June 2014 - Naturalisation Application Timeline

[Samaralady]

Approaching 7 months. Now they don't even answer phone calls any more. I wonder if they recognise my number.

[therian]

same thing happened to me 2months after submitting my application I was anxious and rang them up, I had a hunch that I did not submit everything (which was actually the case) the customer service agent that day was kind and told me that I need to submit my original certificate too, I asked why did I not get any letter for that and the agent said they don't usually give letters after acknowledgement the application until the 6 month period is over. So yeah I sent it same day and approval was granted after 4days

Thanks for the good wishes, matishoney... I hope we'll have an approval soon. What is particularly frustrating, however, is that my husband phoned several times over the six months, specifically asking if there were any hold-ups, and was always told it was fine, no further requirements, it's in process... and when he phoned after the six-month mark he was just told that he would receive no status updates on his application unless he wrote a letter. I'm convinced they've only just looked at this, and I also can't understand why NCS didn't flag the outstanding documents either - makes you wonder what you pay them for, then. But I am trying to remain positive. I'll update as soon as we know x

[jvincent]

It will be 7 months in 3 days for me. I sent an official letter requesting a status update on the 6 month anniversary (6th of December) and have not yet had a response. When I called them a few days before the 6th of December they said my application was still under consideration and that the only way to get an update was to write an official letter after the 6 month anniversary. Fingers crossed it will all start to happen when the agents start to come back from their Christmas holidays. I cannot for the life of me understand why, as I am a Canadian and Hungarian Citizen (Commonwealth and EU), have been married to a British Citizen (British Born) for 6.5 years now and have been living and working in the UK as an EU member under the Workers Registration Scheme for over 8 years now. I also have no criminal record in any country and have been paying a significant amount of tax for nearly a decade now (I know this is not something to be taken into account on applications). I sent in my application through the Cannock NCS to ensure a speedy and fault-free application, where I also paid my fee's on the day. I got 100% on my Life in the UK test.... Oh well, onwards and upwards good luck to all and fingers crossed.

(A call is due to be placed next week to check on the response to my letter now).

Quick update on this, I just called in and they were able to confirm they received my letter on the 22nd of December (very slow mail during Christmas I guess) and have yet to send a letter back. The agent suggested this MAY still happen. She has also said there are no further notes on the system about my application other than it is still outstanding with nothing flagged up as missing. When I asked why I was notified within 8 weeks of foreseen delays as per their customer charter on their website, she suggested that only relates to other application types, that the citizenship applications do take longer and there is no way for them to know whether they will be late or not. She said the only way for me to get an update would be to wait for a response to my letter and/or send in a formal complaint.

I don't really want to send a formal complaint about this as there is a fear that people will be extra thorough and picky on my application and find the most minute error purely to prove why the delays, thus delaying this process even further. I am no rush for this as I am after all an EU member living legally here with every right as a British Citizen aside from national election voting, but I just want this to be off my list.

Rant over, best of luck to all (and advice is welcomed).

[jvincent]

When I asked why I was notified within 8 weeks of foreseen delays...

Sorry, I meant to say "why I was NOT notified within 8 weeks of unforeseen delays..."

[Samaralady]

Light at the end of the tunnel: Phoned HO today, been advised that a decision had been made and the letter is in the post. I should have it by the end of the week.

People were born, got married and died in the time that it took to reach that point.

Probably the same people who were born got married and died in the time it took to reach this point

[ohojska]

Light at the end of the tunnel: Phoned HO today, been advised that a decision had been made and the letter is in the post. I should have it by the end of the week.

People were born, got married and died in the time that it took to reach that point.

Probably the same people who were born got married and died in the time it took to reach this point

LOL can't stop laughing after reading your post But it's so to the point. I keep my fingers cross for your application and hope you will get your brown envelope by the end of the week. That would be a breaking point and great news for others EU without the PR like myself.

[therian]

Probably the same people who were born got married and died in the time it took to reach this point

Thanks for injecting that bit of humour... made me laugh out loud. I certainly haven't felt like laughing about this in months, and I totally feel your pain. I hope you get your letter soon x

[forever.waiting]

Light at the end of the tunnel: Phoned HO today, been advised that a decision had been made and the letter is in the post. I should have it by the end of the week.

People were born, got married and died in the time that it took to reach that point.

Probably the same people who were born got married and died in the time it took to reach this point

LOL can't stop laughing after reading your post But it's so to the point. I keep my fingers cross for your application and hope you will get your brown envelope by the end of the week. That would be a breaking point and great news for others EU without the PR like myself.

+1..

[nkatyal]

Is anyone still waiting for application made in June 2014?

[jvincent]

Yes, my application was sent through NCS Cannock on June 6, 2014 - 7 Months ago to the day.

