25 June 2024
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Josh
fyi-request-27031-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Josh
OIA request 23/24 1025 Request for Citizenship Statistics
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 27 May 2024.
You requested –
1. Could you verify the number of pending applications from 2023 and provide information
on how many are still awaiting assignment to a case officer? Additionally, could you
specify which work stream they are in and the dates they submitted their applications?
2. How many case officers are currently assigned to manage each workstream for 2023
applicants?
3. Is priority given to older applications when assigning case officers?
4. Despite the backlog of 2023 applications, there have been reports of approvals for 2024
applicants. Could you please clarify how resources are allocated for processing 2023
applications?
5. Regarding the use of automated checks during assessment, why doesn't the system
prompt applicants to rectify failed aspects such as the absence of last names in identity
details? For example, could the system request another face image or identity document
in a different format, or a document from a Justice of the Peace to verify the name?
6. The DIA call centre often emphasizes that each application is handled differently. Could
you explain the factors influencing this differentiation? Is it related to existing passports,
ethnicity, or specific countries of origin?
In response to your request, I can provide you with the following information.
Question one
Please refer to Appendix A attached alongside this letter. Appendix A provides you with a
breakdown of citizenship by grant applications submitted during 2023, broken down by
workstream and status.
Question two
Please refer to the tables below for the number of Life and Identity Services Officers (LISO) in
each workstream as of 31 May 2024.
Workstream 1 – Assessment
0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) as all
current work is assigned
Workstream 2 – Assessment 2
33 FTE
Workstream 3 – Assessment 3
10 FTE
Workstream 4 – Assessment 4
4 FTE
Workstream 5 – Assessment 5
10 FTE
Workstream 6 – Assessment 6
0 FTE
Validation 1 and 2
13 FTE
Validation 3
2 FTE (Currently Team Leaders (TL) validating
this bucket)
Validation 4
1 FTE
Validation 5
2 FTE (Currently Team Leaders (TL) validating
this bucket)
Validation 6
0 FTE
Determining the number of LISOs processing citizenship by grant work is not straight forward.
This is because LISOs perform different tasks when it comes to the processing of an application,
meaning that a single LISO does not process an entire application. The two major tasks are
Assessment and
Validation. The ‘assessment’ stage is where the bulk of the processing time is
spent, and the ‘validation’ stage is where the application is second checked by another LISO.
Question three
This information is published on the Department’s w
ebsite, www.govt.nz/browse/passports-
citizenship-and-identity/nz-citizenship/how-to-apply-for-nz-citizenship/citizenship-timeframe-
differences/. Please refer to the heading
Applications are processed in date order. Therefore, I
must refuse this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the Act; that the information
requested is publicly available.
Question four
The majority of our workforce is focussed on processing the oldest applications which require
most manual checks. Resources are allocated based on demand across our different
workstreams. Some workstreams have automated checks completed by the system while others
require manual intervention by a LISO.
Should you be interested, information about why some applications are processed faster than
others is published on the website provided above.
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Question five
The Department uses two systems for the processing of citizenship applications; Citizenship
Operating System (COS) and Customer Centred Management Solution (CCMS). CCMS is used for
online applications. The system does not have the capability to assess photo quality or
document format, or to identify any differences in names as the application is created. These
need to be manually assessed in all cases, once the application has been submitted.
Question six
I can advise that the information requested is already available via a proactively released OIA
response, available here:
OIA2324-0923.pdf (dia.govt.nz) I must, therefore, refuse this part of
your request pursuant to section 18(d) of the Act: that the information requested is publicly
available.
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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