Hon Brooke van Velden
Minister of Internal Affairs

Citizenship wait times have reached a new low under this Government, with continued focus on efficient application processing, Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden announced today.

“Despite a comparable number of applications over the last three years, wait times for outcomes on citizenship applications has dropped by 72 per cent since Labour was last in Government. The Department has cut average turnaround times to 51 days, down from 180 days in October 2023,” says Ms van Velden.

“In 2025, we had 51,396 applications for citizenship. There were 51,702 applications in 2024 and 51,803 applications in 2023.

“People applying for citizenship by grant have already spent a minimum of five years in New Zealand and have already taken steps to build their lives here.

“It is important that the Government delivers good service and functions efficiently. That is what all people expect when engaging with our Departments and agencies. These numbers show we are focused on fixing what matters.

“Reducing wait times means people can plan their futures with confidence. It’s about removing stress and adding certainty,” says Ms van Velden

“I want to thank the citizenship processing teams at the Department for their continued efforts and fantastic service,” says Ms van Velden.

You can apply for citizenship either online or via the post. For the checklist of everything you need please refer to: Apply for NZ citizenship | New Zealand Government.

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