OIA 2425 0308 Appendix A.pdf

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Information
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Te Tari Taiwhenua

Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
To provide you with an update on the processing of applications for citizenship by grant,
including the reasons for the differences in processing time for applicants.
Background
2.
Requirements for the grant of New Zealand citizenship are described in the Citizenship Act
1977 and Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982. Every applicant must meet all legislative
requirements for grant, other than in exceptional circumstances.
3.
There is no automatic entitlement to be granted citizenship. Each application is unique, and
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each is assessed as an individual “case” by an experienced Life and Identity Services Officer.
4.
Your office regularly receives queries about timeframes for assessing applications for
citizenship by grant, and requested we provide you with information.
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Current work on hand
5.
As of 5 May 2024, we have 27,209 applications for citizenship by grant on hand, a reduction of
10,000 from the peak in April 2022, and 1,000 fewer than December 2023.
6.
Citizenship processing has been stable in 2024, fluctuating around 27,000 applications on
hand.  Month-to-month volumes completed vary, depending on the number of applications
routed to expedited workstreams, and the number Life and Identity Services Officers (LISOs)
tasked with processing applications in highly automated or less automated workstreams.
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Work completed in April 2024
7.
In April 2024 we received 3,353 applications (2,956 online, and 397 on paper) and 3,355
applicants received an outcome (of which 3,343 were approved).
8.
The number of people who received citizenship at a ceremony in April was lower than typical
at 1,466, due to public holidays for Easter, Anzac Day, and the school holidays leading to
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Councils scheduling fewer ceremonies). April also followed two peak ceremony months in
February and March.

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9.
Of applications decided in April 2024:
•  60% of applications decided in April 2024 were decided in the target average time of 50
working days or less.
•  50% of all applications were decided in less than 33 working days.
10.
The median time it took an application to be allocated to a LISO was 4.7 months and the
average time for decision 6.2 months.
11.
Within this is the average, a disparity exists with some applicants whose application require
more manual checks waiting over a year for processing. We are working to reduce this
proportion and most LISOs are working on the oldest and most complex applications.
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12.
The distribution of applications on hand is shown below.
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Age and stage of applications on hand
13.
Of current applications:   the
•  22,425 are awaiting allocation to a Life and Identity Services Officer (LISO) for processing.
•  4,784 are allocated to a LISO, of which 3,151 are waiting on external checks.
14.
A graph in the appendix shows the status of applications by the month they were received.
Comment: why application processing times differ
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15.
Citizenship applications are progressed in stages. All applications have a mix of manual and
automated assessment steps. Most applicants (88%) apply online, and the remainder are
digitised by the Department and progressed in an online system.
16.
When applications are received or digitised, our systems run a series of preliminary automated
checks which are used to triage them into different workstreams.
Applications are filtered to workstreams
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17.
Low risk applications which can meet maximum automated checks receive a simple identity
verification by a LISO before standard external checks with the Police and Security Intelligence
Service (SIS).  These checks provide information about convictions, fines and traffic demerits,
and information about whether the police have attended family violence incidents.

