Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[Soo123]

I lost my hope. It will take another 2,5-3 months probably. I will call myself lucky if i get my passport before xmas

True that we will be very lucky if we get our invitation letters by mid September

[AlexGo]

Hi everyone, just don't know what to do, I'm renting a room and I found a week a go a little mouse, I want to change place where I'm living, but I'm waiting for invitation letter, what can I do? Really don't want to call to HO because is so hard to speak with them and they always saying like send a email someone will help you. One friend told me I can do re-delivery "royal mail" pay about 30£ a month I can get that ,letter, any one knows if this is work with HO letter? Someone have experience with this? Or just wait another 3 month to complete British citizenship? I bought a poison, don't if they gonna eat. Thanks

[shaggie44]

What about all of us be united and ask a lawyer to take legal action in way of JR? JR is very important legal path to stop government of acting unlawfully.

I think if all of us act together, I’m sure we will a clear timely manner solution and even compensation!

I feel the government is discriminating against us as a new citizens.

All of us are working hard and paying a lot of taxes .. and therefore they must show us some respect and not treating us as 2nd or 3rd class citizens of the country.

Best of luck all.

There is no discrimination here. UKVI, as with all governments around the world, could not possibly have anticipated the pandemic situation and the massive knock on effect and repercussions of all sorts of things we consider under normal circumstances. They might be a bit slow in getting things going, but that is what it is and they are trying and have been providing updates.

Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. You are not being prevented from continuing with life in the UK as you hold ILR already.

Well in my case, I definitely am being prevented. I desperately need a passport, and this is the ONLY way for me to obtain one...I have been waiting for 4 months for a certificate to be printed!!

Speaking as an essential worker whose business has not missed/delayed service throughout this period, I think HO are exaggerating the impact to cover up poor performance. They have not been operating to their "service standards" for a while. My Brit Application took almost a year, and their hand had to be forced by an MP to even look at it!! I'm sure there are a hell lot more cases like mine out there. Truth of the matter is HO have been poor with their handling of this situation, from printing off the Certificates all the way to implementing virtual ceremonies.

[Stef03]

Just got the below email from HO in reply to my query sent on the 21st July to citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk


Dear Mr. xxxxxx,



Thank you for your email, I apologise for the delay in responding to your enquiry.



I refer to your application for British Citizenship and your email enquiry. Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.



In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office.



Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

[Lopand]

Just got the below email from HO in reply to my query sent on the 21st July to citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk

Dear Mr. James,

Thank you for your email, I apologise for the delay in responding to your enquiry.

I refer to your application for British Citizenship and your email enquiry. Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office.

Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

We've been getting this generic email for months. So frustrating!

[nnn15]

Did you ask what kind of restrictions are preventing the certificates from being printed? The ceremonies with the councils are going ahead, gyms, ice rinks are opening, pubs and restaurants have been open for over a month. I truly don't get why with the current level of restrictions the certificates can't be printed.

My only hypothesis is the government is hoping to do the virtual ceremonies instead, but it's taking them time to implement the procedure which is why printing the certificates has been put on hold.

If someone had a virtual ceremony, how did you get a physical certificate? And did you receive a physical ceremony invitation letter or an email invitation?

[shaggie44]

Thank you They not charged me anything it’s free

WOW!!! Congrats.

Meanwhile Luton Council want £100 for the pleasure!!

[Soo123]

The reply I got from ukba

Ceremony Invitation requests.

We are currently working with Local Authorities throughout the UK and with overseas
diplomatic posts as they begin to resume Citizenship Ceremonies.

Service has not yet returned to normal due to continuing adherence to Government
advice on social distancing – which is subject to some local and International
variance.

If you have received an invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony, please contact
your local authority office to book an appointment. You are required to attend a
citizenship ceremony within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony
invitation. Your Local Authority will confirm the ceremonies available.

If you have received confirmation that your application for citizenship has been
approved but have not yet received a citizenship ceremony invitation,
please be assured that a citizenship ceremony invitation will be issued to you by post
within the next 8 – 12 weeks. You are required to attend a citizenship ceremony
within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony invitation.

We will keep ceremony deadlines under constant review. Please be assured that no
adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by
Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example,
you are convicted of a criminal offence).

Please do not contact your Local Authority until you have received your invitation as
they will not have your certificate to conduct your ceremony before this.

[rozearo]

The reply I got from ukba

Ceremony Invitation requests.

We are currently working with Local Authorities throughout the UK and with overseas
diplomatic posts as they begin to resume Citizenship Ceremonies.

Service has not yet returned to normal due to continuing adherence to Government
advice on social distancing – which is subject to some local and International
variance.

