Passport delay / Dual Citizenship

[cordelia]

Hi guys,

I had my citizenship ceremony three weeks ago but still have not received my passport. I have not even received any text messages, not even when they charged the passport fee back in March...
I contacted HMPO last week via the online form and got a quick reply, but they simply confirmed my application has been in the system since March... Nothing else.
What should I do now? Call the Council and ask them if they have notified HO?

I am going abroad (EU) for a wedding next week. As I am keeping my country of origin's citizenship, I guess I can travel on my other (EU) passport. Should I also take my citizenship certificate with me, just in case, or is it fine to travel just on my EU passport?

I have checked other users' timelines and this delay is odd. Another user who had the ceremony on the same dates (22nd or 23rd) had the passport delivered on the 30th!

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Richard W]

I am going abroad (EU) for a wedding next week. As I am keeping my country of origin's citizenship, I guess I can travel on my other (EU) passport. Should I also take my citizenship certificate with me, just in case, or is it fine to travel just on my EU passport?

Becoming British does not prevent you from using your EU passport to leave or enter the UK. Keep your naturalisation certificate safe. If for some bizarre reason the Home Office wanted to exclude you, it would not help you - the document you would need would be the British passport you are waiting for, not just any evidence that you were British.

[cordelia]

My citizenship ceremony was nearly six weeks ago but I am still waiting for my passport (NCS/JCAP application).

Have contacted Council (confirmed HO notified on the same day, so nearly six weeks ago) and HMPO (thrice, they just say the application is in their systems but have not answered any of my questions).

Have also emailed HO (citizen support email address) but they haven't replied.

What should I do now? I'm at my wits' end!

[cordelia]

Any ideas ?

[Indguru90]

Any ideas ?

Must be frustrating! Given that it's August I would normally have put it down to the summer months, but six weeks for a JCAP application is excessive.

As Richard W correctly points out, as a matter of practice you can safely use your EU passport to travel in and out of the UK. No need to carry your naturalisation certificate. Even in the unlikely event that you are queried about your intents in the UK, you simply say you live here or that you are a citizen.

As for speeding up your passport application, guidance states that applicants should expect to wait up to six weeks for their first passport (although this is normally around two weeks, and a couple of days for JCAP applications). Now that the six weeks are past, you may wish to register a complaint with HMPO. Their complaints team is pretty responsive and I've found them very reasonable in the past (albeit on a totally unrelated issue). They're also more likely to be able to look into why your application is on hold than one of the callcentre people.

[cordelia]

Thanks for your reply, Indguru90

I finally got it today, 49 days after my ceremony. Ir was really frustrating...

I had to call, email, etc, and finally complain. It was surprising (or maybe not?) how quickly it was printed once the formal complaint was nearly there.

Anyway, I'd like to know what happened... Just out of curiosity!