Rejected British Citizenship Application

[neothematrix]

Hello all,

I have been living and working legally in UK for almost 10 years, I am member of EEA country and decided to make my application for British citizenship.
Once I collected all necessary documents I noticed that the application require Residence card, which I do not possess, however I do have Residency document called Registration Certificate.
I wasn't sure if this will be enough to prove my residency so I called Contact Centre they transferred me to EU department and asked the operator if I can provide Registration Certificate instead Residency card.
The answer was positive-the operator confirmed that this certificate is enough, but advised that I should double check with the UK department and he transferred me on. When talking to the UK agent he said- if you are member of EU country you should speak with the EU department, to which I replied-they said yes, but advised to double check with you first, to which he replied-if they said it's ok, then it's ok, you can send this certificate instead Resident card.

Then I sent my application, it's worth mentioning that all documents I sent also prove I am permanent resident in the UK for the last 9 years.

So 2 months later I received a letter stating that my application is rejected and they will only refund £80 out of almost £1300 I paid.

I completely understand that by law and by their requirements I did not provide the document they were asking for and I completely understand that without this document I don't have right to apply for citizenship, but I was mislead by their operators saying that Registration certificate is sufficient.

So I am in a case where it's not my fault but it's not Home office fault as well, it was their operators who gave me false information.

Do you have any suggestions or advise what can I do, obviously I cannot appeal as most definitely I will lose, but can I at least ask for a refund?

Thanks

[noajthan]

Most unfortunate.
Yet again helpline has made a schoolboy error.

Unfortunately it has been determined that helpline cannot be held accountable for the flawed advice they offer nor can they be held responsible for any action anyone takes based on such 'advice'.
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/immigra ... pectation/

[LilyLalilu]

Well, unfortunately, as part of your application you tick to confirm that you have read and understood guide AN (which I believe clearly states the requirement to hold a DCPR not just a registration certificate) so the HO cannot be held accountable.
Most unfortunate though, the helpline is completely useless and their staff seem to give a different piece of advice every time. Generally not good to rely on advice that has not been given in writing though, as you have no paper trail if false or misleading information is given out. Shame about all the money

[ohara]

It's almost a year since HO introduced the requirement for a DCPR when applying for naturalisation and they are still giving out incorrect advice.

You have unfortunately learned the hard way that their telephone advisers are not immigration experts and in fact most do not even know the basics of British nationality law. It's incredible really.

The most ironic part of all of this is that you also sent in evidence of your last 9 years economic activity, if you had applied this time last year it probably would have been accepted, as this is was the process before the DCPR requirement was introduced.

One idea is that you could get the DCPR, and then send it in with a reconsideration application in the hope that they proceed with your application since it will then be complete. There is no guarantee it will work though and it could just be a waste of more money.