May 2014 - Naturalisation Application Timeline

[waitingobserver]

Congrats waitingobserver.

Can you share the email template please, I aslo want to write to my MP as I am fed up of waiting and the robotic answer of home office.
Thanks.

Excellent news, waitingobserver. I'm very pleased your ordeal is over.

Are you saying that you didn't receive the letter yourself yet? Like your MP email you the news?

Yes my MP informed me about the news and date of approval. Trying to book a private ceremony gonna have to cough up 139 pounds but hey ho the wait is over !!

Hello Musto,

I didn't follow a template.I just wanted an answer so bad words started coming to my head. I added few supportive arguments to make my points valid.

According to write to them website it'd be better if you use your own words. They'll surely sound deeper than a template.

Good luck and hope you get an answer soon.

[Relatively Fat]

My approval letter has arrived today. Phew-flipping-phew!

Eligibility criteria: LLR (Refugee Status) 5yrs + 1 year ILR
Language + UK knowledge criteria met: LIUK + ESOL Entry 3 (speaking and listening).
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date approval on letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of ceremony: my local authority can't find my data in their system and asked me to ring back later today.

Waiting time: 5 months and 18 days.

waitingobserver, our applications seem to have been approved in the same day, possibly by the same caseworker and in the same order, which means we are chosen by fate and based on this, will you marry me? (joking)

[Relatively Fat]

musto, I was planning to write to my MP to complain about the lousy service and use that as an excuse to have my application dealt with expeditiously. I couldn't have had any grounds for asking the Home Office to speed up their approval process because the six month framework hadn't expired.

Poor service has to be the most valid pretext on which a local MP can be spurred to take up the matter with the Home Office and in doing so, they can smuggle in the 'speeding up of my app' as an afterthought.

I drafted my email with as much righteous indignation as I can muster. I'm pasting this fictitious complaint here as an example, of course with changes to my personal details. Hope you find it helpful.

Dear John Doe MP
I am writing to seek your assistance with my application for British citizenship. In particular, the way in which the Home Office have been dealing with my inquiries and the distress this has so far put me under.

I refer you to the following nine facts of my application:
1 - My name, DOB, nationality: John Smith, 01/01/1900, xxxxx
2- Basis for application: 5 years (Limited Leave to remain, Refugee Status) + Indefinite Leave to remain (granted on 1 January 1900).
3- My application's Home Office Reference: M00000/000
4- Date of application: 30/04/2014
5- Method of application: Nationality Checking Service ( Croydon Town Hall)
6- Date of receipt by the Home Office: 01/05/ 2014
7- Date of acknowledgement letter: 12/05/2014
8- Date of approval letter: pending
9- Date of ceremony: pending

I have contacted the Home Office several times via several means. I phoned them three times (on 0300 123 2253), emailed them twice (on furthernationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk) and have written to them (Lunar House, Croydon) over a month ago. Out of all these attempts, only phoning them has been the method through which I was offered the common courtesy of a reply.

Their automated email replies say they would get back to me within 20 working days. They have not. I find this unacceptable.

On the phone, I have been on different occasions given wrong information regarding the progress of my application. The first time I rang them I was told by the customer service agent that my application was allocated to a caseworker and she thought it should not take long. However, the second time I rang I was told by another agent that all he could confirm was the receipt of my application only. I find this unacceptable and the quality of their service is woefully poor.

My application meets all the statutory requirements and Home Office guidance leaflets. I have no convictions, no civil offences, no involvement with the police of any kind and have been legally residing in the UK for x years and x months. I thus believe my application comes within the scope of what they term 'straightforward'. Yet, the Home Office have not been responsive at all and I find the way with which I was treated very unsatisfactory.

I now have patiently waited for the approval of my application for x months and xx days. This protracted process and the poor service I've so far received have caused me a great deal of distress and despondency.

I fully understand there may have been unavoidable grounds for the delay of my application on the part of the Home Office. However, it is difficult to imagine good reasons for their non-reply, wrong information and poor service.

