Poland in New Zealand

You can file a passport application in any Republic of Poland consular office. Remember that you will collect your passport in the same office in which you filed the application.

Yes, you need to file a passport application in person.

You can make an appointment to file a passport application through the e-konsulat system.

IMPORTANT!  You no longer need to fill out the application by hand.

Your passport application will be done electronically during your passport visit. A consular employee will file your application using an electronic form and you need to confirm that the data are correct by placing your signature on a dedicated device (signature pad).

• You need to submit a colour biometric photograph – check what does the photograph have to look like.
• Filing the photograph together with the application is mandatory. You cannot replace the photograph or send it later. If no photograph was attached to your application or the photograph does not comply with requirements, the passport authority will notify you that your application has been rejected.
• A valid passport document or valid identity card (if issued) confirming your identity and Polish citizenship.

• NOTE: if you apply for a passport and there are justified doubts as to your identity, citizenship or other details required to file a passport application, the consul may ask you to submit additional necessary documents. 

• A document that confirms your right to pay a reduced fee for issuing a passport or be exempted entirely from payment (such as a student ID card, Polish pensioner ID card etc.).

• The fee for issuing a passport is NZD 194.00.
• Fees are collected at the cash desk of the consular office during your appointment. 
• The acceptable form of payments: EFTPOS card, bank transfer or cash.

You are eligible for a reduced fee for issuing a passport if:

• you are a school or university student aged between 18 and 26;
• you are an old age pensioner, disability pensioner or person with disability; eligibility is based on Polish or foreign provisions (the Old Age and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Funds Act of 17 December 1998, the Social Pension Act of 27 June 2003 and the Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act of 27 August 1997);
• you are wholly dependent on your spouse who is an old age pensioner, disability pensioner or a person with disability in the meaning of the above provisions; 
• you are staying in a residential home or care facility; or you are relying on social assistance in the form of fixed allowances pursuant to the provisions of the Social Assistance Act of 12 March 2004 
• you are receiving a carer’s allowance, attendance benefit or allowance paid to carers of persons with disability, granted pursuant to the provisions of the Family Benefits Act of 28 November 2003 and the Act on determining and paying allowances to carers of 4 April 2014;
• you are a veteran or a person to whom the provisions of the Act on veterans and certain persons being victims or wartime and post-war repressions of 24 January 1991 apply;
• you are a person classified as an anti-communist resistance activist or a person repressed for political reasons pursuant to the Act on anti-communist resistance activists and persons repressed for political reasons of 20 March 2015;
• you are a person whose involvement in regaining independence and sovereignty by Poland or respecting political human rights in Poland have been confirmed by the Head of the Veterans and Repressed Persons Office by means of decisions issued pursuant to Article 117, item 4 of the Old Age and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Funds Act of 17 December 1998;
• you are a soldier doing territorial military service;
• you are a veteran who suffered harm in the meaning of the Veterans of Foreign Missions Act of 19 August 2011;
• you are a rescue firefighter serving in the voluntary fire service and a person who has been granted a rescue worker benefit pursuant to the Voluntary Fire Service Act of 17 December 2021;
• you are a volunteer serving in entities entitled to undertake mountain rescue efforts;
• you are a member of a large family in the meaning of the Large Family Card Act of 5 December 2014 and hold a Large Family Card.

IMPORTANT! In order to be eligible for a reduced consular fee, you must produce a document confirming your right to take advantage of the reduced fee when you file the application. 

You are entitled to receive a passport free of charge, if:

• you are over 70 years of age on the date of filing the application;
• you are staying in a residential home or care facility and your travel abroad is related to your long-term treatment or surgery;
• you receive a permanent social assistance allowance and your travel abroad is related to your long-term treatment or surgery;
• your passport has a technical defect;
• you have filed your passport application prior to the expiry date of your current passport to remove a discrepancy (for example in your name, surname, date of birth, place of birth or PESEL number);
• you hold a final court decision that renders invalid a decision of the passport authority refusing to issue or voiding a passport document.

IMPORTANT! If you want to take advantage of being exempted from the passport fee, bring documents that confirm meeting one of the above conditions with you.

You will NOT pay less if you file an application to issue a new passport prior to the expiry of your current passport in the following cases:

• your details found in the passport, such as your name(s) or surname, have changed as a result of contracting marriage (passport replacement is then mandatory), or your appearance has changed to a degree that makes determining your identity difficult;
• there is no space left  in your passport for new visas or stamps 

IMPORTANT! If you changed your surname due to marriage, you need to bring a Polish marriage certificate (check here how to get  the transcription)

When you apply for a passport, a consular officer will give you an estimated collection date. You will also receive a written confirmation of application receipt. On the receipt you will find your passport application number, which is useful if you want to track the progress online. 

