Lost or stolen driving licence: how to get a duplicate step by step

After losing your driving licence you have 30 days to notify the starosta; you do this by applying for a duplicate. You sign a declaration of loss under penalty of criminal liability, pay 100 zł and wait up to 9 working days. You apply via ePUAP or at the office. Your entitlement stays: it is in the register.

What to do first after losing your driving licence

The Act on Vehicle Drivers (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami) gives you 30 days from the event to notify the starosta (the head of the district office, which issues driving licences) of the loss of the document (art. 18(1)). The same deadline applies to a licence damaged to the point of being illegible, and to a change of the data in the document. A duplicate is issued on application, with no separate statutory deadline; in practice you deal with the notification and the application at the same time, at the same office.

The duplicate is issued by the starosta for a fee, after you submit a declaration of loss (art. 18(2)). You make the declaration under penalty of criminal liability under art. 233 of the Criminal Code (Kodeks karny), which means a false declaration is punishable. So you write the truth: I lost it, it was stolen, I do not know where it is.

A short plan for day one:

1. Check your pockets, the car and the places where you last paid or showed the document once more.
2. In the case of theft, report it to the police. Gov.pl does not make this a condition for the duplicate, but a driving licence is a document with your personal data, and reporting it is sensible.
3. Take a current photo (for the online version, in JPEG format).
4. Pay 100 zł (PLN) for issuing the duplicate and keep the confirmation.
5. Submit the application online or at the office; the notification of loss must reach the starosta no later than the 30th day after the event.

Loss of the document and your entitlement to drive

Since 5 December 2020 a driver does not have to carry a Polish driving licence (art. 38(1)(1) of the Road Traffic Act, Prawo o ruchu drogowym). The police officer checks your entitlement in the central register of drivers (CEK, centralna ewidencja kierowców), not on the plastic card. Losing the document does not take away your entitlement: the record that you passed the exam and hold category B is in the register, not in your wallet.

You submit the notification of loss within 30 days. Gov.pl reminds you with this service that you cannot drive without a valid driving licence, so do not put off the application. What a roadside check without the document looks like, and who the exemption does not cover, is described in our article on whether you need to carry your driving licence.

One caveat: the exemption from carrying the document applies to Poland. Abroad, the rules of the given country apply. If you are planning a trip by car, apply for the duplicate straight away.

Two routes to a duplicate: online or at the office

Gov.pl describes two paths. Both cost the same and end with the same document; they differ in what you have to prepare.

Amounts and deadlines: as of September 2026.

The duplicate online step by step

This path requires a trusted profile or a qualified electronic signature. Without them you cannot sign the application.

1. Download the application for a duplicate, fill it in, print it, sign it and scan it.
2. Prepare an electronic photo in JPEG format, 480 x 615 pixels, up to 100 kB.
3. Pay 100 zł and save the confirmation as a scan or PDF.
4. If the document is damaged but the data is legible, scan it.
5. Go to ePUAP, find the "Wydanie wtórnika prawa jazdy" service and log in with your trusted profile.
6. Fill in the form, attach the attachments, sign and send it to your office.
7. Keep the UPP, the official confirmation of submission. It is proof that the application arrived.
8. Check the status on info-car.pl and collect the document.

The duplicate at the office step by step

Choose this route if you do not have a trusted profile or prefer to deal with it in person. You can also send a representative.

1. Fill in the application for a duplicate at home or at the office.
2. Bring a current photo and your ID card or passport. A foreigner: passport or residence card.
3. Pay 100 zł at the office cash desk or by bank transfer, and attach the confirmation to the application.
4. If the driving licence is damaged but the data is still visible, hand it in together with the application.
5. Take or post the complete set to the office of a city with district status, a district office in Warsaw or the starostwo.
6. Check whether it is ready and collect the document.

How much the duplicate costs and how long you wait

The fee for issuing a duplicate is 100 zł (as of September 2026), the same as for a first driving licence and for a renewal. The office has up to 9 working days from the submission of the application. Exceptionally, when it has to clarify your situation (for example, check for a driving ban), the time extends to 2 months.

You check the status on info-car.pl by entering your PESEL number and your first name and surname. It is the same service used to track a first driving licence after the exam; we describe it in our article on collecting your driving licence and the temporary electronic document.

If the official refuses to issue a duplicate, you have 14 days from receiving the refusal to appeal. You address the appeal to the local government appeal board (samorządowe kolegium odwoławcze), but you submit it at the office that refused.

Damaged document, original found again, theft

A damaged driving licence (broken, faded, illegible) is replaced with a duplicate in the same procedure. There is one difference: instead of a declaration of loss, you return the damaged document (art. 18(2)). With the online application you attach a scan of the damaged document (that is how gov.pl describes it), but the Act makes the duplicate conditional on returning the damaged document, so expect the office to ask for the original.

Found your old driving licence after the duplicate was issued? The Act requires you to return the recovered document to the starosta (art. 18(6)). If you find it before you submit the application, you simply do not apply.

Theft: the condition for a duplicate is the declaration of loss, not a police certificate. Reporting the theft makes sense, though, because the driving licence contains your data and photo.

Foreign driving licence: when a duplicate is issued in Poland

The gov.pl service covers duplicates of a Polish driving licence and of a driving licence issued in another European Union country, if you live in Poland. So you report an EU document at the same office, under the same rules.

A driving licence from outside the EU is a different story. Gov.pl does not provide for a duplicate of it in Poland, and exchanging it for a Polish document requires handing in the valid foreign driving licence (art. 14(1) of the Act on Vehicle Drivers). After losing it, you therefore first need a new document from the country that issued it. The rules and documents are described in our article on exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Polish one.

Duplicate versus renewal: do not confuse the procedures

You get a duplicate when the document has been lost, stolen or damaged. Renewal is a separate service: for people whose document or category has expired, or who have changed their first name or surname. If you lost a document that was expired anyway, first check the rules on driving licence validity and renewal, and ask at the office whether you are applying for a duplicate or for a renewal.

A practical tip: take a photo of both sides of your driving licence and keep it on your phone. It will not replace the document, but when filling in the application for a duplicate you will have the number, the date of issue and the categories to hand. And if you are still waiting for your first document, start with the online theory course, so that you have something to lose in the first place.