3 December 2021
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Sunaina
[FYI request #17466 email]
Tēnā koe Sunaina
OIA request 21/22 0388 Request for information relating to citizenship processing
timeframes.
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 6 November 2021.
You requested –
1. What is the status of applications being processed received in 2021
(A). Paper applications received in 2021
(B) online applications received in 2021
2. Which month applications are being processed now :
(A). Paper applications
(B) online applications
3. Are you still accepting paper applications?if not
4. When you stopped accepting paper applications?
5. How many applications are still waiting to be allocated to a case officer month wise from
1.1.21. Paper applications and online applications separately.
On 17 November 2021 an email was sent to you for clarification with question one of your
request. As we had not received a reply from you at the time of preparing this response, we
have interpreted this question to be asking for, what the current processing status of paper and
online citizenship applications that were received in 2021. Should you wish for the Department
to respond to your clarification from 1 December 2021, please advise and it will be treated as a
new request.
In response to your request I can provide you with the following information.
Questions one and five
In response to these parts of your request, please refer to Appendix A, attached. Appendix A
provides you with a breakdown of the following information:
•
Table one – Paper-based citizenship applications received in 2021, as at 30 November
2021
•
Table two – Online citizenship applications received in 2021, as at 30 November 2021
•
Table three – Paper-based citizenship applications still waiting to be allocated
•
Table four – Online citizenship applications still waiting to be allocated
Question two
a) I can confirm that as at 22 November 2021, the citizenship trained staff are processing
paper applications that were received in early January 2021.
b) I can confirm that as at 22 November 2021, the citizenship trained staff are processing
online applications that were received in mid-January 2021.
Information on what month’s applications citizenship trained staff are working on will be
regularly updated on the Department’s website her
e; https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-
citizenship-and-identity/nz-citizenship/how-to-apply-for-nz-citizenship/application-timeframes/
Questions three and four
I can confirm that the Department is still accepting paper-based citizenship applications.
Further comments
I would also like to assure you that the Department has initiatives underway in attempts to
reduce the citizenship application backlog. This includes more training, investing in technology,
and establishing a temporary workforce dedicated to working through these applications.
Although we are unable to predict a specific date citizenship by grant processing timeframes will
reach the standard two to five months again, the Department is confident that the above steps
taken mean we will have the skills and processes in place early next year, to ensure we can slow
the backlog and begin to reduce it by mid-2022.
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. All 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.
Ngā mihi
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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