Originally Posted by
JandM
INZ timing is never predictable. The CO has to verify everything you said about yourself, by contacting other people to check that your evidence is genuine. Those other people aren't necessarily in any hurry to reply, and there's nothing the CO can do about that. Then, all INZ COs work 80 - 90 cases in rotation, so some of the time that passes will be when your CO is working on the others of her allocation - but your file will get its fair turns for attention, when she looks to see what replies have come back, and if there is anything else she can do at that time to move your affairs onwards. When she has done all the verification, when she has decided what outcome to recommend, she still can't tell you until after the whole file has been passed for second-person checking, when another INZ official looks over the whole case to check for any mistakes, and as a guard against the possibility of corruption. There is usually a date-order queue for 2pc.
In your place, I would go ahead and get a new passport. If you get approval and get your visa label put in the old one, you would then have to pay to get it transferred into a new one very shortly afterwards.