7 August 2023
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
James Newman
fyi-request-23443-
[email address]
Tēnā koe James
OIA request 2324/0017 Request for Citizenship Timeframes
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 9 July 2023.
You requested –
I have some queries on the Identity Check used as part of the online Citizenship Application
process:
1(a)
Could you please provide a breakdown by month for the 12 months to June 2023 of the number of applications that have passed & failed this Identity Check (b)
and for those that failed could you please provide a breakdown by reason if available.
2. Could you please summarise the sources of information used in this Identity Check and
compared in the 'facial recognition check & live image check'.
I understand from the report below the applicant's current passport & driver's license are
used, are these sourced from Immigration NZ?
Is the most recent (within 6 months) photograph submitted as part of the Citizenship
Application a Liso compared in this check, and there are any other photographs sourced for
this check?
https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Identity-Check/$file/DIA-Privacy-Impact-
Assessment-Identity-Check_Redacted.pdf
In response to your request, I can provide you with the following information.
Question 1(a) and 1(b)
We cannot obtain the data about failed identity checks for Citizenship by Grant. The data is
extracted together with data from another Department product and cannot be separated due to
system constraints. I must therefore refuse this part of your request under section 18(e) that
the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or, despite
reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Question 2
The Citizenship Identity Checker does not use the Identity Checker referred to in the link in your
request for checking applicant’s photos. This automatic identity checker is not used for the New
Zealand Citizenship applications system at present.
Therefore, I must refuse your request under section 18(e) that the document alleged to contain
the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be
found.
It may be useful to know that an applicant does not usually have to provide a New Zealand
driver licence to establish their identity for an adult citizenship application. An applicant is only
asked to provide a copy (if they hold one) if their identity could not be established through the
standard procedure. The Department does not request an individual’s driver licence information
through another government agency.
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 its 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
Kate Raggett
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Service Delivery and Operations
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