non-EU passport renewal and naturalisation

[rays2013]

I have a query regarding my non-EU passport renewal in the period between the approval of the naturalisation application and attending the citizenship ceremony. It will be great to know if anyone has any experience with such a situation. 

1. I applied for naturalisation earlier in the year just before the lockdown in March. In the first week of August, I have been informed via UKVI email that my application has been successful. They indicated that the letter and ceremony are delayed and I will have six months to book it, attend it, etc. I am waiting for the invitation letter and my council to begin organising the citizenship ceremony again. This can take up to 6 months as currently advertised elsewhere too.

2. My passport had the expiry date in Oct 2020, so it will expire within two months. Due to regulations, I can only apply for the new passport once it has expired. I need to apply for the non-acquisition of the BC certificate via the NQ form to prove that I have not acquired British citizenship as my passport issuing non-EU country does not allow dual citizenship. I have held my ILR for six years so this is a mandatory requirement. 

3. I am not expecting eligibility check at work as my ILR is valid for another four years, and when I joined the company, I was told that I will need to provide new evidence on the expiry of the current ILR BRP. I do not plan to travel abroad in the near future. Also, I do not think I will need a new non-EU passport for any other reason. In theory, I can wait for six months to get the BC ceremony done and get a British passport. 

I do not expect problem with British passport application with an expired passport as I understand the British passport application requires the non-EU passport on which basis I got BC. They do not care if it is valid or expired. Is my understanding correct? 

My concern is that if I go via NQ form route to verify that I am not holding BC (yet), HO might send me back the letter that I have BC. Does BC flag up on their system as soon as the citizenship certificate is printed, for example? Or only when the person attends the ceremony?
Has anyone had a similar experience? 
Will I require a valid passport to attend the citizenship ceremony? 


Thank you. 

[CR001]

You are only British once you have attended your ceremony.

You don't need a valid passport even to apply for citizenship on form AN.

[rays2013]

Thank you for your answers. This is very helpful.

[radiogaga]

Hi rays2013,

Have you already requested the proof of non-acquisition of British citizenship via form NQ? I was wondering about your processing time/whether you've already received yours. (I applied three weeks ago, though understand the 10 day processing time no longer applies due to COVID).

Thanks!