Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[iwich]

3rd of July approval email but no invite yet (Tower Hamlets council), so according to the model i should have the invite kind of now, but by the looks of it HO is going on paid vacations again for a month.

[iwich]

3rd of July approval email but no invite yet (Tower Hamlets council), so according to the model i should have the invite kind of now, but by the looks of it HO is going on paid vacations again for a month.

[Tirinti]

Btw don't even bother calling the HO.

I just waited 25 mins to get to a really rude guy who denied whatever I was told before [July approvals will receive invitations by the end of October]. "I am just gonna have to wait until I receive it, no further updates." HO is a joke.

Did they ever told it would be October 2020? Maybe they meant before the end of October 2021?

[lmannova]

Btw don't even bother calling the HO.

I just waited 25 mins to get to a really rude guy who denied whatever I was told before [July approvals will receive invitations by the end of October]. "I am just gonna have to wait until I receive it, no further updates." HO is a joke.

Did they ever told it would be October 2020? Maybe they meant before the end of October 2021?

Yeah, that would make sense to get it by 2021 haha.

[Cost Manager]

I was 100% sure that HO will change their language as soon as lockdown is announced. All HO care about not to breach laws. October date was end of 12 week which is in their guidelines. Individuals are just headcount for them. Now they have a reason so why not treating them like a rubbish

[Frou01]

I will wait for further people sharing their responses from their individual councils and my own to get confirmation in general ceremonies are suspended.

Different to the first lockdown we might be the only ones being effected as UKVCAS and test centres will keep providing their services this time.

I have specifically ask my council if they plan for the case of another suspension 1. to introduce online ceremonies 2. if they suspend the £200+ charge for a private ceremony for the case there won’t be alternatives.

I think councils may continue private ceremonies until they will run out of certificates. I'm not expecting HO printing new certificates before spring as I don't expect the lockdown will be over before spring. Schools are opened so the virus is spreading. One infected child sitting for a few hours in a classroom with others, will pass the infection, and then infected children will pass to their families. If you clos the schools, then at least one parent need to stay at home and not everyone can work from home.

I think we should wait a week or two and if there is no solution from HO we should contact our MPs.

I think you’re right and I do agree with you.

There must be a solution and that means to suspend ceremonies and post certificates.

To leave it like this is at this point disgraceful and unacceptable.

[Learning20]

Good morning everyone

I was as mid july approval and I haven't recieved any invitation letter. I just got of the phone with Islington council and was told that they will not be doing any ceromony during the lockdown, I asked if they would do virtual ceromony instead then and was told that that two wouldn't happen.
If anyone is with islington council and knows anything let me know.

[Tirinti]

I will wait for further people sharing their responses from their individual councils and my own to get confirmation in general ceremonies are suspended.

Different to the first lockdown we might be the only ones being effected as UKVCAS and test centres will keep providing their services this time.

I have specifically ask my council if they plan for the case of another suspension 1. to introduce online ceremonies 2. if they suspend the £200+ charge for a private ceremony for the case there won’t be alternatives.

I think councils may continue private ceremonies until they will run out of certificates. I'm not expecting HO printing new certificates before spring as I don't expect the lockdown will be over before spring. Schools are opened so the virus is spreading. One infected child sitting for a few hours in a classroom with others, will pass the infection, and then infected children will pass to their families. If you clos the schools, then at least one parent need to stay at home and not everyone can work from home.

I think we should wait a week or two and if there is no solution from HO we should contact our MPs.

I think you’re right and I do agree with you.

There must be a solution and that means to suspend ceremonies and post certificates.

To leave it like this is at this point disgraceful and unacceptable.

The main problem during the lockdown is to print certificates. HO claims they cannot print certificates when they work from home. So with or without ceremonies there will be no certificates to send. As it was mentioned a few times in this thread, they should digitalize certificates and allow to have virtual ceremony and after that send electronic certificate via email and this should be enough to apply for the passport. Ten after the pandemic you could apply for printed certificate.
If they insist on printing. At least they should have prepare all the certificates, ordered by council in PDF at home and then someone can come to the office for one day and print that PDF in their super secure way and dispatch them and send invitations by email.
But I doubt they will do anything. They will wait till the lockdown is over then they will wait another month before come back to the office, then they will think for the few weeks what to do with the backlog and only then they will start printing. And in the meantime at the end of the year they will be awarded bonuses for being the best immigration service in the world.

