TIMELINE AFTER NATURALISATION APPLICATION SUBMISSION

[bblb]

This is my first post here and Let me first congratulate John and everyone else whos giving their time and effort to help others - Its quite commendable.

My Question is this:
I am an Indian citizen and am eligible for applying for BC(4+1) but want to know first how much time does it currently and realistically take for the whole process? I have couple of International trips planned in the next few months and so want to time it well. Also , if it does take upto 4 months, can I get my Indian passport back once they have seen and partly processed my application - If so, after how many weeks can I ask for my passport back ?

Thanks in Advance
Tintin

I applied in Oct 2005 and heard nothing back from them at all. Finally after days of trying I got through on the phone and was told that some applications made in October have not even been looked at yet. I applied directly without NCS and finally I asked for my passport back as I urgently need to travel.

[confused1]

This is my first post here and Let me first congratulate John and everyone else whos giving their time and effort to help others - Its quite commendable.

My Question is this:
I am an Indian citizen and am eligible for applying for BC(4+1) but want to know first how much time does it currently and realistically take for the whole process? I have couple of International trips planned in the next few months and so want to time it well. Also , if it does take upto 4 months, can I get my Indian passport back once they have seen and partly processed my application - If so, after how many weeks can I ask for my passport back ?

Thanks in Advance
Tintin

I applied in Oct 2005 and heard nothing back from them at all. Finally after days of trying I got through on the phone and was told that some applications made in October have not even been looked at yet. I applied directly without NCS and finally I asked for my passport back as I urgently need to travel.

If you apply through NCS the advantage is you can keep your passport with you. So, if you are travelling you don't need to worry about writing the IND to ask your passport back.

[enpv]

bblb,

We have a similar situation with my daughter's application. She submitted it in early October and only now we received the acknowledgment letter with all supporting docs she sent to HO back in October.
It seems that October was a very busy month for HO due to a new test coming into force as of 1st of November.
Hopefully you will get your application sorted soon.

best wishes,

enpv

[boylove]

Have not seen many timelines lately, so thought I should post mine.

Applied through NCS: Jan 6, 2005
Acknowledgement Letter: Jan 12, 2005


Now Waiting for the next step. Has anybody received approval in Jan?

[bblb]

Received acknowledgement letter on saturday.

[PB]

Completing my timeline:

Hi,

NCS or Postal - NCS
If NCS, which centre - Haringey (appointment)
Date of submission - 6th Oct at Haringey, received in Liverpool the next day
CRITERIA - 5.8 years stay (including 1 ILR )
Date of debit of debit/credit card - 7th Oct
Date of receipt of acknowledgement - 12th Oct (posted - 7th Oct)
Date of receipt of approval - 22nd Oct (dated 19th)
Date of receipt of invitations 27th Oct
Date of Ceremony 1st Dec
Date of appln. for passport - 20th or 21st of Dec
Method used - Applied at the Post office
Date of Receipt - 20th Jan, they needed some more information about the person who signed Section 10, so took about 10 days more.

Regards,
PB

[UK_yankees]

Application was sent via NCS on 22/12/2005
Received acknowledgement on 3/1/2006 (via loca authority sent in error to them rather than sending me directly).
invitation for ceremony received on 11/1/2006
Ceremony on 1/3/2006

I am pretty impressed with the services. It was worth it

[rogerroger]

that is a tyurn around of 10 days from application to acceptance.

i envy you yankee, it has been 3 months and there is still no news

[confused1]

Hello guys...

Applied for naturalisation through a solicitor on 4 October 2005.

Received no acknowledgement letter or anything.

Sent thousands of email askig about the progress but there was no replay.

Finally on 6th January I've sent an email addressing to a senior manager to the IND and it worked.

Wihin two weeks they started processing my application and returned all the documents to the solicitor.

However, they have asked for few more documents as an evidance that I have lived in the country for the past five years (as I had lost my passport).

Once those documents have been sent they'll process the application within a month!

Phew!

But more interestingly, my solicitor is on holiday. I found them all out when I phoned the IND and they let me to speak to my caseworker and she told me the whole story. But, I told her that rather than waiting for my solicitor I'll send all those documents myself, so, she gave me few reference numbers to write on the top of the envelop so that they can be traced quickly.

So, hopefully within a month I'll get a positive decision.

[rogerroger]

more morsels of informtion from the IND

so they let you talk to the case worker
did she say why it takes some people less time and some time so long

my case has been with the case worker for a month now, and no response from them

[bbdivo]

However, they have asked for few more documents as an evidance that I have lived in the country for the past five years (as I had lost my passport).

Well done! Out of curiosity what additional documents did they ask for?

[confused1]

Hello again... Well when you phone them ask why it's taking so long.. they just give you an old standard answer that, currently it take 6 months in average to process an application. If you ask why it says 3.95 on the IND website? they would say that the website is not updated. But if you are really pain on the neck.. and fight back saying that well the website have been updated in December.. then they would bow down and tell you that.. may be because it depends on the batch where your application is lying. Also it depends on the case worker... how they're performing....

lol... Well... they've asked for my school/university attandance for the last 4 years...... so I told them that I'll certainly send them as soon as possible..and it would be very kind if they could speed up.. once they've received the documents.... So the case worker said she hope it will be processed within a month...

By the way guys..just to freek you out.... believe or not... first time I couldn't get hold on to my case worker..so I asked if she could call me back? And guess what..? Next morning she called me....
It's a bit unusual.. if you think.. for example it takes ages just to speak to one of their operators..where as I did received a call from the case worker....

