18 July 2024
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Josh
fyi-request-27302-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Josh
OIA request 23/24 1092 Request for Online group applications submitted from July 1st, 2023,
to July 2nd, 2023
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 19 June 2024.
You requested in relation to online group applications submitted from 1 July 2023 to 2 July
2023-
1. How many group applications successfully passed automated checks?
2. How many group applications (including adults and minors) did not pass automated
checks? Please provide a breakdown of the reasons for failure, such as issues with
photos, presence, character, identity, lack of information from previously lived countries,
and name discrepancies. Additionally, include the number of adults and minors in each
group application and specify their respective workstreams.
3. How many group applications are currently undergoing processing?
4. How many group applications are awaiting assignment to a case officer?"
In response to your request, I can provide you with the following information.
Caveats to data:
- The data was collated on 25 June and is accurate as at this date.
- Due to the low number of group applications in some workstreams, counts of less than 5
have been masked with <5 to prevent identification of individuals. Total individual
number has not been provided as this could be used to determine masked values.
- Applications do not ‘pass’ automated checks. The system does automatically assess
some checks, which dictates the workstream an application is placed in, however some
manual assessment is required for all applications. For the data provided in this
response, ‘passing’ or ‘meeting’ automatic checks refers to applications that were able
to have the highest number of checks assessed by the system and were filtered to
workstream 3. When those applications were manually assessed they have may have
been moved to another workstream for processing based on the outcome of the manual
checks.
- As the data is extracted from dynamic systems, there may be small variances when
compared with prior or future datasets.
Question one
I can advise 15 group applications were filtered to workstream 3 as the system was able to
assess the highest number of automated checks.
Questions two
I can advise there are 27 group applications that were not able to be filtered to workstream 3
based on the outcome of the automated checks.
Of these:
18 group applications are in workstream 2 (37 adult and 17 child)
<5 group applications in workstream 4 (<5 adults and <5 child)
7 group applications in workstream 5 (17 adults <5 children).
When applications are received, the system runs a series of preliminary automated checks
which are used to triage them into different workstreams. The system checks for whether the
citizenship requirements have been met, whether an application can be automatically matched
to a record held by Immigration New Zealand, whether there are any alerts or conditions
associated with the record, and whether there is any other information in the application that
would suggest further manual intervention might be needed. The full list of why applications
failed has been withheld pursuant to section 9(2)(k) of the Act. This is because the withholding
of the information is necessary to prevent the disclosure or use of official information for
improper gain or improper advantage.
Question three
I can confirm that no group applications submitted on these dates are at processing.
Question four
I can confirm 18 group applications are awaiting assignment to a case officer.
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.
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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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