19 September 2022
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
John
[FYI request #20321 email]
Tēnā koe John
OIA request 22/23 0162 Request for information on citizenship by grant processing
procedures
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 23 August 2022.
You requested –
•
Any document (including a manual) which is held by DIA and which contains policies,
principles, rules, or guidelines in accordance with which decisions or recommendations
are made in respect of any person applying to Citizenship by Grant. In particular the
fail/pass criteria for the automated checks and how each application is allocated to its
respected queue for manual assessment.
In response to your request, I can advise that a
Citizenship Guidance Document is publicly
available on the Department’s website her
e, https://www.dia.govt.nz/Citizenship-Guidance-
Document.
This document is intended to:
• provide transparency about the Minister’s policies and how citizenship legislation is
interpreted and applied by the Department
• provide clarity for applicants and their agents about what they may be asked to provide
• guide the exercise of delegated authority by officials in processing and making decisions
• provide clarity about when applications should be referred for the Minister’s decision
• support consistent and fair decision making on citizenship applications by the Minister
and officials
With regards to the automated check criteria, this information will be available on the
Department’s website in the coming weeks, via an Official Information Act response. The
response is due to be proactively released here
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-
Act-Requests-2 with the reference number 2223-0111.
Therefore, I must refuse your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the information
requested is or will soon be publicly available.
Should you be interested, information on the citizenship timeframes is available on our website:
https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-citizenship-and-identity/nz-citizenship/how-to-apply-
for-nz-citizenship/application-timeframes/.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, the Department has
decided to proactively release a copy of this response on the DIA website. All requestor data,
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released
response 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.
Ngā mihi
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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