See if your passport is ready. 

If you need the ID document urgently, for example because of an urgent travel, you should additionally apply for a temporary passport that will cover the waiting time for the delivery of the biometric passport. You will get it sooner than the biometric one. 

Important
If you are planning to go abroad with a temporary passport, check current rules of entry and stay of foreigners in the country of destination. Make sure that you can cross the border with the temporary passport and check the required validity period (at entry and departure).

You will collect the passport personally in the same office where you submitted the application.

On the collection day of the new document, bring your previous passport (or temporary passport) to the consulate - current passport will be cancelled, except for pages with valid visas, and returned.

IMPORTANT! 

In justified cases, especially if the travel to the consulate is particularly difficult, the consul may depart from the requirement to collect a passport in person and you can request to have your passport posted.

You need to provide a pre-paid registred envelope ( with signature required option to ensure secured delivery, examples below)  

The consul will send the passport to the indicated address via postal or messenger service operator, ensuring the security of the document, if possible. If you know that your biometric passport is ready for collection at the consulate, send your current passport (or temporary passport) to the consul for cancellation. The consul will return the cancelled document together with the new one.

• Remember that the consul will not send passports to citizens staying in Poland.
• It is also not possible to send a passport issued by a domestic authority (province governor) to a person staying abroad.
• IMPORTANT! If you receive a passport document by mail, YOU NEED TO ACTIVATE THE PASSPORT ON YOUR OWN using a dedicated electronic service here. In order to activate the passport, you need Internet access, the number of your new passport and the application number (which can be found in the confirmation of filing a passport application).
• Consider that you can no longer change the method of collecting the passport from personal to courier once you made a visit to the consulate to file the application

If the consul rejects your application you can appeal to the minister for internal affairs through the consul.

The consul refusees to issue a passport at the request of:

• the court which proceeds against the applicant with criminal or civil proceedings or with an action related to a tax offence or a minor;
• the authority which proceeds against the applicant with  preliminary or execution proceedings in a criminal action including tax-related offences.

Can I apply for a passport if my current passport expires in a few years' time?

You can apply for a new passport. Please note that the fee can be reduced only if:

• the passport holder's peronal data or appearance changed,
• the current passport has no more free space for visas and border crossing stamps.  

Do I have to apply for a replacement passport if my personal data changed?

You must replace your passport if the following data changed or need to be corrected: surname, name(s), date and place of birth, sex, PESEL number. 
If this is the case you must immediately apply for a replacement passport within 90 days from the day of:

• delivery of final administrative decision or a binding court ruling stating the change, 
• drafting of a marriage certificate stating the change of surname, or - if the marriage was entered into before a consul or a foreign authority - from the delivery date of a copy of the marriage certificate. 
• IMPORTANT! You need to get a Polish transcription of your foreign marriage certificate before applying for a new passport (check how to do it here)

My passport ran out of space for visas and border crossing stamps, but it expires in a few years' time. Does it need to be replaced?

The replacement is not obligatory. However, if your passport lacks space for visas or border crossing stamps and you are planning a trip abroad, you should apply for a new passport. 
Please consider applying for a new passport even if you are not planning a trip abroad to avoid difficulties when a sudden trip becomes necessary. 

Can I apply for a passport if I lost my personal ID and my new 10-year passport is waiting to be collected in Poland?

You can apply for a temporary passport at a consulate. Remember to take with you the temporary passport issued by the consul as you return to Poland to collect the new one.
  
What should I do if the passport is waiting to be collected in Poland and I am not planning to travel to Poland soon?

Contact the consul on this issue. 

Is it possible to have the passport sent from another consulate or from Poland?

No, you should collect your new passport in the same office in which you applied for it.

How do I get a passport if I was born abroad, I have never had a Polish passport or personal ID, I have never lived in Poland but one of my parents used to have a Polish passport?

You should submit a request to confirm your Polish citizenship. After the receipt of a province governor's decision confirming your Polish citizenship, you will have to register your foreign birth certificate and marriage certificate in Poland. This way you will get a copy of a Polish birth certificate and a Polish marriage certificate.

You need to bring the following documents: completed passport application form, a photo, abridged or unabridged copy of a Polish birth certificate, abridged or unabridged copy of your Polish marriage certificate, decision confirming your Polish citizenship. Also present a valid ID card with a photograph.