Stickers and security measures The licence plates are invalid without two adhesive stickers with holograms placed on the license plates, and, before 2022, an adhesive plaque bearing the same number as the plates inside the windshield. If the vehicle uses only one licence plate then the second sticker must be attached to the registration documents.
Licence plate types and combinations , current design since 2006|alt=Regular license plate with PL symbol and EU stars reading WA6642E Each
powiat uses a unique two or three letter code, with the first letter denoting the voivodeship. The number pools listed below are not used in any particular order, although one pool is usually depleted before the next one is used. A visible gap exists between the area code and series, but there is no possibility of confusion if the number is written down without it. The following characters are used in licence plate examples: • X – voivodeship code • XY, XYZ – county code • J, K, L – any allowed letter • digits The letters used in licence plates include all standard Latin alphabet letters outside of Q (not used at all in the Polish language). The letters B, D, I, O, and Z cannot be used in series area (on the right, after the gap), because they could be confused with similarly-looking digits. Custom plates are allowed to include these letters though. The leading 0 in numbers is part of the code and is never omitted. Due to the pool of license plates combinations possibly running out in some areas, in 2022 the
Ministry of Infrastructure issued a directive under which extra leading characters were introduced for several of the voivodeships: •
V for
Lower Silesian (originally
D) •
J for
Lesser Poland (originally
K) •
A for
Masovian (originally
W) •
Y for
Subcarpathian (originally
R) •
X for
Pomeranian (originally
G) •
I for
Silesian (originally
S) •
M for
Greater Poland (currently unused, originally
P) Reportedly, the Warsaw district of
Mokotów was the first to start issuing
AE registration plates following the new directive.
Cars, trucks, and buses Format: • XY 12345 • XY 1234J • XY 123JK • XY 1J345 • XY 1JK45 • XYZ J234 • XYZ 12JK • XYZ 1J34 (first digit cannot be 0) • XYZ 12J4 (last digit cannot be 0) • XYZ 1JK4 (neither digit can be 0) • XYZ JK34 • XYZ 12345 • XYZ 1234J • XYZ 123JK The number of available unique numbers with these mentioned formats is 1,100,000 for each two-letter powiat code, and 872,400 for each three-letter powiat code. The combinations "XYZ 1234" and "XYZ 123J" are not used, because they would lead to creation of numbers identical to these in the old system. Also, the two-letter powiat codes must be followed by a leading digit, "XY 1...", to avoid confusion with the "XYZ ..." scheme, as the gap is not significant. Electric vehicles have green background on their license plates.
Motorcycles, mopeds, and agricultural vehicles |alt=Two-line, squarish license plate reading CB3745 Format: • XY 1234 • XY 123J • XY 1J34 (first digit cannot be 0) • XY 12J4 (last digit cannot be 0) • XY 12JK • XY JK12 • XYZ J234 • XYZ 12JK • XYZ 1J34 (first digit cannot be 0) • XYZ 12J4 (last digit cannot be 0) • XYZ 1JK4 (neither digit can be 0) • XYZ JK34 • XYZ J23K • XYZ J2KL (a digit cannot be 0)
Cars – reduced size.Format: • X 123 • X 12J • X 1J2 • X J12 • X 1JK • X JK1 • X J1K The plates are designed for cars imported from USA and Japan. Reduced size plates are the same width as US plates.
Classic cars |alt=Yellow orange plate reading SZ08A. A vintage car symbol is visible next to the number. Polish national flag is in the top-left corner |alt=Yellow orange plate reading CBR7C. A vintage car symbol is visible next to the number. EU stars are present instead of the Polish flag Format: • XY 12J • XY 123 • XYZ 1J • XYZ 12 • XYZ J1 These plates use black text on yellow background with an additional picture of a vintage car on the right side. Vehicles are required to meet three criteria: • manufactured at least 30 years ago • the particular model must be out of production for at least 15 years • consist of at least 75% of original parts These criteria, however, can be waived for special cases, such as prototype vehicles that were never mass-produced, cars of considerable historical value, cars being part of museum exhibition or models representing technological breakthroughs. As such, issuing of these plates is always handled on a case-by-case basis by the
conservation officer. Registered classic cars are not required to undergo yearly technical checkup unless used for
transportation services, such as taxi.
