Ref: 2021-2341

 

Dear Harshit,

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 19^th May 2021 requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

 

‘1. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total discrimination by Priority & Non Priority
queues from July 2019 to May 2021. 2. How many Talent (Accredited
Employer) Residence Visa applications have been processed out of total
applications discriminated by the applicant who has occupational
registration from July 2019 to May 2021. 3. Immigration website indicates
"As of 29 March 2021, Immigration New Zealand is allocating:
Non-prioritised SMC and Residence from Work applications received in
August 2019". Does that include Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence
Visa as well. 4. Data that Immigration NZ has used to conclude the 90% of
Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications getting processed
within 13 months (link below).
[1]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zeal...
4. Number of new work to residence visas been issued under the old rules
($55k salary threshold) to people whose Talent (Accredited Employer)
Residence Visa application being processed.’

 

Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course.

 

If you have any enquiries regarding your request, or its urgency, feel
free to contact us via email at [2][MBIE request email].

 

Nâku noa, nâ

MINISTERIAL SERVICES

               

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

NZBN 9429000106078

 

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zeal...
2. mailto:[MBIE request email]
3. http://www.govt.nz/

Kia Ora

On 19 May 2021, you asked the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). We are currently processing your request, however we would like to check under Section 12 of the Act, which provides that any person may make a request where they are:

* a New Zealand citizen; or
* a permanent resident of New Zealand; or * a person who is in New Zealand; or * a body corporate which is incorporated in New Zealand; or * a body corporate which is incorporated outside New Zealand but which has a place of business in New Zealand.

MBIE requires more information to establish your compliance with section 12. An original of any one of the following items is acceptable as a demonstration of your eligibility:

* A recent bill from the company who supplies your power, gas, water, phone or internet services * Council rates notice * A letter from the Electoral Office * Travel itinerary * Anything from a government agency that includes your name and address * Unexpired Rental or Tenancy Agreement.

A scanned copy of one of the above can be sent to INZOIAs @ mbie.govt.nz

Once MBIE receives this additional information from you, and is satisfied that the requirements of section 12 have been met, we will respond to your request. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria of section 12, MBIE will still consider your request. Please respond by 25 May 2021. If do not respond by 25 May 2021 your request will deemed to be withdrawn.

Sincerely,

Margee Do
Senior Advisor

Business Management, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] | 021 853 029
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington, New Zealand
NZBN 9429000106078

show quoted sections

Hi Harshit,

 

Thank you for your email. Before we proceed with your OIA request we are
seeking clarification from you on parts of your request, in order for us
to provide you with the information you are actually looking for.

 

Please see your request below followed by my comments:

 

1. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total discrimination by Priority & Non Priority
queues from July 2019 to May 2021.

Once an application is pulled from a holding queue i.e Priority or Non
Priority queue, and allocated to a case officer, the queue in which the
application was held in is information INZ would no longer have record on
and therefore unable to provide data on. We can however either provide the
total number of Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications
on hand that are still yet to be decided broken down by those that were
accepted during period July 2019 – May 2021, or the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were completed and
decided during period July 2019 – May 2021.

 

Please clarify the information you are wanting for this part of your
request.

 

2. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total applications discriminated by the applicant
who has occupational registration from July 2019 to May 2021.

For this part of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications decided (approved and
declined) during period July 2019 – May 2021 where the principal applicant
had occupational registration?

 

3. Immigration website indicates "As of 29 March 2021, Immigration New
Zealand is allocating: Non-prioritised SMC and Residence from Work
applications received in August 2019". Does that include Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa as well.

I can respond to this part of your request and confirm that yes, this does
include Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications. 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.

 

4. Data that Immigration NZ has used to conclude the 90% of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications getting processed within
13 months (link below).

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zeal...

Could you please clarify what you are looking for here? Also you may find
the attached document helpful. This is a previous OIA response we released
which includes the average calendar days taken to process Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications completed in the last 3
months from 08 January 2021 to 07 April 2021 (inclusive).

 

4. Number of new work to residence visas been issued under the old rules
($55k salary threshold) to people whose Talent (Accredited Employer)
Residence Visa application being processed.  

INZ centralised the processing of skilled residence applications in the
Manukau office. The priority criteria for the allocation of skilled
residence applications within the Manukau Office has been in place since
May 2018. At the time the following criteria was used:

a.       Salary is above the high remuneration threshold

b.       Occupation is one that requires registration through a governing
body and applicant holds current registration.

c.       Employer is a government department

d.       Application is under the residence from Work.

