Already Registered Under the Polish Flag? What the Draft Law Means for Your Yacht
Quick status (14 October 2026): Everything below concerns a draft bill, not a current law. The Council of Ministers adopted it on 28 July 2026 and sent it to the Sejm (the Polish parliament). It still has to pass through parliamentary readings, be signed, and be published before it takes effect — and it would only apply 12 months after that publication, realistically not before 2027. If you already fly the Polish flag, nothing about your registration changes today. This page is about what the draft says could change for you later, and what's sensible to do in the meantime.
Most coverage of this draft focuses on new applicants. But two elements of the bill, as described by the Ministry of Infrastructure and reported by legal press, are specifically relevant if your yacht already carries a Polish flag and REJA24 entry:
We'll go through both, plus the risk attached to missing a deadline, and a practical checklist of what we think is worth doing now — regardless of how the bill turns out.
The draft's headline change is a mandatory initial survey, carried out on board by an authorised classification society, at the owner's cost, for vessels applying for Polish nationality. According to the version described by the Ministry of Infrastructure, this survey would also apply to foreign vessels that obtained Polish nationality before the new rules take effect — in other words, boats like yours, already in the register.
We want to be precise about what we do and don't know here: this retroactive element has been described by the ministry, but the exact wording, scope, and any exemptions have not been published in a final bill text. Treat it as "according to the draft," and expect it to be clarified — possibly narrowed or possibly confirmed as-is — as the bill moves through the Sejm.
The draft introduces a cyclical requirement to confirm vessel and owner data in REJA24 at least once every five years (an earlier draft version mentioned every 2 years, which shows how much this detail has already moved). According to the information available, this requirement would apply not only to new registrations but also to vessels entered in the register before the law takes effect.
New fees tied to confirming the validity of the registration document are planned under the draft, but no amounts have been published anywhere we've seen. We won't guess a figure.
This is the part that matters most if your yacht is already registered: under the draft, if an owner does not confirm their data within the required cycle, the registering authority may remove the vessel from REJA24 ex officio — on its own initiative, without you asking for it. No grace-period mechanics or appeal procedure have been detailed in the sources available so far.
In practice, this makes one thing clear regardless of how the final text reads: the authority needs to be able to reach you, and your details in REJA24 need to be accurate, for any confirmation process to work in your favour.
Industry press (prawo.pl) has reported that the draft would remove the possibility of registering, under the Polish flag, vessels up to 7.5 metres with an engine up to 15 kW, as well as inland vessels. As far as we can tell from the information available, this point concerns new registrations going forward — it is not described as retroactively affecting vessels of that size already in REJA24. We are being cautious here because the bill's final wording isn't public, and we will update this section if that changes.
We're not going to tell you the sky is falling, and we're not going to tell you to ignore it either. Here's our honest, practical checklist for owners who already hold a Polish flag registration:
Nothing is legally required yet — the bill is still a draft. We recommend the housekeeping steps above so you're ready whatever the final text says.
Not because of a bill that hasn't become law. Your current registration is valid under today's rules. The draft would add obligations going forward, not retroactively cancel registrations, as far as the available information shows.
According to the draft, yes. This needs to be verified against the bill's final wording once it's published, but the information available describes it as applying to vessels already in REJA24.
The draft allows the authority to remove the vessel from the register ex officio. No appeal or grace-period details have been published yet, which is why keeping your contact details current is the most useful thing you can do today.
Per the ministry's description of the draft, the initial survey could extend to vessels that already hold Polish nationality. The exact scope is not yet confirmed in a final legal text.
As reported, that exclusion concerns new registrations going forward. We have not seen information suggesting it would retroactively remove already-registered small boats, but the final bill text will settle this.
Yes. We help foreign owners with REJA24 paperwork beyond initial registration. If you'd like us to review your current data or documents, contact us at info@polish-flags.com.
No. It's a government-adopted draft still going through the Sejm. Key details — the confirmation interval already changed once during drafting — can still move before a final text exists.
We help foreign owners with Polish vessel registration paperwork, including existing REJA24 entries. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your current data or documents, get in touch.
Contact Us — info@polish-flags.comLast updated: October 14, 2026