Temporary and export plates |alt=A rectangular plate reading D33313 in red. Format: • X1 2345 • X1 234J These plates use red text on a white background. The plates wear a seal with month and year of validation. The windshield plaque is not issued with it.
Electric car plates ,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship.|alt=A rectangular plate with green background reading DWR6004H Introduced on 1 January 2020, they are issued to battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles. They are similar to regular plates but the background colour is light green instead of white. Such vehicles are allowed to drive on bus lanes, therefore visibly different registration plates allow the police to establish whether a vehicle is doing so legally. Electric plates are also used in "American" plates with reduced space.
Testing vehicles |alt=A rectangular plate reading S0715B in red Format: • X1 234 B These plates use red text on a white background. The last character is always the letter B (which stands for
badawcza, or "research type"). Only car manufacturers and automobile R&D centres are issued these plates.
Custom plates . The P0 and a person's nickname "Kazik"
look like the word for a "little show"|alt=A rectangular plate reading P0KAZIK Format: • X1 JKLMN These plates use standard black letters on a white background. Each custom number starts with the letter denoting voivodeship and a single digit, followed by the gap. This digit and next characters can be picked by the owner. Outside the availability the following constrains are used: • after the gap between 3 and 5 characters can be used • the first character must be a letter • no more than 2 last characters can be digits • all letters come before digits (i.e. they cannot be intermixed) • any standard Latin letter outside Q can be used (unlike common licence plates) • resulting plate must not contain or resemble offensive contents
Professional plates . Note the green tint on the letters.Format: • X12 34P56 (second letter is always "P") Since July 2019 dealers of new cars can apply for special number plates with green letters on white background specifically for doing test drives. Those plates are issued exclusively for the company itself and not for a specific vehicle. This means they can be applied to multiple vehicles when needed. Only car retailers can obtain these and such cars can be driven only by the car dealer, owner of the company, their employees or customers, but only when accompanied by an employee.
Diplomatic plates Format: • X 123456 White symbols on dark blue background. The leading character is reserved for voivodeship, but in practice all vehicles are issued
W and registered by the
Masovian voivode. The first three digits indicate a country or organization as listed in the table below. On top of the origin of the diplomatic mission, the vehicle's function can also be determined by the latter three digits: •
001–199 – embassy diplomatic personnel private vehicles •
200–299 –
military attaché private vehicles •
300–499 – embassy non-diplomatic personnel private vehicles •
500–501 –
chief of mission official vehicles •
502–699 – embassy's other official vehicles •
700–799 – consulate's diplomatic personnel private vehicles •
801 –
consul official vehicles •
800, 802–899 – consulate diplomatic personnel official vehicles •
900–999 – consulate's other official vehicles Diplomatic vehicles are also required to carry a sticker with
CD (
corps diplomatique) or
CC (
corps consulaire).
Service plates Format: • H#J K234 • H#J 12KL Vehicles utilised used by the Polish
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration use licence plates beginning with "
H", instead of the voivodeship code. The second letter denotes the service, for example "
HP" is used by the
Polish Police. Any standard Latin letter outside Q can be used (unlike common licence plates). These services are also allowed to use common licence plates. Codes: •
HA# – Central Bureau of Anticorruption •
HB# – Government Protection Bureau •
HC# – Customs Service •
HK# – Internal Security Agency, Foreign Intelligence Agency •
HM# – Military Counterintelligence Agency, Military Intelligence Agency •
HP# – Police •
HS# – Fiscal Control •
HW# – Border Guard
Military plates Format: • U# 12345 • UC 1234T • UK 1234 The
Polish military uses licence plates beginning with "
U" instead of the voivodeship code. The following letter denotes the usage of the vehicle. For example, military trucks have licence plates beginning with "
UC". The trailing T in the number denotes a tracked vehicle. The military are not obliged to use the standard licence plates on tracked vehicles, armoured cars and armoured personnel carriers — they can be painted on the vehicle itself or applied as a sticker. Codes: •
UA# – Cars, offroad vehicles and specialistic vehicles based on cars or off-roaders •
UB# – Armoured personnel carriers •
UC# – Military trucks •
UD# – Buses •
UE# – Trucks •
UG# – Special trucks •
UI# – Transport trailers •
UJ# – Special trailers •
UK# – Motorcycles ==Cost of purchasing registration plates==