A woman whose emergency managed isolation application wasn't processed for a week says the stress of the wait was overwhelming.
People can apply for quick entry into the border hotels on specific compassionate grounds.
MBIE admits it hasn't always met its three-day target turnaround time which only begins once it has all the supporting evidence it needs.
Samantha Gallagher, who lives in Australia, applied after her father-in-law was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
She's since secured a room in managed isolation by sitting on the computer with her partner for 24 hours, refreshing until a cancelled room becomes free.
But her father-in-law has died, and she's missed the funeral.
She told reporter Katie Todd, she had two un-acknowledged applications, a week of waiting, and a battle to provide MBIE with his life expectancy.
