TIMELINE AFTER NATURALISATION APPLICATION SUBMISSION

[darksquid]

Wow - what a journey, and what a wait! Congrats!!

[Dawie]

Congratulations and good luck with your new life as a British Citizen!

[Marco 72]

Congratulations! Do you know if you are going to get your passport back before the ceremony? I have heard that it's needed in order to take part. Someone else here may be able to confirm this.

[Dawie]

From what I've read from some boroughs' rules for this any photo id that confirms your identity like a driving license might be acceptable for a citizenship ceremony.

Bearing in mind that in theory you could use a driving license has proof of identity for a naturalisation application, it would follow that someone could use the same driving license to confirm their identity at a citizenship ceremony.

But it's best to check with the particular borough.

[kairos]

Thank you all! I'm really thrilled. It's been a long journey.

I managed to get somebody at the HO to speak to Secure Mail about the problem, and they've promised to deliver my materials tomorrow.

The person I spoke to at Westminster Council about the ceremony only said to bring a photo ID, but it looks like I'll have my passport by then anyway.

Thanks again to everyone here for your help and good wishes!

[Unwanted]

For the first time ever, I am impressed by the speed at which the HO has turned my application around.

NCS or Postal : NCS
If NCS, which centre : Barnet(by appointment)
Date of submission or posting : 1st Feb, 2007
CRITERIA - 4Yrs WP +1 Yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 9th Feb 2007.
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 14th Feb 2007
Date of receipt of approval : Waiting
Date of receipt of invitations : 22nd Feb.

Received the citizenship ceremony invitation letter yesterday but haven't got the HO letter yet. Paying for a private citizenship ceremony to be held tomorrow and it seems I dont need to wait for the actual HO approval letter.

[Dawie]

Congratulations! Very strange that you got the invitations without getting any approval letter! Did you manage to confirm with the borough that they had already received your naturalisation certificate?

[Unwanted]

Cheers!

I didn't ask him specifically about the naturalisation certificate but I did ask 3 times if I could really turn up without the approval letter and he said yes. Will just see how it goes tomorrow I guess.

[slam33]

NCS or Postal :Post
Date of submission or posting : 20th Jan, 2007
CRITERIA - 5yrs Military Exemption
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 28th Jan 2007.
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 12th Feb 2007
Date of receipt of approval : 19th of Feb 2007
Date of receipt of invitations : 24th Feb.
Date of Ceremony : 27th of Feb
Date of appln. for passport : 28th of FEB
Method used : Fast track 1 week
Date of Receipt? N/A

[SK1]

Postal or NCS: Postal
Date of submission or posting :01 Sept 06
CRITERIA - 5 yr stay (4WP + 1 yr ILR)
Date of debit of debit/credit card: 06 Sept 06
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 07 Sept 06
Date of receipt of approval :26 Oct 06
Date of Ceremony: Awaiting invitation letter
Date of appln. for passport ? N/A
Method used ? N/A
Date of Receipt? N/A

PS. Just to let you know my wife got approved, but I got declined (joint application). So, I'll have to re-apply after my wife gets Naturalised, as a spouse of a British Citizen.

Hi there, me again. I am now re-apply as the husband of a British Citizen (refer above). Here are my details so far:

Postal or NCS: Postal
Date of submission or posting : 20 Feb 07 (received by HO on 21/02/07)
CRITERIA - 3 yr stay (spouse of BC)
Date of debit of debit/credit card: 26 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: Awaiting
Date of receipt of approval : Awaiting
Date of Ceremony: Awaiting
Date of appln. for passport ? N/A
Method used ? N/A
Date of Receipt? N/A

[pieface]

Citizenship: New Zealand
Date of Entry in UK: January 2002
Circumstances: Work Permit 4 years, 1 year ILR
Application Made: NCS Westminster by appointment
Application Posted: 1 February 2007
Card Debited: 10 February 2007
Application Acknowledgement letter: 12 February, 2007
Citizenship Invitation Dated: 19 February 2007 (Received 1 March)
Ceremony Date Booked: Westminster, 14 March 2007

[Dawie]

Good news, I received my approval letter today! Can't believe how quick it's all been. Here's my dates:

Nationality: South African
NCS or Postal : NCS
If NCS, which centre : Wandsworth
Date of submission or posting : 6 Feb 2007
CRITERIA - 4Yrs WP +1 Yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 15 Feb 2007
Date of acknowledgement letter: 13 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of acknowledgement letter : 16 Feb 2007
Date of approval letter: 22 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of approval letter: 1 March 2007

All in all 7 days from time my debit card was charged to when the letter of approval was drafted!

