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Immigrate to New Zealand from Poland

Immigrate to New Zealand from Poland

Persons who will immigrate to New Zealand from Poland must comply with certain immigration formalities based on the reason of their arrival in this country. For instance, it must be noted that Polish nationals are not required to apply for a visitor visa.

However, the rules for immigration to New Zealand will vary greatly on the purpose of the visit (travel, business, work, etc.) and the duration. For the latter, in many circumstances, foreigners will need to complete various procedures for residency in New Zealand.


Arriving to New Zealand for tourism


As a foreign national who will immigrate to New Zealand from Poland, you will be exempted from applying for a tourist visa, as Poland is included in the visa waiver countries, a system which facilitates the access of foreigners on the New Zealand territory.

However, it must be noted that even though a tourist visa is not required, the Polish national will still have to apply for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA), which is a very basic form of a visa that is not obtained through the traditional method.

Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can present the main differences between the visitor visa and the NZeTA, the latter being available only for the countries with which New Zealand has signed agreements in this sense.

In the list below, you can discover some of the main characteristics of the NZeTA :

  • Polish nationals can apply for it since July 2019;
  • the electronic document grants the right to migrate to New Zealand for a period of 90 days at a time (and not more than 180 days in a year);
  • the applicant can complete the application form in approximately 5 minutes that the document can be issued in 1-2 business days (sent via e-mail);
  • the NZeTA is valid for a period of 2 years and for certain categories of foreigners, it is valid for 5 years (cruise/airline crew).


According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs &Trade, persons who need to apply for a NZeTA must pay a processing fee of NZ$17 or NZ$23 (applications made by app and e-mail, respectively). Currently, there are 60 countries included on the visa waiver system.

For instance, persons who immigrate from USA to New Zealand can arrive here for short-stays through the NZeTA, and the same applies to Czech Republic, Romania, Monaco, Mexico, UK, Spain, etc.


Is there a working holiday program for Poland?


Yes, Polish nationals can immigrate to New Zealand from Poland through the working holiday program. It is addressed to those who have an age of 18 to 30 years old. The program grants the right to residency in New Zealand for 12 months to only 100 persons (this is the yearly quota).

You can learn more about other basic requirements from our immigration lawyer in New Zealand, who can help you prepare your application as per the required procedures.


What are the visa options for employment in New Zealand?


Many persons migrate to New Zealand for employment purposes, these being some of the most sought-after visas. The authorities here provide a variety of visas one can choose from, based on the work experience, study, duration of the employment and many other factors.

Thus, a person can work temporarily or permanently in New Zealand. However, the latter category of visas is generally addressed to persons who are highly qualified in their respective field. In general, most people will start by arriving here with a temporary visa for work.

Please mind that New Zealand offers more than 80 visas for employment. Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can help you navigate through the entire list and help you select the one that is most suitable to your situation.

As such, if you will immigrate to New Zealand from Poland, you can obtain the necessary support from our team.