04 May 2021
Anatoliy Goryachev
By email: fyi‐request‐14878‐[email address]
File No: DOIA 2021‐1736
Dear Anatoliy Goryachev
Thank you for your email of 08 March 2021, requesting the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
1) Could you please share the numbers on how many residence applications were allocated
to case officers (separately for priority and non‐priority queue) for each of the weeks below:
Week commencing 04 January 2021; Week commencing 11 January 2021; Week
commencing 18 January 2021; Week commencing 25 January 2021; Week commencing 01
February 2021; Week commencing 08 February 2021; Week commencing 15 February 2021;
Week commencing 22 February 2021; Week commencing 01 March 2021; Week
commencing 08 March 2021; Week commencing 15 March 2021; Week commencing 22
March 2021; Week commencing 29 March 2021, etc... (Please provide numbers up to the
date of the reply)
2) What is the total number of priority / non‐priority applications in SMC/RFW queue
currently awaiting for CO allocation? Also, please provide number of applicants behind these
applications.
3) Could you please provide data for the number of EOI applications (and number of
applicants behind these EOIs) currently sitting in the pool and waiting for the selection.
4) What is the total number of offshore applications in the SMC queue currently awaiting for
CO allocation? Please provide number of applicants behind these applications.
Our response
1) Could you please share the numbers on how many residence applications were allocated to case
officers (separately for priority and non‐priority queue) for each of the weeks below…
From the context of your request we have interpreted your request to relate to skilled residence
applications. Please refer to Table One attached.
2) What is the total number of priority / non‐priority applications in SMC/RFW queue currently
awaiting for CO allocation? Also, please provide number of applicants behind these applications.
Please refer to Table Two attached for the number of applications and applicants in the skilled
residence queues awaiting allocation, as at 25 March 2021.
3) Could you please provide data for the number of EOI applications (and number of applicants behind
these EOIs) currently sitting in the pool and waiting for the selection.
We have interpreted this question to relate to Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Expressions of Interest
(EOI) given the context of the other questions. As at 25 March 2021, there were 8,159 SMC EOI
awaiting selection from the pool, including 18,296 applicants.
4) What is the total number of offshore applications in the SMC queue currently awaiting for CO
allocation? Please provide number of applicants behind these applications.
INZ does not have a specific SMC queue, but rather one for skilled residence applications, which
includes SMC and Residence from Work (RFW). Please refer to Table Two attached which provides a
breakdown of the skilled residence queues including the number of offshore applications and
applicants.
Skilled residence queue data is not static due to the complex nature of visa processing operations.
Applications move between queues and this needs to be taken into account when comparing data
over time. The data changes over time for reasons such as but not limited to:
Applicants arriving into New Zealand on critical purpose visas result in their applications
moving from the offshore queue to one of the onshore queues;
A change in an applicant’s circumstances resulting in their application meeting the priority
criteria and being moved to the priority queue;
Applications being escalated via the Employment Visa Escalation (EVE) process ‐
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about‐us/media‐centre/newsletters/korero/korero‐july‐
2019/employment‐visa‐escalations‐eve;
Applications selected to be used in training new Immigration Officers.
Most data used in OIA responses is pulled directly from the INZ Application Management System
(AMS), and reflects the date that the data entry relating to the application was completed in AMS. On
occasion an application is received by INZ on one date, but the data entry is not completed until a
later date. In the interest of fairness, when allocating applications the Manukau office use the date
that all information required for the acceptance of the application was actually received by INZ rather
than the date the data entry was completed – which reflects when a client will perceive their
application to have been submitted. This means that there may be differences noted in the allocation
data, which is sourced directly from the Manukau office, when compared with other statistics about
skilled residence, including number and dates of applications in the queues.
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 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 ‐ Allocation information relating to skilled residence (SMC and RFW) applications
Week commencing
Priority skilled
Non‐priority skilled
Applications
residence
residence applications
allocated via the
applications
allocated
employment visa
allocated
escalation (EVE)
process1
4 January 2021
47
104
4
11 January 2021
16
97
2
18 January 2021
49
114
0
25 January 2021
58
92
5
1 February 2021
41
129
3
9 February 2021
17
177
0
16 February 2021
60
17
6
22 February 2021
21
49
0
1 March 2021
35
30
1
8 March 2021
52
0
0
15 March 2021
73
49
0
22 March 2021
16
118
0
29 March 2021
26
80
2
5 April 2021
47
20
0
12 April 2021
37
31
1
19 April 2021
79
4
0
26 April 2021
45
39
3
1
Employment Visa Escalation is a process to respond to escalation requests for urgent allocation for
employment related visas (and associated family members) for both Temporary Work Visas and Skilled
Resident Visas. For more information see the INZ website here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about‐
us/media‐centre/newsletters/korero/korero‐july‐2019/employment‐visa‐escalations‐eve
Table Two ‐ Number of applications and applicants in the skilled residence queues awaiting
allocation, as at 25 March 2021
Priority
Onshore non‐priority
Offshore non‐priority queue
queue
queue
Applications
58
11,466
1,607
Applicants
148
25,273
4,544