By the way, the letter of approval in my case also doubled up as the Citizenship Invitation instructing me to phone the council.

[tekaweni]

Hey Dawie,

Congratulations, dit was blitzvinnig! Home straight now...

[darksquid]

Congrats pieface and Dawie!

Dawie, I've been keeping my eye out for your timeline, since you submitted your app three days before I did mine. I'm going on holiday for two weeks on Saturday, so it would be very nice indeed if I got mine before I left! (My acknowledgement of receipt is dated 16/02...any day now, I hope).

They seem to be moving really quickly just now, which is nice!

[bbdivo]

Congrats Dawie, 7 days not bad at all!

[suhail]

I have been reading this forum for over a year,, even before i had my ilr. Thank you all those participating in these forums and helping people solve their peoblems. THIS is my first post ever and the best one i could ever hope for. following is my time line.

Nationality:Pakistani
NCS or Postal : Postal via solicitor
If NCS, which centre :n/a
Date of [b]submission[/b] or posting : 29 Jan 2007
CRITERIA - 5yr w.p +1 Yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 06 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of acknowledgement letter : 09 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of [b]approval[/b] letter:16 Feb 2007(dated 12 feb)
Invitation:20 Feb 2007 (dated 14 Feb)
Ceremony: 15th March

roughly three weeks

[Dawie]

Good news, I received my approval letter today! Can't believe how quick it's all been. Here's my dates:

Nationality: South African
NCS or Postal : NCS
If NCS, which centre : Wandsworth
Date of submission or posting : 6 Feb 2007
CRITERIA - 4Yrs WP +1 Yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 15 Feb 2007
Date of acknowledgement letter: 13 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of acknowledgement letter : 16 Feb 2007
Date of approval letter: 22 Feb 2007
Date of receipt of approval letter: 1 March 2007

All in all 7 days from time my debit card was charged to when the letter of approval was drafted!

By the way, the letter of approval in my case also doubled up as the Citizenship Invitation instructing me to phone the council.

Just to add to what I wrote the other day, I attended a private citizenship yesterday afternoon at the Wandsworth Register office and am now officially a British citizen!

I was very impressed with the level of service. I only called them yesterday morning hoping for a ceremony some time on Monday or Tuesday, but the guy said they could fit me in that very same day that I called. I guess for the £75 you have to pay for a private ceremony they will do anything to make you happy.

Needless to say my appointment with UKPS is already booked. When I called them to make an appointment the guy said not only should I bring my naturalisation certificate and South African passports, but also as many other pieces of identification as I could, like utility bills, bank statements and driving license just to be on the safe side.

[kairos]

Congratulations Dawie! Do you have to attend an interview with the passport service? I thought that policy wasn't being implemented until April.

My brand new passport arrived today. I have to say, it didn't feel real until today. The citizenship ceremony was sweet and sort of funny- people kept taking photos of themselves next to a photograph of the Queen and bowing to council employees. Westminster even gave us all a commemerative gift- a glass with the Westminster logo on it. But it's not til the passport came that it really sank in.

My final timeline:

Citizenship: Canadian
Date of Entry in UK: October 2001
Circumstances : Student Visa: 1.5 Years, Working Holiday: 1.5 Years, LLR: 2 Years, ILR: 2 Mos (Spouse of UK citizen)
Application Made : Post
Application Posted : 21 November, 2006
Card Debited : 4 December, 2006
App Ack Letter : 5 December, 2006
Cit Invitation Dated: 7 February, 2007 (Received 15 Feb)
Date of Receipt of Approval Letter: 17 February, 2007
Ceremony: Westminster; 21 February, 2007
Passport Application: 21 February, 2007
Method Used: Post Office Check and Send
Date of Receipt: 3 March, 2007

Can't wait to try out my new passport! Good luck to everyone who's waiting.

[tdpff3]

kairos,

Congratulations on obtaining your new passport.

Compared with other people on this timeline post, your application has taken a little less than 3 months. Is it because you initially sent photocopy of first two pages of your Canadian passport and later when you realised the error, you sent the original passport. Perhaps this caused more time in the process.