I therefore request your assistance with getting an accurate update on the status of my application from the Home Office. I would be grateful if you could implore them on my behalf to speed up the process due to the adverse effects the combination of waiting and poor service have caused me.

I have attached relevant documents to this email for ease of reference. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on this email address, on my mobile phone 000000000 or on the following home address [ this is very important to include due to strict parliamentary rules on representations i.e. you must be their constituent].

I would like to thank you very much for the excellent assistance your office gave me in 2013 with obtaining an acknowledgement of receipt letter from the UKBA for my application for Indefinite Leave to remain in the UK.

I look forward to hearing from you in the nearer future.

Kind regards,
John Smith

[waitingobserver]

My approval letter has arrived today. Phew-flipping-phew!

Eligibility criteria: LLR (Refugee Status) 5yrs + 1 year ILR
Language + UK knowledge criteria met: LIUK + ESOL Entry 3 (speaking and listening).
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date approval on letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of ceremony: my local authority can't find my data in their system and asked me to ring back later today.

Waiting time: 5 months and 18 days.

waitingobserver, our applications seem to have been approved in the same day, possibly by the same caseworker and in the same order, which means we are chosen by fate and based on this, will you marry me? (joking)

Ok dude I'll see with my wife Congratulations so glad things started moving on with May applications again.

My letter will come on Friday or Saturday at the latest. I spoke to the council and they said they get updates about the batches of approvals every friday and they expect mine to be among them.

[Relatively Fat]

My approval letter has arrived today. Phew-flipping-phew!

Eligibility criteria: LLR (Refugee Status) 5yrs + 1 year ILR
Language + UK knowledge criteria met: LIUK + ESOL Entry 3 (speaking and listening).
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date approval on letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of ceremony: my local authority can't find my data in their system and asked me to ring back later today.

Waiting time: 5 months and 18 days.

waitingobserver, our applications seem to have been approved in the same day, possibly by the same caseworker and in the same order, which means we are chosen by fate and based on this, will you marry me? (joking)

Ok dude I'll see with my wife Congratulations so glad things started moving on with May applications again.

My letter will come on Friday or Saturday at the latest. I spoke to the council and they said they get updates about the batches of approvals every friday and they expect mine to be among them.

Yes, May applications are starting to move. May, the queen of summer. It's being faithfully restored to its alliterative glory 'the merry month of May' (check out the eponymous poem by Thomas Dekker).

I rang my local register office and they offered me the earliest available ceremony slot as 19th November 2014. I asked to be booked for an earlier private ceremony and they'll ring me back today with a date. A private ceremony costs £100, it'd be in the evening and would normally take 10 minutes.

Your case is curious though - you heard from your MP via an email and still are your good ol' waiting-observing self. Technically, you can't book your ceremony without receiving the actual letter. The letter says at its bottom " You must bring this invitation to the ceremony, if you do not your ceremony will be postponed." (original underlining & in bold). So I have all my fingers crossed for you to get it very soon.

Also, why do you have to fork out an extra £39 for your private ceremony when I get to pay only £100?

[musto]

Thank you very much this will be very helpful and congrats, its been a long wait and good luck to the future.

musto, I was planning to write to my MP to complain about the lousy service and use that as an excuse to have my application dealt with expeditiously. I couldn't have had any grounds for asking the Home Office to speed up their approval process because the six month framework hadn't expired.

Poor service has to be the most valid pretext on which a local MP can be spurred to take up the matter with the Home Office and in doing so, they can smuggle in the 'speeding up of my app' as an afterthought.

I drafted my email with as much righteous indignation as I can muster. I'm pasting this fictitious complaint here as an example, of course with changes to my personal details. Hope you find it helpful.

Dear John Doe MP
I am writing to seek your assistance with my application for British citizenship. In particular, the way in which the Home Office have been dealing with my inquiries and the distress this has so far put me under.

