Regulatory system information: Citizenship

Description of the Citizenship regulatory system

System objectives/purposes

The Citizenship regulatory system provides for the status of New Zealand citizenship and regulates the means by which it may be acquired or lost.

It aims to:

  • grant New Zealand citizenship to people who have a strong and enduring connection to New Zealand.  
  • register and confirm the citizenship status of citizens by descent, confirm the citizenship status of the individual.

Key statutes

 Key regulations

Brief description of what the system does

The Department:

  • processes applications for the determination, grant, and renunciation of New Zealand citizenship
  • maintains registers of the individuals who have obtained New Zealand citizenship other than by birth
  • issues citizenship certificates that can be used by individuals to prove their citizenship status
  • investigates fraud, and maintaining the integrity of the Citizenship system, including recommending to the Minister when to initiate deprivation proceedings

An effective citizenship system is important to ensuring New Zealanders’ human rights to a nationality are protected, and to provide fair and transparent means for citizenship to be acquired or lost, ensuring people with a strong and enduring connection to New Zealand can become citizens.  

Citizenship is the final stage in the journey for a migrant to become a New Zealander. A new citizen enters into a relationship with the state in which they receive a range of benefits. This includes greater certainty about remaining in the country (e.g. citizens don’t need to hold a visa), the right to travel internationally on a New Zealand passport and protections by the New Zealand government.

Agencies involved in the Citizenship regulatory system

  • The Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) has policy and delivery responsibilities under the Citizenship regulatory system.
  • MBIE Immigration NZ have policy and delivery responsibilities for the first part of the pathway to citizenship by grant, by determining an individual’s ability to enter New Zealand and to get residence.
  • Local Authorities who administer the Citizenship Ceremonies
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (in relation to Diplomatic Passports, and provision of information about citizenship by consular service)
  • NZSIS
  • NZ Police (Police Vetting)
  • Ministry of Social Development, Oranga Tamariki New Zealand Transport Agency, Accident Compensation Corporation and Inland Revenue in responding to requests.
  • Oranga Tamariki in relation to adopted children.
  • Other agencies posting staff overseas.

The Department has arrangements with the NZSIS, NZ Police and Immigration New Zealand for the effective exchange of necessary information about applications for citizenship by grant, to enable citizenship applications to be processed expeditiously, these include:

  • Funding a position within the Police Vetting service to enable the prompt provision of Police Vetting Reports for applicants aged over 14 for Citizenship by Grant under the Citizenship Act 1977.
  • Direct access for Citizenship Case Officers to Immigration records to determine presence in New Zealand, with work currently underway for this information to be available via API
  • Arrangements with the NZSIS to be aware of applications for citizenship.

The Department also participates in cross-agency work on Adoption, senior officials meet regularly as part of the Refugee Resettlement Service and Migration Support.

Links are maintained with similar jurisdictions overseas (Canada, Australia, USA and UK) through the 5 Nations Citizenship Network.

Regulated parties and non-government stakeholders

  • New Zealand citizens and their children, and people who want to be citizens
  • Parents adopting from overseas
  • Descendants of New Zealanders, and British Subjects with a connection to New Zealand prior to 1949.
  • The people of Western Samoa who are eligible for citizenship under the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act.

Engagement between system agencies and regulated parties

The Department maintains a BAU Service Design team who undertake human-centered design on an ongoing basis, as systems are reviewed.

Transparency about Citizenship decision-making is enabled by publishing summary information about the Minister’s exercise of discretion. 

The Department is currently undertaking a multi-year transformation programme, Te Ara Manaaki, which involves extensive consultation with stakeholders, and has involved user-testing and development of an easy-to-use and rigorous online application process that is still under development.

Fitness-for-purpose assessment

Reviews/assessments of the Citizenship regulatory system

The most recent significant changes to citizenship legislation was in 2005, which strengthened the requirements to obtain citizenship. The main changes concerned entitlement to citizenship by birth and length of time applicants needed to be presence in New Zealand to be eligible for citizenship by grant.

The Department regularly reviews the Minister’s broad authority to define policy settings to administer her citizenship decision making. This will include that nature and extent of any legislative amendments that may be required by her.

Review/assessment findings

Effectiveness

The extent to which the system delivers the intended outcomes and impacts

The Department continues to focus on supporting transparency of decision making in relation to citizenship matters through:

  • Providing updated information on www.govt.nz to help people understand how and when to apply;
  • Providing an online tool where people can check to see if they are already a NZ citizen at www.govt.nz;
  • Publishing updated Citizenship Guidance material online that outlines how ministerial discretion may be applied at www.govt.nz;
  • Publishing statistics every 6 months which outline application volumes and how often ministerial discretion has been exercised to grant citizenship if not all of the eligibility criteria have been met (see www.dia.govt.nz);
  • Pilots to test new ways of assisting applicants to gain citizenship when entitled.

Efficiency

The extent to which the system minimizes unintended consequences and undue costs and burdens

Applicants for NZ citizenship need to meet presence requirements to prove they have a genuine and enduring connection to New Zealand. They must be present in NZ for at least 1,350 days in the five years before the citizenship application, and for at least 240 days (approximately 8 months) in each of those five years.

Work currently underway through the Department’s Te Ara Manaaki Transformation Programme has identified that these requirements are hard to administer and creates confusion for applicants and have other adverse effects. These include that a person may be eligible for periods of time, and then ineligible, requiring them to carefully time their application, or plan their overseas travel around citizenship eligibility windows. 

The Transformation Programme is doing work to develop better online eligibility checkers, drawing on data from Immigration New Zealand, so that applicants find it easier to determine their eligibility, and to overall make the application process easier for applicants to understand and the Department to administer.

Durability and resilience

How well the system copes with variation, change and pressures

The Citizenship Act 1977 has two provisions which enable different circumstances (e.g. overseas travel, the increase in careers which, while New Zealand based, require very frequent travel) to be taken into account. Section 8(7) of the Act allows the Minister of Internal Affairs to reduce the presence requirement, and section 9(1)(c) provides the Minster with the discretion to grant citizenship where it is in the public interest, which can include to prevent unfairness.

Fairness and accountability

How well the system respects rights and delivers good process

The Minister has powers to grant citizenship to applicants that do not meet some of the standard requirements.

Plans for regulatory and operational improvements

Key regulatory changes planned for 2019/2020

There may be benefit in simplifying the presence requirements, and making minor changes to support the Transformation Programme, when a legislative opportunity is available.  Currently the Department’s policy resources are required for a range of other work, and the timing and scope of any potential review are yet to be determined.

Key service design and operational changes planned for 2019/2020

Extensive change to the application process and customer experience for Citizenship applications are currently underway through the Department’s transformation programme, Te Ara Manaaki. An online application is currently being piloted and will be extended, and the Department is implementing a Customer Contact Management System which will enable more customer-centred service delivery across the identity system, including identity information held as part of the Birth, Death, Marriages Civil Unions, Name Changes, Citizenship and Passports systems.