10 July 2023
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Fardeen
[FYI request #23138 email]
Tēnā koe Fardeen
OIA request 22/23 0943 Request for citizenship timeframes
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 14 June 2023.
You requested –
1. Can you explain regarding citizenship application internal check?
2. when internal check start after submit online application?
3. How long internal check take for those who failed automatic check, roughly?
4. what is next step after internal check done?
Clarification of your request was sought on 22 June 2023. You confirmed on the same day that
internal check means “internal agencies checks”. We have interpreted this to be referring to the
manual checks required for some citizenship applications to determine their eligibility for
citizenship.
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Question one
A Life and Identity Services Officer (LISO) trained in processing citizenship applications
completes various checks as part of assessing a citizenship by grant application. The checks
undertaken by a LISO are to assess whether the applicant has provided the information required
and whether they meet the requirements for a grant of New Zealand citizenship.
Should you be interested, the
Citizenship Guidance Document is published on the Department’s
website here
, https://www.dia.govt.nz/Citizenship-Guidance-Document. This document is a
guide for applicants, officials who process citizenship applications within the Department, and
the Minister of Internal Affairs in decision-making on citizenship applications.
Question two
It may be helpful for me to explain that the checks begin once the citizenship by grant
application has been al ocated to a LISO for processing. We have previously provided you with
the data for
citizenship by grant applications allocated during May 2023 in response to your
previous OIA request, 2223 0893. This has been proactively released on the Department’s
website,
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2.
Question three
I can advise that information on
the processing time for applications that require manual
assessment will be proactively released on the Department’s website. The reference number
will be 2223-0911. Therefore, I am refusing this portion of your request pursuant to section
18(d) of the Act: the information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
Should it be of interest to you, data on
the average time for an application to be assigned to an
officer in each workstream will also be proactively release on the Department’s website under
reference number 2223-0911.
Question four
Once all the checks have been completed, the citizenship by grant application is either approved
or presented to the Minister for a decision.
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 its 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
Kate Raggett
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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