April 2014 - Naturalisation Application Timeline

[juansmith007]

Anyone still waiting read the following link :
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ersion.pdf

This is it.
Now You will know what are you waiting for?

the link seems to be broken.

[juansmith007]

Anyone still waiting read the following link :
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ersion.pdf

This is it.
Now You will know what are you waiting for?

the link seems to be broken.

mario2014 seems to have posted the same link in a different thread
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ersion.pdf

mario2014, what's your point?

[Sonnyboy8011]

Anyone still waiting read the following link :
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ersion.pdf

This is it.
Now You will know what are you waiting for?

Hi mario,tnx for the update if that was the case,but if ur intention is to say all of us waiting got criminal record,debt and bad kids and etc. which seems u meant it this way by saying nw u knw what u waiting I have to say from myself and on behalf of at least another 3 people who's waiting over 6 months we don't have none of this issue let's say my self %110 got non of it,then can u pls say what's the reason of my waiting ????...it sound u want to say whoever waiting is somehow done wrong specially by saying NOW YOU KNOW WHY U WAITING FOR..but if that's not ur intention then I do apologise but I say to u the tune of writing was with bitter..tnx again

[guesttt]

Anyway new rules should apply for new applications. I also don't see how it can explain current delays.

[Samaralady]

Hi juansmith007, sorry to hear that...
Did you call the HO again for a status update? I saw on another thread that an EEA application from June 2014 seems to have been processed and letter seems to be on its way...

9 months today....
and counting

This may refer to me ... the sad thing is that it is "an EEA application", as in "one EEA application", and it's been almost 7 months now.

I was told last Tuesday that a decision had been made, but I'm still waiting for the letter. Fair enough that it may take a few days to reach me, on the overall scale of things it's not a massive wait after almost 7 months, but this is just a joke. The Home Office shouldn't come up with statements like "in exceptional cases it can take longer than 6 months" if this is becoming a frequent occurence.

Let's see what's in the post when I come home tonight.

[Serina26]

do we need to explain to the MP how to contact the HO and what the procedure for naturalization is?
i guess none has a sample MP email?

How about this?
(i used a draft i found in the forum: http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... 96412.html )

Mark Sedwill
Permanent Secretary
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

CC: My MP

Date

Dear Mr Sedwill

Home Office Ref: XXXXXXXX

I am writing to complain about the time the Home Office has taken to process my naturalization as a British citizen application.

My application was received by the Home Office on XXXXXX and after the acknowledgment letter dated XXXXXX I have not heard back from the Home Office regarding my application. This has been longer than 6 month, which is your standard service processing time.

I have been in touch with your contact center, phone number 0300 XXXXXX, but they have not been able to give me any information as to why the application has not been processed yet. I would appreciate an explanation why the Home Office has not responded within
the 6 month period.

I accept some applications are more complicated than others but I do not think that this is the case, as my application should be a simple, straightforward application.

All applicants have a right to be treated in a fair, considerate and timely manner which the Home Office is clearly failing to do at present. Why is it taking up to six months to complete applications that in many other cases take much less? What steps are being taken to improve the standards of service? Is it acceptable to use minimum standards as targets?

I am copying this letter of complaint to my Member Of Parliament.

I await your response with interest!

Yours sincerely,

juansmith007

Sorry, but your letter template is absolutely STUFFED with mistakes!

[Serina26]

do we need to explain to the MP how to contact the HO and what the procedure for naturalization is?
i guess none has a sample MP email?

How about this?
(i used a draft i found in the forum: http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... 96412.html )

Mark Sedwill
Permanent Secretary
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

CC: My MP

Date

Dear Mr Sedwill

Home Office Ref: XXXXXXXX

I am writing to complain about the time the Home Office has taken to process my naturalization as a British citizen application.

My application was received by the Home Office on XXXXXX and after the acknowledgment letter dated XXXXXX I have not heard back from the Home Office regarding my application. This has been longer than 6 month, which is your standard service processing time.

