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June 2017 | Read a plain text version of this newsletter
Message from the Registrar-General
I’m excited to bring you our first newsletter for citizenship ceremonies! We decided to create this as a way to share news about what the Department is up to, but also as a place to showcase ceremonies throughout New Zealand. This newsletter is very much about involving the people who create the citizenship ceremonies, so we’d like to know what you want to hear from us. Click on the ‘Get in touch’ button if you have any questions, feedback or memorable stories for us, or ideas on what you want to hear about in future publications. We will publish Choice Whiriwhiria every six months.
Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General;
Births, Deaths, Marriages, Citizenship, and Translations
The citizenship ceremony is an important part of the wider citizenship application experience, and I’d like pass on a big thank you for your hard work in helping to make this part of the process special for new Kiwis. It’s not just about receiving a citizenship certificate, it’s about the way we celebrate candidates becoming part of our country, and we couldn’t do it without you.
Following overseas events in 2016, we are seeing an even greater interest from people moving to New Zealand. With this in mind the Department is looking at ways we can enrich the citizenship experience, and run the process more smoothly for new applicants.
For the first edition of this newsletter we’re updating you with some of the work we’ll be doing to build on the good working relationship we have with you as local authorities. We’re also introducing you to one of the members of the Ceremonies and Support Team and sharing some citizenship statistics you might find of interest.
What’s in the pipeline?
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The Department is working on a project to enhance the way we support you to host citizenship ceremonies. As part of this work we’ve drafted an MOU between the Department and Local Authorities. This will be used as a reference point for our shared responsibilities with the citizenship ceremonies. The content of this shouldn’t be anything new for you – it’s really just putting down on paper what we already do. We’ll be in contact with each local authority over the next few months to get your feedback on the draft.
Survey
As part of the Department’s improvement project mentioned above, we’re updating the citizenship ceremonies guide for councils. We’d like to use this as an opportunity to highlight some of the great work you all do, so we’ll be sending out a survey to find out how events are carried out around the country. We encourage you to fill this out – the more responses we receive the better the information we have to make this a great ceremonies guide.
Introducing Rose Kele, Ceremonies and Support Officer
Rose and her team work with the local authorities to organise the citizenship ceremonies. She looks after all the councils in the Lower North Island, and Auckland South, processing about 1300 candidates a month. Rose advises candidates of approval for citizenship and allocates them to ceremonies, sending them invitations once the date is set.
Certificates and ceremony packs are then sent out to local authorities by Rose, ready for the big day. She’s also the go-to point for any questions the candidates and council staff in her areas might have, as well as attending ceremonies in the Wellington region. It’s a busy job!
Q: What’s your most positive customer interaction been?
It was actually at an in-house ceremony. There was a very staunch-looking man who was in tears at the ceremony. I asked him if he was alright and he said he was just so happy to finally get his citizenship. He came up to me at the end of the ceremony to thank me. He’d been given a Totara seedling as part of the ceremony, and said he was going to plant it at his new place that he was moving to. He said he would call it ‘Rose’.
Q: Anything you’d like to say to Local Authorities?
I’d like to say a big thank you to all the staff that make the ceremonies happen. You do a fantastic job. If I could ask one thing from the councils, it would be to think about having more ceremonies in areas where the candidates have been waiting a while.
Any questions about Citizenship Ceremonies should be sent to CitizenshipCeremonies@dia.govt.nz
New Zealand Citizenship Statistics
Usually applications for New Zealand citizenship show a strong relationship to immigration figures, but in 2016/2017 our citizenship numbers have risen dramatically in spite of a drop in migration in preceding years. However, a record number of immigrants arrived in New Zealand in 2016/17, so it will be interesting to see how this affects applications for NZ citizenship in the future.
Showcasing Waitangi Day ceremonies
Waitangi Day is a special day for all New Zealanders, so it is fitting that special ceremonies are held on this day.
2017 was the fifth year the Christchurch City Council has run an event on a marae on Waitangi Day. For the first time this year the Waimakariri District Council also participated, with 12 of the 50 candidates living in the district. The mayors of Waimakariri and Christchurch and the Upoko of Ngāi Tūāhuriri joined to hold the Waitangi Day celebration and citizenship ceremony at Tuahiwi this time.
Click on the links below to read more about this event:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/323906/marae-welcomes-new-nz-citizens-on-waitangi-day
Our new Governor General, Dame Patsy Reddy, presided over her first citizenship ceremony on Waitangi Day 2017 at Government House in Wellington. Dame Patsy spoke of the value of diversity as she congratulated the 24 people who became New Zealanders at the ceremony, saying she could think of no better way to celebrate New Zealand's national day than by welcoming the new citizens, who hailed from 17 countries.
Click on the link below to read more about the Government House ceremony:
We hope you enjoyed reading our first newsletter. If you have any suggestions or stories for the next newsletter in December please get in touch with us.
