Student ID in Poland 2026: mObywatel digital ID and foreign students

Since 1 July 2025 the main proof of student status in Poland is a digital student ID in the mObywatel app. A plastic card is no longer compulsory. For international students the practical question is whether they can get the app version, and the answer depends on whether they have a PESEL number. This page sets out what the Ministry of Digital Affairs says, and what one university says about its foreign students.

What changed on 1 July 2025

The Ministry of Digital Affairs announced on 27 May 2025 that from 1 July 2025 the mobile student ID in mObywatel becomes the basic document confirming student status. The ministry's page of 27 November 2025 adds that all Polish higher education institutions must give their students access to it. The physical card and the digital ID are treated as equal and independent, and both give access to discounts and reliefs. Cards and digital IDs issued earlier stay valid until the date printed on them. Students can still get a plastic card, on their own request.

How you get it

You do not need a physical card first. According to the ministry, you add the digital ID in mObywatel using a QR code and an activation code that you receive from your university. Universities had to apply and agree the cooperation with the ministry before they could issue the digital version.

The ID works offline, like other mObywatel documents. You need an internet connection to add or update it, and to confirm it by QR code when someone checks it. The ID also carries a barcode for university services such as the library, and that barcode works without internet.

Who gets one

The ministry says the document is issued to students of first-cycle (bachelor), second-cycle (master) and long-cycle master's programmes. Doctoral and postgraduate students do not get it.

What it means for foreign students

The ministry pages we read do not say anything about foreign students, so the rule comes from universities. The University of Wrocław's admissions page gives a clear example:

• Foreign students without a PESEL receive the classic plastic electronic student ID (ELS) after paying 22 zł.
• Foreign students with a PESEL can use the mObywatel version, free of charge. The university says that foreigners who have a PESEL and a Trusted Profile (profil zaufany) can use the app. The 22 zł fee applies only if the student also wants a plastic card.

That is one university's policy, not a national rule, so ask your own international office. If you have lived in Poland for more than three months, you can register your address and get a PESEL, and the article on PESEL and NIP numbers explains the difference. The national POL-on higher education register, which universities use to record students, identifies foreign students by PESEL if they have one, and otherwise by the number, type and country of issue of an identity document such as a passport or residence card.

Where you use it

The ministry says the ID confirms the right to discounts and reliefs. For rail, see the separate article on PKP Intercity student discounts. Operators and city transport companies set their own rules on which proof they accept, and local conditions also depend on age limits, so check the operator's page.

* Photos: cover, a historical student record book from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (1945), public domain, and body, Aula Leopoldina at the University of Wrocław, CC0, both via Wikimedia Commons. The cover is illustrative and does not show a current ID.

What this page does not cover

We did not find an official national rule on how foreign students without a PESEL can get the digital ID. The mObywatel information page for the student ID did not load for us, so the details above come from the ministry's news pages and a university page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need a plastic student ID in Poland?

Not as a rule. Since 1 July 2025 the digital ID in mObywatel is the basic proof of student status, and the ministry says the physical card is no longer compulsory. You can ask for a plastic card too.

Can a foreign student use the mObywatel student ID?

The University of Wrocław says yes if the student has a PESEL number and a Trusted Profile. Students without a PESEL there get a plastic card for 22 zł. Other universities may differ, so ask yours.

Do PhD students get the digital student ID?

No. The Ministry of Digital Affairs says the ID is issued to bachelor, master and long-cycle master's students, not to doctoral or postgraduate students.

Sources

• Ministry of Digital Affairs, Od lipca legitymacje studenckie domyślnie w mObywatelu (27 May 2025)
• Ministry of Digital Affairs, Legitymacja studencka w mObywatelu (27 Nov 2025)
• University of Wrocław admissions, Legitymacja studencka (read 19 Oct 2026)
• POL-on help, registration of a student without Polish citizenship