Naturalisation application processing timelines (only)

[Gurpreet1987]

Nationality: non-EU
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 14/02/2022
Date of debit of fees: 15/02/2022
Date of acknowledgement: 15/02/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 18/02/2022
Date on Approval letter/Email: 14/03/22
Date of receipt of approval: 14/03/22
Can't believe approved in 3 weeks

[yhm75]

Eligibility criteria: BC spouse + 10 year ILR
Method of application: Online
Date of receipt by UKVI: 5 feb 2022
Date of receipt of acknowledgement:
Date of biometrics: 15 feb 2022
Date on Approval Letter: 14/03/2022 email from home office atlas
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: waiting
Date of ceremony: Waiting

[newcitizentobe]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years + ILR for 18 months (EU settled status)
Language/LIUK Criteria: UK Bachelor’s degree + Life in the UK test (test completed and passed on 30.7.2021)
Nationality: EU (Finland)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Credit card online

- Date of application: 25.8.2021
- Date of debit of fees: 25.8.2021 (received a payment confirmation email from “UK Visas & Immigration” on 25.8.2021)
- Date of acknowledgement: None (never received an acknowledgement of my application)
- Date Biometrics enrolled: 17.9.2021 (std appointment at Reading Central Library service point)
- Date of approval of citizenship application letter/e-mail: Email from “Home Office Atlas” noting approval of my application and invitation to book the ceremony 14.2.2022 <- I felt like a very special valentine !
- Date of contacting the council for arranging the ceremony: 14.2.2022 My email of approval from the Home Office included a link to a council search engine which led to my local council’s website. There I looked for information on arranging citizenship ceremonies and was prompted to send my inquiry about available dates through a contact form.
- Date of receipt of approval from the council: 15.2.2022 The council emailed me to say that they’ve received my naturalisation certificate from the Home Office and my request for a ceremony via their website and will contact me for a ceremony date and time in due course. They noted that due to a large number of applicants, they cannot offer a ceremony date for me at the moment, but will be in touch again when they can.
- Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 1.3.2022 The council contacted me with an invite to a citizenship ceremony that would be arranged on 14.3.2022.
- Date of citizenship ceremony: 14.3.2022
- Date of receipt of naturalisation: 14.3.2022

The process took longer than I expected and I was quite nervous waiting for the outcome. I also found it very difficult to know what to expect at each state. I’ve added description above for each step to make the process clearer to any others who might find it similarly difficult to follow.

Total days from submission of application to approval (incl): 174 d (ie. 5 m 21 d)

Total days from submission of application to receipt of naturalisation (incl): 202 d (ie. 6 m 18 d)

Thanks so much for sharing your timelines on this forum as well as for the excellent moderators for the hours you put in Reading everyone’s posts gave me a lot of reassurance during the process! Good luck to those of you waiting for your responses (try not to worry!) and see some of you in the passport timeline !

[ahmedash]

Eligibility criteria: BC spouse + ILR
Nationality: Pakistani
Method of application: Online
Date of receipt by UKBA: 13/07/21
Date of debit of fees: 13/07/21
Date of biometrics: 12/08/21
Date of receipt of approval: N/A
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: N/A
Date of ceremony: N/A

Still waiting for decision, more than 8 months now

[Gurpreet1987]

Nationality: non-EU
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 14/02/2022
Date of debit of fees: 15/02/2022
Date of acknowledgement: 15/02/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 18/02/2022
Date on Approval letter/Email: 14/03/22
Date of receipt of approval: 14/03/22
Ceremony booked 14/04/22


Can't believe approved in 3 weeks

[a85]

Nationality: Iran
Eligibility: Tier 2 (5 years) + ILR (1 year)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 16/01/2022
Date of debit of fees: 16/01/2022
Date of acknowledgement: Never!
Date Biometrics enrolled: 25/01/2022
Biometrics Location: Cardif (free)
Date on Approval Email: 14/03/2022
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: Never!
Citizenship ceremony date: 17/03/2022

Thanks to all your supports! Without this forum, the immigration paper work could be much more stressful!

[Rajux]

Nationality: Srilankan
Eligibility: Refugee + ILR (1 year)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 14/10/2021
Date of debit of fees: 14/10/2021
Date of acknowledgement: Never!
Date Biometrics enrolled: 26/10/2021
Biometrics Location: croydon
Date on Approval Email: 14/03/2022
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: Never!
Citizenship ceremony date: 26/04/2022
Good luck for everyone.

