Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[BoyTed]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

[FreshFromTheGrave]

Invitation letter received! Approval was middle of June and the date on the letter is 23rd September, which gives me like 3 working days of leeway to book the ceremony lol (it states 21 days from the date on the letter which seems a little tight to me all things considered).

I'll phone Brent council on Monday morning and try to book wow I've nearly finished immigrating! Go me.

[CR001]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Are you sure your approval letter is not the combined approval and invite letter? Some get a combined letter and some get two separate letters, at least pre COVID it was like this.

[BoyTed]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Are you sure your approval letter is not the combined approval and invite letter? Some get a combined letter and some get two separate letters, at least pre COVID it was like this.

Hello CR001,
Iam sure same wording only different this mentions the 8-12 weeks worst part it's from my Caseworker but now the letter is dated 05 October 2020.
I guess ive made a mistake to contact her coz now iam joining at the back of the queue.
Edit;
Also has we therefore as you not to contact this department which the other one didn't have.

[baybars1]

Invitation letter received! Approval was middle of June and the date on the letter is 23rd September, which gives me like 3 working days of leeway to book the ceremony lol (it states 21 days from the date on the letter which seems a little tight to me all things considered).

I'll phone Brent council on Monday morning and try to book wow I've nearly finished immigrating! Go me.

Well done! Care to dig up the exact approval date? Thanks.

[uuee6543]

Invitation letter received! Approval was middle of June and the date on the letter is 23rd September, which gives me like 3 working days of leeway to book the ceremony lol (it states 21 days from the date on the letter which seems a little tight to me all things considered).

I'll phone Brent council on Monday morning and try to book wow I've nearly finished immigrating! Go me.

The letters say ‘Please contact your authority using these details within 21 days of the date of this letter to book ceremony’. It doesn’t mean your ceremony has to be 21 days from this date or even that you have to book it in such short period. The Home Office 6 month guidance (which is double the usual 3 months) hasn’t changed. If you read citizenship ceremony guidance notes which should be the last page of your letter, it does state there that the deadline is 3 months (and it is actually 6 months because of coronavirus as per Home Office website).

[FreshFromTheGrave]

Invitation letter received! Approval was middle of June and the date on the letter is 23rd September, which gives me like 3 working days of leeway to book the ceremony lol (it states 21 days from the date on the letter which seems a little tight to me all things considered).

I'll phone Brent council on Monday morning and try to book wow I've nearly finished immigrating! Go me.

Well done! Care to dig up the exact approval date? Thanks.

16th June

[Tirinti]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Are you sure your approval letter is not the combined approval and invite letter? Some get a combined letter and some get two separate letters, at least pre COVID it was like this.

Hello CR001,
Iam sure same wording only different this mentions the 8-12 weeks worst part it's from my Caseworker but now the letter is dated 05 October 2020.
I guess ive made a mistake to contact her coz now iam joining at the back of the queue.
Edit;
Also has we therefore as you not to contact this department which the other one didn't have.

It's just my guess, but I don't think they care about the date on the approval letter. They rather print and send certificates ordered by te date decision was made. When caseworker sends a letter it is dated and usually the date is the same as the date decision was made. baybars1 has no access to decision made dates so approval letter date is the best approximation to use in the model.

[Tirinti]

Invitation letter received! Approval was middle of June and the date on the letter is 23rd September, which gives me like 3 working days of leeway to book the ceremony lol (it states 21 days from the date on the letter which seems a little tight to me all things considered).

I'll phone Brent council on Monday morning and try to book wow I've nearly finished immigrating! Go me.

The letters say ‘Please contact your authority using these details within 21 days of the date of this letter to book ceremony’. It doesn’t mean your ceremony has to be 21 days from this date or even that you have to book it in such short period. The Home Office 6 month guidance (which is double the usual 3 months) hasn’t changed. If you read citizenship ceremony guidance notes which should be the last page of your letter, it does state there that the deadline is 3 months (and it is actually 6 months because of coronavirus as per Home Office website).

Funny thing is, Croydon register recently posted update asking invited people not to contact them earlier than 5 working days after the day they received the invitation. I won't be surprised that 5 working days would be after 21 days from the letter date.

[BoyTed]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Are you sure your approval letter is not the combined approval and invite letter? Some get a combined letter and some get two separate letters, at least pre COVID it was like this.