 

In September 2019 the above criteria was reviewed due to the high volume
of prioritised applications. This resulted in the creation of the
following priority allocation criteria which was formalised in the
immigration instructions on 24 February 2020:

a.       Applications where the principal applicant is paid twice the
median wage or higher (currently NZD $51 an hour or NZD $106,080 a year),
or

b.       Applications where the principal applicant works in an occupation
where registration is required by immigration instructions and holds that
registration.

 

For part 4 of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were approved
before 24 February 2020? Unfortunately due to the complexities in how
Residence from work and Skilled Migrant Category salary and remuneration
information is stored within INZ’s Application Management System, in order
to break this data down by the principal applicant’s remuneration, is not
held in a reportable format and would require a staff member to manually
review each individual application on hand to identify those that are
within scope of your request.

 

Therefore if this part of your request includes a breakdown by
remuneration, it likely that the Ministry will refuse part of the request
under section 18(f) of the OIA because the information requested cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.

 

Please provide a response by 26 May 2021 so we can then proceed with your
request.

 

Kind Regards,

Lautalie Leausa Vaa
SENIOR BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border & Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[1][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4  896 5342
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Hi Harshit,

 

Thanks for your response, however you have not addressed the questions
raised in my previous email regarding clarification on what you are
looking for. We also noted that some information we will not be able to
provide such as a breakdown to identify applications with occupational
registration. Please see my comments below which we will need
clarification on before we can proceed with your OIA:

 

Please see your request below followed by my comments:

 

1. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total discrimination by Priority & Non Priority
queues from July 2019 to May 2021.

Please clarify the information you are wanting for this part of your
request. Once an application is pulled from a holding queue i.e Priority
or Non Priority queue, and allocated to a case officer, the queue in which
the application was held in is information INZ would no longer have record
on and therefore unable to provide data on. We can however either provide
the total number of Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa
applications on hand that are still yet to be decided broken down by those
that were accepted during period July 2019 – May 2021, or the total number
of Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were
completed and decided during period July 2019 – May 2021.

 

 

2. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total applications discriminated by the applicant
who has occupational registration from July 2019 to May 2021.

For this part of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications decided (approved and
declined) during period July 2019 – May 2021 where the principal applicant
had occupational registration?

 

3. Immigration website indicates "As of 29 March 2021, Immigration New
Zealand is allocating: Non-prioritised SMC and Residence from Work
applications received in August 2019". Does that include Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa as well.

I can respond to this part of your request and confirm that yes, this does
include Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications. 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.

 

4. Data that Immigration NZ has used to conclude the 90% of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications getting processed within
13 months (link below).

[1]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zeal...

Could you please clarify what you are looking for here? Also you may find
the attached document helpful. This is a previous OIA response we released
which includes the average calendar days taken to process Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications completed in the last 3
months from 08 January 2021 to 07 April 2021 (inclusive).

 

4. Number of new work to residence visas been issued under the old rules
($55k salary threshold) to people whose Talent (Accredited Employer)
Residence Visa application being processed.  

INZ centralised the processing of skilled residence applications in the
Manukau office. The priority criteria for the allocation of skilled
residence applications within the Manukau Office has been in place since
May 2018. At the time the following criteria was used:

 a. Salary is above the high remuneration threshold
 b. Occupation is one that requires registration through a governing body
and applicant holds current registration.
 c. Employer is a government department
 d. Application is under the residence from Work.

 

In September 2019 the above criteria was reviewed due to the high volume
of prioritised applications. This resulted in the creation of the
following priority allocation criteria which was formalised in the
immigration instructions on 24 February 2020:

 a. Applications where the principal applicant is paid twice the median
wage or higher (currently NZD $51 an hour or NZD $106,080 a year), or
 b. Applications where the principal applicant works in an occupation
where registration is required by immigration instructions and holds
that registration.

 

For part 4 of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were approved
before 24 February 2020? Unfortunately due to the complexities in how
Residence from work and Skilled Migrant Category salary and remuneration
information is stored within INZ’s Application Management System, in order
to break this data down by the principal applicant’s remuneration, is not
held in a reportable format and would require a staff member to manually
review each individual application on hand to identify those that are
within scope of your request.

 

Therefore if this part of your request includes a breakdown by
remuneration, it likely that the Ministry will refuse part of the request
under section 18(f) of the OIA because the information requested cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.

 

Please provide a response by 02 June 2021 so we can then proceed with your
request.