[MBhat]

Nationality: Indian
Eligibility: Tier 2 (5 years) + ILR (1 year)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 30/01/2022
Date of debit of fees: 30/01/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 25/02/2022
Biometrics Location: Maidstone, kent (free)
Date on Approval Email: Awaiting
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: Awaiting
Citizenship ceremony date: Awaiting

[PKAJ]

Eligibility criteria: spouse of British citizen + ILR
Language B1/LIUK
Method of application: online
Payment method: online
Date of application: 21/01/2022
Date of debit of fees: 21/01/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 11/02/2022
Date on Approval letter/Email: N/A Still waiting-no updates
Date of receipt of approval: N/A
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: N/A
Citizenship ceremony date: N/A

[PKAJ]

Eligibility criteria: spouse of British citizen + ILR
Language B1/LIUK
Method of application: online
Payment method: online
Date of application: 21/01/2022
Date of debit of fees: 21/01/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 11/02/2022
Date on Approval letter/Email: N/A Still waiting-no updates
Date of receipt of approval: N/A
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: N/A
Citizenship ceremony date: N/A

[noodlle]

Eligibility criteria: Tier 2 for 5 years + 1 year ILR
Method of application: Online
Date of receipt by UKVI: 20/02/2022
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: same day
Date of biometrics: 02/03/2022
Date on Approval Letter: waiting
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: waiting
Date of ceremony: waiting

[zhishi]

Nationality: Belarus
Eligibility: UK residence (9 years) and ILR (1 year)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 25/11/2021
Date of debit of fees: 25/11/2021
Date Biometrics enrolled: 16/12/2021 (free appointment, London Mark Lane)
Date of Approval Email from Atlas (Citizenship ceremony invitation): 14/03/2022
Citizenship ceremony date booked: 22/03/2022

Best of luck to all awaiting!

[prejay]

Nationality: Indian
Eligibility: BC Spouse + ILR (~10 months)
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 07/02/2022
Date of debit of fees: 07/02/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 08/02/2022 (paid)
Date of Approval Email from Atlas (Citizenship ceremony invitation): 21/03/2022 @ 9:30am
Citizenship ceremony date booked: 22/03/2022

Good luck to all those waiting. Sorry to see that people who apply later like us are skipping over earlier applications.

[Danny K]

Eligibility criteria: ILR + Spouse of BC,
Language/LIUK Criteria: UK Degree + Life in the UK test
Nationality: Kenya
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 23/02/2022
Date of debit of fees: 23/02/2022
Date of acknowledgement: 23/02/2022
Uploaded supporting documents: 27/02/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 28/02/2022
Date on Approval letter/Email: 21/03/2022
Date of receipt of approval: 21/03/2022
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: pending
Citizenship ceremony date: pending

[Rddoc]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: ILR for > 10 years adult + 1 dependent child under 16
Method of application: UKVI online application
Date of submission: 16/01/2022
Date of debit of fees: 16/01/2022
Biometric Appointment: 28/01/2022 (free appointment in Manchester)
Acknowledgement of Application: 28/01/2022
Date of approval: 21/03/2022 (two separate emails from Atlas, first one @ 08:10 followed by 08:40 am)
Date of receipt of approval letter: 21/03/2022
Date of Ceremony: Yet to be booked

I thought I will have to wait for 6 months but a decision within 9 weeks took me by surprise. I was panicking a little as I had littering, driving and parking offences declared (5 in total)!..

A big thank you for all the moderators and contributors, you are doing a great service! All the very best to applicants waiting for an outcome. I would like to echo the comment from 'prejay' above..

[Rajux]

My wife nationality application timeline

Eligibility criteria: Refugee ILR + 1 year ILR
Method of application: Online
Date of receipt by UKVI: 15/10/2021
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: same day
Date of biometrics: 26/10/2021
Date on Approval Emai- Home off Atlas 21/03/2022
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: none
Date of ceremony: 12/04/2022

Good luck for everyone.

