October 2014 - Naturalisation Application Timeline

[Julian11]

I spoke to a lawyer who could see no issue.

The only thing we thought of was that for a couple short self sufficiency periods, NCS did not want to send in my bank statements for them because they said it was too short to make a difference - they were essentially 'bridging' periods between two employments etc. Could this have caused an issue, and if so, wouldn't it have been the case (like with other applications here) that they would have written to me asking for evidence of that particular time period? Even if these periods had been excluded though, they'd still not have hit six months of a break in any year, so it'd not have broken my treaty rights anyway...

[lake1]

I phoned the HO. They said they will try to get me more info and phone me back within 48 hours. The person I spoke to agreed it was vague in an area that is normally straightforward, and he said he'll try to get more details for me. Fingers crossed. Feeling so discouraged.

Excellent, I think they generally call when they say so, hopefully they will call you and give you more details.

[darlingbasser]

called the home office today and expressed my concerns on why people who applied in January have received their response while some older applications have not yet been processed, The man I spoke with said they don't operate a first come first serve service, that applications are processd based on the case worker's discretion. this waiting game is doing my head in.

[Julian11]

Home Office phoned me and explained that the reason for my rejection was that I didn't prove a sixth year in the UK. Thus it became clear that the issue was that they expected me to have the extra 1 year under PR after 5 years of treaty rights exercise (which they said was all in order and accepted).

I didn't say anything over the phone as I did not want to be rude; however I have written a very polite yet clear letter explaining this error - that being married means I only need the 5 years, not the extra year. I will be sending this reconsideration this morning, and so my waiting (and agony!) begins again.

All fingers crossed.

[jaweb]

Fingers crossed, Julian11.

Please keep us posted. I am really curious what is going to happen

[Julian11]

Thank you. I am hoping that being very polite and clear about the issue will mean a positive response. I also hope it won't be too long of a wait.

[sircas]

I called the home office today and I was told my application not yet assigned to a caseworker at the 4th month.I don't know what to do.

Can you please tell me what number you called the Home Office on regarding your application? I need to call them as well

[cb13]

03001232253

[Julian11]

Updating my timeline. Hoping for good news and that the agony all ends soon.

Eligibility criteria: EU treaty rights + marriage to BC (5 years in total)
Language: UK degrees
Current nationality: EU
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 20/10/14
Payment method: Credit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 21/10/2014
Date of acknowledgment: dated 04/11/14 (arrived by post 17/11/14)
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 04/11/14
Date rejection received: dated 11/02/15 (arrived by post 14/02/15)
Date reconsideration sent: 18/02/15 (rejected due to not having 6 years in the UK but as EU married to BC, only 5 years is needed)
Date of receipt by UKBA: 19/02/15
Date approval received: soon I hope
Date of ceremony:

[Bingo_123]

gud luck Julian11.

[lake1]

Home Office phoned me and explained that the reason for my rejection was that I didn't prove a sixth year in the UK. Thus it became clear that the issue was that they expected me to have the extra 1 year under PR after 5 years of treaty rights exercise (which they said was all in order and accepted).

I didn't say anything over the phone as I did not want to be rude; however I have written a very polite yet clear letter explaining this error - that being married means I only need the 5 years, not the extra year. I will be sending this reconsideration this morning, and so my waiting (and agony!) begins again.

All fingers crossed.

Good, I was pretty sure they would call as promised, I guess it was your caseworker that called? you should have informed the person immediately that you didn't need to wait the extra 1 year as you are married to a British citizen, I assume you included a copy of your spouse passport and marriage certificate with your application?

If you did it's now clear they made a mistake and hopefully they should grant you citizenship now with the reconsideration.

All the best.

[Julian11]

I'm not sure if it was the caseworker or not (I assume so - didn't catch the name), but it was somebody who did know my case. Yeah in hindsight I probably should have said something, but I didn't want to risk being rude or catching anyone out! He was explaining very politely and I was worried just going "oh actually..." could have come off badly. So I just listened and then used the information as the basis for my reconsideration letter. As long as it's in the letter I guess it makes no difference I said nothing by phone, surely?

Yes, my marriage certificate and spouse's passport were included in my original application, and they accepted it all as I was assessed under s6(2) which is for married people, so there was no issue there. The person on the phone suggested ILR via my spouse as an alternative to waiting the extra 12 months, so he was aware I was married -- so it appears to purely be a miss in that an EU citizen doesn't need to have that extra year if married.

All fingers crossed for an approval now! It still all makes me very nervous, since it's all dependant on this one letter and what the person who receives it is like. But I am hoping that I was very polite at every stage but at the same time, explained very clearly what happened and how I actually did qualify. All fingers crossed - thank you!

[fwd079]

Sorry to hear it and good luck Julian11.