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18.
Other applications require thorough checks to confirm identity before external checks are
generated. Once the external checks have been received and if they are clear, the application
moves forward to approval under delegated authority.
19.
Some applications require considerable manual assessment to determine identity, or eligibility,
which may require gathering information regarding the applicants claim for reduced presence
due to special circumstances particular to the applicant, a second-generation grant to a child
of a citizen by descent, or a claim for a grant due to public interest factors.
20.
Where information is received via the external checks it is assessed against operational policies
and the Ministerial Citizenship Guidance Document, to determine whether a submission needs
to be prepared for Ministerial decision.
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21.
Under current delegation settings, only applications which clearly meet the requirements may
be approved by officials, and only the Minister can decline an application. To encourage
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people to withdraw if they are unlikely to succeed, regulations were amended in 2006 to
provide that applicants who are advised they do not meet a requirement may withdraw and
receive a $310 refund.
Key differences between workstreams.
22.
The wait time across three main workstreams for an application to be assigned to a LISO is
currently:
•  Three weeks (15 April 2024) for online applications with maximum automated checks
•  Seven weeks (17 March 2024) for Samoan applicants who do not meet automated checks
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and are processed under the provisions of the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982.
•  13.5 Months (19 March 2023) for applications in the standard queue which are more
complex to process. This queue includes applications which cannot be automated, the
applicants do not meet the criteria, and those which have results from external checks that
require assessment.
23.
Common areas where manual intervention may be required include where applicants:
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23.1
changed their name after they migrated to New Zealand.
23.2
have a gap in their residency status and therefore do not meet the standard presence
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requirement in the Act.
23.3
did not meet the presence requirement on the day they applied for citizenship.
23.4
have a photo that does not meet the required quality standards.
23.5
cannot be matched to data held by Immigration New Zealand.
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24.
Applications may take longer where:
24.1
applicants apply early and seek to be considered for a reduced presence requirement
or under exceptional circumstances.
24.2
they were not born in and are not resident in New Zealand and are seeking a second-
generation grant for the children of citizens by descent.
24.3
the Police report is returned with results which need to be assessed against policy, and
further information sought from the applicant.
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24.4
Immigration New Zealand has alerts.
24.5
applicants find it difficult to provide evidence to fulfil the requirements of the
Citizenship Guidance Document to qualify for a reduced presence requirement, or to
substantiate their good character.

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25.
Applications take considerably longer to process where a Ministerial decision is required as the
Department requires significantly more information from the applicant and must prepare a
submission for your consideration.
Current focus
26.
We are currently focussing on processing the oldest applications to reduce the disparity in
application times. We are also considering how we can more efficiently progress applications
which require the most engagements with customers, to free up resource to reduce overall
work in hand.
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27.
We are briefing you separately on updates to the Citizenship Guidance Document and will be
working to implement these changes.
Recommendations
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28.
We recommend that you advise if you would like any further or different
Yes/No
information in your next briefing

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Maria Robertson
Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery and Operations

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Hon Brooke van Velden
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Minister of Internal Affairs

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Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
To provide you with an update on the processing of applications for citizenship by grant,
including the reasons for the differences in processing time for applicants.
Current work on hand
2.
A total of 3,082 citizenship by grant applications were completed in May. The total work on
hand as of 4 June 2024 is 27,494, an increase of 1% from last month. Of these applications,
5,938 are allocated and being processed and 21,556 are unassigned. Applications that were
allocated and being assessed for eligibility in May were received in March and April 2023.
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3.
The increase in applications on hand is due to our focus on processing our older applications to
reduce the disparity in processing times. These applications require more manual intervention
and take longer to process.
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4.
The graph below shows the applications we received and completed from May 2023 to May
2024.
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Age of applications on hand
5.
In May we focussed on processing a large number of older applications, to reduce the overall
wait time for citizenship by grant. We will continue this focus in June. Older applications
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usually require more manual processing and enquiries with applicants or other agencies. As we
concentrate more on older applications, we expect the age of applications on hand and those
completed each month to reduce.
6.
Each month a number of newer applications are able to be processed through largely
automated checks. These checks match the information and photos supplied against that held
by Immigration New Zealand, check the applicant has the correct visa and meets the
requirement to have been present in New Zealand, and can establish the applicant’s English
language capability through their country of nationality or visa type. Once character checks
with Police and security agencies are complete, many of these applications can be approved
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within a very short time.

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7.
The graph below shows the age of applications completed in April and May. It shows the
impact of shifting our processing resource to focus on older applications.
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Current focus
10.
We are currently focussing on processing the oldest applications to reduce the disparity in
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application processing times. We are also considering how we can more efficiently progress
applications which require the most engagements with customers, to free up resource to
reduce overall work in hand.
11.
We are drafting changes to guidance for staff, in anticipation of changes to the Citizenship
Guidance Document.
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12.
Across the Branch we are focussing our resources on reducing passport processing times. Once
passport processing is within 10 working days, we are planning to cross-skill some staff to
process citizenship by grant applications.

