TIMELINE AFTER NATURALISATION APPLICATION SUBMISSION

[sonnouk]

1. well, given the fee of 655 pounds, it's hard to comprehend that the reply they send is by cheap second class mail
2. at NCS thing, they probably photocopied everything. so relax!

And...by the way..
it seems that (from experience) they keep track of when and how many phone calls you make to enquire about the progress..
i don't know why but they did seem to know all about my enquiries and dates they were made on my last phone call to them!

Yeah, I have realized it, but then I said to the lady that Im sorry for calling 3 times in 4 weeks (I said I was slighly confused why website mentions different average waiting times) , and promised that I won't call again, and she laughed. But to be honest, given the 650 pounds that we pay, it is reasonable for us to call, especially when becoming British has been your dream for the last 11 years...

Another thing: when I went to NCS, the lady didnt deem necessary to take all the documents which I had. Thing is, my passport was issued 4 years ago, I didnt have the old one, so I provided banks statements, police certificate, letter from university and accomodation office confirming that I was in the UK. She didnt take the bank statements for some reason, just the Uni letter and police registration. I would have personally included the bank statements. Thats why I am slightly paranoid...

[ukwannabe]

Hello again !

No I haven't contacted via national enquiry no. I was going to wait till next wednesday (21/11/07) and then give a call. TBH I desperately need the approval doc to try my luck again in the job market as current job is likely to go any moment.

Hi, they do not always contact referees. And it looks like our applications got there on the same day. Have you already called them inquire about the progress of your application?

[ukwannabe]

Just want to update that I got the receipt of approval today -

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : 16/11/07 (dtd 13/11/07)

now waiting for the rest

Best

Hello dmytro and all

I have recvd an acknowledgment letter dtd 31/10/07 and still waiting for rest of the process. I would have known if character references are made as my referees live not far and are in contact.

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : awaiting

[dmytro]

Just want to update that I got the receipt of approval today -

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : 16/11/07 (dtd 13/11/07)

now waiting for the rest

Best

Well done!! I am very happy for you , my best wishes. I havent check mail today, but I am paranoid now, because we both were here for 10 Y, and our applications acknowledgement letters are dated the same day......I am very nervous about this.......

[dmytro]

Hello dmytro and all

I have recvd an acknowledgment letter dtd 31/10/07 and still waiting for rest of the process. I would have known if character references are made as my referees live not far and are in contact.

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : awaiting

[/quote]
Ukwannable, I just wanted to ask you - which nationality do you currenctly hold? I ended up calling them again, and the representative said that my application is awaiting the caseworker, it is in a queue, and once it gets allocated it doesnt take long to reach a decision. 'Wait a little longer', he said. I really hope next week ill get my approval

[ukwannabe]

Hello dmytro

I hold an indian passport. Hope your case get passed soon.

Best

[ukwannabe]

Hello Forum

i am a bit curious on why there is a delay between 'letter informing approval' and a 'letter inviting one to citizenship ceremony'. shouldn't they be issued around the same time by home office ? I see lots of posts where in delay is as much as a month.

best

[sonnouk]

..well it doens't take too long to decide once it's allocated to a caseworker..
but..hey..it took them only 2.5 weeks for the decision..
however, it's taking them about 4weeks to send the letter...
..apparently they sent it...but i had to ask for a duplicate...as it's deemed to be lost..in the post

Hello dmytro and all

I have recvd an acknowledgment letter dtd 31/10/07 and still waiting for rest of the process. I would have known if character references are made as my referees live not far and are in contact.

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : awaiting

Ukwannable, I just wanted to ask you - which nationality do you currenctly hold? I ended up calling them again, and the representative said that my application is awaiting the caseworker, it is in a queue, and once it gets allocated it doesnt take long to reach a decision. 'Wait a little longer', he said. I really hope next week ill get my approval [/quote]

[sonnouk]

I gather that (from replies posted here) it is not so unusual to receive only one letter...for both approval and invitation...

..it seems that some get two separate.. letters and others get one for both purposes...

is this true...?
can any one clarify?

[piglet]

I don't think that "approval" and "citizenship ceremony" letters are supposed to be received at the same time. I received my approval letter, and then, about two weeks later, citizenship ceremony invitation.

I think that people who received both at the same time may have received them due to the postal strike, perhaps the first one was delayed in the mail long enough to reach the applicant at the same time as the later, ceremony letter.

For example, I got my acknowledgement of the application and my approval letter on the same day, even they were dated about 10 days apart. But this was on the tail end of the postal strike in october, so they both arrived as if they had been sent together. Just my opinion.

[sonnouk]

but you do realise that some receive only one letter, one of approval, which says contact the local authority for ceremony etc..?
in fact, there's a post here somewhere, that says..they did not even receive the acknowledgement letter but the approval letter straight away.

I don't think that "approval" and "citizenship ceremony" letters are supposed to be received at the same time. I received my approval letter, and then, about two weeks later, citizenship ceremony invitation.

I think that people who received both at the same time may have received them due to the postal strike, perhaps the first one was delayed in the mail long enough to reach the applicant at the same time as the later, ceremony letter.

For example, I got my acknowledgement of the application and my approval letter on the same day, even they were dated about 10 days apart. But this was on the tail end of the postal strike in october, so they both arrived as if they had been sent together. Just my opinion.

