14 April 2022
Ranjit Toor
[FYI request #18997 email]
Ref: DOIA 2122-1885
Dear Ranjit Toor,
Thank you for your email of 28 March 2022 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) the
following information:
I am a permanent resident in New Zealand. I would like to request some information regarding
Culturally Arranged Marriage Visa Application.
1. Can you please advise how many applications are in queue as of 28-03-2022?
2. Can you please advise what is the current date for which applications for culturally arranged
marriage visa are being processed?
3. Please advise if the allocation of applications is done according to date they were submitted
or is there any different criteria currently in place.
4. If possible, would you please be able to provide a breakdown (monthly) of how many
applications were received since September 2021?
5. Would you please advise how many applications were approved and declined during last 1
year?
Our Response
Question 1
Due to the limitations in our reporting system, we are unable to provide an accurate figure on the
queue size as at 28 March 2022. We can, however, advise you that as of 4 April 2022, there were 66
unallocated Culturally Arranged Marriage (CAM) visa applications in the queue.
Question 2
The oldest unallocated CAM application was lodged on 23 February 2022.
Question 3
CAM applications are currently allocated in accordance with instructions A16.1, which states
applications of the same type are generally processed in lodgement date order.
More information on this can be found here: Operational Manual - Immigration New Zealand. Issue
Date: 2 February 2022Operational Manual - Immigration New Zealand. Issue Date: 22 August 2016
1
Question 4
Please refer to Appendix 1 table 1 for the monthly breakdown of applications received since
September 2021.
Question 5
Please refer to Appendix 1 table 2 for the number of approved and declined applications from 6 April
2021 to 6 April 2022. Please note “declined” applications include applications declined based on
conditions such as not meeting policy criteria, withdrawn due to a client request, withdrawn and
replaced by a new application or withdrawn due to a subsequent application being approved. This
does not include applications which failed lodgement or INZ refused to consider
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further
assistance, please contact
[email address] 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,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
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