Naturalisation: External checks,Character Checks Letter,etc.

[CstrM8]

I was going through all the posts about naturalisation and I noticed the mention of "external checks", "character checks". etc. Why is it that some of those who applied have experienced this and yet the others don't?

Does the Home Office really carry out 'checks' and 'enquiries', etc. How is this usually done? Do they just phone people? (who usually?) Does the Home Office send out letters to external parties (if yes, give an example please?) and wait for replies? And does this procedure apply for all applications or are just done in random? I mean, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't?

For all those who had encountered experiences related to this, can you please share what you know or what happened in your specific case?

Thank you.

[Marco 72]

Some applicants receive letters which tell them that character checks are going to be carried out. The process seems to take a few months. We have no way of knowing what happens to those applications during that time. For all we know they might be gathering dust on a desk. Perhaps they check with the police, Interpol, etc, if there are any convictions or outstanding warrants. There is no "politically correct" way of stating this, but judging from this board a few people who undergo character checks seem to be nationals of countries considered high risk for various reasons (terrorism, organised crime, etc). So if you come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the former USSR, etc, you could well undergo character checks. In that case all you can do is sit and wait. At least applications for British citizenship don't seem to get stuck for years, as seems to happen occasionally in the US.

[Dawie]

Yes, it does seem that certain nationalities take far longer to be processed for British naturalisation than others with citizens of Commonwealth countries seeming to be the quickest, and citizens of the former USSR republics and Middle Eastern countries taking far longer.

I don't think it's politically incorrect to state this, it just unfortunately a fact of life that the UK considers some countries to be dodgier than others and therefore subjects the citizens of these countries to more scrutiny. I don't agree with it, but that's just the way things are.

[CstrM8]

Has anyone you know have had the Home Office calling or ringing present or past employers or even the 2 referres one has on the application form just for these 'character checks'?

Or is it just checing the computer files of the HMRC (taxes), police, Equifax (credit check), etc. Is this very similar to the CRB (Criminical Records Bureau or Criminical Records Bacground?) check usually being done when one enters into an employment?

[tekaweni]

This is just my theory, but as good as any seeing as no-one outside the Home Office really knows..

I think there is a list of nationalities which automatically incur the entire gamut of external checks, which, political niceties aside is easy to understand.

In addition to this list I reckon they have some kind of "1 in 10 full strip search" rule, and those unlucky applications are going to take longer to process.

As to the checks themselves, hell who knows. As much as possible from computer systems obviously, and some applicants from 'friendly' countries (eg Commonwealth) where the data back home is quickly accessible are going to get processed faster than say, a country like Zimbabwe which doesnt even have properly computerised Immigration control.

But thats all just a guess

[Wanderer]

The Home Office can be very thorough. When I worked on a Nuclear plant, I was PV'd and I know it cost around 2.5k to have it done, this was mid-90's.

They knew how much i had in the bank, how much I drink, who my friends where and that I'd been on a CND march once.

[CstrM8]

To the moderator or any senior member of the forum,

Do you know if the Philippines is included in those 'hotspot' countries that always get character checked? Some people mentioned that most Middle Eastern contries applicants, most often than not, get character-checked by the Home Office and applicants from Commonwealth countries usually don't.

What about the Philippines? Does somebody know?

[mark123]

The average six months processing time for naturalisation, is this the time taken for external checks or the whole application ( start to finish )

[tekaweni]

The time quoted will be 'end to end', from the day the Home Office recieves the application to when the decision letter leaves their door.

6 months tho? It was 4 just recently... have average times increased?

[mark123]

Thanks for your reply ,,,,when I applied ( beginning of Jun 2006 ), I did not have 12 Months ILR,I only had 7 Months ILR, but I used discretion as my ILR took very long to be processed , the external checks for my Naturalisation application started in October 2007, could that be the reason why its taking that long time ? have I done a mistake when I applied early ?

[champion]

An average is always an average. it is the average of all Naturalisation cases.
However I am not sure if Home office include those application they reject in very 1st week (based on not qualifying 5 year criteria , fee , incomplete form ) but assuming it is for all the cases they taken for consideration.
Mind you there are atleast 30 -40% of the cases (like based on spouse 3 years) that get the result in 1 month/ Also due to NCS most of the application saves atleast 2-3 weeks.
All these cases are ncluded in Average.
One tricky bit is how they calculate average .
is it that all the application decided on this month or all application pending + decided.
How can you calculate the average waiting period of something you havent made a decision.

In short I think they consider all the application [from applicants point of view] however not sure about what criteria they apply for their working procedure I dont know.

Also this is only my opinion. I don't work for HO or dont know anyone.
But If I am in that position,I would like to give maximum time in average so I can reduce the number of calls.
I read somewhere in HO website that these statistics are not quality check so it may be misleading
Hope this helps