12 September 2025
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Kiwi001
fyi-request-31968-
[email address]
Tēnā koe
OIA request 25/26 0190 Request for information about the Citizenship Application Portal
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 15 August 2025.
On 10 August you asked the fol owing –
I have applied for citizenship
1. I have read a number of the FOIA's to your agency. Some of these detail how you
operate. Please do not refer me to these.
2. I called DIA they could not answer my query. This was after a significant amount of time
waiting on hold to speak to a customer service advisor. Please do not refer me to DIA
customer support.
3. I have studied the application timeframes pages both on your site and on stats NZ. Please
do not refer me to this.
4. In the application portal it just says "processing". Why do you not have any information
in the citizenship application portal as to what stage my application is at?
Given most DIA queries & FOIA's are related to Citizenship - Showing the stage my
application is at would significantly cut down queries and save the Government money.
I understand that you have multiple queues in place and then the application is given to a
human to process, this is post automated checks that the citizenship system is able to
process.
Just stating "in progress" tel s people nothing and makes the current citizenship application
portal pointless.
On 14 August 2025 you were advised that your request seemed to be more of a business query
related to your individual citizenship application rather than a request for official information
(OIA). It was clarified that the OIA is intended for individuals seeking access to information held
by government agencies, rather than for general updates or questions about the status of an
application. You were given a link to processing timeframes for citizenship on the Department’s
website
: https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-citizenship-and-identity/nz-citizenship/how-
to-apply-for-nz-citizenship/application-timeframes/. As your request was made via a public
forum you were advised that for specific questions about your application and due to privacy, it
would be best for you to contact the citizenship office directly by phone 0800 22 51 51 or
email
[email address]. You replied clarifying your request on the same day as fol ows:
1. Can you provide the functional (business) and non-functional requirements (technical) of
the application status tracking page system i.e. this page (reference to your own
citizenship application status page) that is available to an applicant? If not provide
reason for not doing so - You should be able to at least provide the functional
requirements if you are going to cite security concerns.
2. This is to understand why you are not providing applicants with information that would
save the government money in the huge amount of enquiries about the status of their
application.
As stated - I am aware of up to five queues in use by the DIA for citizenship applications.
You should provide a clear and concise response as to why the status of an application simply
says "in progress" when it could state i) the stage in a queue or ii) the queue it is in or ii )
whether it is with an end human for final sign off.
There would have been a business analyst taking requirements and someone signed the
system off when implemented against those requirements - please show evidence.
On 15 August 2025 your response was acknowledged, and you were advised that due to privacy
reasons, a generic response would be provided rather than one giving specific details about your
own citizenship application.
On 16 August 2025 you refined your request as:
Provide the information, records and artefacts that show why the NZ citizen application
system shows applicants nothing more than "in progress".
On the same day, you were sent an acknowledgement email advising that the amendment of
your request (on 16 August 2025) is treated as a new request that replaces the original, in
accordance with section 15(1AA) of the Act. The timeframe for response was adjusted
accordingly, and you were advised a response would be provided as soon as practicable and by
no later than 12 September 2025.
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
The Department introduced software named the Customer Centred Management Solution
(CCMS) in 2019 to streamline the processing of Identity products, starting with Citizenship by
Grant (CBG) applications and expanding to passport processing in 2024.
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I can advise that the CBG status tracker provides five real-time status updates and the decision
not to display al system statuses was deliberate, to ensure customers see meaningful updates
rather than information that could cause confusion. Certain statuses (such as ‘submission’)
require individual action, and in those cases, customers are contacted directly by staff with
tailored correspondence.
Attached as Appendix A to this response, is the current view of the status tracker available for
citizenship by grant applications. This document shows that at present, there are processes that
differ from that which is available to staff working in the CCMS programme and that which is
visible to applicants. The pages that fol ow show a status change to the application and steps on
what to expect next in the process, visible to applicants.
Appendix B attached to this response shows past internal planning that took place regarding the
status update available to citizenship by grant applicants.
Some information has been omitted from the documents as it fal s outside the scope of your
request, any information of this nature has been marked as ‘out of scope’.
This is the current state of the system development in place by the Department. Should a
customer want a more detailed update of their citizenship application, it is recommended they
contact the Department either via the contact centre or direct via e-mail to their appointed Life
and Identity Service Officer (LISO).
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. Al 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
Regulatory and Identity Services
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