Poland

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Embassies and consular services for Poland

Location Service areas
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
New Zealand Embassy to Poland Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine

Our relationship with Poland

New Zealand and Poland enjoy a warm and friendly relationship. It dates back to at least 1872 when the first Polish settlers arrived in New Zealand.

New Zealand and Poland are also building relationships between their parliaments, Non-Government Organisations and think tanks.. Academic partnerships have also been developed between universities in each country. Finally, Poland and New Zealand both participate in the work of the Global Research Alliance, and focus on the work of the Livestock Research Group which aims to cut greenhouse emissions from agriculture.

We have also shared experiences of our troops fighting alongside each other in World War Two, and in 2019 we mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino and the Great Escape at Zagan.

New Zealand is represented at the annual commemoration of the liberation of concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. New Zealand was an early contributor to the Perpetual Fund set to maintain these camps as a testament to future generations.

The best-known members of New Zealand’s Polish community arrived in November 1944 when New Zealand welcomed about 800 war refugees, most of them orphaned children, who were cared for at a camp in Pahiatua, Tararua District and were affectionately called the “Pahiatua children”. Many stayed and became New Zealanders because the political situation in Poland prevented them from returning home after the war ended. November 2019 marked the 75th anniversary of their arrival in New Zealand.

After World War II about 200 Polish war veterans and 700 Polish displaced persons migrated to New Zealand. Then in the early 1980s a further 320 refugees fleeing from the Communist regime were given a home here.

New Zealand now has a thriving Polish community of around 5,000-6,000 people.

Working Holiday Scheme

Information on New Zealand’s Working Holiday Scheme with Poland(external link) is available on the Immigration New Zealand website.

Other Bilateral Agreements

Other bilateral agreements between our two countries include an Air Services Agreement, Bilateral Visa Waiver Agreement, Double Tax Agreement, and a Film Co-Production Agreement. These can be found on New Zealand Treaties Online(external link).

Trade

Information on New Zealand’s trade relationship with Poland is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link).

As Poland is a European Union member state, the EU-NZ FTA will apply to trade between Poland and New Zealand.

Embassies

Recent official visits

New Zealand to Poland

  • December 2018: James Shaw, Minister for Climate Change, to participate in the COP24 climate change summit in Katowice
  • December 2016: Hon Todd McClay, Minister of Trade

Poland to New Zealand

  • August 2018: President of the Republic of Poland His Excellency Andrzej Duda, accompanied by Ms Agata Kornhauser-Duda
  • December 2017: Secretary of State and Chief of Cabinet in the President’s Chancellery, Krzysztof Szczerski

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