I have been in touch with your contact center, phone number 0300 XXXXXX, but they have not been able to give me any information as to why the application has not been processed yet. I would appreciate an explanation why the Home Office has not responded within
the 6 month period.

I accept some applications are more complicated than others but I do not think that this is the case, as my application should be a simple, straightforward application.

All applicants have a right to be treated in a fair, considerate and timely manner which the Home Office is clearly failing to do at present. Why is it taking up to six months to complete applications that in many other cases take much less? What steps are being taken to improve the standards of service? Is it acceptable to use minimum standards as targets?

I am copying this letter of complaint to my Member Of Parliament.

I await your response with interest!

Yours sincerely,

juansmith007

Sorry, but your letter template is absolutely STUFFED with mistakes!

[juansmith007]

do we need to explain to the MP how to contact the HO and what the procedure for naturalization is?
i guess none has a sample MP email?

How about this?
(i used a draft i found in the forum: http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... 96412.html )

Mark Sedwill
Permanent Secretary
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

CC: My MP

Date

Dear Mr Sedwill

Home Office Ref: XXXXXXXX

I am writing to complain about the time the Home Office has taken to process my naturalization as a British citizen application.

My application was received by the Home Office on XXXXXX and after the acknowledgment letter dated XXXXXX I have not heard back from the Home Office regarding my application. This has been longer than 6 month, which is your standard service processing time.

I have been in touch with your contact center, phone number 0300 XXXXXX, but they have not been able to give me any information as to why the application has not been processed yet. I would appreciate an explanation why the Home Office has not responded within
the 6 month period.

I accept some applications are more complicated than others but I do not think that this is the case, as my application should be a simple, straightforward application.

All applicants have a right to be treated in a fair, considerate and timely manner which the Home Office is clearly failing to do at present. Why is it taking up to six months to complete applications that in many other cases take much less? What steps are being taken to improve the standards of service? Is it acceptable to use minimum standards as targets?

I am copying this letter of complaint to my Member Of Parliament.

I await your response with interest!

Yours sincerely,

juansmith007

Sorry, but your letter template is absolutely STUFFED with mistakes!

You are welcome Serina.

[emfrench]

Indeed Samaralady You are giving us some hope

I guess the HO will argue that the price of the application is not high enough to justify a first class stamp on the reply letter ??

Hopefully you have your letter by now...

Hi juansmith007, sorry to hear that...
Did you call the HO again for a status update? I saw on another thread that an EEA application from June 2014 seems to have been processed and letter seems to be on its way...

9 months today....
and counting

This may refer to me ... the sad thing is that it is "an EEA application", as in "one EEA application", and it's been almost 7 months now.

I was told last Tuesday that a decision had been made, but I'm still waiting for the letter. Fair enough that it may take a few days to reach me, on the overall scale of things it's not a massive wait after almost 7 months, but this is just a joke. The Home Office shouldn't come up with statements like "in exceptional cases it can take longer than 6 months" if this is becoming a frequent occurence.

Let's see what's in the post when I come home tonight.

[emfrench]

Hi juansmith007, still no news on your side? It is unbelievable... !!! it must be 10 months now for you !?
We still do not know the real reason behind this backlog and block on EEA applications, if anybody has any info, please share it!
If any EEA without PR has received their approval recently, please let us know to give us some hope!

Hi juansmith007, sorry to hear that...
Did you call the HO again for a status update? I saw on another thread that an EEA application from June 2014 seems to have been processed and letter seems to be on its way...

9 months today....
and counting

I called yesterday. and no news...
same usual answer, they said "i see you already made a complaint a while ago, so there's no point doing another one... only thing i can say is call back in a month if you don't hear from us"

hopefully they get back with an answer before the 1 year mark...

[NoRest]

At last, after 8 and a half months wait, the infamous brown envelope was received today, along with the citizenship ceremony letter from the council. Relief beyond belief!

