Wrong name spelling on ceremony booking letter from Kent council

[underfire222]

Hello all,

I just have an inquiry as regards booking the citizenship ceremony. I got an email from home office atlas (on 20/12/21) titled citizenship ceremony invitation. The email also confirmed that my application was approved by home office and advised to contact my local council (Kent county council) the next working day to book my ceremony within the next 3 months.

Should I expect a separate letter or email from Kent council where they book me for a ceremony date automatically or should I be able to book a date myself with the council following the email form Home office atlas?

I have tried calling Kent council on multiple numbers and emailed them but can't seem to get any response from them or an answer. I am a bit worried about the prospect of further restrictions due to the worsening covid situation and I'm keen on booking the ceremony asap.

Any advice on what to do or who to contact if I'm unable to reach the council to book the ceremony. Should I raise this with home office and if so how to contact them?

I'm just a bit confused on what exactly happens after you get this approval email from Home office atlas.

Thanks

[JV001]

Hi Underfire,

Congratulations on your approval! I'm no expert but I can tell you how it worked for me.

I also received the email from Atlas informing me that my application has been approved. I did not receive any other emails nor did I get any further letters through the post.

I had to call my my council (They won't call you) to arrange the ceremony. When I rang they were very helpful and the lady explained that she needs to check that they have received my naturalisation certificate before we can continue. After a few seconds she confirmed that it was with them and we continued with the booking.

From what I've worked out is that your certificate gets printed on the day your application gets approved but they do not print the date, which is left blank. It then gets sent to your council. On the day of your ceremony, after you have completed your oath/affirmation (At which point you legally become a British Citizen) the date is manually written on you certificate of naturalisation.

You will have to get through to Kent Council somehow. It's going to be hard with Covid and Christmas etc but that's what you'd need to do. If I was you, I would call any and every number I could find for them even if its a different department and asked to be put through to the correct person.

I hope you can get through to someone. I know how it feels, you are so close to it all being completed and just want to get it done. But the hardest parts are over and you just need to push a bit more to complete it!

All the best
JV

[underfire222]

Thanks JV for the very kind reply.

I did get a letter today from kent council with a booked ceremony appointment for 27/1.
However annoyingly the spelled my name wrong in the letter.

I'm not sure if that will be an issue as the approval/ceremony invitation letter from the Home office email has the correct name , so will my name on the naturalisation certificate be correct?

I emailed them to clarify, hope they reply.

If any body has similar experience in that please reply.

Thanks

[underfire222]

HI all,

I got an email from home office atlas dated 20/12 with a ceremony invitation and confirmation of approval of my citizenship application.

today 22/12 I got a letter in mail from the citizenship team at Kent council dated 18/12 inviting me to attend a ceremony on 27/1.

Annoyingly , the letter from the council has my names with a wrong spelling. However the email from home office had my name correct.

So Does that mean that my naturalisation certificate (which I should get on the day of the ceremony) will have an incorrect name spelling?

If so how can this be corrected please? Do I need to contact the home office about this?

I emailed Kent council citizenship team about this, but they are extremely slow in replying.

Any advise please if someone had a similar experience?

Thanks

[alterhase58]

The council doesn't fill in the details on the certificate - they just date it - so as UKVI got your details right then there shouldn't be an issue. The council just organises/conducts the ceremony.

[underfire222]

Thanks for the reply. I hope you are correct

I’m just worried that the council wrote my name wrong on the ceremony booking letter due to wring details received from home office or a wrong name on my citizenship certificate. I’m trying to clarify that with Kent council , but they never answer any phone calls and they are very slow in answering emails , if they do answer.