Hello CR001,
Iam sure same wording only different this mentions the 8-12 weeks worst part it's from my Caseworker but now the letter is dated 05 October 2020.
I guess ive made a mistake to contact her coz now iam joining at the back of the queue.
Edit;
Also has we therefore as you not to contact this department which the other one didn't have.

It's just my guess, but I don't think they care about the date on the approval letter. They rather print and send certificates ordered by te date decision was made. When caseworker sends a letter it is dated and usually the date is the same as the date decision was made. baybars1 has no access to decision made dates so approval letter date is the best approximation to use in the model.

Thank you Triniti fingers crossed

[poqlpiusefdousngdn]

Finally i have received my invitation letter, homeoffice and council have ignored my request of change of address that i have made on August, however address forwarding have worked and i have received invitation together with pre-booked ceremony.

Date on Approval letter: 26/06/2020 email
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 08/10/2020 date of the letter 26/09/2020
Date of Ceremony: 23/10/2020

now i can slowly move to the passport topic.

[axeman85]

Finally i have received my invitation letter, homeoffice and council have ignored my request of change of address that i have made on August, however address forwarding have worked and i have received invitation together with pre-booked ceremony.

Date on Approval letter: 26/06/2020 email
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 08/10/2020 date of the letter 26/09/2020
Date of Ceremony: 23/10/2020

now i can slowly move to the passport topic.

Congratulations. Thats interesting to note that your approval date is 26th June and you have the invite already...

[nnn15]

My MiL was approved in early June, still nothing. Just contacted council (Bucks) and they said they've received nothing yet.

Glad is not just me , i was began to worry .

I don't know when exactly my application was processed, but in April I received an email that the decision had been made. I asked them for a pdf and in July I receive an approval letter in pdf. Haven't received the ceremony invitation letter yet.

[MannyWarrior]

I believe MCR council received some certificates today.

I'm hoping amongst them is mine but I'm doubtful as im around 5th of july approval email.

I will update you guys Monday.

[baybars1]

Finally i have received my invitation letter, homeoffice and council have ignored my request of change of address that i have made on August, however address forwarding have worked and i have received invitation together with pre-booked ceremony.

Date on Approval letter: 26/06/2020 email
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 08/10/2020 date of the letter 26/09/2020
Date of Ceremony: 23/10/2020

now i can slowly move to the passport topic.

Congratulation and many thanks for sharing! Very helpful.

[MariaLondon26]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Hi Boyted

This has happened to me as well, I originally received my approval letter on the 06.07.20, then in September I emailed my case worker to ask about my invitation letter, and now I have received the same approval letter but it's dated 23rd September, both letters were sent by email.

What it makes me a bit concern is that you are also from f&h Council, isn't it?( I remember that you have replied to me before)

[Sochi08]

Good evening all, been following the forum for 2wks now
My council is Southwark. My timeline

Applied 25th March 2020
Biometric done 8th June 2020
Application approved by email 12th June 2020
No invitation yet but Southwark council received my certificate on the 5th October, had To email them to confirm that. But was advised to wait for my invite before contacting them again to book my ceremony, was happy actually because that was the only good news since after my approval email
Thank you all for your updates it felt good to read other people’s journey getting to know it’s not just me...

[Zigzag1100]

Nottingham next on tighter restrictions mate. Sad!!!

Majority of cases seem to be coming from university of Nottingham halls and they will be isolating. Not sure what the purpose of locking down the whole city will do. But I can’t imagine they will cancel the ceremony, any lockdown introduced it will be like manchester, Liverpool and Leicester. They have been doing ceremonies according to This forum so we will see how it goes.

Yes. According to what they said to me, they will let us know if any changes come into place. I hope it doesn’t until after next week. I’m worried though.

Do you have your ceremony booked ?

@N1234 I bet you missed the message that I sent about we seeing on the same ceremony date. Sorry to respond late. We are on same date and hopefully we get it done. What I don’t know if it would be the same time??

[N1234]

Majority of cases seem to be coming from university of Nottingham halls and they will be isolating. Not sure what the purpose of locking down the whole city will do. But I can’t imagine they will cancel the ceremony, any lockdown introduced it will be like manchester, Liverpool and Leicester. They have been doing ceremonies according to This forum so we will see how it goes.

Yes. According to what they said to me, they will let us know if any changes come into place. I hope it doesn’t until after next week. I’m worried though.

Do you have your ceremony booked ?

