Tçnâ koe John,

Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs (included with this email)

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as practicable and within twenty working days.  The 20th working day is 8 September 2022

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website.  If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.

Nâku, nâ

Michelle Reed (she/her)  
Kaitohutohu Ârahi, te Ture Pârongo Ôkawa | Lead Advisor Official Correspondence 
Te Urûngi | Organisational Strategy & Performance
Level 6, 45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand |  www.dia.govt.nz

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Tēnā koe John,

You have advised that you wish to alter the scope of your request. We have adjusted the scope of your request accordingly.

Your updated request is:

1) Number of new citizenship by grant applications from May 2022 to present date (month-by-month).

2) Number of citizenship by grant applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Sep).

3) Number of citizenship case officers trained to assess Citizenship by grant Applications as of August 15.

4)Number and Description (what they check/what needs to be verified) of different queues of citizenship by grant applications awaiting being assigned to a case officer

5) Number of citizenship by grants applications per queue.

6) Number of trained case officers per queue.

7) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are pass or fail the automatic checks. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.

8) Top 3 reasons citizenship by grant application failed the automated checks and the number of applications per reason (Jan 2022 - August 2022).

9) All e-mails, correspondence and/or MS Team chat discussing the Citizenship Office end-of the year target (December 2022) relating to the number of unassigned Citizenship by grant applications.

As your amendment has changed the scope of your request, the request is treated as a new request that replaces the original as of the date of the amendment (in accordance with section 15(1AA) of the Act). The timeframe for response has been adjusted accordingly. The Department’s response will now be provided as soon as practicable and by no later than 12 September 2022.

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website.  If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.

Nāku, nā

Michelle Reed (she/her)  
Kaitohutohu Ārahi, te Ture Pārongo Ōkawa | Lead Advisor Official Correspondence 
Te Urūngi | Organisational Strategy & Performance
Level 6, 45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand |  www.dia.govt.nz

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Kia ora John,

Summarising recent changes to your requests on FYI. I have labelled your requests below as 1, 2 and 3 for clarity. You have withdrawn request 1 on 14 August and it has been closed. You made request 2 on 11 August and subsequently on 14 August you made a change to the scope of this request. In addition, on 14 August, you made request 3 separately on the same topic.

[1]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20213-citizen...
2223-0087 - due by 26 August 2022
----- 14 August withdrawn by requester------

1) Number of applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Aug)
2) Nationality of all the applicants that applied for NZ Citizenship in 2022 had their NZ Citizenship granted in 2022. (From 1 Jan to Aug 1) (country and its number)
3) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are subject to the automatic checks and which ones are not. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
4) List month by month of how many Europeans and Non-Europeans had applied for citizenship in 2022 and have their citizenship granted in 2022 (from 1 Jan to 1 Aug). (Europeans X / Non-Europeans Y - Where X and Y are the number of the applications applied and granted in 2022)

[2]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20203-citizen...
2223-0121 - due by 12 September 2022
-----You rescoped this request on 14 August and the OIA clock was reset-----

1) Number of new citizenship by grant applications from May 2022 to present date (month-by-month).
2) Number of citizenship by grant applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Sep).
3) Number of citizenship case officers trained to assess Citizenship by grant Applications as of August 15.
4)Number and Description (what they check/what needs to be verified) of different queues of citizenship by grant applications awaiting being assigned to a case officer
5) Number of citizenship by grants applications per queue.
6) Number of trained case officers per queue.
7) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are pass or fail the automatic checks. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
8) Top 3 reasons citizenship by grant application failed the automated checks and the number of applications per reason (Jan 2022 - August 2022).
9) All e-mails, correspondence and/or MS Team chat discussing the Citizenship Office end-of the year target (December 2022) relating to the number of unassigned Citizenship by grant applications.

[3]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20213-citizen...
-----You made this request on 14 August 2022, and it relates to the same matter as your other request.
1) From what we have been hearing there are 28 case officers are working on automatic checks/ new system and 5 case officers are working on the failed auto check Queue. Is this true?
2) From what we been hearing that 2022 backlog almost done. Based on the published numbers on RNZ last year only 14,954 Applications left from 2021 backlog as of Sep 2021. How many applications has DIA completed from this backlog?

As request 3 is on the same topic as request 2, and was made at the same time as a scope change to request 2, we have amalgamated these additional questions with request 2, consistent with section 15(1AA) and section 18A(2) of the Act.

Your request OIA2223-0121 is therefore for:
1) Number of new citizenship by grant applications from May 2022 to present date (month-by-month).
2) Number of citizenship by grant applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Sep).
3) Number of citizenship case officers trained to assess Citizenship by grant Applications as of August 15.
4)Number and Description (what they check/what needs to be verified) of different queues of citizenship by grant applications awaiting being assigned to a case officer
5) Number of citizenship by grants applications per queue.
6) Number of trained case officers per queue.
7) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are pass or fail the automatic checks. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
8) Top 3 reasons citizenship by grant application failed the automated checks and the number of applications per reason (Jan 2022 - August 2022).
9) All e-mails, correspondence and/or MS Team chat discussing the Citizenship Office end-of the year target (December 2022) relating to the number of unassigned Citizenship by grant applications.
10) From what we have been hearing there are 28 case officers are working on automatic checks/ new system and 5 case officers are working on the failed auto check Queue. Is this true?
11) From what we been hearing that 2022 backlog almost done. Based on the published numbers on RNZ last year only 14,954 Applications left from 2021 backlog as of Sep 2021. How many applications has DIA completed from this backlog?

