Absent days & return of documents

[James_tl]

Hello everyone! First i just wanted to say what an informative, friendly and helpful this forum has been in assisting me with my Naturalisation application. I can not thank the moderators and the people here enough!

So my current situation is, i have applied for British citizenship and received my confirmation letter from HO on the 26th of July, 2012. Essentially it's been a month already. However, i am looking to travel for business in the next 4 weeks and i will be absent for around 2 - 3 month.

Bear in mind, i have already used up my 76 out of my 90 days of absence from the UK one year prior to the application. So if i was to travel during my application, outside of the UK, in the next 4 weeks or so, for 2 - 3 month, would these future absence be added onto my 76 days of absence? In turn, would that hinder my application or potentially breach the absence requirement?
This is a statement by HO for days of absence, which states that 'Spend less than 90 days outside the UK in the 12 months prior to the application'
Note the wording, 'Prior to the application'. Does that confirm the 90 days absence only affect the one year time period before the application and by applying, this resets the absent days?

Furthermore, would it be acceptable to request for my original passport back? (Applied through Post)

Would it delay any process made for my application? Taking in consideration my application was acknowledged on the 26th of July so any scans should be completed in the computer.

I am grateful for everybody's continuing contribution towards this insightful forum, i am looking forward to your responses.

Thank You & Kind Regards,

James

[gidoc]

>So my current situation is, i have applied for British citizenship and received my confirmation letter from HO on the 26th of July, 2012.>

Have you been granted Citizenship?

If so, apply for PP after oath ceremony and then travel

Perhaps you mean your application has been submitted.

You can travel as much as you want until you get approval, nothing gets counted any more. You can request your passport back once your application is being looked at; all the documents are scanned and then looked at. However 4 wks from application date appears early, take your chances if you want to but application could get delayed.

[kel]

>So my current situation is, i have applied for British citizenship and received my confirmation letter from HO on the 26th of July, 2012.>

Have you been granted Citizenship?

If so, apply for PP after oath ceremony and then travel

Perhaps you mean your application has been submitted.

You can travel as much as you want until you get approval, nothing gets counted any more. You can request your passport back once your application is being looked at; all the documents are scanned and then looked at. However 4 wks from application date appears early, take your chances if you want to but application could get delayed.

I am abit confused about this as I keep hearing that you can't request your passport back until after 3 months?

[James_tl]

>So my current situation is, i have applied for British citizenship and received my confirmation letter from HO on the 26th of July, 2012.>

Have you been granted Citizenship?

If so, apply for PP after oath ceremony and then travel

Perhaps you mean your application has been submitted.

You can travel as much as you want until you get approval, nothing gets counted any more. You can request your passport back once your application is being looked at; all the documents are scanned and then looked at. However 4 wks from application date appears early, take your chances if you want to but application could get delayed.

Hi Gidoc, you are right in saying that 'Perhaps you mean your application has been submitted' and by Confirmation letter i meant the letter of acknowledgement. So i am still waiting for the decision as it has only been 4 weeks since i have posted it.

Just to confirm your comments, after my submission of the application, i can travel for AS MUCH AS I WANT? And these time outside of the UK after the submission would not be counted as absence?

Furthermore adding to Kel's comment, i have seen also, a number of comments stating one should wait after 3 month before requesting for original back, and others stating 4 weeks? Obviously we want to ensure we do not delay our application, so are there any rules to this set by the HO or is it up to the discretion of individual case worker?

Anyhow, thank you for your help and i appreciate it immensely, i'm sure many others will feel the same by benefiting.

Kind Regards,

James

[James_tl]

Anybody? Any help is appreciated!

Thanks

James

[noble72uk]

Anybody? Any help is appreciated!

Thanks

James

In your case why you didn't apply VIA the NCS and keep your passport Handy.

Call the Home office to check with them how to send you your passport back

[James_tl]

Anybody? Any help is appreciated!

Thanks

James

In your case why you didn't apply VIA the NCS and keep your passport Handy.

Call the Home office to check with them how to send you your passport back

I know it was a mistake on my part. I didn't realise you could keep your passport via NCS.

[kel]

James, i share your pain. This is the same reason why i didn't use ncs and now i wish i had.

