24 August 2021
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Mohamed Abdelhamid
fyi-request-16206-
[email address]
Dear Mohamed
OIA request 21/22 0076 Request for information relating to citizenship processing timeframes
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 27 July 2021.
You requested –
1. Number of processed applications in 2019/2020/2021 first half
2. Numbers of case officers allocated in each year and if there have been a reduction in the
case officers numbers
3. reasons for these delays beyond 8 weeks of lockdown in NZ with as the processing time
has increased far beyond 8 weeks of delays.
4. What is the DIA plan to resolve these delays and
5. by when this plan should be deployed?
6. what is the targeted processing time after deploying this plan?
In response to your request, I can advise that pursuant to section 15(1)(b) of the Act, the
Department has decided to provide you with the information you seek. However, we are still
working to prepare the Information for release and will provide it as soon as practicable. We
anticipate having the requested information to you no later than 16 September 2021.
As the information you have requested may be of interest to other members of the public, the
Department has decided to proactively release a copy of our responses to this request on the
DIA website. All requestor data, including your name and contact details, will be removed prior
to release. The released responses will be made available here:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
Page 2 of 2
