7 October 2024
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Josh via FYI
fyi-request-28339-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Josh
OIA request 24/25 0234 Request for Citizenship Information
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 9 September 2024.
You requested –
1. Could you kindly explain what the External and Internal Checks involve for the 2023
Citizenship application?
2. How often are these checks conducted on an application?
3. Are these checks done after the Case Officer or LISO has confirmed the details and
completed the identity verification?
4. Is there a reason why the DIA is unable to provide a specific timeframe for completing the
External and Internal Checks?
5. If possible, could you please share the processing or training material for LISO regarding
External and Internal Checks?
6. After each system upgrade, are the backlog applications rerun for the automated
checks?
In response to your request, I can provide you with the following information.
Most of the information you have requested is already available via published information or
proactively released Official Information Act (OIA) responses on the Department’s website -
www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2. Links to the relevant information have
been provided below.
Question one
This information is already available in the Citizenship Guidance Document on the Departments
website -
www.dia.govt.nz/Citizenship-Guidance-Document. I refer you to page 13 under the
heading ‘
Detrimental or adverse information’.
Therefore, I must refuse this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the
information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
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Questions two and six
I can advise that this information is publicly available on the Department’s website -
www.govt.nz/browse/passports-citizenship-and-identity/nz-citizenship/how-to-apply-for-nz-
citizenship/citizenship-timeframe-differences/.
Therefore, I must refuse this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the
information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
Questions three and five
I can advise that this information is already available on the Department’s website
www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2 via OIA respons
e 2425-0026. This
response provides information regarding the current and updated training materials for case
officers to process citizenship by grant applications.
Therefore, I must refuse this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the
information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
It may be of interest for you to know that, before an applicant's eligibility for citizenship can be
determined it is necessary to establish their identity and name. It is not possible to process a
citizenship application if the identity of the applicant cannot be established. When the
applicant's identity has been established, the applicant's eligibility for citizenship can be
assessed, and their name determined for citizenship purposes.
Question four
It is important to clarify that that no timeframe applies to external checks as this information is
dependent upon information from external agencies.
This information is already available on the Department’s website via OIA response
2324-0036
specifically question six.
Therefore, I must refuse this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the
information requested is or will soon be publicly available
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 search the responses by
using ‘ctrl’ + ‘f’ and typing ‘citizenship’ in the search field. The most recent proactively released
response will usually be towards the top of the page.
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.
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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
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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