[amjad6226]

Friends i spoke to customer services on 19th of December i been told i have very good chances to receive my application by 27th of December as it is the last date of my 6 months standard time. But today when i phoned them he said just write a letter to my case worker and he further said I need to wait this months if i wont get reply from them then they will investigate about my case so wired. Anyway i sent them letter on 29th of December he said, he did not receive it yet but it was next day delivery and according to Royal mail they received it on 30th of last month.

I sent an email to my MP what a reply from him i was surprised to see it. I sent him a mail in afternoon and in two hours He replied that my application will get conclusion soon and he further said that if i wont get reply from home office by 20 January this month then i contact him back, he will make further investigation about my case hope for the best and lets see what will happen till 20th of Jan. Pray for me and i pray for other Allah gives them their approval soon.

[nkim2222]

Samaralady , am glad to hear your letter its on its way, I hope mine is on its way too as am 16th June applicant lady LOOL..Diid you call MP or you wrote to them pliz update us on what steps you took.Hope we all get our brown envelopes.God Bless you all..

[nkim2222]

Hi all, I called them yesterday and they told me to write to CET Home office Liverpool p.o box 306 , L2 0QN.Am wondering is someone was told to write to that address.Coz on Dec 17th I was told to write to department 1 in Liverpool like everybody else.
I have been waiting for 6 months 2weeks..

[Londoner078]

Nkim2222: yea I had to send a letter to the same address but these things are just bunch of BS, believe me or not there are bunch of dearly beloved people working in home office and they enjoy seeing people suffering, yes it is true, people may not say it but you can see in their action!
now see what i got after contacted my MP, I contacted him and asked him to find out whats going on and he responded to me yesterday that he called them through MP hotline and they told him my application had not been looked at yet, after 6 month and 3 weeks!!!!! this is out of order, god knows who is in charge. unprofessional, useless human being thats all i can say.
I made an official complaint and lets see what happens!

[jvincent]

I suspect race has nothing to do with the discrimination, as I am still waiting after 7 months, and I am a Canadian / Hungarian with a British mother. I think the discrimination simply comes down to when we all applied for this, as it seems if anyone applied after July they have got their answers, even those who applied in December, yet most people who applied in May, June, and July are all still waiting. The only thing that seems to get the cogs in motion on this is our MP's contacting them, but I think it is such a waste of our MP's time. I don't know how or why the applications sent in from May to July 2014 have been held up so long across the board.

[cmpic]

I suspect race has nothing to do with the discrimination, as I am still waiting after 7 months, and I am a Canadian / Hungarian with a British mother. I think the discrimination simply comes down to when we all applied for this, as it seems if anyone applied after July they have got their answers, even those who applied in December, yet most people who applied in May, June, and July are all still waiting. The only thing that seems to get the cogs in motion on this is our MP's contacting them, but I think it is such a waste of our MP's time. I don't know how or why the applications sent in from May to July 2014 have been held up so long across the board.

Not necessarily - there are plenty of ppl who applied in Sept and Oct that are still waiting (incl myself). About 30% of applicants of each month get the "slow treatment" for some reasons (possibly due to "further checks").

[rim77]

Hi All,
7 Months today and I have got a reply from my MP. He received a letter from HO regarding my application and attached the copy for me with the reason for delay: " We were instructed to place cases on hold during the Independent Chief Inspector's (ICI) report. The Independent Chief Inspector's report of 11 December 2014 highlighted that some individuals had not been subjects to sufficient scrutiny in relation to their immigration history. We have now revised our guidance and are looking at those cases in detail to assess the impact these changes will have on the outcome of the application for British Citizenship. Due to additional checks required these cases will take a little longer to consider..."
I think this is another standard response...my application met the deadline just about the time when the report came out so it was delayed anyway and also I still believe that it is a straight forward application. My husband got the approval in just 6 weeks a year before ( Dec 2013) having the same circumstances...

Good luck everyone!

[mm_kitkat]

Hi All,
7 Months today and I have got a reply from my MP. He received a letter from HO regarding my application and attached the copy for me with the reason for delay: " We were instructed to place cases on hold during the Independent Chief Inspector's (ICI) report. The Independent Chief Inspector's report of 11 December 2014 highlighted that some individuals had not been subjects to sufficient scrutiny in relation to their immigration history. We have now revised our guidance and are looking at those cases in detail to assess the impact these changes will have on the outcome of the application for British Citizenship. Due to additional checks required these cases will take a little longer to consider..."
I think this is another standard response...my application met the deadline just about the time when the report came out so it was delayed anyway and also I still believe that it is a straight forward application. My husband got the approval in just 6 weeks a year before ( Dec 2013) having the same circumstances...