[axeman85]

I just called the HO helpline and the lady I spoke with confirmed to me that they don't have any new update except from the end of October one. She said call back by middle of week they might have more information update from HO.

[standrews]

I’m awaiting for invitation letter since 01/July/2020. Application submitted in January this year ... Its the “hope” home office and council gives every few days and before we are “hopeless” again, we are being given another “hope”. Its good to be pessimistic or not overthink or discuss about it all the time, rather being optimistic for mental well-being.

[baybars1]

The main problem during the lockdown is to print certificates. HO claims they cannot print certificates when they work from home. So with or without ceremonies there will be no certificates to send. As it was mentioned a few times in this thread, they should digitalize certificates and allow to have virtual ceremony and after that send electronic certificate via email and this should be enough to apply for the passport. Ten after the pandemic you could apply for printed certificate.
If they insist on printing. At least they should have prepare all the certificates, ordered by council in PDF at home and then someone can come to the office for one day and print that PDF in their super secure way and dispatch them and send invitations by email.
But I doubt they will do anything. They will wait till the lockdown is over then they will wait another month before come back to the office, then they will think for the few weeks what to do with the backlog and only then they will start printing. And in the meantime at the end of the year they will be awarded bonuses for being the best immigration service in the world.

What you have just described is a perfect example of the exercise of monopoly power. As I don't think that a trust-busting initiative would work any time soon, the only other option would be a PR campaign.

Writing to your MP with a suggestion that the entire process be digitised is probably the only sensible option, provided we have the confirmation that the Home Office has indeed stopped printing of the certificates.

One could perhaps borrow Ed Milliband's arrangement of arguments against the Internal Market Bill to question the logic behind ceremonies in the midst of a global pandemic:

• Is it right? (clearly not, people are waiting, being affected in a myriad of ways)

• Is it helpful? (have naturalised/registered citizens become more law-abiding since ceremonies were introduced in 2004 - based on citizenship deprivation stats,hardly so)

• Is it necessary? (what difference does it make to read a few sentences off a piece of paper compared to ticking a box on a website form? None at all I would say. Besides, the advent of virtual ceremonies is already a half-way house toward a full digitisation - time to take a brave new step into the XXI century).

[rayyfar]

Approved 23rd july
Still waiting on invitation letter
Send email to council (Birmingham council)
On wednesday , friday and today
No reply yet
Home office help line says call end of the week for update they have no knowledge
The guys confirmed they don’t directly work for home office its just a advice line
He said weather ceremonies will go ahead will be down to local councils
I am super frustrated with all of there departments tbh

[nnn15]

I just called the HO helpline and the lady I spoke with confirmed to me that they don't have any new update except from the end of October one. She said call back by middle of week they might have more information update from HO.

Same for me - just called them. The lady was polite but had no update whatsoever. She did confirm that previously they were given instructions that all ceremony invitation letters for approvals within March and early August will arrive before end of October, but unfortunately this hasn't happen, so they don't know what to say now. She recommended me to call in a week to see if they got an update from the HO, but they don't expect that citizenship ceremonies will go ahead during the lockdown.

[Parisiana]

I called Westminster Council to check if they will be having ceremonies during lockdown and they said that they didn't have any instruction from the Registrar yet and asked me to call back in the next few days. If anyone has any update, please post in this forum. Thanks

[024601]

Postman's been....no invitation. I even went as far as checking with my neighbors if they have received my letter because sometimes the postman's a different person and he mixes up the addresses (I live in 57, and I always get mail for 51 or 75 and vice-versa) but they got nothing either.

I emailed my MP 2 times since last week, got nothing but the automated response. I don't think he'll respond to me because ever since he told me he'll update me weekly last month, I've heard nothing!

I tried calling the Southampton registrar's office, the line is constantly busy. I emailed them yesterday and am waiting for their response.

I honestly don't see what the point is, I think the only reason I keep chasing is to make myself feel better that I am doing something about it. But it's very clear to me neither the HO nor the council, nor the MP give a hoot. I've paid so now I'll just have to wait. If I hadn't paid, I'm sure they;d be banging on the door daily asking for payment.