[DaveMSp]

Eligibility criteria: EUSS + 3 years residency
Language : SELT B1 + Life in the UK
Nationality: EU + Ecuadorean
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 07/02/2022
Date of debit of fees: 07/02/2022
Date Biometrics enrolled: 07/02/2022
Date on Approval: 21/03/2022 at 08:11
Date of invitation ceremony : pending
Citizenship ceremony date: pending

[FOCUS]

Eligibility criteria: 10years + 4 ILR
Nationality : Indian
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 14/02/2022
Date of biometric : 26/02/2022 (Free-Reading)
Date on Approval letter:
Date of receipt of approval (Email/Letter): 21/03/2022 , via Email
Date of receipt of ceremony (call from Council following Email): 21/03/2022
Date of Ceremony: 28/03/2022

All the best every one

[masifsiddiqui]

Eligibility criteria: Tier 2 for 5 years + 1 year ILR
Method of application: Online
Date of payment: 2-Sep-2021
Date of online application completion on UKVI portal: 3-Sep-2021
Date of documents upload at UKVCAS: 10-Sep-2021
Date of biometrics at UKVCAS: 11-Sep-2021
Date of application submission confirmation to UKVI by UKVCAS: 11-Sep-2021
Date of receipt by UKVI: No direct confirmation from UKVI
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: No direct confirmation from UKVI
Date on Approval Letter or Email: waiting
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: waiting
Date of ceremony: waiting

It's been more than 6 months and I have no clue where I am in the application process. I tried calling UKVI at 0300 790 6268 but there is only an automated message which says keep waiting. Any idea where/how can I follow up? My main concern is that I never got an acknowledgement from UKVI that they have received the application and processing.

[Fz420]

Eligibility criteria: 10yr + 1yr ILR
Method of application: ONLINE
Nationality: NON-EU
Date of APPLICATION: 17-12-2021
Date of debit of fees: 17-12-2021
Date of BIOMETRIC: 07-01-2022(LUTON)
Date of receipt of approval: 22-03-2022
Date of ceremony:24-03-2022

[monsieur007]

Eligibility criteria: ILR (settled status) + 1 year
Nationality: EU
Method of application: online
Date of online payment: 15/12/2021
Date biometrics enrolled: 12/01/2022
Date of approval email: waiting
Citizenship ceremony date: waiting

Date of approval: 08/03/2022 (did not receive an email)

*I did however receive a reply on 16/03/2022 to an email I sent on 20/02/2022 to check if everything was fine with my application and supporting documents. This reply informed me that my application was approved on 08/03/2022, and an email was sent on this date to confirm the same. However, I did not receive this—checked all my email folders.

Date of email from my council to book a ceremony: 19/03/2022
Date of Home Office invitation email: 21/03/2022
Date of ceremony: 21/03/2022

[matlau_2862]

Application Timeline

Eligibility criteria: 5 years Tier 2 + 1year ILR

Nationality: non-EU
Method of application: Online
Payment method: Online
Date of application: 3/10/2021
Date of debit of fees: 3/10/2021
Date of acknowledgement: 12/10/2021
Uploaded supporting documents: 12/10/2021
Date Biometrics enrolled: 12/10/2021
Date on Approval letter/Email: pending
Date of receipt of approval: pending
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: pending
Citizenship ceremony date: pending

Nearly 5 months - no news at all

Today 22nd March, received this email notification:

We aim to process all applications within 6 months from the date submitted. However, in certain circumstances this target is not possible. Following our assessment of your case, unfortunately it appears your application will not be processed within the 6 month target.

This is because your application raises exceptionally complex issues and we require further time to consider your case thoroughly and reach a decision.

We expect to make a decision on your application as soon as possible, but we will write to you again if this is not going to be possible.

[TDM]

Eligibility criteria: Spouse of British citizen (5 year route) + ILR (applied within a month after getting ILR)
Method of application: Online
Date of receipt by UKVI: 23/08/2021
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: same day
Date of biometrics: 27/08/2021
Date on Approval email and citizenship ceremony invitation (same email, no letter received): 31/01/2022
Date of ceremony: 24/02/2022

Total of 5 months 7 days! It felt like forever because I always opted for a priority service but obviously this time I could save some ££ for the next holidays!

Thank you so much everyone for sharing your timeline. It helped me clam down at times.

[MrsO17]

Finally!!!
Applied 22nd July 2021
Bio 17th August 2021
Approval email 21st March 2022
Ceremony 18th May 2022
It’s taken so so long from applying to ceremony nearly 10 months! Can’t wait for it to be done! Good luck everyone

[Blessed422]

Applied: 22nd Feb 2022
Biometrics: 28th Feb 2022
Approval email 21st of March 2022
Ceremony 12th of May 2022
It didn’t take too long using a lawyer and she handled everything. Submitted using her immigration account as a lawyer. Quick response in four weeks. Good luck everyone.