Grant Johnson
[FYI request #19034 email]
Ref: DOIA 2122-1915
Dear Grant,
Thank you for your email of 2 April 2022 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 the following
information:
“1. What is the number of unallocated applications in the Skilled Residency Stream Queue, as of the
date of your response?
2. Of those applications, how many applications are there, in which the primary applicant for the
Skilled Residency Stream Application (SMC or RFW) is represented in a One-Off 2021 Resident Visa
(RV21), either as the primary applicant of the RV21 application or as the secondary
applicant/partner?
3. Of the remaining number of applications in the Skilled Residency Stream queue who are not
represented in a RV21 application (i.e. answer to question 1 less the answer to question 2), how
many applications are there in which the primary applicant was present in New Zealand on
September 29, 2021 on visa that qualifies for the RV21 (INZ Operational Manual section S6.10.1)
and who also met the "Settled" criteria (described in INZ Operational Manual section S6.15.1) of the
RV21?
4. Of the remaining number of applications in the Skilled Residency Stream queue who are not
represented in a RV21 application and do not meet the settled criteria for RV21 (i.e. the answer to
question 1 minus the answer to questions 2 and 3), how many of them were present in New Zealand
on September 29, 2021 on a visa that qualifies for the RV21? For this last group, can you please
break the numbers down by the visa type they held on that day?”
Our Response
We apologise for the delay in responding to your request.
1. What is the number of unallocated applications in the Skilled Residency Stream Queue, as of the date
of your response?
As at 19 April 2022 there were 4,634 unallocated skilled residence applications on hand.
2. Of those applications, how many applications are there, in which the primary applicant for the Skilled
Residency Stream Application (SMC or RFW) is represented in a One-Off 2021 Resident Visa (RV21), either
as the primary applicant of the RV21 application or as the secondary applicant/partner?
As at 19 April 2022 there were 2,245 unallocated skilled residence applications on hand where the principal
applicant was also included on a 2021 Residence Visa application (2021RV).
Please note that this does not include all 2021RV applications submitted under Phase 2 as the applications
are made in the enhanced Immigration Online system. The applications are held in that system and
released in a controlled way into Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) Application Management System (AMS)
for processing, based on the principal applicant’s current visa expiry date. The information requested is
reported on from AMS and therefore any applications not released to AMS yet will not appear in the data.
3. Of the remaining number of applications in the Skilled Residency Stream queue who are not
represented in a RV21 application (i.e. answer to question 1 less the answer to question 2), how many
applications are there in which the primary applicant was present in New Zealand on September 29, 2021
on visa that qualifies for the RV21 (INZ Operational Manual section S6.10.1) and who also met the
"Settled" criteria (described in INZ Operational Manual section S6.15.1) of the RV21?
The assessment of whether an individual meets the ‘settled’ criteria of the 2021RV category can only be
undertaken once an application has been received. As such your request is being refused in reliance of
section 18(e) of the Act because the information does not exist.
4. Of the remaining number of applications in the Skilled Residency Stream queue who are not
represented in a RV21 application and do not meet the settled criteria for RV21 (i.e. the answer to
question 1 minus the answer to questions 2 and 3), how many of them were present in New Zealand on
September 29, 2021 on a visa that qualifies for the RV21? For this last group, can you please break the
numbers down by the visa type they held on that day?”
As at 19 April 2022, there were 865 unallocated skilled residence applications where the principal applicant
was in New Zealand on 29 September 2021 on an eligible visa and they are not included in Answer 2 with a
RV2021 visa application. Please see the below table for a breakdown of this figure by visa type.
Visa Category
Number of Applications
Essential Skills
59
Post Study Work
4
Religious Worker
26
Work to Residence
776
Total
865
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.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact [email address].
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
