Offshore SMC applications
Seenivasan Ramasubbu made this Official Information request to Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Response to this request is long overdue. By law Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.
From: Seenivasan Ramasubbu
Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,
I would like to inquire about the Offshore SMC applications, and I have listed down my questions concerning this subject.
1) To date, how many offshore applications are awaiting processing and please provide the month-wise breakup?
2) When will be offshore SMC applications start processing?
3) Once resumed, Can the offshore SMC applications process under the priority category?
4) If the offshore applicant's last drawn salary is twice the INZ median salary requirement at the time of application submission, can it be processed under the priority category once the offshore application process is resumed?
5) Is there any policy under discussion at INZ to reset the offshore SMC applications submitted and currently waiting in the queue?
Yours faithfully,
Seenivasan Ramasubbu
From: Ministerial Services
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Ref: 2122-0293
Dear Seenivasan,
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 06/08/2021 requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
“I would like to inquire about the Offshore SMC applications, and I have
listed down my questions concerning this subject.
1) To date, how many offshore applications are awaiting processing and
please provide the month-wise breakup?
2) When will be offshore SMC applications start processing?
3) Once resumed, Can the offshore SMC applications process under the
priority category?
4) If the offshore applicant's last drawn salary is twice the INZ median
salary requirement at the time of application submission, can it be
processed under the priority category once the offshore application
process is resumed?
5) Is there any policy under discussion at INZ to reset the offshore SMC
applications submitted and currently waiting in the queue? “
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
Ngâ Pou o te Taumaru
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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From: Lautalie Leausa Vaa
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Hi Seenivasan,
Thank you for your email below requesting further information which we are
responding to as general correspondence. This is because the Government
have not made any decisions on when the NZ borders will reopen, and when
the processing of offshore SMC applications can resume. We therefore
cannot speculate when this will occur and what the processes will look
like when this does happen.
The best place to find updated information on the processing of
applications and any changes to the borders is the INZ website, which is
being updated regularly as decisions are made:
[1]www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19.
You have however requested the number of offshore applications that are
awaiting processing broken down by month, which we can provide below.
Table 1. The number of skilled residence applications currently in the
offshore general queue as at 12th August 2021, broken down by month the
application was accepted for processing by INZ:
+----------------------------------------------+
| Accepted Month | Total |------|
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Dec-18 |43 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jan-19 |66 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Feb-19 |52 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Mar-19 |51 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Apr-19 |80 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|May-19 |73 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jun-19 |72 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jul-19 |74 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Aug-19 |78 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Sep-19 |60 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Oct-19 |85 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Nov-19 |75 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Dec-19 |86 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jan-20 |97 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Feb-20 |88 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Mar-20 |85 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Apr-20 |25 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|May-20 |58 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jun-20 |55 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jul-20 |30 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Aug-20 |38 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Sep-20 |19 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Oct-20 |21 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Nov-20 |27 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Dec-20 |23 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jan-21 |7 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Mar-21 |2 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Apr-21 |1 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|May-21 |2 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jun-21 |1 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Jul-21 |1 | |
|-----------------------+---------------+------|
|Total |1475 | |
+----------------------------------------------+
Kind Regards,
Lautalie Leausa Vaa
SENIOR BUSINESS ADVISOR
Operations Support, Border & Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
-----Original Message-----
From: Seenivasan Ramasubbu
<[FOI #16331 email]>
Sent: Friday, 6 August 2021 7:13 PM
To: *OIA <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Offshore SMC applications
Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,
I would like to inquire about the Offshore SMC applications, and I have
listed down my questions concerning this subject.
1) To date, how many offshore applications are awaiting processing and
please provide the month-wise breakup?
2) When will be offshore SMC applications start processing?
3) Once resumed, Can the offshore SMC applications process under the
priority category?
4) If the offshore applicant's last drawn salary is twice the INZ median
salary requirement at the time of application submission, can it be
processed under the priority category once the offshore application
process is resumed?
5) Is there any policy under discussion at INZ to reset the offshore SMC
applications submitted and currently waiting in the queue?
Yours faithfully,
Seenivasan Ramasubbu
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References
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2. mailto:[FOI #16331 email]
3. mailto:[MBIE request email]
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From: Seenivasan Ramasubbu
Dear Lautalie Leausa Vaa,
Thansk for your reponse.
I would like to follow up on the same topic with the recent development that happened with COVID 19 restrictions. Since the NZ government has introduced a traffic light system and announced that from the end of April 2022, anyone can travel to NZ if they satisfy the vaccine and other travelling requirements.
With the above, can you please advise INZ standpoint on
1) Processing offshore SMC applications that are in the non-priority queue from December 2018?
2) If April 2022 is the cut-off date for anyone travelling to NZ (with fulfilling the travelling requirements), then the offshore SMC applications should be processed from January 2022, given the number of applications that are in the queue?
3) If no decision has been taken yet on this, then when is the likely discussion and decision will be taken by INZ?
4) What is the INZ response to the people who submitted their application 3 years before and still waiting for any decision to be taken on their applications since there was lots of time and money involved in submitting it?
Appreciate your response to the above questions, please.
Yours sincerely,
Seenivasan Ramasubbu
From: Lautalie Leausa Vaa
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Hi there,
I am currently out of the office and will not be checking emails during
this time.
For anything urgent please email [email address] or
call the Immigration Contact Centre on 0508 558 855. Alternatively I will
respond when I return.
Kind Regards,
Lautalie Leausa Vaa
[1]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
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Any opinions expressed in this message are not necessarily those of the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. This message and any
files transmitted with it are confidential and solely for the use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient or the person
responsible for delivery to the intended recipient, be advised that you
have received this message in error and that any use is strictly
prohibited. Please contact the sender and delete the message and any
attachment from your computer.
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