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Maria Robertson
Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery and Operations

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Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
To provide you with an update on progress in assessing applications for citizenship by grant in
June 2024, including the reasons for the differences in processing time for applicants.
Current work on hand
2.
A total of 3,703 citizenship by grant applications were completed in June. The total work on
hand as of 1 July 2024 is 26,798, a decrease of 2.5% from last month. Of these applications,
4,930 are allocated and being assessed and 21,868 are unassigned. Applications that were
allocated and being assessed for eligibility in June were received in May 2023.
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3.
A focus on applications where applicants clearly met the standard requirements and required
less manual assessment resulted in an increase of 621 applications being completed in June
compared to May.
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4.
The graph below shows the applications we received and completed from June 2023 to June
2024.
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Age of applications on hand
5.
Each month a number of newer applications are able to be processed through largely
automated checks. These checks match the information and photos supplied against that held
by Immigration New Zealand, check the applicant has the correct visa and meets the
requirement to have been present in New Zealand, and can establish the applicant’s English
language capability through their country of nationality or visa type. Once character checks
with Police and security agencies are complete, many of these applications can be approved
within a very short time.
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6.
In June we focussed on the applications where applicants clearly meet the standard
requirements set out in the Citizenship Act. This means we had less focus on applications
where the information available (either through the automated checks or provided by the
applicant) did not demonstrate the applicant met the requirements, or on applicants asking
you to exercise your discretion and waive one or more of the requirements. Many of these
applications pass most or all of the automated checks. This meant we processed a high

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number of applications for the month but did not significantly reduce the older applications on
hand. We continue to balance the number of staff working on newer and older applications. As
applicants that do not meet the requirements take significantly more work, and usually require
a lot of correspondence with the applicant, these applications progress at a slower rate and
require more staff time.
7.
The graph below shows the age of applications completed in May and June. It shows the
impact of shifting our processing resource to focus on older applications.
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Current focus
11.
In July we are focussing on processing the oldest applications to reduce the disparity in
application processing times. We are also considering how we can more efficiently progress
applications which require the most engagements with applicants, to free up resource to
reduce overall work in hand.
12.
We have updated and published the Citizenship Guidance document which is now available to
the public on the Department’s website.
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13.
We are finalising our guidance to staff around the changes and have started to implement
these where you have agreed a submission is now required in relation to good character, you
should start seeing the effects of this in the coming months when reviewing submissions.
14.
Once passport processing is within 10 working days, we are planning to cross-skill some staff to
progress citizenship by grant applications.

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Next briefing
15.
You will receive the next briefing on Thursday 8th August 2024.

Maria Robertson
Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery and Operations

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Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
To provide you with an update on progress in assessing applications for citizenship by grant in
July 2024, including the reasons for the differences in processing time for applicants.
Current work on hand
2.
A total of 3,356 citizenship by grant applications were completed in July. The total work on
hand as of 1 August 2024 is 26,982, an increase of 0.7% from last month. Of these applications,
4,795 are allocated and being assessed and 22,187 are unassigned. Applications that were
allocated and being assessed for eligibility in July were received in June 2023.
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3.
A focus on applications that required more manual assessment resulted in a larger number of
older applications completed, and a decrease of 347 applications being completed in July
compared to June.
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4.
The graph below shows the applications we received and completed from July 2023 to July
2024.
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Age of applications on hand
5.
Each month a number of newer applications are able to be processed through largely
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automated checks. These checks match the information and photos supplied against that held
by Immigration New Zealand, check the applicant has the correct visa and meets the
requirement to have been present in New Zealand, and can establish the applicant’s English
language capability through their country of nationality or visa type. Once character checks
with Police and security agencies are complete, many of these applications can be approved
within a very short time.
6.
In June and July we focussed on processing older applications, to reduce the overall wait time
for citizenship by grant. We will continue this focus in August. Older applications usually
require a lot of correspondence with the applicant and more detailed assessment of
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entitlement, these applications require more staff time and progress at a slower rate. The
impact of the increased focus in June was seen across June and July.
7.
The graph below shows the age of applications completed in June and July. It shows the impact
of shifting our processing resource to focus on older applications. It shows that in July the
Department completed 82% more applications older than 12 months than in June.

