Independent reviewer appointed to examine $336m Immigration NZ IT programme

The Public Service Commission has appointed an independent reviewer to examine a $336 million, seven-year programme to modernise Immigration New Zealand's visa processing systems and services, known as Our Future Services or OFS (RNZ).

Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche appointed David Hosking to lead what is called an assurance review — essentially an independent check on whether a large programme is being run well. Hosking's specialty is providing that kind of oversight for technology transformation programmes with budgets over $100 million. Roche said the review would provide confidence on cost, governance, management, reporting, and whether the expected benefits are actually being delivered (RNZ).

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford asked the Commission to look at the broader OFS programme after a separate review was launched into another Immigration New Zealand project, the Biometric Capability Update. The two reviews are distinct in scope, but both sit within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) wider technology modernisation work (RNZ).

The OFS programme aims to make visa processing more efficient, reduce the risk of technology and service failures, improve risk management, and provide a better experience for visa applicants. Its Detailed Business Case, published by MBIE in March 2025 under the title "Our Future Services: Detailed Business Case - Modernising the Immigration System End-to-End," sets out the preferred approach for overhauling the immigration system from start to finish (MBIE). The programme is intended to deliver a more cost-effective immigration system that is more productive and better at managing immigration risk (MBIE).

MBIE has publicly welcomed the Commission's investigation. In a June 2026 statement, the ministry said it welcomed the assurance review after a critical independent review. MBIE's Mr Blakeley said the review would provide assurance on the advice MBIE had provided (MBIE).

The programme has had some delivery successes. MBIE says OFS has already moved the highest-volume visa products onto Immigration New Zealand's enhanced Immigration Online system (MBIE). In June 2026, Immigration New Zealand shifted family of temporary visa holder applications onto the enhanced Immigration Online platform as part of the programme, a move first signalled in March (Immigration NZ).

The broader context here is that the programme's delivery record is mixed. Visa products have moved onto the new platform and the ministry has published its Detailed Business Case, which shows a degree of transparency. But the decision to commission an assurance review at all signals that confidence in cost control, governance, and whether benefits are being realised is not yet settled. The appointment of a reviewer whose expertise sits specifically in large-budget, multi-year transformation programmes suggests the Commission is focused on whether the $336 million spend is being managed against the kind of delivery risk that typically builds up in long-running government IT projects.

For ministers and officials watching from the Beehive, the OFS review is the second immigration IT assurance process now running at the same time. The Biometric Capability Update review prompted Stanford to widen the lens to the broader programme, which suggests a judgement that any issues found in that project may not be isolated. The assurance review's scope, as Roche described it, covers the full set of accountability mechanisms: cost, governance, management, reporting, and whether expected benefits are actually being delivered.

The practical question for people working in or around the immigration system is whether the review will lead to changes that affect the migration of remaining visa categories onto Immigration Online, or whether it will confirm the programme's current direction. The terms of reference and reporting timeline for Hosking's review have not been detailed in the public statements released so far. What is confirmed is that the review is underway, that MBIE is cooperating, and that the Public Service Commission has positioned it as an assurance exercise rather than a performance investigation.