Citizenship ceremony extension - Help Please

[Srinibondugula]

Hello Friends,

Help please..I've received a letter from Home office that my application for British citizenship application has been successful and I would need to attend citizenship ceremony conducted by local council.

Unfortunately I'm currently out of the UK(In India) and will not return to the UK for the next 4-5 months due to family reasons. I know there is a option to attend ceremony abroad if the applicant is not in the UK, but I'm completely clueless about the process and contacts. Do you know anyone who attended ceremony outside UK? Is it really possible to extend the timelines beyond 3 months? Otherwise I would need to travel to UK just to attend ceremony which is expensive and time taking.

Can the forum experts provide your view please? I'm married to a British citizen, guess this is required to attend ceremony in British embassy in India

Can someone advise the email address of home office to request citizen ceremony extension please? Is it FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk OR NationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk?

I will cite health issues as a reason for extension, hopefully I will get a reply from home office.

Cam someone suggest a better approach please? Is it good to request homeoffice for conducting ceremony abroad or request for an extension and then travel to UK to avoid any hassles?

[vinny]

Transfers from the UK to abroad
6.11.22.11

[lynxukauq]

See Also 6.11.22.6

6.11.22.6
We should normally agree to extend the deadline
where:

 the applicant is temporarily abroad (Nb. If this is a
naturalisation case under s.6(1) of the BNA 1981,
any absence of 6 months or longer may affect the
applicants ability to meet the future intentions
requirement and the case should be referred to a
Senior Caseworker)

 the applicant (or a close family member) is ill;

 there has been some form of administrative error,
either by the Home Office, a Post abroad or the
local authority (e.g. the ceremony invitation was not
received in time or was sent to the wrong address)

Nb. Any request for an extension to this time limit for
more than 6 months, or which is for a different
reason, should be referred to the Nationality
Group Casework Manager who will consider it in
conjunction with NPT[/size]

[Srinibondugula]

Hi Freinds,

I'm trying to extend my citizenship ceremony beyond 90 days. I've had my approval letter dated Jan 10th, so techinically I would need to attend before April 10th. I'm currently abroad and will not be able to return to UK at least until end of May. I know the restrictions and the hassle that this could create if i take this beyind 90 days.

I'm trying to contact home office to arrange extensison, but i'm unsure who to contact(email address?) and the reason i should mention to make it more genuine. did anyone in this group had managed to arrange an extension in the past? is it a very fussy job?

Also, is it possible to get ceremeny arranged abroad in India? I'm not quite sure about the process and contacts. Please could you spare your thoughts?

[ohara]

You can have the ceremony abroad, in India it would probably have to be at the British High Commission in New Delhi.

[CR001]

Transfers from the UK to abroad
6.11.22.11

Did you click on and read the links that vinny already provided when you asked the question on 15th January?

[Srinibondugula]

Hi Ohara,

Do you know who should be contacted? It would be homeoffice, but is it via their email address nationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.co.uk?

It would normally take ages if i drop an email for home office to respond, do you know if there is any other way? should i be contacting my locaal conunci within 21 days?

Sorry for too many questions. I'm starting to wonder to extend the ceremony date rather than conducting abroad. its much easier and hasslefree...

[noajthan]

Also, is it possible to get ceremeny arranged abroad in India? I'm not quite sure about the process and contacts. Please could you spare your thoughts?

There's another thread running with same question.

It appears this is only an option if (from memory) you were naturalised under Section 6(2) of BNA.
- is that the case for you?

[Srinibondugula]

Thanks noajthan

Not sure about section 6(2) of BNA, but i'm naturalised as wife of a british citizen - 3 years as spouse of BC.

I'm trying to extend the ceremony beyond 90 days if it's easy and wondering if anyone had managed to get this in the past.

[Srinibondugula]

Hi Freinds,

Just enquired with my Local council about booking citizenship ceremony and I was told that Its not mandatory to book within first 21 days, although the letter from Home office did suggest that we would need to contact council within 21 days to book ceremony.

Letter from home office is dated 10th Jan, so I can call them again in the month of March to book ceremony towards the end of 90 day deadline. can someone confirm if this is true?

If we don't attend ceremony within 90 days, i suppose they will send the documentation back to home office, otherwise i think we are safe until 90th day.

[Srinibondugula]

Hello Freinds,

Sorry for the trouble.

Can you advise if someone has managed to extend the ceremony beyond 90 days please? I've got my approval on Jan 10 and i would need to attend by April 10th.

I'm currently abroad and cannot return until May/June 2016. Do you know how can i contact homeoffice apart from the generic email address requesting for extension? Any other possible way you can suggest please?

[Srinibondugula]

Freinds, Any suggestions please?

[tripping]

Tough spot. Seems like whether you like it or not, theres bound to be hassles in extending it beyond the 6 month provision or having the ceremony conducted abroad - there's the question of whether your future intentions lie in the UK, and then there is the back and forth and time spent between you and the caseworker's part mulling over your extension explanation.

Why not email them now using both email addresses you quoted and see what HO comes back with. That way you know for sure, straight from HO themselves. The requirement links posted by Vinny explain what you need to do, with some restrictions.

As a very last resort, you may have to think about biting the bullet, book the ceremony in UK before the deadline, return to UK and attend the ceremony and back to India, just to make life easier for you in the future, and saving you the stress and hassle of extensions dealing with HO.

Good luck.

[anuradhab]

Hi Freinds,

I'm trying to extend my citizenship ceremony beyond 90 days. I've had my approval letter dated Jan 10th, so techinically I would need to attend before April 10th. I'm currently abroad and will not be able to return to UK at least until end of May. I know the restrictions and the hassle that this could create if i take this beyind 90 days.

I'm trying to contact home office to arrange extensison, but i'm unsure who to contact(email address?) and the reason i should mention to make it more genuine. did anyone in this group had managed to arrange an extension in the past? is it a very fussy job?

Also, is it possible to get ceremeny arranged abroad in India? I'm not quite sure about the process and contacts. Please could you spare your thoughts?

I have a similar situation. Wondering if you were successful in extending the ceremony date?