	yes	depends on the bank	as required by the bank

A power of attorney can cover a single step (e.g. only the sale agreement) or the whole process: the developer agreement, the transfer agreement, the handover and filing applications with the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta). The more precisely you describe the flat (development, unit number, price), the lower the risk of abuse. We discuss scope, revocation and typical pitfalls in our article Power of attorney for buying and selling a flat – a complete guide (in Polish).

If you have a PESEL number (Polish national identification number), check that it is not blocked. A notary will refuse to draw up a power of attorney to acquire real estate if the principal's PESEL is blocked in the register (Art. 85a of the Notaries Act). You can lift the block, e.g. in the mObywatel app – more about PESEL and NIP in our checklist for foreigners.

Notarial power of attorney from abroad – three routes

1. Power of attorney at a Polish consulate

A Polish consul can draw up a notarial deed, and such a document has the same force as a deed drawn up by a notary in Poland (Art. 28(3) and Art. 29 of the Consular Law). There is a caveat, though: the consul can only do this once authorised by the Minister of Justice. Not every consular office has this authority – before your visit, ask the consulate whether it draws up notarial deeds and book an appointment.

The advantage of the consulate is that the deed is drawn up in Polish straight away and needs neither an apostille nor a translation. The consular fee is paid before the service is performed, usually in the currency of the country where the consulate operates.

2. Foreign notary + apostille + translation

You can sign the power of attorney with a notary in your country of residence. For a Polish notary to accept it, the document must be authenticated. In countries that are parties to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (Poland has applied it since 14 August 2005), an apostille is enough – a certificate issued by the competent authority in the country where the document was made. In countries outside the Convention, the document is legalised by a Polish consul (Art. 32 of the Consular Law). Some bilateral legal assistance treaties exempt documents from these requirements – ask the notary with whom you will sign the deed in Poland.

A document in a foreign language has to be translated into Polish. When a sworn translator is needed and how a notarial appointment with one works is explained in our article Sworn translator at a Polish notary.

Important: in many countries a notary only certifies a signature and does not draw up a deed. For property in Poland the rules on form are strict (Art. 25(2) of the Private International Law Act rules out relying on the form of the place of signing for dispositions of real estate). Before you go to a foreign notary, send the draft power of attorney to the Polish notary who will draw up the agreement and ask them to confirm that they will accept a document in that form.

3. Power of attorney signed in Poland during a visit

If you visit Poland from time to time, the cheapest option is to sign the power of attorney with a Polish notary during a visit. The maximum notary fee for a power of attorney is PLN 30 net for a single act and PLN 100 net for several acts, plus 23% VAT (§ 8(8) of the Regulation on maximum notary fees). After that the transaction can go ahead without you.

Option	Cost of the power of attorney	Apostille / legalisation	Translation
Polish notary (visit to Poland)	max. PLN 100 net + VAT (several acts)	no	no (or a translator at the signing if you do not speak Polish)
Polish consul (notarial deed)	EUR 400 with one certified copy (approx. PLN 1,750)	no	no
Foreign notary	according to local fees	yes – apostille or legalisation (EUR 40 at a consulate)	yes – sworn translation into Polish

Can you sign a notarial deed remotely, over video?

No. Under the Notaries Act (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 614), signatures on notarial deeds are made in the presence of the notary (Art. 88), and the notary must establish the identity of the persons taking part (Art. 85). Certified copies of deeds can exist in electronic form (the Central Repository of Electronic Copies, Centralne Repozytorium Elektronicznych Wypisów), but the deed itself is signed in person before a notary. That is why buying a flat remotely always relies on an attorney or on a visit to a consulate.

You can, however, sign remotely documents for which written form is sufficient, e.g. a reservation agreement – if you have a qualified electronic signature and the developer accepts this way of concluding the agreement (Art. 78¹ of the Civil Code).

Buying from abroad and not sure where to start? We will help you choose a flat and prepare the purchase – usually no commission for the buyer, as our fee is normally paid by the developer.

Transfers from abroad: escrow account, currency, source of funds

When buying from a developer, you pay into a housing escrow account (mieszkaniowy rachunek powierniczy). The developer agreement must state the bank, the account number and the amount, dates and method of payments (Art. 35(1)(9) and (10) of the Developer Act). Only transfer money to the account stated in the deed – if someone "changes the account number" by email, call the developer first. How this protection works is described in our article Escrow account and the Developer Guarantee Fund (DFG) (in Polish).

• Currency and exchange rate. Prices in price lists and in the agreement are in złoty. If you send euros or pounds, the bank will convert them at its own rate – compare it with the NBP rate and transfer a small surplus so that you are not a few dozen złoty short of an instalment.
• Timing. Order the transfer a few days before the date in the schedule – an international transfer can take longer than a domestic one.
• Source of funds. The notary handling the transfer-of-ownership deed and the bank are obliged institutions under the Act on Counteracting Money Laundering (Art. 2(1)). In justified cases they may examine where the money comes from (Art. 34(1)(4)(b)). Prepare, for example, the sale agreement for your previous property, an income certificate or bank statements.