[ukwannabe]

Hi friends !

i got the invitation letter today by second class mail (posted on 14/11/2007) i.e a day after approval decision.

timeline is -

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 24 Oct 07
CRITERIA - 10 yrs + ILR 1 year
Date of receipt of acknowledgment Letter: 02 Nov 07 (dated: 31 Oct 07)
Date of receipt of approval : 16/11/07 (dtd 13/11/07)
date of receipt of invitation to ceremony - 22/11/07 (posted on 14/11/07)
available/booked date for citizenship ceremony - 8/1/2008 (!!!)
Best wishes

[piglet]

By invitation letter, I meant the letter that asks me to contact the local authority to organize the ceremony.

I am pretty sure that I got the approval letter and the letter asking me to ring the council for the ceremony separately, as two separate letters.
But perhaps it depends on the individual case, maybe some people get only one letter.

[joshualevy84]

Hi im pretty new to the site so was asking for some info for waiting time

here is the timeline

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 15 Nov 07
Date home office recieved : 16 Nov 07
Date of debit charge : 21 Nov 07
CRITERIA - 5 YRS + 1 ILR

as of now no letter of asknoledgement as been sent

can I have a rough idea by when my application will be processed and approved

many thanks for help

Joshua

[piglet]

I went through lots of the replies on this thread, and the timelines for approval vary enormously from case to case. That's why I think that it is really impossible to give the straight answer to your question, there are as many individual cases as there are people applying.

Also, I have noticed that people who applied through NCS on average got their letters quicker than others. Maybe this is because someone thoroughly checks the form/documetation for them, so the margin for error is much smaller.
They only debited your card yesterday, so your acknowledgment letter may not have been even sent yet. Perhaps within a week from debiting is a ball-park figure for the acknowledgement, but for the approval, it is very indivdual and impossible to say.

But don't worry, the time really varies considerably from case to case, if your application is straightforward, you should probably be getting your reply reasonably soon. Even if you don't get it quickly, that does not mean anything, perhaps the amount of backlog is higher before Christmas, not forgetting the postal strike we had recently. Good luck!

[steve567]

My time line update

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 15 May 07
CRITERIA - 4 years + ILR 1 year
Date of debit of cheque: 25 May 2007 (around that date, only after ack letter)
Date of receipt of acknowledgement Letter: 21 May 07
Date of receipt of approval : 4 August 2007 (HO letter dated 01/08/2007)
Date of invitation letter received: During first week of September
Date of Ceremony: 25 September
Date of passport application: 25 September (Check and Send Service)
Date of passport received: awaiting (now 3 weeks on)

anybody tell me if in London area, the Home office has started interview programme for fist time applicants? I did apply 3 weeks ago. nothing heard. so i rang 0870 number. the operator said i might need to attend interview. Wait the letter. If nothing heard after 2 weeks, advised to ring them.

When I made an enquiry this morning for my passport, the customer service said I need to submit the evidence of my previous addresses. I moved to a new place just before applying passport.

Do you have similar experience like me? Thanks

[joshualevy84]

Hi im pretty new to the site so was asking for some info for waiting time

here is the timeline

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 15 Nov 07
Date home office recieved : 16 Nov 07
Date of debit charge : 21 Nov 07
CRITERIA - 5 YRS + 1 ILR

as of now no letter of asknoledgement as been sent

can I have a rough idea by when my application will be processed and approved

many thanks for help

Joshua

I called up today and have been given a case ID number...the man said its waiting to be assigned to a case worker...

dunno what will happen next ?

[joshualevy84]

Hi im pretty new to the site so was asking for some info for waiting time

here is the timeline

Postal or NCS: POSTAL
Date of submission or posting : 15 Nov 07
Date home office recieved : 16 Nov 07
Date of debit charge : 21 Nov 07
CRITERIA - 5 YRS + 1 ILR

as of now no letter of asknoledgement as been sent

can I have a rough idea by when my application will be processed and approved

many thanks for help

Joshua

I called up today and have been given a case ID number...the man said its waiting to be assigned to a case worker...

dunno what will happen next ?

just to let you know i recieved the acknowledgement letter today dated 21/11/07 saying that they have recieved the documents and the payment

the letter was recieved 24/11/07

[sonnouk]

has any one received anything from home office by Secure Mail Service?
What items do they deliver by SMS?
Are they decision letters?
or are they original docs you sent in..?
or are they both?

[lancoalase]

They send Original documents back by Secure mail service and if a decision has been reached, they will include the letter in it. But on all ocassion, they return documents by secure mail service if they dont need them again.
thanks.

[sonnouk]

so..can it also mean that it's not necessarily a rejection letter?

They send Original documents back by Secure mail service and if a decision has been reached, they will include the letter in it. But on all ocassion, they return documents by secure mail service if they dont need them again.
thanks.

[lancoalase]

No, It can either be good or bad. If a decision letter is included.

[sonnouk]

sorry to bother you again but one last question..
i've applied through NCS. Thus, all docs were photocopies except the application form itself. (I called Nat. Helpline. they said the decision has been made over a month ago...)

..so why would they send anything by SMS?
(it seems that everyone else is getting their decision letter by RM second class...)

No, It can either be good or bad. If a decision letter is included.

[lancoalase]

In that case, The decision letter will be send via normal posting. Maybe the the adviser just gave you the assumption that your reply will be send via SMS. To be certain, You can call them back and ask for the tracking reference number and from there you will be able to find out which posting method was actually use.

[sonnouk]

thanks for answering my questions.

i called and they said it's definitely by SMS, for which i need to sign.
a bit odd.
paranoid...

In that case, The decision letter will be send via normal posting. Maybe the the adviser just gave you the assumption that your reply will be send via SMS. To be certain, You can call them back and ask for the tracking reference number and from there you will be able to find out which posting method was actually use.