Did you try speaking to UKBA to find out if you could request your docs back before the 3 mos period? I will definitely be requesting mine after 3 mos if I don't hear from them sooner (unless of course there is a possibility to request them before?)

[noble72uk]

James, i share your pain. This is the same reason why i didn't use ncs and now i wish i had.

Did you try speaking to UKBA to find out if you could request your docs back before the 3 mos period? I will definitely be requesting mine after 3 mos if I don't hear from them sooner (unless of course there is a possibility to request them before?)

Guys you can still call or email them if you request your documents after 3 months but I want to inform you these days they are dealing with the applications between 3 to 4 months and some lucky people less then that as well.

I hope you'll get yours before the 3 months.

[kel]

Thanks Nobel, that is what I am hoping. As I have no urgent reason to travel, I will wait out the 3 months before I decide if I want to request my docs as hopefully I will hear from them sooner and it won't have to come to that. How long did your processing take?

[noble72uk]

Thanks Nobel, that is what I am hoping. As I have no urgent reason to travel, I will wait out the 3 months before I decide if I want to request my docs as hopefully I will hear from them sooner and it won't have to come to that. How long did your processing take?

Hi
Mine was 3 months and 16 days and during my processing time I saw some lucky people were giving the approvals in a 1-month and half. But I know the word be Patient is easy to pronounce but very hard to live with that stress but think twice to get some hopes. Some people that I really fell sorry for them that even their applications supposed to be straight forward but took them more then 6 months without any reason each time they called the UKBA they had the same answer (your application is under Checks). So I advise you its nice to focus on the term of people who waited longer 6 months. If you receive it before that time it's a Bonus > I wish you all guys to be naturalised with less than 3 months.

[James_tl]

It really does feel like they are picking applications at random.

I have spoken to someone at the HO today and enquired about the return of my passport. I specifically asked her wether the return of my passport will hinder or delay my application process;she confirmed it would NOT delay or hinder the application by any means. This seems inconsistent with what others have received, as they were told return of their passport within 3 month might delay their application. Anyways, i will wait a few month and see what happens.

I did try to ask her about days of absence after submission of application and she said i would have to email them instead. i will drop them an email and see what they say.

[kel]

It really does feel like they are picking applications at random.

I have spoken to someone at the HO today and enquired about the return of my passport. I specifically asked her wether the return of my passport will hinder or delay my application process;she confirmed it would NOT delay or hinder the application by any means. This seems inconsistent with what others have received, as they were told return of their passport within 3 month might delay their application. Anyways, i will wait a few month and see what happens.

I did try to ask her about days of absence after submission of application and she said i would have to email them instead. i will drop them an email and see what they say.

which number did you ring and what options did you select. usually when i call i am on hold for so long that i give up. the automated voice on the line usually says that the "requesting the return of original docs might delay some applications".

it is unclear from yours if you actually requested your docs yesterday when you spoke to them of not? has it been clarified if docs can be requested before the 3 mos period or do you have to wait? sorry to be asking you endless questions but so far i have not been successful in reaching anyone at ukba to get clarification.

[James_tl]

It really does feel like they are picking applications at random.

I have spoken to someone at the HO today and enquired about the return of my passport. I specifically asked her wether the return of my passport will hinder or delay my application process;she confirmed it would NOT delay or hinder the application by any means. This seems inconsistent with what others have received, as they were told return of their passport within 3 month might delay their application. Anyways, i will wait a few month and see what happens.

I did try to ask her about days of absence after submission of application and she said i would have to email them instead. i will drop them an email and see what they say.

which number did you ring and what options did you select. usually when i call i am on hold for so long that i give up. the automated voice on the line usually says that the "requesting the return of original docs might delay some applications".

it is unclear from yours if you actually requested your docs yesterday when you spoke to them of not? has it been clarified if docs can be requested before the 3 mos period or do you have to wait? sorry to be asking you endless questions but so far i have not been successful in reaching anyone at ukba to get clarification.

Hi Kel you will find the contact info on this page - http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about ... tionality/

Just to clarify, when i spoke to the HO, they confirmed that I AM ABLE TO request for my passport back should i wish to. And i also confirmed that although my application has only been 1 month, by requesting for my passport back, it would not affect my application in anyway. But in the end i didn't request it, because i'm going to wait a few month and see what happens.

Give them a ring and see what they say, i was only on hold for about 12 mins.

