25 July 2022
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Sonam
fyi-request-19744-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Sonam
Official Information Act request 2122-0863 – Request for citizenship by grant submissions
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 24 June 2021.
You requested –
I would be grateful if your department is able to provide following statistical information
related to submissions presented to the Minister of Internal Affairs for New Zealand
Citizenship Application by Grant:
1. From January 2022 to current date, how many citizenship applications by Grant were
referred to Minister of Internal Affairs in submission?
2. Can Department of Internal Affairs provide any report or stats on citizenship applications
by Grant processed under ministerial submission during above period?
3. From January 2022 to current date, could you disclose how many citizenship applications
were recommended "Approved" by the department but was ultimately "declined" by the
Minister?
4. From January 2022 to current date, could you disclose how many citizenship applications
were recommended "Declined" by the department but was ultimately "Approved" by
the Minister?
5. From January 2022 to current date, could you disclose how many citizenship applications
were recommended "Approved" by the department and was "Approved" by the
Minister?
6. How many submissions are currently "pending" for Minister's decision?
7. For statistical purpose, based on the last 5 to 10 submission cases, how long did it take
(an average timeframe) for Minister to consider and decide the submissions cases
presented by the Department?
8. From January 2022 to current date, how many submissions were presented to Minister
because the applicant did not meet the Section "8(2)(c) Good Character requirement",
what was their outcome (how many approved/declined/pending) and what was
recommended by the department.
9. From January 2022 to current date, how many submissions were presented to Minister
under the "section 8(7) reduction of presence requirement", what was their outcome
(how many approved/declined/pending) and what was recommended by the
department?
10. From January 2022 to current date, how many submissions were presented to Minister
under the "section 9, special cases", what was their outcome (how many
approved/declined/pending) and what was recommended by the department.
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Questions one and two
I can advise that 57 citizenship by grant applications were submitted to the Minister for decision
during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022. There are no further reports or statistics
available for citizenship by grant applications submitted to the Minister for this period.
Question three
I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022 all applications submitted to
the Minister for decision with the Department recommending ‘approve’ were approved by the
Minister.
Question four
I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022 all applications submitted to
the Minister for decision with the Department recommending ‘decline’ were declined by the
Minister.
Question five
I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022, all 44 applications submitted
to the Minister for decision with the recommendation of ‘approval’ by the Department, have
been approved.
Question six
I can advise that as at 6 July 2022 there are less than 5 applications submitted to the Minister
for decision that are pending a decision. Any totals of less than five are noted as ‘less than five’
for privacy reasons, to ensure the privacy of individuals is protected.
Question seven
I can advise that based on the last 10 citizenship by grant applications submitted to the Minister
for decision, the average length of time taken to consider an application is 2.7 calendar days.
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Questions eight and nine
In response to question eight, I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022
nine citizenship by grant applications that did not meet the ‘good character’ requirement set
out in section 8(2)(c) of the Citizenship Act 1977, were submitted to the Minister for decision.
In response to question nine, I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022 a
total of 22 citizenship by grant applications that did not meet the ‘presence in New Zealand’
requirement, were submitted to the Minister to consider under section 8(7) of the Citizenship
Act 1977.
I am unable to provide a further breakdown of these numbers as they include total numbers of
applications that are less than five. As I previously explained, any totals of less than five are
noted as such for privacy reasons, to ensure the privacy of individuals is protected. This means
any breakdown of the above numbers would enable someone to calculate the specific the
number protected by using ‘less than five’.
Question ten
I can advise that during the period 1 January 2022 to 6 July 2022 18 citizenship by grant
applications were submitted to the Minister to consider under section 9 of the Citizenship Act
1977 – the grant of citizenship in special cases.
Of these, seven applications submitted to the Minister for decision with the recommendation of
‘approve’ by the Department were approved, and eleven applications submitted to the Minister
for decision with the recommendation of ‘not approve’ by the Department were not approved.
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.
Ngā mihi
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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