 

 

Kind Regards,

Lautalie Leausa Vaa
SENIOR BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border & Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[2][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4  896 5342
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

 

show quoted sections

Hi there Harshit,

 

Just following up on the email sent through to you on 28 May 2021 further
clarifying your request. We required a response by 02 June however as at
09 June we have not received a response from you regarding your request.

 

Please advise if you wish for us to proceed with your request by
responding to the email sent to you on 28 May further clarifying the
information you are looking for. If no response is received by Friday 11
June 2021, your OIA request will be withdrawn. Once withdrawn, you are
welcome to submit a new request once you are able to clearly clarify the
specific information you are after.

 

 

Kind Regards,

Lautalie Leausa Vaa
SENIOR BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border & Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[1][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4  896 5342
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

From: Lautalie Leausa Vaa
Sent: Friday, 28 May 2021 9:50 AM
To: Harshit Garg <[FOI #15508 email]>
Subject: RE: DOIA 2021-2341 - Harshit Garg - Clarification of request
[IN-CONFIDENCE:RELEASE EXTERNAL]

 

Hi Harshit,

 

Thanks for your response, however you have not addressed the questions
raised in my previous email regarding clarification on what you are
looking for. We also noted that some information we will not be able to
provide such as a breakdown to identify applications with occupational
registration. Please see my comments below which we will need
clarification on before we can proceed with your OIA:

 

Please see your request below followed by my comments:

 

1. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total discrimination by Priority & Non Priority
queues from July 2019 to May 2021.

Please clarify the information you are wanting for this part of your
request. Once an application is pulled from a holding queue i.e Priority
or Non Priority queue, and allocated to a case officer, the queue in which
the application was held in is information INZ would no longer have record
on and therefore unable to provide data on. We can however either provide
the total number of Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa
applications on hand that are still yet to be decided broken down by those
that were accepted during period July 2019 – May 2021, or the total number
of Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were
completed and decided during period July 2019 – May 2021.

 

 

2. How many Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications have
been processed out of total applications discriminated by the applicant
who has occupational registration from July 2019 to May 2021.

For this part of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications decided (approved and
declined) during period July 2019 – May 2021 where the principal applicant
had occupational registration?

 

3. Immigration website indicates "As of 29 March 2021, Immigration New
Zealand is allocating: Non-prioritised SMC and Residence from Work
applications received in August 2019". Does that include Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa as well.

I can respond to this part of your request and confirm that yes, this does
include Talent (Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications. 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.

 

4. Data that Immigration NZ has used to conclude the 90% of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications getting processed within
13 months (link below).

[2]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zeal...

Could you please clarify what you are looking for here? Also you may find
the attached document helpful. This is a previous OIA response we released
which includes the average calendar days taken to process Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications completed in the last 3
months from 08 January 2021 to 07 April 2021 (inclusive).

 

4. Number of new work to residence visas been issued under the old rules
($55k salary threshold) to people whose Talent (Accredited Employer)
Residence Visa application being processed.  

INZ centralised the processing of skilled residence applications in the
Manukau office. The priority criteria for the allocation of skilled
residence applications within the Manukau Office has been in place since
May 2018. At the time the following criteria was used:

 a. Salary is above the high remuneration threshold
 b. Occupation is one that requires registration through a governing body
and applicant holds current registration.
 c. Employer is a government department
 d. Application is under the residence from Work.

 

In September 2019 the above criteria was reviewed due to the high volume
of prioritised applications. This resulted in the creation of the
following priority allocation criteria which was formalised in the
immigration instructions on 24 February 2020:

 a. Applications where the principal applicant is paid twice the median
wage or higher (currently NZD $51 an hour or NZD $106,080 a year), or
 b. Applications where the principal applicant works in an occupation
where registration is required by immigration instructions and holds
that registration.

 

For part 4 of your request are you wanting the total number of Talent
(Accredited Employer) Residence Visa applications that were approved
before 24 February 2020? Unfortunately due to the complexities in how
Residence from work and Skilled Migrant Category salary and remuneration
information is stored within INZ’s Application Management System, in order
to break this data down by the principal applicant’s remuneration, is not
held in a reportable format and would require a staff member to manually
review each individual application on hand to identify those that are
within scope of your request.

 

Therefore if this part of your request includes a breakdown by
remuneration, it likely that the Ministry will refuse part of the request
under section 18(f) of the OIA because the information requested cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.

 

Please provide a response by 02 June 2021 so we can then proceed with your
request.

 

 

Kind Regards,

Lautalie Leausa Vaa
SENIOR BUSINESS ADVISOR

Operations Support, Border & Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[3][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4  896 5342
Level 1, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

 

show quoted sections