Ref: 2021-1632

 

Dear Satish,

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 25^th February 2021, requesting under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

 

“Could you please help me with the below questions?

1. Weekly allocation of SMC Non-Priority & Priority allocation since this
year (Jan 2021 up to whenever you reply to this request).

2. Number of people who have switched (since this year up to whenever you
reply to this request) their application from Non Priority to Priority
queue based on the Income threshold or their registration.

3. How many case officers are working in the Immigration Manukau branch
currently and their average caseload at any given time (Aug 2020 to Dec
2020 vs 2021).

4. How many Case officers were working on SMC applications when Auckland
went to lockdown 3.

5. What IT/Infrastructure and special arrangements immigration have worked
out/working on if Covid Level changes.

6. How many exceptions were granted by Immigration to consider an
Application as a priority other than the current criteria of priority
(High Salary and Registrations) since this year.”

 

Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course.

 

If you have any enquiries regarding your request, or its urgency, feel
free to contact us via email at [1][MBIE request email].

 

Nâku noa, nâ

MINISTERIAL SERVICES

            

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

NZBN 9429000106078

 

[2]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

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1. mailto:[MBIE request email]
2. http://www.govt.nz/

Dear Satish

 

Thank you for your request for information under the Official Information
Act 1982 (OIA). I am writing to clarify your request.

 

In relation to the first point of your request, do you mean Provide the
number of skilled residence (priority and non-priority) applications
allocated to an Immigration Officer per week from the beginning of this
year to present?

 

In relation to the third point of your request, do you mean How many
Immigration Officers are working in the Manukau office currently, and what
was the average caseload for an Immigration Officer from August – December
2020, and from January 2021 – present? Can you confirm whether you are
interested in those Immigration Officers processing Skilled residence
applications only? OR all Immigration Officers working in the Manukau
office?

 

In relation to the fourth point of your request, do you mean How many
Immigration Officers were working on skilled residence applications during
the recent Alert Level 3 lockdown in Auckland from 15 February 2021 – 17
February 2021?

 

In relation to the sixth point of your request, are you asking in relation
to skilled residence applications?

 

Please note that any clarification or amendment of an OIA request is
considered to be a new request for the purpose of calculating the maximum
statutory timeframe for response in line with section 15(1AA) of the OIA.

 

If you have any questions please contact me.

Ngâ mihi

 

Anna McLachlan ([1]she/her)

BUSINESS ADVISOR

 

Operations Support, Border and Visa Operations Branch

Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

 

[2][email address]

Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

 

From: Satish <[FOI #14767 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 25 February 2021 1:06 PM
To: *OIA <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Weekly Allocation Details of SMC
Application

 

BVO

 

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

 

Could you please help me with the below questions?

 

1. Weekly allocation of SMC Non-Priority & Priority allocation since this
year (Jan 2021 up to whenever you reply to this request).

 

2. Number of people who have switched (since this year up to whenever you
reply to this request) their application from Non Priority to Priority
queue based on the Income threshold or their registration.

 

3. How many case officers are working in the Immigration Manukau branch
currently and their average caseload at any given time (Aug 2020 to Dec
2020 vs 2021).

 

4. How many Case officers were working on SMC applications when Auckland
went to lockdown 3.

 

5. What IT/Infrastructure and special arrangements immigration have worked
out/working on if Covid Level changes.

 

6. How many exceptions were granted by Immigration to consider an
Application as a priority other than the current criteria of priority
(High Salary and Registrations) since this year.

 

I confirm I am eligible to make such requests as I am currently living in
NZ.

 

Kindly let me know if any of the questions are not clear and you need more
information/clarity.

 

Yours faithfully,

Satish

 

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[3][FOI #14767 email]

 

Is [4][MBIE request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Ministry of Business, Innovation &amp; Employment? If so, please
contact us using this form:

[5]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[6]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[7]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

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1. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-wo...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[FOI #14767 email]
4. mailto:[MBIE request email]
5. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
7. http://www.govt.nz/

Dear Satish

Thank you for your clarification. I will proceed with the request as follows:

1. Provide the number of skilled residence (priority and non-priority) applications allocated to an Immigration Officer per week from the beginning of this year to present.
2. Number of skilled residence applicants who have switched (since this year up to whenever you reply to this request) their application from Non Priority to Priority queue based on the Income threshold or their registration.
3. How many Immigration Officers currently work in the Manukau office and process Skilled Migrant Category applications, and what was the average caseload for an Immigration Officer processing Skilled Migrant Category applications from August – December 2020, and from January 2021 – present?
4. How many Immigration Officers were working on skilled residence applications during the recent Alert Level 3 lockdown in Auckland from 15 February 2021 – 17 February 2021?
5. What IT/Infrastructure and special arrangements Immigration New Zealand have worked out/working on if Covid Level changes.
6. How many exceptions were granted by Immigration New Zealand to consider a skilled residence application as a priority other than under the current criteria of priority (High Salary and Registrations) since the beginning of this year.

Please be in touch if anything above is not correct.

The maximum statutory time-frame for response is now 29 March 2021, in line with section 15(1AA) of the Official Information Act.

I will respond to your request sooner than this deadline if I am able to.

Ngā mihi

Anna McLachlan (she/her)
BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border and Visa Operations Branch
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[email address]
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

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Good morning Satish

We can provide the most up to date data as possible for point 1, however it will not be up to the date that we send you the response as after the data is gathered, there are quality checks that take place before the response is signed and sent out.

I will add question 7: Are the Immigration Officers processing Skilled Migrant Category applications able to make decisions (approve/decline) when working remotely from home (due to COVID-19 Level 3 restrictions)? If not, what type of work can they undertake when working remotely from home?

Please be in touch if you have any concerns with the above.

Ngā mihi

Anna McLachlan (she/her)
BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border and Visa Operations Branch
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[email address]
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

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Dear Satish

Please see attached the response to your recent request for information.

Ngā mihi

Anna McLachlan (she/her)
BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border and Visa Operations Branch
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[email address]
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

My working hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 8:30am to 3:30pm

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