22 March 2021
Ada Cheung
[FYI request #14746 email]
Ref: DOIA 2021-1603
Dear Ada Cheung,
Thank you for your email of 23 February 2021 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA),
the following information:
“May I have the up-to-date information about Skiled Resident (included SMC and RFW) ?
1: Number of weekly Skil ed Resident allocations from December 2020 to date you reply to my
request.
2: Number of Non-priority on-shore applications with lodgement date before 19th October 2019
waiting for allocation from date you reply to my request. Would appreciate if the information
could be provided in a monthly manner.”
Our Response
Question One: “Number of weekly Skil ed Resident allocations from December 2020 to date you reply to
my request”
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has one queue for skilled residence applications. The applications in this
queue include Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) and Resident from Work (RFW), and are not split into two
separate queues based on the application category.
Table one below provides the number of skilled residence applications that were allocated from the
onshore non priority and priority queue between the periods 07 December 2020 to 08 March 2021.
Allocations of applications to immigration officers occur weekly and the number of applications that are
al ocated is dependent upon processing capacity. The Government is currently reviewing its approach to
the New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) and is considering replacing the planning range with a more
targeted approach that focuses on management of specific residence visa types. In the meantime, INZ will
continue to process applications at the same volume and with the same level of resourcing as the previous
NZRP allowed for. This has an impact on the number of applications that can be al ocated and the timeliness
of application processing.
Table One:
Allocation
Priority Non Priority
Date
Queue
Queue
7-Dec-20
52
143
14-Dec-20
57
171
21-Dec-20
50
79
28-Dec-20
0
122
1
4-Jan-21
47
104
11-Jan-21
16
97
18-Jan-21
49
114
25-Jan-21
58
92
1-Feb-21
41
129
8-Feb-21
17
177
15-Feb-21
60
17
22-Feb-21
21
49
1-Mar-21
35
30
8-Mar-21
52
0
Question Two: “Number of Non-priority on-shore applications with lodgement date before 19th October
2019 waiting for al ocation from date you reply to my request. Would appreciate if the information could
be provided in a monthly manner.”
Applications that do not meet the criterion for prioritisation are allocated to an immigration officer in the
order they are received. Applications however, can be prioritised or deprioritised if an applicant’s
circumstances change.
As of 04 March 2021, INZ is allocating:
• Non-prioritised SMC and RFW applications received in August 2019, and
• Prioritised SMC and RFW applications within two weeks of the application joining the priority
queue.
Table two below provides the number of unal ocated skilled residence applications in the onshore non
priority queue as at 04 March 2021, that were accepted for processing before 19 October 2019 (inclusive),
broken down by the month the applications were accepted.
Table Two:
Date
Number of
Accepted
Applications
Aug-19
448
Sep-19
602
Oct-19
429
Any updates in regards to the allocation of applications can be found via the following link:
www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/news-notifications/how-we-prioritise-resident-visa-
applications/smc-and-rfw-timeframe-information
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Lautalie Leausa Vaa,
Senior Business Advisor, Operations Support, Immigration New Zealand at
[email address].
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
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