Eligibility criteria: 13 years ILR
Language criteria met (UK degree, exempt countries, PBS used documents, NARIC, or B1 test):LiUK + IELTS
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Aylesbury
Date of application: 30/04/14
Payment method CC/DC, Personal cheque, Bankers cheque etc: CC
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/05/14
Date of aknowlegment:
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 08/05/14
Date approval received: 16/01/2015
Date of ceremony:06/02/2015

Be patient fellow April (and beyond) applicants who are still waiting. IT Should come one day

[sivakt]

waiting since april 28th 2014.
made email then phone inquiry. They asked me whether I wanted to make complaint, sent an email complaint on 6th of january still wainting.
do you think i should ask them whether I should send a fresh application with different referees.

[nkim2222]

Hi ya, why r u sending them another application looo...you have money to waste ooohhhhh

[bubulinea]

Hi ya, why r u sending them another application looo...you have money to waste ooohhhhh

He was just asking a question because after almost 10 months he still hasn't received an answer yet. Not sure about you, but personally, I found the whole waiting time stressful, wondering if everything I had handed in was in order. So yeah, he has a valid question. Your answer wasn't really helpful, was it?

@sivakt: Do you have any doubts concerning your referees?

[mario2014]

The Home Office's response is as follows:

Thank you for your email correspondence of 26 January on behalf of Mr xxxxxxx of xxxxxX, about his application for naturalisation as a British Citizen.

Mr xxxxxxx naturalisation application ofJune 2014 remains under consideration by our caseworking team.

The Independent Chief Inspector’s report of 11 December 2014 highlighted that some individuals had not been subject 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 the additional checks required these cases will take a little longer to consider. We apologise for the delay Mr xxxxxx has experienced in receiving his decision.

[sivakt]

this is what I got as a response for the complaint made.
does anybody have an idea of how many of us are waiting for more than 6 months. we could do a joint appeal??/

thank you for your correspondence of 6 January about your application for naturalisation as a British citizen submitted on 16 April 2014.

I am sorry for the delay in dealing with your application and that you feel our service did not meet your expectations on this occasion.

Our service standard is that we will complete 100% of cases within six months. Where further information is required the case may take longer to decide. Further information is available on the following link: http://www.gov.uk/government/organisati ... r-services.

Prior to making a decision on British Citizenship we undertake various checks. We are currently undertaking further checks to establish if all the requirements for citizenship are met in your case.
We will endeavour to finalise your application at the earliest opportunity, and will write to you again as soon as the necessary checks are complete. I can assure you that as soon as we are in a position to reach a decision, you will be notified accordingly.
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may wish to seek a review in writing within one month from the date on this letter to the following address:

[guesttt]

sivakt, not sure what they meant in your case and wether its just a standard reply. I have been advised recently that my application will be allocated to a caseworker in 2-3 weeks and checks will take another 2-4 weeks. Applied at the end of April last year.

[rachsach]

this is what I got as a response for the complaint made.
does anybody have an idea of how many of us are waiting for more than 6 months. we could do a joint appeal??/

thank you for your correspondence of 6 January about your application for naturalisation as a British citizen submitted on 16 April 2014.

I am sorry for the delay in dealing with your application and that you feel our service did not meet your expectations on this occasion.

Our service standard is that we will complete 100% of cases within six months. Where further information is required the case may take longer to decide. Further information is available on the following link: http://www.gov.uk/government/organisati ... r-services.

Prior to making a decision on British Citizenship we undertake various checks. We are currently undertaking further checks to establish if all the requirements for citizenship are met in your case.
We will endeavour to finalise your application at the earliest opportunity, and will write to you again as soon as the necessary checks are complete. I can assure you that as soon as we are in a position to reach a decision, you will be notified accordingly.
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may wish to seek a review in writing within one month from the date on this letter to the following address:

I have received the same generic letter from their complaints department. They took 3.5 weeks to reply back on my complaint with a generic response. If that is what their response to everyone then it shouldn't take more than a day to finish all complaints.

