Citizenship Processing
kiwi001 made this Official Information request to Department of Internal Affairs
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for kiwi001 to read recent responses and update the status.
From: kiwi001
Dear Department of Internal Affairs,
I have applied for citizenship under Reference: YB6FYK CRM:0251083640
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" tells people nothing and makes the current citizenship application portal pointless.
Yours faithfully,
kiwi001
From: RIS Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Kiwi001
Thank you for your recent enquiry.
It appears that your request may be more of a business or
application-related query rather than an Official Information Act (OIA)
request. Just to clarify, 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.
For your convenience, processing timeframes are available on our website
here: [1]Citizenship timeframes | New Zealand Government. If you have a
specific question about your application, we recommend contacting the
Citizenship office directly by phone 0800 22 51 51 or email
[2][email address], to protect your privacy and ensure we can
assist appropriately.
Let us know if you’re seeking information that falls within scope of the
OIA, and we’ll be happy to help.
Ngâ mihi
Krystle Courtier ([3]she/her) | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
The Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[4]www.dia.govt.nz
*If you’re wondering about the use of pronouns she/her on this signature
you can find more information about how sharing pronouns can help to
create a sense of belonging and respect [5]here.
From: kiwi001 <[6][FOI #31968 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 10 August 2025 11:32 am
To: OIA <[7][DIA request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Citizenship Processing
[You don't often get email from
[8][FOI #31968 email]. Learn why this is
important at [9]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]
Dear Department of Internal Affairs,
I have applied for citizenship under Reference: YB6FYK CRM:0251083640
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" tells people nothing and makes the current
citizenship application portal pointless.
Yours faithfully,
kiwi001
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References
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1. https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-cit...
https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-cit...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://ssc.govt.nz/our-work/diversity-a...
4. http://www.dia.govt.nz/
5. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-wo...
6. mailto:[FOI #31968 email]
7. mailto:[DIA request email]
8. mailto:[FOI #31968 email]
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From: kiwi001
Dear RIS Official Correspondence,
What did it state in my request?
You have not read it.
This is a direct question about the DIA Citizenship Application portal.
1. Can you provide the functional (business) and non-functional requirements (technical) of the application status tracking page system i.e. this page https://dia.services.govt.nz/application...
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 iii) 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.
Yours sincerely,
kiwi001
From: RIS Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Kiwi001
Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs (included with this email).
Please be aware that making a request on the FYI website means that your request and the Department's response will be public. To be able to give any information about your specific application status, we would need to ask for information to confirm your identity, in order to identify your application. We would be reluctant to do so via the FYI website, as this would result in your privacy information being publicly released. Please also be aware that the link you provided in your response to the clarification request below is displayed on this public forum and may contain personal information.
If you would like to ask for an update on the status of your own application, I recommend contacting the Department directly or making a privacy act request via the AboutMe tool on the Privacy Commissioner's website.
The Department intends to provide a generic response to your request with information about the status, as displayed in the citizenship application portal, for all citizenship applications.
The Department will provide its response to your OIA request as soon as practicable and within twenty working days. The 20th working day is 5 September 2025.
Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.
Ngā mihi
Linda
Linda Anderson | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
The Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
show quoted sections
From: kiwi001
Dear RIS Official Correspondence,
You have now failed to read what is in front of you two times.
I did not ask for a generic response.
I have asked the DIA to provide the information, records and artefacts that show why the NZ citizen application system shows applicants nothing more than "in progress".
This is going to be costing hundreds to thousands of support enquiries per month which is an expense for taxpayers.
The system should show the actual status of the application with explanation of how that system works.
Telling applicants nothing more than "in progress" is totally inadequate.
Someone ran the project - a PM, there was a business case, there were functional and non-functional requirements.
One of those requirements must have been to show applicants the status of their application and cut down on calls and emails into the DIA citizenship support centre.
That requirement has not been met and even you are asking me to contact DIA for a status update on the application.
This is really simple - provide citizenship applicants a view on which queue they are in, where that queue stage or step is at and if the application is waiting on assignment to the end human checker - the LIFO.
Yours sincerely,
kiwi001
From: RIS Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Kiwi001,
Further to your mail below, please note that as this amendment has changed the scope of your request, the request is treated as a new request that replaces the original as of the 16th of August 2025 (in accordance with section 15(1AA) of the Act). The timeframe for response has been adjusted accordingly. The Department’s response will now be provided as soon as practicable and by no later than 12 September 2025.
Ngâ mihi
Linda
Linda Anderson | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
The Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
Ngâ mihi
Linda
Linda Anderson | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
The Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
show quoted sections
From: RIS Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
image001.png
24K
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Response OIA 2526 0190 Citizenship Application Portal.pdf
238K
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MARKED FOR RELEASE Appendix A Site Visit Status tracker.pdf
837K
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MARKED FOR RELEASE Appendix B Application Status Requirements.pdf
790K
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Kia ora,
Please see the attached response to your information request.
Ngā mihi
Linda
Linda Anderson | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
The Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[1]www.dia.govt.nz
References
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1. http://www.dia.govt.nz/
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