If you have received an invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony, please contact
your local authority office to book an appointment. You are required to attend a
citizenship ceremony within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony
invitation. Your Local Authority will confirm the ceremonies available.

If you have received confirmation that your application for citizenship has been
approved but have not yet received a citizenship ceremony invitation,
please be assured that a citizenship ceremony invitation will be issued to you by post
within the next 8 – 12 weeks. You are required to attend a citizenship ceremony
within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony invitation.

We will keep ceremony deadlines under constant review. Please be assured that no
adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by
Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example,
you are convicted of a criminal offence).

Please do not contact your Local Authority until you have received your invitation as
they will not have your certificate to conduct your ceremony before this.

I would like to believe that, but for the following reasons I won't:

1- The 8-12 weeks were 28 days when HO send us approval in May. Now the increased it to 12 weeks.

2- My 12 weeks has passed and I still have not received any invitation! (15 weeks so far)

3- I think that the HO will increase it further to 20 weeks shortly.

4- Despite private ceremonies are allowed in my council, the HO is keep ignoring my request to send the invitation.

My suggestion is to contact your MP and to submit a complain.

[Raihanul]

Just got the below email from HO in reply to my query sent on the 21st July to citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk

Dear Mr. James,

Thank you for your email, I apologise for the delay in responding to your enquiry.

I refer to your application for British Citizenship and your email enquiry. Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office.

Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

We've been getting this generic email for months. So frustrating!

Everyone's been getting that email lol.

[Raihanul]

The reply I got from ukba

Ceremony Invitation requests.

We are currently working with Local Authorities throughout the UK and with overseas
diplomatic posts as they begin to resume Citizenship Ceremonies.

Service has not yet returned to normal due to continuing adherence to Government
advice on social distancing – which is subject to some local and International
variance.

If you have received an invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony, please contact
your local authority office to book an appointment. You are required to attend a
citizenship ceremony within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony
invitation. Your Local Authority will confirm the ceremonies available.

If you have received confirmation that your application for citizenship has been
approved but have not yet received a citizenship ceremony invitation,
please be assured that a citizenship ceremony invitation will be issued to you by post
within the next 8 – 12 weeks. You are required to attend a citizenship ceremony
within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony invitation.

We will keep ceremony deadlines under constant review. Please be assured that no
adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by
Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example,
you are convicted of a criminal offence).

Please do not contact your Local Authority until you have received your invitation as
they will not have your certificate to conduct your ceremony before this.

I would like to believe that, but for the following reasons I won't:

1- The 8-12 weeks were 28 days when HO send us approval in May. Now the increased it to 12 weeks.

2- My 12 weeks has passed and I still have not received any invitation! (15 weeks so far)

3- I think that the HO will increase it further to 20 weeks shortly.

4- Despite private ceremonies are allowed in my council, the HO is keep ignoring my request to send the invitation.

My suggestion is to contact your MP and to submit a complain.

It's irritating. Same boat. My council is open for private ceremony but HO doesn't even reply to my email. Feel like getting completely ignored but, gotta be patinece. It's happening to everyone. Upset

[Raihanul]

The reply I got from ukba

Ceremony Invitation requests.

We are currently working with Local Authorities throughout the UK and with overseas
diplomatic posts as they begin to resume Citizenship Ceremonies.

Service has not yet returned to normal due to continuing adherence to Government
advice on social distancing – which is subject to some local and International
variance.

If you have received an invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony, please contact
your local authority office to book an appointment. You are required to attend a
citizenship ceremony within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony
invitation. Your Local Authority will confirm the ceremonies available.

If you have received confirmation that your application for citizenship has been
approved but have not yet received a citizenship ceremony invitation,
please be assured that a citizenship ceremony invitation will be issued to you by post
within the next 8 – 12 weeks. You are required to attend a citizenship ceremony
within 6 months of the date printed on your ceremony invitation.

We will keep ceremony deadlines under constant review. Please be assured that no
adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by
Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example,
you are convicted of a criminal offence).

But mine been over 12 weeks since I got my approval. How did you contact UKBA?
Please do not contact your Local Authority until you have received your invitation as
they will not have your certificate to conduct your ceremony before this.

[Raihanul]

It's been more than half a year since I submitted my application. I received an email in April confirming that the decision had been made, but so far I haven't received a ceremony invitation letter. So I called 03001232253 today to enquire whether the paperwork was dispatched. They told me they couldn't tell me whether the paperwork had been dispatched and normally it's within 12 weeks after the decision is made. I highlighted that in my case it's already been over 3 months since the decision was made, and I was advised to send an email to citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk. Back in July I sent an email to citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk asking them if the paperwork can be dispatched as my council confirmed they could book me in for a ceremony if they had my certificate. I never received any response from citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk.
So following some of the forum's members recommendations I submitted a complaint at https://www.ukvi-complaints.homeoffice.gov.uk/reason highlighting that the only blocking point at the moment is the paperwork being dispatched as the council have resumed the ceremonies. I got an automatic response that it would take 20 days to process the complaint.

