Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

I am requesting answers to the following questions regarding citizenship applications:

1) How many applications were received in October 2020 for the following three categories?
In-person applications received (Please provide a breakdown by the city of application):
Online applications received:
Postal applications received:

2) How many applications received in October 2020 have been processed? Please provide a breakdown as per the three above-mentioned categories.
In-person applications processed (Please provide a breakdown by the city of application):
Online applications processed:
Postal applications processed:

3) Statistics on the processing times of applications received in October 2020 by the three above-mentioned categories:
Mean, median, maximum, and minimum processing time of In-person applications processed (Please provide a breakdown by the city of application):
Mean, median, maximum, and minimum processing time of Online applications processed:
Mean, median, maximum, and minimum processing time of Postal applications processed:

4) Do you maintain a single queue for processing all citizenship applications regardless of which method is used for submission? If you prioritized one application category over another, then how do you plan to redress the discrepancy? Given that all applicants pay the same application fee, it is unfair that the application method should dictate how quickly the application is processed.

5) When will you start processing online applications received in October 2020?

6) Why does the Citizenship website not provide statistics on applications that have been received to date, the average processing time by category, and the median processing time by category? This is a simple update to the website. The counter can be updated daily providing greater accountability, transparency, and clarity on how applications are being processed.
The statement - It takes 9 to 14 months to find out if your application to become a New Zealand citizen has been approved - does not provide much detail.

Yours faithfully,
Nick Sampson

Dear The Department of Internal Affairs,

Your processing time calculation is deceptive. It does not include the crucial wait time of the application. From the perspective of the applicant including the wait time is important and in general, should be always included in the processing time. This is the reason why the average values for online and paper applications are similar. You have not disclosed when the applications mentioned in the table were allocated to LISO.

For transparency and accountability purposes, please revise the table and show the processing times based on when the applicant made payment for the application and when a decision was made for that applicant.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Sampson