22 March 2012
Jill Liu
By email: [FYI request #14755 email]
File No: DOIA 2021-1612
Dear Jill Liu
Thank you for your email of 24 February 2021, requesting the fol owing information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
Can I request the data of how many SMC onshore applications are unallocated in the queue?
Can you present it by how many priority and non-priority applications each month?
Can I request how many applications allocated in 2021? Can you present it by how many
priority and non-priority applications each week start from the first working week in 2021?
Our response
Can I request the data of how many SMC onshore applications are unallocated in the queue? Can you
present it by how many priority and non-priority applications each month?
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) does not have a specific Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) queue but
one for skilled residence applications. These applications are SMC and Resident from Work (RFW) and
are all processed in the Manukau office. The applications are not split into two separate queues based
on the application category.
Please refer to Table One attached which details the number of onshore skil ed residence (SMC and
RFW) applications in the queue, broken down by priority/non-priority and the month the applications
were accepted by INZ.
Can I request how many applications allocated in 2021? Can you present it by how many priority and
non-priority applications each week start from the first working week in 2021?
Please refer to Table Two attached. Auckland moving to Alert Level 3 twice in February 2021 had an
impact on the processing of skilled residence applications and therefore the capacity of the
Immigration Officers processing these categories to be allocated new applications. While all
Immigration Officers who work on skilled residence applications were able to continue working during
Alert Level 3, it was at differing levels of capacity dependent on infrastructure and personal
constraints.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Anna McLachlan,
Business Advisor, Operations Support, Immigration New Zealand
at [email address]. Yours sincerely
Nicola Hogg
General Manager
Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Table One:
The number of onshore skil ed residence (SMC and RFW) applications awaiting allocation, broken
down by priority/non-priority and the month the applications were accepted by INZ.
Month Accepted
Onshore
Non Priority
Priority
Total
August 2019
448
0
448
September 2019
603
0
603
October 2019
653
1
654
November 2019
803
5
808
December 2019
801
6
807
January 2020
616
1
617
February 2020
961
2
963
March 2020
971
2
973
May 2020
93
0
93
June 2020
1,619
10
1,629
July 2020
1,176
7
1,183
August 2020
212
0
212
September 2020
742
2
744
October 2020
440
1
441
November 2020
482
1
483
December 2020
280
0
280
January 2021
412
4
416
February 2021
205
18
223
March 2021
14
4
18
Please note as applicants’ circumstances change, some non-priority applications may meet the
prioritisation criteria (current occupational registration where registration is required by immigration
instructions or an hourly rate at or above twice the median wage). Such applications will be moved to
the priority queue and al ocated within two weeks.
Table Two:
Allocation information relating to skilled residence (SMC and RFW) applications
Week commencing
Priority skilled residence Non-priority skil ed residence
applications al ocated
applications al ocated
4 January 2021
47
104
11 January 2021
16
97
18 January 2021
49
114
25 January 2021
58
92
1 February 2021
41
129
9 February 2021
17
177
16 February 2021
60
17
22 February 2021
21
49
1 March 2021
35
30
8 March 2021
52
0
