Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

I seek clarification on why submissions under the "approve" category require ministerial approval.

For submissions under the "Presence Requirement" category, where applicants did not satisfy the DIA that they clearly intended to reside in New Zealand, from 01/01/2023 to 08/07/2024, I request the following information:

Reduction in Presence Requirement (Section 8(7)):

1)The number of applications approved.
2)The number of applications declined.
3)The recommendation provided by the case officer for each application.
4)The mean, median, maximum, and minimum time taken by the Minister to make a decision after submission.

Special Cases (Section 9):

1)The number of applications approved under the "Public Interest" category.
2)The number of applications approved under the "Humanitarian" category.
3)The number of applications declined in each of these categories.
4)The recommendation provided by the case officer for each application in these categories.
5)The mean, median, maximum, and minimum time taken by the Minister to make a decision after submission for each category.

Yours faithfully,

Anna