British citizenship application

User · Post by **User** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:50 am

Hi All - I have got the appointment for tomorrow in one of the nationality checking service

I am travelling today. Got all the documents and application filled up

I was wondering why there was no mention of any photographs - but i will take some in the train stations today... is there a need to take photographs at all??

Please clarify.

Ta!

regards.

Post by **John** » Mon May 02, 2005 11:13 am

Hi the Guide AN(NEW) lists all the types of documents that need to be enclosed and photos are not on that list.

But don't forget that you do have to provide your passport, and from when my wife attended her Citizenship Ceremony last June, I can vouch for the fact that identity checks are done at that time.

Hope it all goes well with at the Checking Service tomorrow. Please report back with your experience after you have been.

User · Post by **User** » Wed May 04, 2005 2:56 pm

Hi All,

I have submitted my british citizenship application yesterday. It was a "breeze" - so easy process.

She gave me a new payment form to pay the fees of £268 (since the one from the HO website does not indicate teh payment amount).

She had a big list of "tick in the box" stuff and looked at my application and documents and ticked all revelvant boxes

The documents she wanted from me were:
1. Meeting the language requirement – I had the letter from my college where I did my degree course and the letter specifically said that the medium of instruction was English all through my course of 3 years.
2. My ILR letter from HO
3. My passport including my additional passport booklet
4. Fees payment form for the application
5. The referee portions of the application to see everything was in order and that they signed-off saying they know me for at least 3 years.

She also verified from my passport that I was in the UK physically, on the 3rd of May 2000.

She had a look at my PAYE and IR/NIC payments booklet but she said she did not need any of those documents since mine was a limited company and I am full-time employed in my own company and was paying salary taxes and 1st class NI payments for the past 2+ years.
That was all it. She took photocopies of my Passport and ILR letter and gave back to me the originals.
She took the original letter from my college and my degree certificate though which she said I will get back in specials delivery later once the application has been processed.
It all took about 45 minutes including photocopying time.

Now the excitement starts while I wait for the outcome

Post by **John** » Wed May 04, 2005 3:59 pm

That is great, User. As you say it is now necessary to await the outcome. But judging by the experience of others who have used the Checking Service, you will not have to wait very long. Suspect you will get your "application approved" letter before the end of this month, or even before 20th May.

Please let us know when you are approved.

User · Post by **User** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:14 pm

Cheers John. 20th May - WOW! If that happens, that will just make me thrilled!!!

Will keep you all updated.

Ta!

regards.

Joseph · Post by **Joseph** » Sat May 07, 2005 3:43 pm

User
Good luck with your application. Which Council did you go to? How much did they charge?
Thanks
Joseph

User · Post by **User** » Mon May 09, 2005 7:19 pm

Cheers Joseph. They charged me 23.50 I think.

Also as an update - I received a acknowledgement letter on 7th May Saturday, saying they acknowledge my application form (1), passport (1), supporting documents (3), ILR letter (1) and fees of £268.

This letter was dated 4th May.

Today I have recd. another acknowledgement letter (dated 5th May), which carries exactly the same information that was in the previous (4th May dated) letter, but this letter has a different refernce number.

Any clues why they would be sending the acknowledgement letter twice with all same information (to my address correctly) but with two different reference numbers.

The reference number in the acknowledgement letter dated 4th May (the first letter) matches with the reference number the lady gave me in the checking service dept. (on 3rd May)
But the reference number in th enext letter (dated 5th may) does not match.

Also I applied for myself only (not for my wife - as she is not eligible as of now). I am wondering why two similar letters with different reference numbers from the the same Liverpool HO office, has been sent to me.

Any ideas? I am worried.

Is it because my application is passing through several departments and each one is issuing an acknowledgement letter?

Ta!

regards.

User · Post by **User** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:19 am

Any ideas from any one who had used the checking service. Did you get multiple acknowledgement letters like this?