If you plan to take a mortgage from a Polish bank, check whether the bank lends to people with income earned abroad and whether it accepts an attorney signing the agreement – this varies between banks. We write more about the conditions in our article Mortgage in Poland for foreigners.

Taxes when buying a flat from abroad

Your place of residence does not change the taxes on the purchase itself. When buying from a developer, you pay a price that includes VAT (8% for units up to 150 m²) and, as a rule, you do not pay PCC (civil law transactions tax). On the secondary market PCC is 2%, unless you are buying your first flat and meet the conditions for the exemption. The notary collects PCC when the deed is signed. You will find the full breakdown – including for foreigners – in our article Taxes and fees when buying property in Poland as a foreigner.

After the purchase, remember the property tax (in Polish), which the municipality charges every year. If you rent the flat out, rental income in Poland is taxable – we describe the lump-sum tax (ryczałt) rules in our article Tax on renting out a flat (in Polish). Whether and how to declare this income in your country of residence depends on the double taxation treaty – it is worth checking with a tax specialist in your country of residence.

Example: a completed flat in Wrocław bought through an attorney

Assumptions: you live in Germany and are buying a completed 2-room flat (living room + 1 bedroom) for PLN 662,405 – the median price of 2-room flats in Wrocław based on TM Invest listing data as of 27 September 2026. You pay in cash, the power of attorney is drawn up by a Polish consul and the notary charges the maximum rates.

Item	Amount
Power of attorney at the consulate (EUR 400 × PLN 4.3750)	PLN 1,750.00
Notary fee for the sale agreement: ½ × (PLN 1,010 + 0.4% × PLN 602,405)	PLN 1,709.81 net
23% VAT on the notary fee	PLN 393.26
Opening the land and mortgage register + entry of ownership	PLN 300.00
PCC (purchase from a developer)	not applicable
Total (excluding copies of the deed)	PLN 4,153.07

If you signed the same power of attorney with a notary in Poland during a visit, you would pay a maximum of PLN 123 gross instead of PLN 1,750 – and the total would come to approx. PLN 2,526. The difference of over PLN 1,600 often covers the cost of a flight. You will find the notary's rates in detail in our article Notary fees in 2026.

Completed or under construction – which is easier to buy remotely?

With a completed flat there is one deed (the sale agreement) and you get the keys straight away. With a flat under construction there are two deeds – the developer agreement and, years later, the transfer-of-ownership agreement – plus the technical handover inspection. The power of attorney must therefore cover that whole period, or you will have to travel several times.

City	Completed developments	Available flats in completed developments	Developments under construction	Median flat price
Warsaw	37	673	36	PLN 853,000
Wrocław	24	428	21	PLN 759,682

The handover inspection can be carried out on your behalf by a trusted person or an inspector with a written power of attorney. How to prepare one is described in our article Power of attorney for the handover of a flat from a developer (in Polish).

Frequently asked questions

Summary

Buying property in Poland from abroad takes a good plan, but it does not require moving. The key is a power of attorney in the form of a notarial deed: it is cheapest to sign it in Poland, most convenient at a consulate, and with a foreign notary you will need an apostille and a translation. Pay only into the escrow account stated in the agreement, prepare documents on the source of your funds, and choose a completed flat if you want to keep the formalities to a minimum.

Living abroad and looking for a flat in Warsaw or Wrocław? We will help you choose a flat and prepare the purchase – usually no commission for the buyer, as our fee is normally paid by the developer. We have been on the market since 2016.

Legal status as of September 2026. The calculations are indicative and based on maximum rates; confirm the actual costs and document requirements with the notary and the consulate. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice.

Sources

• Civil Code – consolidated text, Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2026 item 795 (Art. 78¹, 99, 158)
• Notaries Act – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 614 (Art. 85, 85a, 88)
• Consular Law – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 711 (Art. 28, 29, 32)
• Regulation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs amending the Regulation on consular fees – Dz.U. 2025 item 1523 (tariff from 1 January 2026)
• Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (The Hague, 5 October 1961) – Dz.U. 2005 No. 112 item 938
• Private International Law Act – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 503 (Art. 25)
• Act on the Protection of the Rights of Purchasers of Residential Units or Single-Family Houses and on the Developer Guarantee Fund – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 880 (Art. 30, 35, 40)
• Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2017 item 2278 (Art. 8)
• Act on Counteracting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 item 644 (Art. 2, 34)
• Regulation on maximum notary fees – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2024 item 1566
• Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases – consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 item 1228
• NBP – average exchange rates, table A No. 187/A/NBP/2026 of 25 September 2026
• Flat prices: TM Invest catalogue of new developments, as of 27 September 2026