[KAV4837]

sivakt

I got the same response from a complaints email i sent them over 3 and half weeks ago. We did a joint application with my wife in April 2014, but are still waiting for a reply. A progress letter was sent in October 2014, and the reply in November was that they will look into it. Still serving in the British Army for over 10 years now. The only correspondence i got from them is acknowledging receipt of the application.

Everything else has come from we asking what the hold up was, and a standard reply of that they will reply in due course.

[sivakt]

thanks kav, it is really sad.. I am university student, my dad was the main applicant. I had to apply separately because I was over 18. mine application was delayed by the checking service as I had to take Life in UK and english test. rest of my family has got even their passports by may last year.. I am still waiting. I have written to my MP today. hope something happens..

[KAV4837]

Let me know what the MP says as well please so that i can take up that step as well, if it helps.

[biloxi26]

This may be of interest to those who have been waiting as long as i have (since the beginning of April, 2014).Your thoughts are as usual very much welcome

Prior to my application, i was on a 2 year spouse visa and ILR. Before the aforementioned i had left the country to regularise my stay

Following several unfruitful calls during the wait period to the call centre, my most recent call was bound to be rather fiery and it was. Anyways, 2 days later this is the response i received:

Dear XYZ

I am writing in regard to your outstanding application for British Citizenship,
We aim to process all applications within 6 months from the date submitted. However, in certain circumstances this target is not possible. Following our assessment of your case, unfortunately it appears your application will not be processed within the 6 months target.

Following recent clarification of the Nationality rules greater levels of scrutiny will he applied to certain applications. This will be dependent on certain indicators within their immigration history that pre-date the application for British citizenship. Your case has been identified as such a case and will not be decided within 6 months

We expect to make a decision on your application within the next 3 to 6 months but we will write to you again if this is not going, to be possible. Please note we will contact you with further updates and can advise you do not need to contact us again unless your circumstances change significantly.

Please do not contact the UKVI Contact Centre regarding the progress of your ease as they will not be able to provide any further information.
This also applies to any family members whose applications for citizenship were submitted at the same time.

Yours sincerely

[sivakt]

oh god I thought they had pulled out only my application for some mysterious reason. I got the very same letter today.. by the way I am SriLankan. I was wondering whether the delay was anything to do with the list of countries?

[guesttt]

I got same letter today. My solicitor wasn't quite sure what it means in a view of new scrutinity checks introduced Dec 2014. Her possible explanation was that they may be checking for convictions in home countries, but this is rather a guess.

[ARIFUR81]

This may be of interest to those who have been waiting as long as i have (since the beginning of April, 2014).Your thoughts are as usual very much welcome

Prior to my application, i was on a 2 year spouse visa and ILR. Before the aforementioned i had left the country to regularise my stay

Following several unfruitful calls during the wait period to the call centre, my most recent call was bound to be rather fiery and it was. Anyways, 2 days later this is the response i received:

Dear XYZ

I am writing in regard to your outstanding application for British Citizenship,
We aim to process all applications within 6 months from the date submitted. However, in certain circumstances this target is not possible. Following our assessment of your case, unfortunately it appears your application will not be processed within the 6 months target.

Following recent clarification of the Nationality rules greater levels of scrutiny will he applied to certain applications. This will be dependent on certain indicators within their immigration history that pre-date the application for British citizenship. Your case has been identified as such a case and will not be decided within 6 months

We expect to make a decision on your application within the next 3 to 6 months but we will write to you again if this is not going, to be possible. Please note we will contact you with further updates and can advise you do not need to contact us again unless your circumstances change significantly.

Please do not contact the UKVI Contact Centre regarding the progress of your ease as they will not be able to provide any further information.
This also applies to any family members whose applications for citizenship were submitted at the same time.

Yours sincerely

I have received the same letter this morining, was expecting a large brown envolop instead came in a small one with more dreadful news. Don't know what to do done every possible could do to get a decent answer but as ususl no joy.
no joy. Goodluck everyone and please keep posting of any updates