Ta!

User · Post by **User** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:49 am

Hi John - any thoughts on this!

I tried to ring the Home office number (the number in the acknowledgement letter) - but the number is always busy!

Ta!

regards.

Post by **John** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:58 am

User, I agree with you that it does seem rather strange but as regards your comment :-

Any ideas? I am worried.

-: I really don't think that there is any need to worry about anything.

Hopefully you will hear soon about your application.

User · Post by **User** » Wed May 11, 2005 4:34 pm

Hi - I finally managed to speak to a person at the Citizenship dept. Home office today.

She took those 2 reference numbers and looked into the computer and said both mapped to my application and she did not knew why.

She put me on hold for a couple of minutes and spoke to her supervisor and came back to me saying that i don't have to worry about this duplicate reference numbers. She is about to send across a memo to someome in the department and ensure that HO writes to me confirming which number is the one i should hang on to

to track my application.

So nothing to worry - I guess, finally

It all looks like there has been a mistake by the Home office.

regards.

Ta!

desperado · Post by **desperado** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:49 pm

John wrote:That is great, User. As you say it is now necessary to await the outcome. But judging by the experience of others who have used the Checking Service, you will not have to wait very long. Suspect you will get your "application approved" letter before the end of this month, or even before 20th May.

Please let us know when you are approved.

John,

Based on your experience, could you tell us why some BC applications are processed less then 4-7 weeks and why does some applications take longer then those dates?

Do you think whether it is worth to ring HO to check BC application status after 8 weeks if you haven't heared anything back from HO after 8 weeks?

Post by **John** » Mon May 16, 2005 10:51 am

IND are currently indicating :-

If you send your application to us today, the expected times for a decision are as follows:

Naturalisation 6.94 months
Adult registrations 2.94 months
Registration of minors 5.96 months
Registration of stateless 5.36 months
Other registrations 4.38 months
Renunciations 2.31 months
Right of Abode applications 11 weeks

However many applicants get a naturalisation decision well before 6.94 months. Last spring my wife waited just 5 weeks. But we know of others whose circumstances seem similar who have waited well above the average time being indicated by IND at the time. There appears to be no logic in why similar applicants get such different treatment.

Do you think whether it is worth to ring HO to check BC application status after 8 weeks if you haven't heared anything back from HO after 8 weeks?

Given that IND are indicating 6.94 months, should you phone after just 8 weeks? I think not. Hopefully you will hear well before then but you might be justified in phoning after 8 months.

Desperado, did you use the Checking Service? That really does seem to be speeding up applications, especially because an application that does not have all the required supporting documentation is being picked up by the Checking Service before it goes off to IND.

desperado · Post by **desperado** » Mon May 16, 2005 12:43 pm

John wrote: Desperado, did you use the Checking Service? That really does seem to be speeding up applications, especially because an application that does not have all the required supporting documentation is being picked up by the Checking Service before it goes off to IND.

Unfortunately I did not use the checking service. I wasn't aware about the checking service until a day before I was planning to send my application. I was up north on project work and thought I will send the application by post rather then the checking service. It's a shame I didn't use the checking service and I'm bit annoyed myself why I didn't use the checking service.

desperado · Post by **desperado** » Thu May 19, 2005 5:03 pm

John wrote: However many applicants get a naturalisation decision well before 6.94 months. Last spring my wife waited just 5 weeks. But we know of others whose circumstances seem similar who have waited well above the average time being indicated by IND at the time. There appears to be no logic in why similar applicants get such different treatment.

Could it be the case worker who was looking into some application forms goes on a 2-3 weeks holiday. That could delay the application. Wouldn't it!

Post by **John** » Thu May 19, 2005 6:35 pm

Absolutely, but would not explain why people seemingly in similar circumstances .... some getting approved within five weeks .. others after well over six months.

The only clear guideline that seems to have emerged this year is .... use the Checking Service and you should get approved a lot quicker than would otherwise have been the case.