The OIA clock was already reset on 14 August for request 2 as a result of your scope change, however I note that the due date advised previously was incorrect. The Department's response to your request will be made as soon as practicable and by no later than 9 September 2022 (rather than 12 September 2022).

Nâku noa, nâ

Michelle Reed (she/her)  
Kaitohutohu Ârahi, te Ture Pârongo Ôkawa | Lead Advisor Official Correspondence 
Te Urûngi | Organisational Strategy & Performance
Level 6, 45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand |  www.dia.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Kia ora John,

Summarising recent changes to your requests on FYI. I have labelled your requests below as 1, 2 and 3 for clarity. You have withdrawn request 1 on 14 August and it has been closed. You made request 2 on 11 August and subsequently on 14 August you made a change to the scope of this request. In addition, on 14 August, you made request 3 separately on the same topic.

[1]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20213-citizen...
2223-0087 - due by 26 August 2022
----- 14 August withdrawn by requester------

1) Number of applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Aug)
2) Nationality of all the applicants that applied for NZ Citizenship in 2022 had their NZ Citizenship granted in 2022. (From 1 Jan to Aug 1) (country and its number)
3) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are subject to the automatic checks and which ones are not. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
4) List month by month of how many Europeans and Non-Europeans had applied for citizenship in 2022 and have their citizenship granted in 2022 (from 1 Jan to 1 Aug). (Europeans X / Non-Europeans Y - Where X and Y are the number of the applications applied and granted in 2022)

[2]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20203-citizen...
2223-0121 - due by 12 September 2022
-----You rescoped this request on 14 August and the OIA clock was reset-----

1) Number of new citizenship by grant applications from May 2022 to present date (month-by-month).
2) Number of citizenship by grant applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Sep).
3) Number of citizenship case officers trained to assess Citizenship by grant Applications as of August 15.
4)Number and Description (what they check/what needs to be verified) of different queues of citizenship by grant applications awaiting being assigned to a case officer
5) Number of citizenship by grants applications per queue.
6) Number of trained case officers per queue.
7) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are pass or fail the automatic checks. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
8) Top 3 reasons citizenship by grant application failed the automated checks and the number of applications per reason (Jan 2022 - August 2022).
9) All e-mails, correspondence and/or MS Team chat discussing the Citizenship Office end-of the year target (December 2022) relating to the number of unassigned Citizenship by grant applications.

[3]
https://fyi.org.nz/request/20213-citizen...
-----You made this request on 14 August 2022, and it relates to the same matter as your other request.
1) From what we have been hearing there are 28 case officers are working on automatic checks/ new system and 5 case officers are working on the failed auto check Queue. Is this true?
2) From what we been hearing that 2022 backlog almost done. Based on the published numbers on RNZ last year only 14,954 Applications left from 2021 backlog as of Sep 2021. How many applications has DIA completed from this backlog?

As request 3 is on the same topic as request 2, and was made at the same time as a scope change to request 2, we have amalgamated these additional questions with request 2, consistent with section 15(1AA) and section 18A(2) of the Act.

Your request OIA2223-0121 is therefore for:
1) Number of new citizenship by grant applications from May 2022 to present date (month-by-month).
2) Number of citizenship by grant applications that had the NZ Citizenship granted in 2022 and have applied in 2022. (From 1 Jan to 1 Sep).
3) Number of citizenship case officers trained to assess Citizenship by grant Applications as of August 15.
4)Number and Description (what they check/what needs to be verified) of different queues of citizenship by grant applications awaiting being assigned to a case officer
5) Number of citizenship by grants applications per queue.
6) Number of trained case officers per queue.
7) Detailed criteria used by the Citizenship Office officials to decide which applications are pass or fail the automatic checks. The back office decides who has a shorter timeframe than others. Please describe based on what.
8) Top 3 reasons citizenship by grant application failed the automated checks and the number of applications per reason (Jan 2022 - August 2022).
9) All e-mails, correspondence and/or MS Team chat discussing the Citizenship Office end-of the year target (December 2022) relating to the number of unassigned Citizenship by grant applications.
10) From what we have been hearing there are 28 case officers are working on automatic checks/ new system and 5 case officers are working on the failed auto check Queue. Is this true?
11) From what we been hearing that 2022 backlog almost done. Based on the published numbers on RNZ last year only 14,954 Applications left from 2021 backlog as of Sep 2021. How many applications has DIA completed from this backlog?

The OIA clock was already reset on 14 August for request 2 as a result of your scope change, however I note that the due date advised previously was incorrect. The Department's response to your request will be made as soon as practicable and by no later than 9 September 2022 (rather than 12 September 2022).

Nâku noa, nâ

Michelle Reed (she/her)  
Kaitohutohu Ârahi, te Ture Pârongo Ôkawa | Lead Advisor Official Correspondence 
Te Urûngi | Organisational Strategy & Performance
Level 6, 45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand |  www.dia.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Tēnā koe John,

 

Please see attached for the response to your Official Information Act 1982
request.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

Vi Saena| Official Correspondence Advisor
Te Pāhekoheko, Kāwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations

Te Tari Taiwhenua  The Department of Internal Affairs
7 Waterloo Quay, Wellington

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

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