I refer you to the following nine facts of my application:
1 - My name, DOB, nationality: John Smith, 01/01/1900, xxxxx
2- Basis for application: 5 years (Limited Leave to remain, Refugee Status) + Indefinite Leave to remain (granted on 1 January 1900).
3- My application's Home Office Reference: M00000/000
4- Date of application: 30/04/2014
5- Method of application: Nationality Checking Service ( Croydon Town Hall)
6- Date of receipt by the Home Office: 01/05/ 2014
7- Date of acknowledgement letter: 12/05/2014
8- Date of approval letter: pending
9- Date of ceremony: pending

I have contacted the Home Office several times via several means. I phoned them three times (on 0300 123 2253), emailed them twice (on furthernationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk) and have written to them (Lunar House, Croydon) over a month ago. Out of all these attempts, only phoning them has been the method through which I was offered the common courtesy of a reply.

Their automated email replies say they would get back to me within 20 working days. They have not. I find this unacceptable.

On the phone, I have been on different occasions given wrong information regarding the progress of my application. The first time I rang them I was told by the customer service agent that my application was allocated to a caseworker and she thought it should not take long. However, the second time I rang I was told by another agent that all he could confirm was the receipt of my application only. I find this unacceptable and the quality of their service is woefully poor.

My application meets all the statutory requirements and Home Office guidance leaflets. I have no convictions, no civil offences, no involvement with the police of any kind and have been legally residing in the UK for x years and x months. I thus believe my application comes within the scope of what they term 'straightforward'. Yet, the Home Office have not been responsive at all and I find the way with which I was treated very unsatisfactory.

I now have patiently waited for the approval of my application for x months and xx days. This protracted process and the poor service I've so far received have caused me a great deal of distress and despondency.

I fully understand there may have been unavoidable grounds for the delay of my application on the part of the Home Office. However, it is difficult to imagine good reasons for their non-reply, wrong information and poor service.

I therefore request your assistance with getting an accurate update on the status of my application from the Home Office. I would be grateful if you could implore them on my behalf to speed up the process due to the adverse effects the combination of waiting and poor service have caused me.

I have attached relevant documents to this email for ease of reference. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on this email address, on my mobile phone 000000000 or on the following home address [ this is very important to include due to strict parliamentary rules on representations i.e. you must be their constituent].

I would like to thank you very much for the excellent assistance your office gave me in 2013 with obtaining an acknowledgement of receipt letter from the UKBA for my application for Indefinite Leave to remain in the UK.

I look forward to hearing from you in the nearer future.

Kind regards,
John Smith

[waitingobserver]

My approval letter has arrived today. Phew-flipping-phew!

Eligibility criteria: LLR (Refugee Status) 5yrs + 1 year ILR
Language + UK knowledge criteria met: LIUK + ESOL Entry 3 (speaking and listening).
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date approval on letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of ceremony: my local authority can't find my data in their system and asked me to ring back later today.

Waiting time: 5 months and 18 days.

waitingobserver, our applications seem to have been approved in the same day, possibly by the same caseworker and in the same order, which means we are chosen by fate and based on this, will you marry me? (joking)

Ok dude I'll see with my wife Congratulations so glad things started moving on with May applications again.

My letter will come on Friday or Saturday at the latest. I spoke to the council and they said they get updates about the batches of approvals every friday and they expect mine to be among them.

Yes, May applications are starting to move. May, the queen of summer. It's being faithfully restored to its alliterative glory 'the merry month of May' (check out the eponymous poem by Thomas Dekker).

I rang my local register office and they offered me the earliest available ceremony slot as 19th November 2014. I asked to be booked for an earlier private ceremony and they'll ring me back today with a date. A private ceremony costs £100, it'd be in the evening and would normally take 10 minutes.

Your case is curious though - you heard from your MP via an email and still are your good ol' waiting-observing self. Technically, you can't book your ceremony without receiving the actual letter. The letter says at its bottom " You must bring this invitation to the ceremony, if you do not your ceremony will be postponed." (original underlining & in bold). So I have all my fingers crossed for you to get it very soon.

Also, why do you have to fork out an extra £39 for your private ceremony when I get to pay only £100?

The fact that my approval was announced to the MP must be a sheer coincidence maybe I coulda just waited for a week or 2 to be notified personally via mail by the HO itself. Technically as you said I'm still a waitingobserver cuz there's no tangible proof of my approval except the word of my MP. However, can't deny that the feeling of relief when u know your application is approved is just priceless.

