13 June 2024
Nick Lim
[FYI request #26763 email]
DOIA 2324-2505
Tēnā koe Nick
Thank you for your email of 13 May 2024 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the fol owing:
I would like to request the following breakdown of interim visas, if available:
a) By category of previous visas (in particular, work and study visas)
b) By number/percentage of visa renewals under a) not granted interim visas after expiry of
previous visa.
c) Number of visas under a) renewed after granted interim visas
d) Breakdown of interim visas issued under a), by issue date (more than 7 days before expiry of
previous visa; under 3 days before expiry of previous visa; on or after expiry of previous visa).
On 20 May 2024, we asked you to clarify the request as fol ows:
a) to confirm the timeframe for the data you have requested (question a);
b) to confirm if you are asking for the number of applicants, who while holding an interim
visa, then had their subsequent visa declined (question b);
c) to confirm if you are asking for the number of applicants, who while holding an interim
visa, then had a subsequent visa approved (question c)
On 22 May 2024, we contacted you a second time seeking to clarify your request, noting the timeframe
for the response was given as 24 May 2024.
We also noted that if we did not receive the response, we may be closing the request under section 12(2)
of the Act as the request shall be specified with due particularity. To date, we have not received a response
from you. As a result we have been unable to provide a response for questions b and c, as the request has
not been specified with due particularity.
On 11 June 2024, we sent you a letter noting that MBIE assessed and decided to grant parts a and d of
your request, and that we would provide you the requested information. However, it will take us some
time to process. We wil send you the information as soon as it is ready and without undue delay.
We also noted again that in accordance with s12(2) of the Act, parts b and c of your request were not
specified with due particularity and as such we were not able to proceed with these parts of your
request.
Our Response
Please refer to the attached appendix for the information requested in questions a and d.
As we have not received clarification on the timeframe for the data requested, we have provided data in
response to these questions covering the period 1 January 2024 to 4 June 2024.
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].
Nāku noa, nā
Jeannie Melville
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Immigration Branch
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Appendix
The number of applicants who have been granted an interim visa between 1 January 2024 and 4 June 2024, broken down by the previously held temporary visa type,
and the length of visa validity remaining on the previously held visa at the time the interim visa was granted.
Previous visa held Interim visa granted Interim visa granted Interim visa granted Interim visa granted Interim visa granted
by applicant
8 or more days prior 4 to 7 days prior to
1 to 3 days prior to
on expiry date of
after previous visa
to previous visa
previous visa
previous visa
the previously held expired**
expiring
expiring
expiring
visa
Visitor
60
6,345
1,068
392
1,161
Work
26
5,286
975
264
834
Student
5
4,746
668
160
337
Other temporary* 0
3
1
0
3
* ‘Other temporary’ includes diplomatic, consular, limited, and official visas.
** While immigration instructions require an applicant to be the holder of a current temporary visa in order to be granted an interim visa, due to manual processing
being required for some interim visa applications, and on occasion system issues being encountered resulting in a decision delay, the interim granted date reflected in
our system can present as being after the expiry date of the previous visa.