[mhunjn]

Update:
30 Nov: NCS
01 Dec: Application in Liverpool
06 Dec: Fee debited
16 Dec: Ack. letter received; Dated 12 Dec
21 Dec: Case to be forwarded for character enquiry
27 Jan: Approval Letter Received; Dated 20 Jan
28 Feb: Ceremony
21 March: Passport Received

[K2004]

Congratulations Muhnjn,

you gave me some hope , out of curiousity was your Charaqter Enquiries letter signed by CT!, same as this:

Our Ref: A123456/ CT1

Dear Mr XXX

Re: MR XXX 01-01-1977

Thank you for submitting the enclosed documents in support of your application for British citizenship. All the information has been noted and we will not need to see them again.

we are still dealing with application, and we will inform you of our decision as soon as we have received the results of our character enquiries, which are carried out on all naturalisation applications. This may take several months.

Applicants are encouraged not to call the office unless absolutely necessary. Your patience would be appreciated, as repeated telephone calls and correspondence affect our ability to process application.

Yours sincerely

Miss YYY
CT1
Managed Migration, Nationality Group

[mhunjn]

Thanks...

Yes my acknowledgement letter was sigend by CT1. I did talk to my case worker once as they had a query about my application. After a satisfactory clarification, I was told that my case would be forwarded to the character enquiries team. That was on 21 Dec as per my time scales.

Also, another colleague here also had his acknowledgement letter from CT1 and his approval came in 5 wks as well.

And, I haven't received any documents back from IND.

I hope this helps.

[ishaan]

Does anyone know the number to call in IND apart from the standard 0800 number. I have made my application on the 12th of October. Acknoledgement received on mid November but no correspondence since. I have been trying to get my passport back for last three weeks as I need to travel in first week of February. So far, I have sent IND 14 emails and 2 faxes requesting they return the passport but nothing is happening. I also made atleast 40-50 phone calls to the standard 0800 number during this period and everytime get an automated message saying please call back later we are busy. It's really frustrating. Can anyone please help me as to how I can get hold of someone to get the passport back.

[ishaan]

The number I have been calling is 0845 010 5200.

[confused1]

If you've noticed on the IND website, it states:

Return of passports

If you want us to return your passport or other documents urgently, you should contact us by using one of the methods below, making clear the latest date that you need the documents back.

You may:

Fax us on 0151 672 5592

E-mail us

Write to us at:

Home Office
Nationality Group
PO Box 306
Liverpool
L2 7XS

You should mark your envelope "REQUEST FOR THE RETURN OF DOCUMENTS"

You can contact Nationality Group by telephone on 0845 010 5200. Our lines are very busy, particularly at peak times (9.00 -10.00; 12.00 - 1400).

Please only telephone if your need is urgent. Routine calls stop us from making decisions.

We appreciate your patience.

You can also contact us by using the e-mail address: nationalityenquiries@ind.homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Please note that due to the high volume of e-mails received at this e-mail address it may take up 10 days to reply to your query.


However, since you've been waiting for so long I would say call your local MP or just go and speak to him/her. and if your MP contacts IND on behalf of you then you would receive a responce from the IND within 14 days

But make sure you tell your MP that you have asked your documents back and you really really need them.

[ishaan]

Thanks. I did send fax with those details to the number you suggested twice and wrote to the emial ddress 14 times. Anyway, Finally got through the contcat number this morning and have been told that my application is waiting in a queue to be assigned to a case worker. She was adament that the 6 month is the correct time processing time and website timing was incorrect. I guess it's all about luck. She also told me that NCS applications are processed by a different team and that's why their applications are processed so quickly. I wish I knew about this before I applied. IND site is not quite clear in this matter. Thanks for your help.

[confused1]

If I had known this before then I would have applied through NCS rather than going to a solicitor. But, if they are saying that the IND website is misleading people about the waiting time then you can sue the IND and hopefully recover your application fees! but there's a catch see... the site also states that some cases may take some extra time.... anyway Good luck.

[confused1]

Does anyone knows what that reference number means that begins with "CT".

As I have been asked to send few more documents they've asked me to write the reference number followed by few numbers.

So I wonder if there's any trick to establish what stage my application is being held

[rogerroger]

hey confused1 what are the different stages that an application can be at?

what is CT in CT1

i spplied through the NCS on the 1st of november, and i am still waiting for the aproval, so i guess applying through the NCS does not make a difference

[John]

if they are saying that the IND website is misleading people about the waiting time then you can sue the IND and hopefully recover your application fees!

Will you please stop posting such rubbish!

The fact is that the IND website indicates an average time it will take to process naturalisation application.

By definition an average means that some people will wait less time than the average and other people will wait longer. That is the nature of averages. So where is IND being misleading in that?

When my wife applied for naturalisation in the Spring of 2004 the IND website was indicating an average of eight months ... but she got the "application successful" letter in just five weeks.

Likewise many members of this Board, especially those applying through NCS, are hearing back quite quickly ... some in under a month. Which means that others will be waiting noticeably longer than the average as shown on the IND website.

[confused1]

if they are saying that the IND website is misleading people about the waiting time then you can sue the IND and hopefully recover your application fees!

Will you please stop posting such rubbish!

Hello John, please don't stop there... go on read the whole thing what I've written. Cheers.

[confused1]

[quote="rogerroger"]hey confused1 what are the different stages that an application can be at?

what is CT in CT1

Hello Rogerroger, I'm not sure because I've been asked to write a reference that reads CT8 followed by few numbers when I send back further documents. It would be quiet interesting to find out what that actually mean. Does any one knows here