Good luck everyone!

rim77,

that is definitely a standard, generic, automated response. I got an email from my MP yesterday and he had received pretty much exactly the same email from the HO. It is so incredibly frustrating that they are using this report as a blanket excuse for why applications that were past 6 months anyway in December are still pending.

I feel like we are all absolutely helpless here and the HO can now take another month, few months or even another year to deal with those and there is nothing at all we can do

[mm_kitkat]

Hi All,
7 Months today and I have got a reply from my MP. He received a letter from HO regarding my application and attached the copy for me with the reason for delay: " We were instructed to place cases on hold during the Independent Chief Inspector's #ICI# report. The Independent Chief Inspector's report of 11 December 2014 highlighted that some individuals had not been subjects to sufficient scrutiny in relation to their immigration history. We have now revised our guidance and are looking at those cases in detail to assess the impact these changes will have on the outcome of the application for British Citizenship. Due to additional checks required these cases will take a little longer to consider..."
I think this is another standard response...my application met the deadline just about the time when the report came out so it was delayed anyway and also I still believe that it is a straight forward application. My husband got the approval in just 6 weeks a year before # Dec 2013# having the same circumstances...

Good luck everyone!

rim77,

that is definitely a standard, generic, automated response. I got an email from my MP yesterday and he had received pretty much exactly the same email from the HO. It is so incredibly frustrating that they are using this report as a blanket excuse for why applications that were past 6 months anyway in December are still pending.

I feel like we are all absolutely helpless here and the HO can now take another month, few months or even another year to deal with those and there is nothing at all we can do

[mclook23]

Hi,

found an interesting document about processing time for AN, EEA3 and EEA4 since January 2014:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 3.pdf.html

Mo

[Samaralady]

It has arrived.

Tomorrow it would have been 7 months.

Enclosed with the letter was a leaflet asking me to take part in a customer service survey.

The irony.

Yet I don't want to be ungrateful. The wait is over.

[ohojska]

It has arrived.

Tomorrow it would have been 7 months.

Enclosed with the letter was a leaflet asking me to take part in a customer service survey.

The irony.

Yet I don't want to be ungrateful. The wait is over.

Congrats! well deserved after the 7 months wait. It will give hope to the others EU with no PR...

[Samaralady]

It has arrived.

Tomorrow it would have been 7 months.

Enclosed with the letter was a leaflet asking me to take part in a customer service survey.

The irony.

Yet I don't want to be ungrateful. The wait is over.

Congrats! well deserved after the 7 months wait. It will give hope to the others EU with no PR...

Thank you!

I hope it will make other EU with no PR feel somewhat better, applications are apparently being dealt with, just incredibly slowly. The irony is that the circumstance which we are discussing here is a 7 month wait ... which we hope will give others hope!

Ie, if you apply today, be ready to wait until at least July 2015 ... oh my goodness!

But anyway, it's over for me, but I will stay online, I still have my ceremony to attend (btw, on the application I stated that I wanted to attend the ceremony in a different council, as I live in Hertfordshire and my local council is miles away and difficult to get to by public transport, whereas the nearest London council is just a few moments away ... needless to say that they have asked me to contact the one in Hertfordshire for my ceremony, and on another matter, neither of my referees have been contacted - I see through checks have been carried out there)

[ohojska]

I hope it will make other EU with no PR feel somewhat better, applications are apparently being dealt with, just incredibly slowly. The irony is that the circumstance which we are discussing here is a 7 month wait ... which we hope will give others hope!

Ie, if you apply today, be ready to wait until at least July 2015 ... oh my goodness!

But anyway, it's over for me, but I will stay online, I still have my ceremony to attend (btw, on the application I stated that I wanted to attend the ceremony in a different council, as I live in Hertfordshire and my local council is miles away and difficult to get to by public transport, whereas the nearest London council is just a few moments away ... needless to say that they have asked me to contact the one in Hertfordshire for my ceremony, and on another matter, neither of my referees have been contacted - I see through checks have been carried out there)[/quote]

I applied at the end of September and I'm hopping looking at your case that will be done by the Summer Did you contacted with your local MP after the 6 motnhs?
For me the most annoiyng is not the waiting time itself, it is the waiting time comparing to some of the non EU applicants. I don't want to offend or upset anyone but as a wife of a non-EU person I know how many 'things' people do to be able to extend their visa in order to get ILR and BC eventually. And at the end I see an EU person who doesn't have any immigration restrictions waiting for her approval ages and on the other side some non EU who gets their approval withing weeks...But like I said it doesn't relate to every person from outside of the EU.

[laz1970]

Hi all 7 months now since my application didn't hear or receive anything called today on 0300 number and was told that my application is under review and if I want information I should write to them .don't know what that mean is it refused? Does any one have a similar situation please advice thank you