BC ceremony at different council

[t1guk]

Hi,
Is it possible to do the ceremony at another council quicker? Have been given a wait of 8 weeks for the ceremony while I have seen people get it done within a week. Would like to apply for passport since travel is on the way. HO approval was quicker!

Private ceremony cost is closer to £350 so we have ruled it out.

Thanks!

[Casa]

Hi,
Is it possible to do the ceremony at another council quicker? Have been given a wait of 8 weeks for the ceremony while I have seen people get it done within a week. Would like to apply for passport since travel is on the way. HO approval was quicker!

Private ceremony cost is closer to £350 so we have ruled it out.

Thanks!

The current nominated Council would have to write to the other Council to formally arrange a transfer. This in itself would take time.

[t1guk]

Thanks for replying.

Those are exactly my thoughts. It would've been better if I could just take the approval letter and go to any council and they could verify it and give me an appointment. The councils seem to favour private ceremonies since this is a revenue generation stream in this era of austerity.

If anyone has managed to do change councils for the ceremony, I'd love to read what you did to get this done sooner.

[JohnnyZee]

I think this transfer will take even longer. The naturalisation certificate is physically in your nominated council. If you ask for it to be moved, I believe it is sent back to Home Office who in turn forward it to the new council. And during this process, you have no way of tracking what is going on.

If I were you, I would stick to current council. Ask them when they have ceremonies even if they are fully booked. Try calling them a day before a scheduled ceremony. You may get lucky and get a cancellation. All the best.