Kind Regards,

James

[kel]

Thanks James. I will try and give them a call tomorrow

[noble72uk]

Thanks James. I will try and give them a call tomorrow

Hi do not use 08450105200 use this number 01516725626 it maybe cheap or free.

[James_tl]

Thanks James. I will try and give them a call tomorrow

Hi do not use 08450105200 use this number 01516725626 it maybe cheap or free.

Awesome i didn't know there was this number!

Kel, keep us updated to what they say tomorrow!

Thanks

James

[kel]

will do. the 01516 number is the one i have used in the past but never actually wait long enough to speak to anyone. what is the ukba working hours? i am trying to figure out when is the best time to call. from past experience i notice they are closed for lunch about 12:30 - 1:30

[James_tl]

will do. the 01516 number is the one i have used in the past but never actually wait long enough to speak to anyone. what is the ukba working hours? i am trying to figure out when is the best time to call. from past experience i notice they are closed for lunch about 12:30 - 1:30

9-5 with those lunch hours i think.

Remember to keep on waiting until they pick up the phone, shouldn't be more than 20 mins!

Keep us updated.

Thanks

James

[kel]

lol, i hope you are right about the not more than mins wait. will see how it goes later

[kel]

hey again!

I did call UKBA and finally got through to someone after about 30 mins on hold! First I had selected the option for "return of docs" and the person I spoke to told me that you can request your original docs back anytime after you have rcvd your acknowledgement letter and you should rcv the docs about 10 working days after you make the request. She said requesting your supporting docs should not delay your application. I asked her if I can get any update on the progress of my application before I decide on whether or not I want to request the docs back and she said she was not able to provide any progress updates but I can try one of the other options. Anyway, I decide to call again this time selecting the option "if you have made an application over 6 mos" knowing full well my application was less than 6 mos old but I thought this was the only chance to speak to someone. The lady I spoke to told me that their system does not allow them to give progress updates for applications less than 6 mos old though upto May this was possible but the system has been changed. . I politely told her that I was only asking because I am trying to decide if it is worth requesting my supporting docs back or not plus I didn't want to do anything that would risk delaying my application. She then told me that requesting supporting docs back will delay some applications but it will not withdraw applications. So basically that is all I was able to obtain from them. I am still confused about the delaying or not delaying applications bit as I got 2 conflicting msgs in the space of 10 mins. I think if I don't hear from them withing the next few weeks though I will definitely be requesting the docs back.

[James_tl]

hey again!

I did call UKBA and finally got through to someone after about 30 mins on hold! First I had selected the option for "return of docs" and the person I spoke to told me that you can request your original docs back anytime after you have rcvd your acknowledgement letter and you should rcv the docs about 10 working days after you make the request. She said requesting your supporting docs should not delay your application. I asked her if I can get any update on the progress of my application before I decide on whether or not I want to request the docs back and she said she was not able to provide any progress updates but I can try one of the other options. Anyway, I decide to call again this time selecting the option "if you have made an application over 6 mos" knowing full well my application was less than 6 mos old but I thought this was the only chance to speak to someone. The lady I spoke to told me that their system does not allow them to give progress updates for applications less than 6 mos old though upto May this was possible but the system has been changed. . I politely told her that I was only asking because I am trying to decide if it is worth requesting my supporting docs back or not plus I didn't want to do anything that would risk delaying my application. She then told me that requesting supporting docs back will delay some applications but it will not withdraw applications. So basically that is all I was able to obtain from them. I am still confused about the delaying or not delaying applications bit as I got 2 conflicting msgs in the space of 10 mins. I think if I don't hear from them withing the next few weeks though I will definitely be requesting the docs back.

Hi Kel, that's very interesting as the person i spoke to confirmed that the return of the original docs would not delay the application. This is interesting as the second person you spoke to has a different opinion. But that's 2 people against one and i do think it would not delay the application as you can use the NCS service which allows you to keep your originals anyways!

BTW, when did you submit your application? I submitted mine about 1 month ago and i think i will wait for another month also before i request it back!

Kind Regards,

James

[kel]

I mailed my application by special delivery on 10 July and it arrived at ukba on 11 July. I think if I don't here anything from them by abt mid to 3rd week of september I will definitely be requesting my passport back.