Ali Khan
[FYI request #17861 email]
Ref: DOIA 2122-1242
Dear Ali Khan,
Thank you for your email of 7 December 2021 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA),
the following information:
“Please provide the following information in aggerate data.
Period: 2000-2021
Please provide this year-by-year data in an excel sheet if possible.
The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from American citizens
The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from foreign-born American
citizens
The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from American-born citizens
The number of health checks for American born citizens
The number of health checks for foreign-born American citizens
The number of x-ray checks for American born citizens
The number of x-ray checks for foreign-born American citizens
The number of police checks for American born citizens
The number of police checks for foreign-born citizens
The number of waivers issued for American born citizens
The number of waivers issued for foreign-born citizens
The visa processing time for American born citizens
The visa processing time for foreign-born citizens”
Our Response Question 1-3:
“
The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from American citizens”
“The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from foreign-born American citizens”
“The number of student visa applications for more than 24 months from American-born citizens”
Please refer to Table One in Appendix One which demonstrates the total number of Student Visas issued
which were valid for more than 24 months who are American citizens born in America and those born
outside of America from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021. Please note that figures of five and fewer
have been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA to protect the privacy of natural persons.
Question 4-5:
“The number of health checks for American born citizens”
“The number of health checks for foreign-born American citizens”
1
Please refer to Table Two in Appendix One which demonstrates the total General Medical Certificates
submitted with visa applications for American citizens born within and outside of America from 2015 to 31
December 2021. Please note that medical records prior to 2015 are not held in a reportable format
therefore we are partially refusing your request under 18(f) of the OIA as we cannot provide this
information without substantial collation or research.
Question 6-7:
“The number of x-ray checks for American born citizens”
“The number of x-ray checks for foreign-born American citizens”
Please refer to Table Three in Appendix One which demonstrates the total X-rays submitted with visa
applications for American citizens born within and outside of America from 2015 to 31 December 2021.
Please note that medical records prior to 2015 are not held in a reportable format therefore we are partially
refusing your request under 18(f) of the OIA as we cannot provide this information without substantial
collation or research.
Question 8-9:
“The number of police checks for American born citizens”
“The number of police checks for foreign-born citizens”
Please refer to Table Four in Appendix One which demonstrates the total New Zealand Police certificates
issued for American citizens born within and outside of America from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2021.
Please note that New Zealand Police Certificates prior to 2008 are not held in a reportable format therefore
we are partially refusing your request under 18(f) of the OIA as we cannot provide this information without
substantial collation or research.
Question 10-11:
“The number of waivers issued for American born citizens”
“The number of waivers issued for foreign-born citizens”
Please refer to Table Five in Appendix One which demonstrates the total visa waivers issued for American
citizens born within and outside of America from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021.
Question 12:
“The visa processing time for American born citizens”
Please refer to Table Six in Appendix One which demonstrates the visa processing times for American citizen
applicants born within America from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021. Please note that the processing
times are broken down by 50%, 75% and 90% as Immigration New Zealand (INZ) measure average
processing times in calendar days from the time an application is accepted for processing, to when the
application has been finalised and completed in the Immigration Application Management System (AMS).
Question 13:
“The visa processing time for foreign-born citizens”
Please refer to Table Seven in Appendix One which demonstrates the visa processing times for American
citizen applicants born outside of America from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021. Please note that the
processing times are broken down by 50%, 75% and 90% as INZ measure average processing times in
calendar days from the time an application is accepted for processing, to when the application has been
finalised and completed in AMS.
2
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Immigration New Zealand
at [email address]. Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
3
Appendix One
Table One: Total Student Visa holders who were issued visas valid for 24 months or more who were
American citizens born within America and those born outside of America between 2000 and 2021.
Year
American born American
citizens
citizens born
outside of
America
2000
22
<=5
2001
54
21
2002
58
<=5
2003
48
<=5
2004
78
<=5
2005
87
9
2006
97
<=5
2007
118
11
2008
122
9
2009
136
19
2010
137
14
2011
133
10
2012
142
15
2013
170
8
2014
176
22
2015
166
18
2016
173
19
2017
281
25
2018
308
40
2019
325
43
2020
225
21
2021
189
23
Table Two: Total General Medical Certificates submitted with visa applications for American citizens
born within and outside of America.
Year
American
American
citizens
born
born
citizens
outside of
America
2015
186
1,781
2016
312
2,776
2017
355
3,185
2018
391
3,282
2019
384
3,339
2020
383
3,548
2021
328
2,500
2022
18
99
4
Table Three: Total X-rays submitted with visa applications for American citizens born within and
outside of America.
Year
American
American
citizens
born
born
citizens
outside of
America
2015
190
1,852
2016
303
2,678
2017
350
3,131
2018
365
3,229
2019
344
3,139
2020
367
3,130
2021
289
2,202
2022
13
95
Table Four: Total New Zealand Police Certificates issued for American Citizens born within and outside
of America applying for a visa.
Year
American American
born
citizens
citizens
born
outside of
America
2008
544
73
2009
702
91
2010
710
99
2011
674
95
2012
811
108
2013
778
116
2014
852
121
2015
914
113
2016
919
145
2017
875
132
2018
1,124
194
2019
1,181
183
2020
1,460
334
2021
1,271
217
5
Table Five:
Total visa waivers issued to American Citizens born within and outside of America. The New
Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) was introduced on 1 October 2019 and consequently all
visitors from visa waiver countries (including the United States of America) travelling to or transiting in
New Zealand require and NZeTA.
Year
American
American
born
citizens born
citizens
outside of
America
2000
180,758
10,671
2001
172,341
8,049
2002
182,879
6,482
2003
198,430
5,056
2004
214,773
3,405
2005
210,516
2,271
2006
208,335
804
2007
91,568
106,643
2008
24,981
170,804
2009
33,154
189,344
2010
16,207
157,583
2011
14,184
157,892
2012
11,379
154,804
2013
9,317
180,313
2014
7,997
199,904
2015
7,538
224,146
2016
6,107
268,927
2017
4,895
308,611
2018
4,127
331,835
2019
79,969
269,716
2020
82,852
29,752
2021
363
297
Table Six: Visa processing times for all visa application types for American citizens born within America
Year
50% of
75% of
90% of
applications
applications applications
completed
completed
completed
within: Days
within: Days within: Days
2000
0
8
27
2001
0
6
22
2002
0
8
29
2003
0
10
48
2004
0
9
50
2005
0
7
50
2006
0
6
47
6
2007
1
10.5
48
2008
1
8
49
2009
1
8
57
2010
2
14
61
2011
1
12
57
2012
1
8
40
2013
2
10
28
2014
3
11
26
2015
4
15
34
2016
5
15
35
2017
5
16
37
2018
6
17
43
2019
10
24
54
2020
9
31
90
2021
10
41
119
Table Seven: Visa processing times for all visa application types for American citizens born outside of
America
Year
50% of
75% of
90% of
applications
applications applications
completed
completed
completed
within: Days
within: Days within: Days
2000
0
5
18
2001
0
6
26
2002
0
7
26
2003
0
7
41
2004
0
6
42
2005
0
7
49
2006
0
7
57
2007
1
11
43
2008
2
16
56
2009
3
16
53
2010
4
21
71
2011
2
16
60
2012
1
12
44
2013
2
12
34
2014
4
13
35
2015
5
15
34
2016
5
17
44
2017
6
17
46
2018
5
18
50
2019
7
20
50
2020
5
24
77
2021
7
34
114
7