ManchesterMan · Post by **ManchesterMan** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:44 am

Hello All:

I am sure that certain applications take longer than others as the IND has to spend more time to process certain applications. For Example, I know that if you are self/employed (director in a company) - and you just meet the minimum residence requirements (5 years/3years married to a BC) then the case worker HAS to certainly check for NI/PAYE/TAX records with the inland revenue (I am very certain I read this somewhere on the IND website - but do not remember what section) - in these cases where more detailed checking has to take place, I am sure the waiting time can be longer (I am in this category as well - I am self employed (director in a ltd compnay) - married to a BC - and applied exactly 3 years after being in this country). For me, I applied in April 2005 - received the acknowledgement letter the following month - and now just curiously waiting for IND to come back to me regarding my BC application. I wish I had used the checking service - but alas, there was none for the manchester area when I applied.

Good Luck

Post by **John** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:50 am

As regards the check on Inland Revenue records, given that the Inland Revenue, or as we should now get used to calling it, HM Revenue & Customs, hold most of their records on computer, IND no doubt have access to that computer system.

Accordingly there is no particular reason why checking the HMRC records should cause any particular delay.

IND accessing HMRC records? Every applicant authorises that when they sign the application form.

Hopefully ManchesterMan you will hear soon. My wife applied in April last year, just three years and one day after first arriving in the UK, and got her "application successful" letter exactly five weeks later.

ManchesterMan · Post by **ManchesterMan** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:27 pm

Wow!!! - john - surprisingly.....after writing the previous post today - I got the "acceptance" letter in the post today (about 2 hours after posting)- Yipee......I had applied on 14th April - so it took them less than 2 months to get it processed - much faster than I expected. Now I will just wait for the citizensip oath ceremony invitation - and will let you guys know when I get that letter. I really wanted to thank everyone on this forum in providing help and guidance....and wish everyone success in their pursuits of visas/work permits/citizenship.

B. Regards,

Post by **John** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:56 pm

Congratulations ... enjoy your Citizenship Ceremony!

User · Post by **User** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:11 pm

Hi All,

I am very very hapy to tell you all that my British citizenship has been approved.

I had applied using hte nationality checking service on the 3rd of May 2005.

I recd. the letter from HO this morning. Very very happy today.
Around 5+ weeks turnaround... very very impressive service.

Looking forward to booking a date for the citizenship ceremony soon and finally to apply and get that dark-brown passport in my hand (is it dark-brown??

)

Ta!

regards.

Post by **John** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:37 pm

User, to you as well .... Congratulations ... enjoy your Citizenship Ceremony!

Colour of British Passport? I am not sure of the official name of the colour, perhaps, claret?

Joseph · Post by **Joseph** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:30 pm

Well done User and ManchesterMan! And just in time for a good weekend!

I am waiting for my year of ILR to pass in August before I apply. Hopefully I will also get a quick turnaround. As I am also self employed, I am glad that you (ManchesterMan) had no major delays.

I'm trying to remember, User, what was the London Council that checked your documents?

Best of luck on the final stretch!

Joseph

ManchesterMan · Post by **ManchesterMan** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:42 am

Hello All - just to give you an idea of the time scale - I had got my "Acceptance" letter lasst Friday - and today (Monday) I received my invitation for the ceremony - I have called the Council office that is responsible for it - and the earliest date that they had available is in mid-july (so about 1 month away) - they however asked me to come a week or so before the ceremony for a meeting (I am sure they will look at my certificate etc. during this meeting) and will also note down names of guests that I would like to invite (they council office had told me I could bring 1-2 guests) - I am sure during this meeting they will also ask me about how to pronounce my name etc. - I will let you guys know how the ceremony went - and generally how long it takes to get the passport after that.

Regards,

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British citizenship application

British citizenship application

Might take a little longer for certain applications

Got it today

got invitation letter