Just called them. It seems the design of the passport has now changed and the chip is not visible any more.

This is just a question out of curiosity. I have a British passport which I got last year. We just had a baby a few months back and yesterday got the British passport for her as well. While looking at my daughter's passport there was no chip visible in the page where there are her details along with...

Thanks sushdmehta. I had read it earlier but it wasn;t clear to me whether all members of a family have to be present for for this. May be I will ask them over the phone as well.

Guys, Just a couple of quick questions: 1. I have registered for OCI online and have filled the parts A and B. Can I take the fully signed application (with all relevant documents) to HCI and submit for both of us? or does she need to be present as well? 2. On the HCI website they say they give toke...

Thanks all of you again. Anyhow I used a cheque. By the way NCS told me that cheque doesn't slow the application down. The guy even said that home office has special arrangements with the banks so that it is processed straightaway and doesn't go through the normal clearing process where it takes 4-5...

Thanks ukpl. To be on the safe side I included more information in my application (like limited company number, VAT registration number etc). I also included the latest Self assessment statement from HMRC. NCS asked me if I had last year's statement as well, which I had, so they included that as wel...

Thanks ukpl. In my case they have changed my tax code in some years 2 or 3 times as well, so I don't see why they can't do it again. In any case they planned to collect by a tax-code change in 2011-12 so there is still time to go and they can easily change it if the wanted to. I got the payment slip...

Thanks chandru2011. I will definitely post if there is any further clarification from NCS, however I suspect they will not be sufficiently informed in these matters. So I will basically have to direct them. For 3.2, I am planning to tick both director and employee. Having thought about it, it can't ...

I have an NCS appointment for tomorrow and this questions concerns my wife. She has been in UK for over 5 years. Initially she was working as an employee for about 2.5 years. Then she contracted through an umbrella company for about 1 year. For last 1.5 years she has been contracting as the sole dir...

Thanks abi_abc. I have offered to make the payment and am waiting for the pay-slip however they said they will change the tax-code for next year anyway (to collect the under payment) and will reverse it if and when I make the payment based on pay-slip. So they said that I have the option to ignore t...

Thanks johnsienuk. I think based on our normal day to day experience it seems natural to expect more delays with cheques. Someone said that a card payment can be overturned, however the card company will ask for proof that it was fraudulent or unauthorized. If it was genuine then one cannot reverse ...

Having talked to HMRC again it seems like a more routine thing. Basically the company declares P11D benefits in kind to HMRC after the tax year is over and then they take another few motnhs to adjust the tax-code to account for it. So for P11D benefits there is always a lag of at least a year before...

Well last week I booked an NCS appointment for midweek this week and a couple of days later I got my tax calculations sent to me by HMRC. I have been working in UK for last 6 years or so, always on PAYE. Basically I have never filed tax-returns on my own becuase I am on PAYE and HMRC sends me the ta...

Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs. I guess in the grand scheme of things it doens't make that much of a difference. The UKBA may start processing the application while asusming that the cheque will be cleared. Of course they wouldn't approve the application until the payment is cleared. So if...

Is it really true that a payment by cheque doesn't slow the whole process compared to credit/debit card?

I can not confirm the exact amount but one of my friends passively mentioned it to me last week that in such a scenario they charge £195 (or was it £95, I can't remember) penalty fee for every trip you make on the Indian passport. So it could be a hefty bill.

Thanks lanr3e. Hopefully it will go through. The only reason I asked the question is that my credit card is through Capital One and in the past they have given me a call to verify some payments (e.g. when I used it to buy airlines tickets on the phone) before approving them. In such a scenario it is...

Thanks Johnsienuk. I think I will ask NCS about it. If they say it is best to attach an alternative slip (in case the payment form main slip is rejected) then I will do so.

Thanks MPH80. I think I kind of knew the answer but just wanted the confirmation.

If anyone knows the answer to the 2nd part of my question (do they reject or give you another chance if payment doesn't go through) please let me know.

I am planning to make the citizenship payment through credit card as I think it will be faster than cheque clearance. There is a small query I have. I have registered for the Mastercard securecode system where for online payments I need to enter a password apart from the card-number, expiry, last 3-...

In case there is no reply from someone with a similar experience your options are either to contact a solicitor (they may have seen similar cases) or apply for citizenship anyways (duly declaring the offence) and take the risk that it might be rejected and you will lose the application fee. If you a...

Thanks tonytee. That does provide some level of comfort.

HI All, I am thinking of applying for naturalization soon and I have a question about driving offence. I entered UK for the first time in may 2005. I got a speeding ticket when I was caught by a speed camera (driving at 38mph on a 30mph road) in june 2006. Since I was driving on a foreign driving li...