$17m spent on contractors for immigration IT upgrade critics call an ‘utter disaster’

An unnamed spokesperson from Immigration Minister Michael Wood’s office said the new system was a “major upgrade” that made things work significantly more efficiently. It also allowed new visas – Accredited Employer Work Visa and the 2021 Resident Visa – to be implemented.

“The programme delivered on time and within the budget set out in the business cases. It has helped New Zealand successfully reconnect with the world following the pandemic.

“A mix of in house and contracted staff was used to deliver the programme of work, and the use of contractors was necessary given the scale and technical nature of the programme.”

But National immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford said the system was a “disaster” that had cost millions of dollars and was plagued by problems.

“Despite spending a lot more money Immigration New Zealand is taking far longer to process applications with visitor visas taking eight weeks to process which is twice as long compared to 2017.”

Immigration NZ enablement general manager Karen Bishop said about $275,000 per month would be spent on contractors and consultants in the coming financial year with much of the remainder of the $2m-per-month going to Microsoft.

High early demand led to “processing times [which] were not what our customers expected” but these had improved and the current average wait for visitor visas was eight working days. All applicants were asked if they were pregnant regardless of age. Applicants could ignore parts that did not apply to them.

“We are unaware of applications going missing in the Adept system,” she said.

“No large-scale technology deployment ever goes without a hitch and we acknowledge that a number of customers, including immigration professionals have experienced challenges with the new system that has caused frustration.”

Ankur Sabharwal​, a licensed immigration adviser, in December listed the new system’s failings, including applications not able to be lodged, documents not able to be uploaded or lost, delayed applications, and blank visas issued or issued with incorrect details.

This week he asked other advisers how they felt about the system. Gripes included incorrect information on visas, disappearing documents, and privacy concerns. One person said a client was being processed through the old computer system instead of Adept.

“The reason for this is that the applicant’s spouse gave birth to a child after the application was lodged, and Adept does not allow for new applicants to be added after submission.”