[Relatively Fat]

The fact that my approval was announced to the MP must be a sheer coincidence maybe I coulda just waited for a week or 2 to be notified personally via mail by the HO itself. Technically as you said I'm still a waitingobserver cuz there's no tangible proof of my approval except the word of my MP. However, can't deny that the feeling of relief when u know your application is approved is just priceless.

You are absolutely right -- even not easily excitable me was caught today with tears of relief.

My council has booked me for a private ceremony tomorrow afternoon for the eye-watering sum of £100. I'm tired of waiting-observing and I will apply for my passport this very Friday.

However, they don't seem to have all my details at hand and asked me over the phone for my "Poll/Cover Note Number" on the invitation letter. So, I guess you need to have the physical letter for inter alia this number.

Such was the perverse recklessness of the HO that the letter was posted second class and in an ordinary brown envelope. I could easily have mistaken it for other non-important letters. Disgusting!

Eligibility criteria: LLR 5yrs + 1 year ILR + 1 month
Language criteria met: LIUK + ESOL.
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date of approval letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of private ceremony: 16/10/2014

Good luck to all May people.

[mhsadique]

My approval letter has arrived today. Phew-flipping-phew!

Eligibility criteria: LLR (Refugee Status) 5yrs + 1 year ILR
Language + UK knowledge criteria met: LIUK + ESOL Entry 3 (speaking and listening).
Method of application: NCS (Croydon)
Date of application: 30/04/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/2014
Clearance of fees: 09/05/2014
Date of acknowledgment: received 15/05/2014 (Dated 12/05/2014)
Date approval on letter: received 15/10/2014 ( Dated 08/10/2014)
Date of ceremony: my local authority can't find my data in their system and asked me to ring back later today.

Waiting time: 5 months and 18 days.

waitingobserver, our applications seem to have been approved in the same day, possibly by the same caseworker and in the same order, which means we are chosen by fate and based on this, will you marry me? (joking)

Congratulation.........one more approval
I was told you early day's just wait and see, as you mention your record are completely white.

[Relatively Fat]

Congratulation.........one more approval
I was told you early day's just wait and see, as you mention your record are completely white.

Yes, I was in distress and found your reply reassuring -- it made me cautiously optimistic. Thanks a lot. I don't however accept the adjective you used "white" as a fair characterisation for my record (joking). Seriously though, I know I must've erred one way or another in the last 7 years, but the hell of it all was the passivity of the process and being at the complete mercy of unseen and uncontactable arbiters who can, when looking into my history, take any youthful indiscretion too seriously and against whom I have no realistic redress.

[SKK27]

SKK27, I share your frustration.

I'm getting really jittery now. The first thing I do when I wake up these days is to check my mail. Everyday, Saturdays included. If I leave before 9am, I either ring home to check or keep thinking about the possibility of something being delivered from the kafkaesque HO, and the first thing I do when I return home 9pm is to check my mail - so the circle of trepidation is complete.

Rang them a few moments ago and was told in sympathetic tones what amounts to "you only have 16 days left before it's 6 months, cheer up, not long now, and by the way stop piling on the agony".

Thought of filing a complaint as the practical thing to do about the situation but thought I should better wait till it's exactly 6 months (01/11/2014), then involve my local MP - that has helped speed up things in the past - before the formal complaint. But complain I most certainly will. Even if I get my approval inside the six months period and let them be ill-disposed towards me. I will do this for the sake of other straightforward applicants. We should all complain.

Hi Mr/Mrs Relatively Fat,thank you for sharing your thoughts...like that.
I am possibly from different world and when I took the decision to apply for the UK citizenship...I was excited..But now even if I get that today,I will have no excitement...why? as I am not just paralyzed for this type of country where you are supposed to get the unreasonable apology from the authority who is going to decide whether you will get the citizenship or not,and they have no faithful system so that they can predict when your decision will come.