Please share your experience. Did you voluntarily sent the original passport after the submission of application on 21 Nov or the HO requested you in a letter? If so what date was that, just to know chronology in your application progress.

[kairos]

Hi tdpff3. I decided not to wait for the Home Office to ask for the original passport, as the telephone attendants said that the caseworker would definitely want it. I thought it would save time if I just sent it myself, and did so on January 2. I don't think that this added to the turn-around time as my file hadn't even been assigned to a caseworker at the point that I realized my mistake and sent in the passport.

Compared to the experience of others here, 3 months for a postal application isn't too shabby. But I wish I'd used a NCS! If anyone is about to apply for naturalization, read the other posts here and you'll see: 3 months for a postal application is fast; 2 weeks for an NCS application is almost commonplace!

[stedman]

Kairos - you also applied over christmas... anyone should add at least 2 weeks to their expected turnover as the HO more or less closes shop then. but you're right - NCS, private ceremonies and in person passport applications can greatly reduce one's waiting time - if you can afford the extra money, well worth it! Personally, I had no choice as I had all sorts of travels coming up around the time I applied, one (Marrakech) involving a visa application if I did not have my UK passport then.

[tdpff3]

kairos, thanks for your response.

On page 31 of this post, OP "suhail" applied by post and his application took just two weeks for approval.

Also, reviewing inputs on this post after October date, some applicants have received letter for character check.

[SK1]

Compared to the experience of others here, 3 months for a postal application isn't too shabby. But I wish I'd used a NCS! If anyone is about to apply for naturalization, read the other posts here and you'll see: 3 months for a postal application is fast; 2 weeks for an NCS application is almost commonplace!

Guys,

When my wife applied for her Naturalisation back in September 2006, it took just under 2 months for her to get her approval letter, etc. This was a postal application, which surprised us... .

I have posted my 2nd application on the 20 Feb 2007 and my card was debited on the 22 Feb, but I have not heard anything back yet. No Acknowledgement letter even...my application is as straightforward as my wife's one and I am applying as a spouse of a British Citizen now...I can't understand why I haven't had a letter back from them yet.

I quoted my last H/O Ref number which I used from our last joint application back in September. Surely, my application should be easier to process now. I only got declined the last time as I didn't qualify on the "5 year physical presence rule" and their letter to me said that once my wife has citizenship, I can apply on the 3 year rule.

The only thing that I'm thinking now is that my wife haven't applied for a British passport yet and I re-applied for Naturalisation using her current SA passport and her Natrualisation Certificate.....surely that can't delay or negatively affect my application?

Should I start worrying.....?

SK1

[kairos]

I don't think you need to worry; the naturalisation certificate is just as good as a passport. You were lucky to get such a fast response to your first application and shouldn't expect lightning to strike twice in the same place! You're right, however, that they should have at least sent you an acknowledgement by now. Why don't you give them a call on Monday and make sure that everything is okay? It's possible that they've sent your acknowledgement to the wrong address, as they did my passport and other documents.

Did you get any sort of refund when they rejected your first application?

Good luck!

[SK1]

I don't think you need to worry; the naturalisation certificate is just as good as a passport. You were lucky to get such a fast response to your first application and shouldn't expect lightning to strike twice in the same place! You're right, however, that they should have at least sent you an acknowledgement by now. Why don't you give them a call on Monday and make sure that everything is okay? It's possible that they've sent your acknowledgement to the wrong address, as they did my passport and other documents.

I guess you're right, application processing takes varying times depending on lots of factors and we were very lucky to get such a quick postal application. I couldn't afford the NCS and in our County they have a long waiting time for NCS appointments, so I went with the postal application again. I don't think they posted it to the wrong address, but I can call them up and check that.

Did you get any sort of refund when they rejected your first application?

Kairos, I did get a refund of £68 after our last joint application, thanks for asking. That's one of the reasons why I can't afford another declined application. We've given the HO enough of our hard-earned money (all of us), so I wanted this application to go smoothly. Thinking that we still have to pay for passport applications as a next step.

I'm just nervous and scared, but not because there's a question with my application, but more on how some caseworker will process it.

If there was a problem with my application, ito documentation, etc. they would send my application back unprocessed...wouldn't they? So, I haven't received an acknowledgement letter or an unprocessed application, but they have taken my money...WEIRD.

SK1