10 May 2021
Saab
By email: [FYI request #15025 email]
File No: DOIA 2021-1924
Dear Saab
Thank you for your email of 29 March 2021, requesting the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
I would like to request a data on a monthly basis the no. of onshore resident visa applications
lodged up to 27.11.2019 that are yet to be allocated to case officers.
I also would like to request a data on the no. of applications that were allocated weekly to
case officers from 1 March to the date you respond to this request showing the lodgement
date of each application, categorised as to priority and non-priority queue.
Thank you for clarifying your request on 10 April 2021 as follows:
1. The number of skil ed residence applications (Skil ed Migrant Category and Residence from
Work) accepted up to and including 27 November 2019, that are currently queued awaiting
allocation to an Immigration Officer, with a breakdown of the month the application was
accepted by Immigration New Zealand.
2. The number of skil ed residence applications allocated to Immigration Officers from 1
March 2021 onwards with a breakdown of their priority status.
Our response
1. The number of skil ed residence applications (Skil ed Migrant Category and Residence from Work)
accepted up to and including 27 November 2019, that are currently queued awaiting allocation to an
Immigration Officer, with a breakdown of the month the application was accepted by Immigration
New Zealand.
Please refer to Table One attached.
Skil ed 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
skil ed residence, including number and dates of applications in the queues.
2. The number of skil ed residence applications allocated to Immigration Officers from 1 March 2021
onwards with a breakdown of their priority status.
Please refer to Table Two attached.
Any updates in regards to the allocation of applications can be found via the following link:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/waiting-for-a-visa/how-long-it-takes-to-
process-your-visa-application/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 - Skilled residence (Skilled Migrant Category and Residence from Work) applications
accepted before and on 27 November 2019 awaiting allocation, as at 20 April 2021.
Accepted
Offshore Non Priority Onshore Non Priority
Priority applications
Month-Year
applications
applications
Jan-19
28
.
.
Feb-19
112
.
.
Mar-19
62
.
.
Apr-19
68
.
.
May-19
82
.
.
Jun-19
76
.
.
Jul-19
119
1
.
Aug-19
96
268
.
Sep-19
86
579
.
Oct-19
87
628
2
Nov-19
81
654
1
Note that visa processing for overseas applicants is still on hold. This is because INZ is not able to
legally grant a visa to people who are unlikely to meet the entry requirements. As such, offshore
applications have been separated. Processing of these offshore applications will resume when the
border re-opens. There may however be some offshore applicants based in a quarantine-free travel
zone who will meet entry requirements. Once their eligibility to travel to New Zealand is confirmed,
these applications will also be processed.
link to page 4
T able Two - Allocation information relating to skilled residence (SMC and RFW) applications
Week commencing
Priority skilled
Non-priority skil ed
Applications
residence
residence applications
al ocated via the
applications
al ocated
employment visa
al ocated
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
3 May 2021
41
46
0
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 Skil ed
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