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Average working days of completed applications
8.
The average number of working days for an application to receive an outcome in July was 189
days. This is an increase of 81 days or 43% compared to 108 days in June.
9.
The graph below shows the average number of working days to outcome over the past five
months, this demonstrates how the average in May and July increased when focusing on older
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applications which require more time assessing and requesting more information from the
applicant.
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Current focus
13.
In August we will continue to focus on processing the oldest applications. We will balance this
with staff assigned to those applications that don’t require as much manual assessment
through automated checks, to be processed. We are also considering how we can more
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efficiently progress applications which require the most engagements with applicants, to free
up resource to reduce overall work in hand.
14.
We have finalised our guidance to staff around the changes to the Citizenship Guidance
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Document and in line with current good character policy, overseas convictions for violence and
dishonesty are treated consistently with New Zealand law.
15.
We are currently cross-skilling 11 staff members who are into their second of three weeks of
training, and we will be cross-skilling a further 20 staff members. Their training is scheduled to
commence on 12 August 2024.
16.
Following the conclusion of training for the 30 cross-skilled staff members, the expected
number of staff trained in citizenship will increase from 57 to a total of 87, an increase of 65%
more staff that will be assessing citizenship applications.
17.
Once fully trained and only assessing citizenship applications, it is expected the increase in
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staff will reduce the number of applications that are unassigned by up to 1,800 applications
per month, an increase of 55% more applications; and increase the number of applications
that are completed each month by up to 1,700, an increase of 65%.

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Next briefing
18.
You will receive the next briefing on Thursday 5th September 2024.

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Maria Robertson
Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery and Operations
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Current focus
13.
In September we will continue to focus on processing the oldest applications and continue to
follow up with those customers with applications on hold to progress them. We will balance
this with staff assigned to those applications that don’t require as much manual assessment
through automated checks, to be processed. We are also considering how we can more
efficiently progress applications which require the most engagements with applicants, to free
up resource to reduce overall work in hand.
14.
In July, we began cross-skilling 30 staff on citizenship by grant tasks. The first group of 10 staff
have recently completed the first part of citizenship training. As a result of their training, they
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are able to complete two of the three tasks when assessing a citizenship by grant application.
We have a further 20 staff members continuing citizenship training, who will begin processing
citizenship applications in the coming weeks.
15.
We are currently looking to develop further training and support with submissions. This will
reduce the number of submissions on hand waiting to be reviewed and increase the number of
submissions that will be sent to you for a decision each month.
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16.
We will also continue to look at opportunities to cross-skill other staff members to citizenship
as the demand requires. the

Next briefing
17.
You will receive the next briefing on Thursday 10th October 2024. In the Passports Processing
Update the Department has recommended the Department shift to a monthly life and identity
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products and services processing update. Should you agree, this briefing will include
citizenship by grant data.

Maria Robertson
Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery and Operations

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Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
This briefing updates you on the Department of Internal Affairs’ (the Department) current
volumes in passports, citizenship, RealMe Verified Identities and births, deaths and marriages
applications. It also sets out how the Department is managing upcoming planned system
changes and forecast volumes.
2.
Data on delivery performance for the Department’s life and identity products is included as
Appendix A.
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3.
The Department tracks performance metrics across all life and identity products and services,
across all locations, and for all delivery channels, task types and employees. This data provides
the insights used to continually improve productivity, efficiency, cost and service standards.
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Citizenship by grant
Current work on hand
13.
In September the Department received 3,641 applications and completed 4,020 applications
for citizenship by grant2.  The number of completed applications is the highest recorded this
year.  On 30 September there were 26,638 applications on hand a decrease of 1.5% from last
month.  Of these applications, 5,632 are allocated and being assessed and 21,006 are
unassigned. Applications that were allocated and being assessed for eligibility in September
were received in August 2023.
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14.
The graph below shows the applications we received and completed from September 2023 to
September 2024.
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Age of applications on hand
15.
The applications completed each month are a mix of new applications that are able to be
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assessed using automated checks and older applications that require more manual work.
16.
We continue to focus on processing older applications which require more manual work and
time to assess.   This results in an immediate increase in the average overall wait time reported
for applicants (16% higher in September than in August), but a decrease over the medium term
as we work though these queues. The ultimate objective is to reduce the time for all
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applicants to receive an answer.
17.
The graph below shows the age of the applications completed in August and September.
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2 Completed applications are applications where the applicant withdrew, was granted citizenship, or has been
referred to you as a submission.