[king hassi]

Call ho today got reply u still got 2 weeks to 6 months ...shall i wait 1 more week or shall i speak to mp abt it ...enough is enough... Plz suggest thanks

[Relatively Fat]

SKK27 and king hassi, I suggest you contact your local MPs because you have nothing to lose, all to gain.
Make the complaint about their poor customer service, giving out wrong information (for example, they told me yesterday my app were in process, yet it was approved and posted to me a week ago) and ask for an accurate update on the progress of your apps. Emailing your MP is the best way in my experience.

P.s. It's Mr Relatively Fat

[mhsadique]

approval is very slow now........no news last 3days.

[king hassi]

I send the email to my local mp let's see how it goes ...

[Wariko]

by Wariko » Sun Oct 19, 2014 6:06 am

Hi all,
I hope you will be able to clarified this for me, after-6-year-discretionary-leave.(ilr granted)
Can an application be submitted for naturalisation straight away ?
Or the need to wait 1 year before submitting ?

Thanks for your help.

[SKK27]

SKK27 and king hassi, I suggest you contact your local MPs because you have nothing to lose, all to gain.
Make the complaint about their poor customer service, giving out wrong information (for example, they told me yesterday my app were in process, yet it was approved and posted to me a week ago) and ask for an accurate update on the progress of your apps. Emailing your MP is the best way in my experience.

P.s. It's Mr Relatively Fat

tHANK YOU MR RELATIVELY FAT,YOUR SUGGESTION SOUNDS GOOD TO ME,SOON I AM GOING TO KNOCK THE DOOR WITH MY EMAIL.YES ITS NOT TOO EARLY BUT NOT TOO LATE EITHER.
THANK YOU AGAIN....

[SKK27]

I send the email to my local mp let's see how it goes ...

Me too has dispatched the clear message to my MP today.....another wait...

[fazhaque]

Also send an email to my local MP today....hope will get some positive feedback soon.

[furbs]

5 months tomorrow that i sent my application...
its really frustrating seeing all the people in june and july and august receiving their approvals whilst the may people are still waiting for the outcome..
I am going to wait till 7th of november and then i am going to email the local mp.

i have changed addresses too with no access to previous addresses so i dont even know if they would send any letters to the old address despite calling them up all the time and asking if they have sent any letters to the old address

[mhsadique]

I'm also Apply 21/05/14 |5 month tomorrow | its straight forward case | will see one more month | But still, without any reason they shouldn't hold our application, its my view.

5 months tomorrow that i sent my application...
its really frustrating seeing all the people in june and july and august receiving their approvals whilst the may people are still waiting for the outcome..
I am going to wait till 7th of november and then i am going to email the local mp.

i have changed addresses too with no access to previous addresses so i dont even know if they would send any letters to the old address despite calling them up all the time and asking if they have sent any letters to the old address

[king hassi]

I got reply from my mp your email ve been forward to his contacts in homeoffice hopefully u ll get reply within 2 days ...2nd nov i ll complete my six months guys ...finger crossed

[Husssain79]

hi All - just returned from my 2 weeks holidays abroad hoping I will have my brown envelope obviously nothing came through so far .... 5 months barrier crossed now

Applied on 19th May, still waiting... will wait 2 weeks before going to my MP...

[romford1]

wrote to my local mp today highlighting the misleading information provided by home office when they said I will get a decision within 2 weeks and it has been 11 weeks since!
fingers crossed now its just very frustrating now!
application date:12th of May

[SKK27]

5 months tomorrow that i sent my application...
its really frustrating seeing all the people in june and july and august receiving their approvals whilst the may people are still waiting for the outcome..
I am going to wait till 7th of november and then i am going to email the local mp.

i have changed addresses too with no access to previous addresses so i dont even know if they would send any letters to the old address despite calling them up all the time and asking if they have sent any letters to the old address

.

Hi,may be you are right,but I knocked the door of my MP,as I am just two weeks (7th NOV)away for 6 months limit and not willing to listen and apologetic words from the HO.So I hope you and think you do the same as it looks like we need to attach the TURBO to our applications and our only TURBO is our MP. I would also advised you to get your letters redirect from royalmail paying a little money for 3-6 months for your peace.
Thank you