The matter of passports and hence the issue a passport to a minor child is regulated by the Act of 13 July 2006 on the passport documents. According to the article 3 of this Act every Polish citizen has the right to obtain a passport. Deprivation or restriction of this right can take place only in the cases provided for in the Act.
Cases in which a person is refused the right to obtain passport as well as situations in which the document is revoked are regulated in articles 17 and 38 of the above mentioned Act. The conditions specified in the above regulations cannot be interpreted broadly – as a general rule – exceptiones non sunt extendendae. An analysis of these provisions shows that they are enacted, in principle, to secure the proper conduct of criminal proceedings, as confirmed in its judgment, the Constitutional Court (Judgment of 1 June 1999. SK 20/98, OTK 1999, No. 5, pos. 93) .
According to the article 14 of the Act the written consent of both parents is required to issue a passport to a minor child, and their signatures are certified by the passport authority or notary, except if on the basis of the decision of the court one of the parents has been deprived of parental authority or the authority was limited. In the absence of consensus between the parents or the inability to obtain the consent of one of them, consent to issue a passport supersedes the decision of the family court. Each matter on the issue of a passport to a minor child must therefore be considered individually. It is apparent that if one of the parents is deprived of parental authority the consent of the parent who is entitled to the authority is required. If both parents retain parental authority the consent is required of both of them. Most questions arise when one parent has limited parental authority, because then you have to examine whether the extent to which this power is vested extends to the issue a passport to a minor child.
According to § 6 point 3 of the Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration on the passports of 16 August 2010 when eligible to apply for a passport or a temporary passport is only one of the parents, the documents confirming this right, such as complete copy of the birth certificate , an abridged copy of the death certificate of the other parent, the court ruling on the exercise of parental authority, shall be attached to the request.
It should be remembered that the issue of a passport to a minor child is not tantamount to consent to his departure abroad. The mere fear that a child can go abroad is not sufficient to deprive the minor of the document, in which the state certifies the identity of the minor and a declaration on the protection of the person holding it.