Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1. This briefing updates you on the Department of Internal Affairs’ (the Department)
current volumes in passports, citizenship, RealMe Verified Identities and births, deaths
and marriages applications. It also sets out how the Department is managing upcoming
planned system changes and forecast volumes.
2. Data on delivery performance for the Department’s life and identity products is
included as Appendix A.
Current services and upcoming changes
Contact Centre
Out of Scope
Passports
Out of Scope
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
Citizenship by grant
February and current work on hand
13. In February 2025 the Department received 3,270 applications and completed 4,836
applications for citizenship by grant2. This is a 21.2% decrease in completed
applications from January and is due to the reducing number of applications that can
be expedited.
14. There was a strong focus on ‘in flight’ applications, as we want as many applications as
possible either untouched or completed for the planned system changes later this
week. This reduces the number of applications that need to be migrated during the
change, reducing both our risk and the amount of rework.
2 Completed applications are applications where the applicant was granted citizenship or has been referred to
you as a submission.
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
20. All system testing is complete, and a second independent business readiness
assessment has also been completed. This identified no significant concerns. An aide
memoire, IA20255689, set out how we plan to manage service disruption following the
release and risk mitigation activities for any ongoing disruption.
21. Once the system changes are deployed our focus wil be on embedding the new ways
of working while stabilising the output of applications processed.
22. As previously advised, we expect citizenship by grant processing to significantly
decrease in the 2 weeks following the release, fol owed by a 4-6 week stabilisation
period. This will mean a small increase in the citizenship by grant applications on hand,
while staff adjust to the changed ways of working. We will closely monitor processing
in the weeks fol owing the release, with interventions identified should processing not
increase along expected lines.
23. The system release is part of preparations for the significant increase in citizenship by
grant applications expected from late 2026, as an extra 212,000 people become
eligible for citizenship by grant.
Applications under the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
Citizenship by descent registration
Out of Scope
Birth, deaths and marriage registrations
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
RealMe verified identities
Out of Scope
Life and identity products and services performance measures
40. The Life and Identity products and services performance measure dashboards are
attached at Appendix A. The dashboards is also available on the Department’s website
here: Life and Identity Services Performance Measures Dashboard - dia.govt.nz. We
continue to work towards developing public-facing real-time dashboards.
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Recommendation
41. Officials are available to discuss the contents of this briefing with you if this would be
of assistance.
Briget Ridden
Acting Deputy Secretary
Regulatory and Identity Services
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 8 of 8
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Purpose
1.
This briefing updates you on the Department of Internal Affairs’ (the Department)
current volumes in passports, citizenship, RealMe Verified Identities and births, deaths
and marriages applications. It also sets out how the Department is managing upcoming
planned system changes and forecast volumes.
2.
Data on delivery performance for the Department’s life and identity products is
included as Appendix A.
Current services and upcoming changes
Contact Centre
Out of Scope
Passports in March
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 2 of 8
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Looking forward
21. As anticipated, citizenship by grant processing outputs have decreased in the first two
weeks following the recent system changes to around 350 applications per week, as
staff adjust to new ways of working. We are closely monitoring processing and
providing targeted assistance to staff requiring additional support following these
changes.
22. We expect application numbers to begin to stabilise in the following 3-4 weeks to
around 500 applications per week as staff become more familiar with the changes and
new ways of working.
23. Over weeks 5-8 processing outputs are expected to increase by 50% to around 750
applications per week as staff become more proficient and familiar with the system
and processes changes.
24. The system release is part of preparations for the significant increase in citizenship by
grant applications expected from late 2026, as an estimated extra 210,000 people
become eligible for citizenship by grant.
Applications under the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 5 of 8
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
Citizenship by descent registration
Out of Scope
Birth, deaths and marriage registrations
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 6 of 8
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
Out of Scope
RealMe verified identities
Out of Scope
Life and identity products and services performance measures
43. The Life and Identity products and services performance measure dashboards are
attached at Appendix A. These dashboards is also available on the Department’s
website here: Life and Identity Services Performance Measures Dashboard - dia.govt.nz.
44. We are in the process of updating the dashboards to reflect the Department’s non-
financial performance measures from 1 July 2025. The updated dashboards will be
IN-CONFIDENCE
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Te Tari Taiwhenua
Department of Internal Affairs
available for your review and feedback in June, ready for publication from August 2025
once data is available.
Recommendation
45. Officials are available to discuss the contents of this briefing with you if this would be
of assistance.
Briget Ridden
Acting Deputy Secretary
Regulatory and Identity Services
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 8 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Purpose
1.
This briefing updates you on the Department of Internal Affairs’ (the Department)
current volumes in passports, citizenship, RealMe Verified Identities and births, deaths
and marriages applications. It also sets out how the Department is managing upcoming
planned system changes and forecast volumes.
2.
Data on delivery performance for the Department’s life and identity products is
included as Appendix A.
Current services and upcoming changes
Contact Centre
Out of Scope
Passports
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 2 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 3 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Submissions
21. In April you made 24 decisions on applications where a submission was required, with
12 applications currently awaiting a decision. At 30 April, 435 submissions are under
review for sending to you for a decision.
22. Of the applicants for whom we are drafting submissions:
• 48% do not meet the presence in New Zealand requirement;
• 29% do not clearly meet the good character requirement;
• 7% are children of citizens by descent and do not meet one or more requirements;
and
• 16% do not clearly meet one of the following - English language, intention to
continue to reside in New Zealand and full capacity requirements.
Looking forward
23. As staff gain confidence with the system release changes and new ways of working
productively is beginning to stabilise and build week on week. All locations are
performing well and we continue to provide off-site support as required.
24. A follow up system release is scheduled for Sunday 11 May. This will introduce user
enhancements and fixes of minor defects. We expect these changes will further
support efficiency gains.
25. Over May we expect processing outputs to increase by 50% to around 750 applications
per week and to begin to see a reduction in the Citizenship by Grant backlog.4
Applications under the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 5 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Out of Scope
Citizenship by descent registration
Out of Scope
Birth, deaths and marriage registrations
Out of Scope
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 6 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
Out of Scope
RealMe verified identities
Out of Scope
Life and identity products and services performance measures
43. The Life and Identity products and services performance measure dashboards are
attached at Appendix A. These dashboards are also available on the Department’s
website here: Life and Identity Services Performance Measures Dashboard - dia.govt.nz.
IN-CONFIDENCE
Page 7 of 8
Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
44. We are in the process of updating the dashboards to reflect the Department’s non-
financial performance measures from 1 July 2025. The updated dashboards will be
available for your review and feedback in June, ready for publication from August 2025
once data is available.
Recommendation
45. Officials are available to discuss the contents of this briefing with you if this would be
of assistance.
Briget Ridden
Acting Deputy Secretary
Regulatory and Identity Services
IN-CONFIDENCE
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