5 October 2021
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Daniel
fyi-request-16671-
[email address]
Dear Daniel
Official Information Act 1982 request 2122-0213 – Citizenship processing
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 7 September 2021.
You requested –
1. Are the key systems department using are not capable of giving remote access to the
staff or DIA cannot rely on the staff (While working from home) ful y in context for
using the systems? If key systems are used in office by the same staff then they can
access any information in office as wel as at home.
2. From the above context and past history of the Citizen applications, the aging system
(was 3 months process) of yours was much faster as compare to this new system (9-
14 months process). and obviously as people we wil prefer the faster process. Is this
new system in coming months or years will process the citizenship applications in less
than 3-4 months?
3. Can you please explain, why staff is not getting familiar through the system from last
one year?
4. And I can see citizenship department stil gives option of paper applications, then how
the backlog wil reduce? People wil apply and the backlog wil increase day by day.
What measures department taking to reduce the paper backlog?
5. As press release, you guys get the less application in 2020, then why backlog?
6. Can you please tel the number of applications are in the backlog (by grant)?
7. Paper Applications in backlog and from which year and month.
8. Online Applications in backlog and from which year and month.
9. Currently which month applications are in processing or assigned to case officers?
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Question one
As I advised in my response to your request OIA 2122-0125, Department fol owed Ministry of
Health COVID-19 guidelines including physical distancing in the office, which limited the number
of staff who could physical y be present in our workplace.
Citizenship processing continued to occur during lockdown, but unlike birth or death
registration it was not deemed an essential service, and it was not possible for full productivity
to be maintained. This is because our citizenship system, which holds highly secure and privacy
protected data about individuals and their families, is only accessed from our security-controlled
offices. This is not a reflection on the Department’s trust in its staff, but a measure to ensure the
safety of our staff, and the information they work with.
Questions two and four
The Department is currently working to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications, and we
expect to be reducing the backlog by the middle of next year. We are prioritising this and have
created a specific programme of work to improve it. This includes more training, investing in
technology changes to speed processing up, and establishing a temporary workforce dedicated
to working through applications.
However, it is also important to explain that there is no set standard processing timeframe for
citizenship application because every application is different. For that reason, there is no
‘normal’ timeframe.
The processing timeframe covers the entire application process, which starts when an applicant
submits their application. The application then undergoes an assessment, a recommendation,
review of the assessment and recommendation and a decision on the outcome is made. Only
when an applicant receives their Citizenship certificate (or confirmation that their application
has not been approved) is the process complete.
This means that I am unable to provide you with an exact timeframe we believe that citizenship
processing will be reduced to.
Questions three and five
I must reiterate what was advised in response to your request OIA 2122-0125, that there are
several factors that have contributed to the current backlog of citizenship applications.
The Department is currently transitioning citizenship processing from a paper-based application
system supported by aging technology, to a modern customer-centred case management
system supporting a fully online application process.
With the introduction of this new system, there has been a reduction of output in the period of
the new system being introduced and the old one phased out. Productivity has been further
impacted by the training requirements of staff on the new system, staff becoming proficient in
the new system and the need for staff to work across both systems (online and offline). The
inability for al staff to work at full productivity during COVID-19 also contributed, as detailed in
response to question one of this request.
It is also important to reiterate that the new system is being designed iteratively, with new
features and functionality being developed progressively. This means that staff are constantly
upskilling and training in the system, to ensure they are using it as efficiently as possible. New
features that have been and wil be released, will also automate more aspects of the process
and subsequently provide faster processing times.
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Questions six, seven, eight and nine
In response to these parts of your request, please refer to Appendix A attached. Appendix A
provides you with the following information:
• Table one – Breakdown of unal ocated citizenship by grant applications from October
2020 to September 2021.
I can advise that as at 1 October 2021, the majority of citizenship by grant applications the
Department is currently working on were received in late November 2020.
Further comments
I acknowledge your frustration surrounding the current citizenship processing times and would
like to reassure you the Department has initiatives underway to reduce the citizenship
application backlog, speed up processing, and improve general customer experience.
I note that the Department is currently preparing responses to an additional two requests that
you have submitted regarding citizenship, further to your previous requests. It is important to
explain that the Department has no further information to provide regarding the citizenship
backlog and processing timeframes, and considers the responses already provided to you to
have been comprehensive.
Because of this, the Department does not believe any further information can be provided to
you beyond what already has been released.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, the Department has
decided to proactively release a copy of this response on the DIA website. Al requestor data
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released
response will be made available here: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-
Requests-2.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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