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Current focus
18.
In October we will continue to focus on reducing the citizenship by grant processing
timeframes by focusing on older applications and following-up with customers with
applications on hold, to progress them.

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19.
There are currently 82 staff skilled in citizenship by grant tasks, including 28 people that have
recently completed citizenship by grant cross-skill training from other products/services.
These people have started assessing citizenship by grant applications.  It takes  about six
months to become fully competent in assessing the full range of grant applications so we
expect to see an increase in productivity in the coming months as these cross-skilled staff
become more proficient.  Cross-skilling training for a further six staff in Auckland will
commence on 14 October as we continue to look at opportunities to cross-skill other staff
members to citizenship as the demand requires. To reduce the number of submissions on
hand and awaiting review we will be piloting submissions training this month. We expect this
will increase the number of submissions that will be sent to you each month for a decision.
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Systems and policy changes
Changes are planned to the citizenship by grant system
23.
In 2020 we implemented a new citizenship by grant system. That system has been
incrementally improved over the past four years. In November we plan to introduce new
system functionality to manage citizenship confirmation letters, this includes the creation of a
new Confirmations Register.
24.
We are planning for a bigger change in early 2025, which will incorporate our common
capability, identity proofing service (IDP) for citizenship by grant applications. The Identity
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proofing service is at the heart of the passports changes made earlier this year, and the
cornerstone of the Department’s identity strategy. This will enable:
•  the creation of a single person record, across all service delivery products, improving
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management of entitlement, eligibility and integrity of the products and services we
deliver;
•  a standardized and automated identity proofing workflow, resulting in effort and
processing time savings, a reduction in errors and risk and improve data integrity; and
•  expanded and improved utility of current service delivery products and potential future
products.
25.
This change will increase productivity through streamlined processes and automation allowing
staff to focus on high-value tasks and problem solving.
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Visa changes will mean a sharp increase in citizenship applications
32.
In December 2021, a new one-off simplified pathway to residence was launched by
Immigration New Zealand. People can apply for New Zealand citizenship five years after
receiving a visa enabling them to remain in New Zealand indefinitely. Citizenship by grant
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application numbers tend to be around 80% of the number of people who received residence
visas five years prior.
33.
We expect a small surge of approximately 58,000 applications to begin in 2026-2027 financial
the
year, due to approximately 83,000 residency approvals in 2021-2022. A second larger surge of
112,000 applications is expected in 2027-2028 following 160,000 residency approvals for 2022-
2023.  We estimate that up to 70% of people will apply for citizenship within 5 to 6 years of
their residency approval.
34.
An increase in citizenship by grant applications will likely flow through to a smaller increase in
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New Zealand passport applications.
35.
The changes planned to the citizenship processing system are expected to decrease the staff
effort required to assess an application. These are planned with plenty of time for staff to
adjust to the changes, and any unexpected impacts to be managed before this peak.
36.
The graph below provides more details information on citizenship forecast volumes up to July
2033.
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Life and identity products and services performance measures
37.
As part of the Department’s progress towards developing Life and Identity products and
services performance measure dashboards, Appendix A reflects the first iterative of the new
measures for passports, citizenship by grants, birth, death, marriage and civil union
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registrations and RealMe verified identities. The analytics include measures for September
2024.

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