[Cost Manager]

I called Westminster Council to check if they will be having ceremonies during lockdown and they said that they didn't have any instruction from the Registrar yet and asked me to call back in the next few days. If anyone has any update, please post in this forum. Thanks

I got same response from the same lady. She said they are so busy this morning as everyone calls for weddings and etc. She did not have an idea about it, Westminster won't conduct any ceremonies imo tho

[Cost Manager]

Approved 27rd july
No invitation yet.
Westminster register confirmed last week that they were expecting a batch however HO is not consistent. Try again this week. Tried again this week and still nothing.

[iwich]

So by the way the whole HO message that backlog and all will be cleared by end of October 100%, was a straight up lie ?

There are still people in June and pretty much everyone approved in July who did not receive the invitation letters so by the looks of it they were never printed but HO was saying don't worry it's all on the way...

[Cost Manager]

So by the way the whole HO message that backlog and all will be cleared by end of October 100%, was a straight up lie ?

There are still people in June and pretty much everyone approved in July who did not receive the invitation letters so by the looks of it they were never printed but HO was saying don't worry it's all on the way...

Looks like it. I know a few people until mid july got their certs. I have no idea how HO works tbh.

[Tirinti]

So by the way the whole HO message that backlog and all will be cleared by end of October 100%, was a straight up lie ?

There are still people in June and pretty much everyone approved in July who did not receive the invitation letters so by the looks of it they were never printed but HO was saying don't worry it's all on the way...

I'm quite sure for the last couple of weeks they expected another lockdown so they were repeating this end of October, even though they knew it was impossible to achieve. Now they asking to wait a few days as the lockdown hasn't yet started, but from Thursday they will have their excuse.

[Tirinti]

The main problem during the lockdown is to print certificates. HO claims they cannot print certificates when they work from home. So with or without ceremonies there will be no certificates to send. As it was mentioned a few times in this thread, they should digitalize certificates and allow to have virtual ceremony and after that send electronic certificate via email and this should be enough to apply for the passport. Ten after the pandemic you could apply for printed certificate.
If they insist on printing. At least they should have prepare all the certificates, ordered by council in PDF at home and then someone can come to the office for one day and print that PDF in their super secure way and dispatch them and send invitations by email.
But I doubt they will do anything. They will wait till the lockdown is over then they will wait another month before come back to the office, then they will think for the few weeks what to do with the backlog and only then they will start printing. And in the meantime at the end of the year they will be awarded bonuses for being the best immigration service in the world.

What you have just described is a perfect example of the exercise of monopoly power. As I don't think that a trust-busting initiative would work any time soon, the only other option would be a PR campaign.

Writing to your MP with a suggestion that the entire process be digitised is probably the only sensible option, provided we have the confirmation that the Home Office has indeed stopped printing of the certificates.

One could perhaps borrow Ed Milliband's arrangement of arguments against the Internal Market Bill to question the logic behind ceremonies in the midst of a global pandemic:

• Is it right? (clearly not, people are waiting, being affected in a myriad of ways)

• Is it helpful? (have naturalised/registered citizens become more law-abiding since ceremonies were introduced in 2004 - based on citizenship deprivation stats,hardly so)

• Is it necessary? (what difference does it make to read a few sentences off a piece of paper compared to ticking a box on a website form? None at all I would say. Besides, the advent of virtual ceremonies is already a half-way house toward a full digitisation - time to take a brave new step into the XXI century).

It is bureaucracy stupidity not monopoly power. Private monopoly use the power to take more money from customers, but if they can reduce their costs they do. The current HO workflow is not efficient so it cost them more resources. If they go fully digital it will be better not only for us, but for them as well. I think digitalization might cause some redundancies in their department so they want to protect their jobs. The managers don't care. They make money for the budget anyway, a bit more, a bit less, they don't care, it's not their money anyway.

[Waitingagain]

I’ve sent the following to my MP after they responded with HO’s generic response last week:

Thank you for your response below. Unsurprisingly, many councils have already stated that they won’t be providing ceremonies during the upcoming lockdown and I think a fairly safe assumption is that the printing of certificates will stop as well.

I follow a forum, with people in a similar position to me, and the number of worrying mental health statements being made is very concerning.
There is an assumption that it’s just an administrative task and that people aren’t really affected by waiting at this last administrative hurdle, but I can vouch for anyone that it affects your mental wealth significant not knowing when you will finally have the ability to apply for a passport.

Personally, I have spent an enormous amount of money and lived a law abiding life to have the privilege to apply for citizenship to the UK and I for the life of me can’t imagine why certificates are delaying my celebrations of being part of a country I’ve dreamt about being part of my entire life.

