8. Question No. 8—ImmigrationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 8—Immigration8. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Immigration: How long does it currently take for 90 percent of visitor visas to be processed compared to December 2017 and is he confident that Immigration New Zealand will meet its visa processing targets?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Immigration): In December 2017 our borders were open under pre-COVID settings and Immigration New Zealand were processing 90 percent of visas in 22 days. In March of 2020 the New Zealand border was closed to keep people safe and therefore offshore visitor visa applications were halted. Immigration systems processing capacity pivoted to processing the critical purpose visas that we needed to keep our businesses and services running and while that process is labour intensive those visas have been processed in an average of 12 days. The result of that reprioritisation meant that as of April of 2022 50 percent of visitor visas are approved in 15 days 75 percent in 33 days and 90 percent in 71 days. As we reconnect with the world the critical purpose visa will be a thing of the past meaning those processing resources can be pivoted and prioritised back to the likes of visitor visas. I have sought and received assurances from Immigration New Zealand around processing times and I will watch this closely.Erica Stanford: How can he rely on the new online visa processing system to guarantee faster processing times when just 51 of the 77000 phase 2 resident visa 2021 visa applications that use this new system have been processed in seven weeks a rate of one a day?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: As I've said I've sought assurances and have been given assurances by Immigration New Zealand staff that we can make sure that our process capacity will meet expectations.Erica Stanford: Can he explain why despite having an extra 500 additional staff at Immigration New Zealand compared to 2017 every single visa category takes longer to process?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I would challenge some of the numbers that the member has mentioned there. I'd also pointed out in my primary answer that we've had products like a critical purpose visa which are a lot more labour intensive in terms of processing than traditional visitor visas and that's why when we no longer have to process those types of visas we'll have more resources available when our borders reopen to do the likes of visitor visas.Erica Stanford: How is his agency delivering value for money for taxpayers when compared to 2017 he's hired an additional 500 staff yet 100 fewer staff are actually processing visas according to his answers to written questions?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: We've also closed offshore offices to make sure that we can move processing here onshore and again while the border has been closed we have been making sure the—Chris Bishop: It's a shambles!SPEAKER: Order!Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Calm down.SPEAKER: Maybe I do need to but I don't need the Minister's help with that suggestion.Hon KRIS FAAFOI: For the member's interest then we have processed about 30000 critical purpose visas over the last two years to make sure crucial workers can come through at a time when our border has been closed.Dr James McDowall: How can families waiting for visas have any confidence that new visa processing targets will be met when almost all visa types have had processing delays since 2020; can he explain to New Zealanders how—and I quote—getting grumpy" with Immigration New Zealand speeds up visa processing?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Well usually when I get grumpy things change—not that you want to find out. Can I assure the member again from my primary answer that when we pivot and prioritise as our border reopens those resources will be able to be used for the traditional types of visas that I think the member is speaking about.Erica Stanford: When will processing times return to the levels they were in 2017?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Well as I mentioned in my primary answer once we have the resources available to us to make sure the likes of traditional visas can be used—to process those visas. When the border reopens on 31 July and when our accredited employer work visa is up and running those resources—which have over the last two years made sure that 30000 critical workers can come across the border—will be prioritised and pivoted to the traditional visas that we were having pre-COVID."