16 August 2024
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Jack
[email address]
g.nz
Tēnā koe Jack,
OIA request 24/25 0072 Request for citizenship processing timeframes
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 21 July 2024.
You requested –
1. A table that has the following details for citizenship by grant applications submitted
between 16 June 2024 and 18 June 2024?
•
Date Received at DIA
•
Date Processing
•
Workstream
•
Date of Outcome
•
Outcome/Status
2. A breakdown of all of citizenship by grant applications received between 16 June
2024 and 18 June 2024 grouped by country of birth, current workstream, and their
current status (Approved, Processing, Unassigned, Withdrawn, etc.)?
3. The number of applications received under sections 8(7)(a) and/or section 9(1)(c) in
June 2024 and their current status, including allocated workstream?
4.
State the current mean and median processing times in each workstream?
5.
Clarify if processing times in each workstream are from time of submission or time in
the workstream -- i.e. would stated total processing times be consecutive where an
application is moved from one work stream to another (e.g. time in workstream 2
plus time in a subsequent work stream)?
6.
Clarify the difference of the outcome categories 'approved' and 'submission'? Is the
latter the same as 'approved submission'?
In response to your request, I can provide you with the following information.
Please find attached Appendix A and the tables which are referenced in this response:
• Table 1. Citizenship by Grant Applications Received Between 16 and 18 June 2024.
• Table 2. Citizenship by Grant Applications Received Between 16 and 18 June 2024 by
Workstream, Status and Country of Birth.
• Table 3. Mean and Median Working Days From Date Citizenship by Grant Application
Received Until an Outcome (For Applications That Received an Outcome During July
2024)
I note, the data was collated on 7 August 2024.
Questions one and two
I refer you to Appendix A, tables one and two.
Question three
I can advise that information on the number of applications received under sections 8(7)(a)
and/or section 9(1)(c) in June 2024 and their current status, including allocated workstream is
not available. The Department can only determine that an applicant has applied under section
8(7) or 9(1)(c) once processing has started and not while the application is in the queue.
As such, we cannot confirm how many applications were lodged under sections 8(7) or 9(1)(c) in
a particular month (in this case June 2024).
Therefore, this part of your request must be refused pursuant to section 18(g) of the OIA; that
the information requested is not held by the department and we have no grounds for believing
that the information is either held by another department or connected more closely with the
functions of another department.
Question four
I refer you to Appendix A, table three.
Question five
The definition of timeframes in the processing of citizenship applications is from when an
application is received, not the time spent in a workstream or workstreams.
Question six
There are two ways Citizenship applications can be approved, the first is on a schedule which is
approved by a senior Departmental Official and the second is by submission and can be
approved or not approved by the Minister.
In case it may be of interest, I refer you to the latest Citizenship Guidance document;
www.dia.govt.nz/Citizenship-Guidance-Document - Decision making process and delegated
authority.
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You may be interested to know that there is a lot of publicly available information online about
citizenship and the timeframes for processing citizenship applications. The Department, for
example, regularly proactively publishes Official Information Act responses on its website,
including information about citizenship timeframes. Responses have been proactively released
here:
www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2 and you can use the search the
responses by using ‘ctrl’ + ‘f’ and typing ‘citizenship’ in the search field.
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:
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
John Crawford-Smith
Principal Advisor Operations
Service Delivery and Operations
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