Buying a flat in Warsaw as a Ukrainian citizen

The exemption for the purchase of a self-contained residential unit comes from the 1920 act on the acquisition of real property by foreigners and has been in force for a very long time. It has nothing to do with the 2022 assistance act and will not disappear with it.

What decides is the object of the purchase, not citizenship or price. A flat — no permit. A parking space and storage room attached to the flat — no permit. A house with land, or a plot on its own — a ministry permit, because Ukraine is outside the EEA.

The permit procedure itself, its costs and the consequences of skipping it are covered in our separate article on buying property as a foreigner.

Poland and Ukraine are bound by a legal assistance treaty of 24 May 1993. Official documents issued by the authorities of one state are exempt from legalisation in the other — so an apostille on a Ukrainian marriage or birth certificate is usually not needed in dealings with Poland.

What the treaty does not remove is translation. The document must be translated into Polish by a sworn translator on the list of the Polish Ministry of Justice. A translation made and certified in Ukraine is sometimes refused — not because it is worse, but because the Polish office verifies the translator against its own list.

The practical order: agree the list of documents with the notary at the first meeting and order the translations straight away. A sworn translator of Ukrainian in Warsaw usually has a queue of several days, and before a signing date that is a lot.

A notarial deed is drawn up in Polish. If a party does not command Polish well enough to understand it, the notary is obliged to execute the deed with a sworn translator. This is not a formality to be worked around: the notary is answerable for both parties having understood what they signed.

Whether a translator is needed is for the notary to judge, but in practice it is worth having one even with good Polish. A deed contains constructions nobody uses in conversation, and it is a document that cannot be corrected after signing.

The translator at the deed typically costs a few hundred zloty, borne by the party who needs them. The same applies to a preliminary contract before a notary.

The notary will ask about your marital status and property regime. Under Ukrainian law, as under Polish, property acquired during a marriage belongs as a rule to both spouses — so a flat bought by one of them falls into the joint estate unless an exception applies.

If you want to buy into your personal estate — for example with money from selling a flat you owned before the marriage, or from an inheritance — tell the notary IN ADVANCE, not at signing. It requires a specific statement in the deed and sometimes documentary proof of where the funds came from.

If your spouse is in Ukraine and cannot travel, the answer is a power of attorney or consent in the required form. Agree the form and wording with the notary before the document is drawn up in Ukraine — a power of attorney written just in case very often turns out too narrow in scope.

Taking money out of Ukraine is subject to currency restrictions set by the National Bank of Ukraine, which change by decision of the regulator. That is why there are no figures in this text — check the current position with your bank before you fix a deadline in the preliminary contract.

A Polish notary and a Polish bank are obliged institutions under anti-money-laundering law. They will ask about the source of your wealth and are required to document it. This is not suspicion of Ukrainians — it is the same procedure that applies to a Pole paying in a large sum.

The smoothest route: an account at a Polish bank opened well in advance, money transferred in stages, and a full set of documents on its origin — the sale contract for property in Ukraine, an employment contract, a deed of gift from family.

If you carry part of the sum across the border in cash, remember the duty to declare amounts of 10,000 euro and above on entering the European Union. Undeclared cash is not only a fine but also a problem proving its origin to the notary.

Banks assess three things a recent arrival rarely has in full: a residence title longer than the loan term or a clear prospect of extension, stable employment in Poland documented over a year or more, and a credit history in the national register.

Some banks require a larger down payment than the standard 20% from a buyer from outside the euro area. Decisions differ between banks on the same application — which is why it makes sense to apply at several rather than picking one because the staff speak Ukrainian.

If your income is in hryvnia or comes from abroad, say so at the first meeting. It does not rule out a mortgage, but it changes the document set and lengthens the analysis.

The 2% transfer tax on the secondary market is the same. The first-home exemption from that tax is available to a foreigner too: the provision speaks of a first flat, not of citizenship. The condition concerns whether you have ever owned a residential unit — anywhere, including outside Poland.

The notary fee, court fees, agency commission and the developer's VAT rate are identical.

So are your rights as an owner: taking part in community meetings, voting, letting and selling without any additional consent.