If someone on this forum happens to know how to move things forward, please share.

Hi, please let us know if you hear back from them.

[Raihanul]

Guys if you live in London you can speak to the Mayor of London in a video call and tell them your issue.
This you need yo fill out this survey. I don't know if it's gonna help or anything, but, I did it anyways.
https://action.labour.org.uk/page/s/spe ... _5jJ-Iml6g

[Wahidwadid]

Hi guys, just want to share that, I emailed to my mcr council for an update and they said, They got an update from HO that, They will start receiving certificate from this week,Didn't mention which day of a week they receive. Hope the long waiting coming to an end.

[ummalido]

Hi guys, just want to share that, I emailed to my mcr council for an update and they said, They got an update from HO that, They will start receiving certificate from this week,Didn't mention which day of a week they receive. Hope the long waiting coming to an end.

I've got a similar reply from the Surrey County Council:

"We have started to receive certificates again from the Home Office.
Please could you contact us on Thursday when we will have updated our system and will be in a position to advise you whether or not we have received yours."

That's encouraging, I guess.

[Wahidwadid]

Hi guys, just want to share that, I emailed to my mcr council for an update and they said, They got an update from HO that, They will start receiving certificate from this week,Didn't mention which day of a week they receive. Hope the long waiting coming to an end.

I've got a similar reply from the Surrey County Council:

"We have started to receive certificates again from the Home Office.
Please could you contact us on Thursday when we will have updated our system and will be in a position to advise you whether or not we have received yours."

That's encouraging, I guess.

Good luck to U

[Wahidwadid]

Hi guys, just want to share that, I emailed to my mcr council for an update and they said, They got an update from HO that, They will start receiving certificate from this week,Didn't mention which day of a week they receive. Hope the long waiting coming to an end.

I've got a similar reply from the Surrey County Council:

"We have started to receive certificates again from the Home Office.
Please could you contact us on Thursday when we will have updated our system and will be in a position to advise you whether or not we have received yours."

That's encouraging, I guess.

If you don't mind to share, When u apply and it's approved, Please. Ummalido.

[igheorghe]

All, I have enquired with my council whether they have received my certificate and been confirmed they have.
They called me to book the ceremony, will attend on 2nd Sept.
HO never got back to me and no letter received either.
I have no clue of when it was approved, the only email from HO was on 5th May saying that a decision was made etc... and no response since

[Wahidwadid]

All, I have enquired with my council whether they have received my certificate and been confirmed they have.
They called me to book the ceremony, will attend on 2nd Sept.
HO never got back to me and no letter received either.
I have no clue of when it was approved, the only email from HO was on 5th May saying that a decision was made etc... and no response since

How u gonna attend the without invi letter, Didn't they ask u about it,And when u got approved?

[igheorghe]

As simple as that, without it. They asked about the letter and I told them I did not receive it. They said that is ok as they have the certificate but to bring ID with me. As previously said, I do not know when it was approved, HO not responding

[Wahidwadid]

As simple as that, without it. They asked about the letter and I told them I did not receive it. They said that is ok as they have the certificate but to bring ID with me. As previously said, I do not know when it was approved, HO not responding

Tnx

[Small]

All, I have enquired with my council whether they have received my certificate and been confirmed they have.
They called me to book the ceremony, will attend on 2nd Sept.
HO never got back to me and no letter received either.
I have no clue of when it was approved, the only email from HO was on 5th May saying that a decision was made etc... and no response since

I think you have to wait for another HO document?
It’s a vicious circle from HO!

[BoyTed]

As simple as that, without it. They asked about the letter and I told them I did not receive it. They said that is ok as they have the certificate but to bring ID with me. As previously said, I do not know when it was approved, HO not responding

Hi there,
Forget about the letter just go.
HO will never send anything if the council said bring id then do that.
Goodluck and congrats.

[Tirinti]

I have a question to those who received the invitation. Was it in the council you selected in your form? I live in Croydon so I selected Croydon. They haven't restarted ceremonies yet and don't have any info when they plan to do. I received confirmation my application was successful a week ago. The problem is I applied based on my PR status and it is valid until the end of the year. If I won't become citizen before the end of the year, I will have to apply for the settled status and then wait another year to apply for the citizenship again. I wonder if I should contact Home Office and tell them I can attend ceremony in any council.