Thursday, February 13, 2025

DIA marks record month for citizenship processing

Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship, chalking December up as a record month for completions.

December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024.

“This is a 54% increase compared to the 3,685 applications completed during December 2023,” says Ms van Velden.

“I have asked the Department to focus efforts on reducing the number of outstanding applications, and I am pleased to see progress being made. The number of work-in-progress applications has dropped from 28,544 on 27 November 2023 to 18,749 in January 2025, a drop of 34%.”

At the start of December 2024, the oldest applications being picked up for processing for the first time were submitted a year prior. As of January 2025, the oldest applications being picked up are from late March 2024, said the Minister.

She says the Department has been working to cross-skill staff to process passport, citizenship, and digital identity [RealMe] applications.

“I know that receiving the grant of New Zealand citizenship is a significant moment in a person’s life, and I have heard from many individuals about the impact that delays to obtaining citizenship can have on them and their family. I will continue to remain focussed on reducing citizenship wait times and ensuring high standards of service,” says Ms van Velden. 

In December, the Department also launched a public dashboard showing measures of output and average processing time across their life and identity products, including citizenship.

The dashboard can be accessed here: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Life-and-Identity-Services-Performance-Measures-Dashboard.

Latest Articles