[losthope]

Eligibility criteria: Spouse of EEA national (No PR - 6 year rule)
Language criteria met : Various English courses (Courses recognised on ofqual register - NVQ Level 3) + Life in The UK Test
Method of application: Solicitor
Date of application: 01/10/2014
Payment method: Credit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: Not sure
Date of acknowledgment: 11/10/2014
Date of debit or clearance of fees: Sometime after the 04/10/2014
Date approval received: 19/02/2015 (dated 17/02/2015)
Date of ceremony: Awaiting ceremony letter

Finally!!!

[Londonlycanthrope]

Eligibility criteria: ILR (spouse of BC)
Language criteria met: from English speaking country + LIUK test
Current nationality: USA
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Hammersmith & Fulham (London)
Date of application: 21/10/2014
Payment method : Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 23/10/14
Date of acknowledgment: letter dated 10/11/14
Date of debit or clearance of fees:
Date approval received: 11/2/15 (decision made 15 November 2014)
Date of ceremony:25/2/15

I received an email from UKBA asking me to fill in a survey 'about my recent decision' in December. I emailed back and told them I had not received a letter (nor a decision). After waiting 3 weeks for a response, they asked that I confirm my address. After another three weeks they said that my original letter must have been lost in the (second class) post, so they would send a replacement. By 6 February I still had not received a letter and they would not tell me the decision by email so I filed a complaint with UKBA. Someone contacted me by phone and sent a letter right away (received 11 Feb).

For £900 you'd think they could send the thing first class!

[ukba2536]

I called NCS Hatfield where I applied for my Naturalisation and the lady on the phone was very polite and she took my application reference and my phone number and said she will try to give a call to Home Office even though my application is just like 4 months old

She called me back after 15 mins and said she spoke to a guy in home office and he said there is no problem with the documents I sent and the only issue is Home Office recruited new staff and some applications are allocated to new staff and the reason for delaying is only because of double checking the new staff work

Hope it gives some relief to the waiting applicants

Any new approvals
I've posted via ncs on 3/10/14 fees deducted on 10/10/14
Still waiting for confirmation letter ??
Did any one received letters for October applications??

[jaweb]

My last update in this topic :

Eligibility criteria: 5+1 year
Language criteria met (UK degree, exempt countries, PBS used documents, NARIC, or B1 test): LIUK & ESOL
Current nationality: Hungarian
Method of application: by myself
Council name if NCS used:
Date of application: 15/10/14
Payment method CC/DC, Personal cheque, Bankers cheque etc: CC
Date of receipt by UKBA: 16/10/2014
Date of acknowledgment:
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 30/10/2014
Date approval received: 02/12/2014
Date of ceremony: 26/02/2015

My journey has come to an end. Thank you so much for your help guys.
I am moving to passport application topic but will still keep my eyes on this topic.
Good luck however has not received it yet!

[Lightblue2357]

Eligibility criteria: ILR based on 10 years long residence
Language criteria met : UK postgraduate degree,LIUK & IELTS
Current nationality: Pakistani
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 13/10/14
Payment method CC/DC, Personal cheque, Bankers cheque etc: DC
Date of receipt by UKBA: 14/10/2014
Date of acknowledgment: 29/10/2014
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 29/10/2014
Date approval received: 24/02/2015
Date of letter received: 28/02/2015

Thank Almighty God that finally, the whole expedition has successfully come to an end. I wish everyone best of luck to receive their good news soon:)

[jefstudent]

5 months gone and still no news whatsoever. Does anyone know if its good ide to get MP involved?

Anyone

[darlingbasser]

I am pleased to update the forum that I have received my scr
aproval today 6/3/15 dated 26/2/15
applied on 29/10/14
received by home office 30/10/14
acknowleged and money taken out of cc 17/11/14
used lambeth ncs
5 years working permit +1 year ilr
application for myself and my wife and daughter all
aproved same day
Good luck to everyone still waiting

[darlingbasser]

I am pleased to update the forum that I have received my scr
aproval today 6/3/15 dated 26/2/15
applied on 29/10/14
received by home office 30/10/14
acknowleged and money taken out of cc 17/11/14
used lambeth ncs
5 years working permit +1 year ilr
application for myself and my wife and daughter all
aproved same day
Good luck to everyone still waiting

ceremony booked for 12/03/15

[fwd079]

Thanks losthope and darlingbasser and others, timeline updated.

.

October2014_TimeLine.png

[Maxwell]

Thank you.

You could also update Julian11, he/she, was refused (sorry about it), there are many messages about it on previous pages...

Also, I hope, some people forget to update, so actual approval rate should probably be even higher than 80%.

[fwd079]

Really felt sorry for him so will update once he's received approval.

[Maxwell]

Yea, me too. He will get it, I am sure.

I just suggested it for statistical/mathematical reasons. Or other people may look and worry why it takes so long. Not terribly important issue but maybe we could mark it as approved with description inside that new application was made or it is in the process. Because, I mean, the idea is to see time until decision and approval rate/speed. I don't insist, just suggestion. Whatever you prefer, you do most of the job anyway.