@N1234 I bet you missed the message that I sent about we seeing on the same ceremony date. Sorry to respond late. We are on same date and hopefully we get it done. What I don’t know if it would be the same time??

I believe they only do 1 session at time right?. Mine is at 1. Also according to the news, any restrictions will be introduced on Monday and it won’t be implemented till Wednesday. Hopefully nothing crazy happens. This is the first time I wanted the weekend to end lol

[Runner12345]

Good evening all, been following the forum for 2wks now
My council is Southwark. My timeline

Applied 25th March 2020
Biometric done 8th June 2020
Application approved by email 12th June 2020
No invitation yet but Southwark council received my certificate on the 5th October, had To email them to confirm that. But was advised to wait for my invite before contacting them again to book my ceremony, was happy actually because that was the only good news since after my approval email
Thank you all for your updates it felt good to read other people’s journey getting to know it’s not just me...

Same approval date, same council, same story: council has the certificate but no HO approval letter

[Zigzag1100]

Yes. According to what they said to me, they will let us know if any changes come into place. I hope it doesn’t until after next week. I’m worried though.

Do you have your ceremony booked ?

@N1234 I bet you missed the message that I sent about we seeing on the same ceremony date. Sorry to respond late. We are on same date and hopefully we get it done. What I don’t know if it would be the same time??

I believe they only do 1 session at time right?. Mine is at 1. Also according to the news, any restrictions will be introduced on Monday and it won’t be implemented till Wednesday. Hopefully nothing crazy happens. This is the first time I wanted the weekend to end lol

If yours is at 1, it is not 1 session a day then. I think they are conducting more than once a day. Also I can’t wait for the weekend to be over either.

[BoyTed]

Good Everyone,
Iam at low point today even though it's my birthday today i just received the same letter i received again my approval letter on 02.07.2020 that letter was dated 29thJune2020 however after sending an email to my Caseworker,asking to send me ceremony letter she sent me the same approval letter i got but now it's dated 5th October 2020 with same wording meaning iam just joining the queue now iam pretty disappointed and feeling down to be honest.
My question has anyone seen something like that and what do you think?

Hi Boyted

This has happened to me as well, I originally received my approval letter on the 06.07.20, then in September I emailed my case worker to ask about my invitation letter, and now I have received the same approval letter but it's dated 23rd September, both letters were sent by email.

What it makes me a bit concern is that you are also from f&h Council, isn't it?( I remember that you have replied to me before)

Hello Maria,
Yes we both from the same council to be honest it can go both ways either we will get our invitation as scheduled or it may take us back in the queue and expect to do the ceremony sometime next year.
Also our council H&F have closed the telephone line and when you call the automated says only email us your phone number once you receive your invitation.
Let's keep each other updated as this is turning to get complicated.

[Sochi08]

Good evening all, been following the forum for 2wks now
My council is Southwark. My timeline

Applied 25th March 2020
Biometric done 8th June 2020
Application approved by email 12th June 2020
No invitation yet but Southwark council received my certificate on the 5th October, had To email them to confirm that. But was advised to wait for my invite before contacting them again to book my ceremony, was happy actually because that was the only good news since after my approval email
Thank you all for your updates it felt good to read other people’s journey getting to know it’s not just me...

Same approval date, same council, same story: council has the certificate but no HO letter

Really! I can relate, in a day I check my post box like 3times can’t wait for this journey to be over. Please update here when you receive yours and will sure do as well

[Amine_Bristol]

@amine_bristol can you please confirm if Bristol council contacted you automatically when they got your certificate or did you have to email them?

I am with Bristol council too and waiting for my invite letter.

Hey! Nope, Bristol Council did *not* contact me automatically. I just happened to email them to ask and they confirmed that they had received the certificate from the Home Office.

I had messaged them every 2/3 weeks in the last couple of months, and I knew that they would likely be getting it soon. By the way, I had my ceremony this morning, but I am yet to receive the Home Office invite via post

[Jayrose17]

Hi baybars 1
My invite was emailed as they had changed my council from the old council so was a new invite after the old one had been posted which arrived re directed by ne from old address the next day.. So I recieved e mail stating they would request the old council to send the certificate to the new.
I had requested a change about a month ago due to moving.
I knew the old council had my cert and I now had the original invite I booked a private Ceremony and had it today.
So officially at around 12pm I became a British citizen.
The