Initially, I was very excited for the ceremony, being a confirmation of being British, but recently noted that these ceremonies only started 16 years ago.

Three major points that we should be asking ourselves at this point in my opinion about delaying people’s celebration of becoming British:
Is it right? (clearly not, people are waiting, being affected in a myriad of ways, including mental health. It’s a stressful time and is a massive event in any applicants life, with the administrative uncertainty making life very difficult)
Is it helpful? (have naturalised/registered citizens become more law-abiding since ceremonies were introduced in 2004? Does any statistic prove that a ceremony leads to a more integrated British citizen?)
Is it necessary? (what difference does it make to read a few sentences off a piece of paper compared to ticking a box on a website form? Besides, the advent of virtual ceremonies is already a half-way house toward a full digitisation - time to take a brave new step into the XXI century).
I understand that in many ways there is very little anyone can do at this point, except for the point to be discussed in parliament. The US, Canada and Australia have all temporarily removed the need for citizenship ceremonies, and in the UK, this has not hit the media, potentially because there is no exclusion in an upcoming election. What is clear though, is that it still creates exclusion and tremendous uncertainty in an already uncertain world.

[lemmeseeyouwalk]

Stockport council.

Approved 7th of July. Never got any letter, and my council does not have my certificate. Today the council has informed me that ceremonies are suspended again.

Oh well. At this rate my 6 months will expire, and I will absolutely not be surprised if I lose my citizenship because the HO will say it's somehow my fault :\

[Cocobana]

I’ve sent the following to my MP after they responded with HO’s generic response last week:

Thank you for your response below. Unsurprisingly, many councils have already stated that they won’t be providing ceremonies during the upcoming lockdown and I think a fairly safe assumption is that the printing of certificates will stop as well.

I follow a forum, with people in a similar position to me, and the number of worrying mental health statements being made is very concerning.
There is an assumption that it’s just an administrative task and that people aren’t really affected by waiting at this last administrative hurdle, but I can vouch for anyone that it affects your mental wealth significant not knowing when you will finally have the ability to apply for a passport.

Personally, I have spent an enormous amount of money and lived a law abiding life to have the privilege to apply for citizenship to the UK and I for the life of me can’t imagine why certificates are delaying my celebrations of being part of a country I’ve dreamt about being part of my entire life.

Initially, I was very excited for the ceremony, being a confirmation of being British, but recently noted that these ceremonies only started 16 years ago.

Three major points that we should be asking ourselves at this point in my opinion about delaying people’s celebration of becoming British:
Is it right? (clearly not, people are waiting, being affected in a myriad of ways, including mental health. It’s a stressful time and is a massive event in any applicants life, with the administrative uncertainty making life very difficult)
Is it helpful? (have naturalised/registered citizens become more law-abiding since ceremonies were introduced in 2004? Does any statistic prove that a ceremony leads to a more integrated British citizen?)
Is it necessary? (what difference does it make to read a few sentences off a piece of paper compared to ticking a box on a website form? Besides, the advent of virtual ceremonies is already a half-way house toward a full digitisation - time to take a brave new step into the XXI century).
I understand that in many ways there is very little anyone can do at this point, except for the point to be discussed in parliament. The US, Canada and Australia have all temporarily removed the need for citizenship ceremonies, and in the UK, this has not hit the media, potentially because there is no exclusion in an upcoming election. What is clear though, is that it still creates exclusion and tremendous uncertainty in an already uncertain world.

I very much like your response, points of which I agree and I am thinking of copying it and sending to my mp, I also think we should create a petition to digitise the citizenship ceremony and certificate which will be debated on parliament if it receives 10000 signatures.

[MannyWarrior]

Stockport council.

Approved 7th of July. Never got any letter, and my council does not have my certificate. Today the council has informed me that ceremonies are suspended again.

Oh well. At this rate my 6 months will expire, and I will absolutely not be surprised if I lose my citizenship because the HO will say it's somehow my fault :\

That's so bad of them. Their website was last updated April.

I checked Manchester Council which got updated TODAY about an hour ago. They do not mention the suspension of the citizenship ceremonies. However, they have mentioned the suspension of weddings/civil partnerships.

Maybe it's worth showing this to them? And showing the actual gov.uk page which shows citizenships aren't suspended? Maybe the agent you spoke to was clueless/misunderstood.

See here: https://secure.manchester.gov.uk/info/5 ... cemeteries