New citizenship form UKF

g_barrie_g wrote: Different countries have different processing times. Passport processing in Singapore is only 8 weeks, I have planned to lodge my application from there (just like when I enrolled my Biometrics I chose Singapore in their system) but I could no longer use my Phl passport bec I have lost my Filipino citizenship the moment I made an oath at the UK Embassy.

Actually you did not loose your filipino Citizenship when you gained your British Citizenship, under the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003 (aka Dual Citizenship Law), Republic Act (RA) No. 9225, Which states that a Filipino who acquires foreign citizenship will retain their Citizenship of the Philippines. this act supersedes the previous 1987 commonwealth act no.63 which would automatically void your filipino citizenship. You have to however contact the Bureau of Immigration or nearest Filipino Consulate to register/declare dual citizenship and get a certificate of proof or you could be detained when leaving/entering the country. Under Philippine Law upon arriving and departing the Philippines you will have to show both passports and when/if requested the certificate of dual nationality must be produced.

The only way to lose your Filipino Citizenship is by officially renouncing it at the Bureau of Immigration or at a Philippine Consulate, of if declared by the Government/Court Ruling.

TD_Johnston wrote:

g_barrie_g wrote: Different countries have different processing times. Passport processing in Singapore is only 8 weeks, I have planned to lodge my application from there (just like when I enrolled my Biometrics I chose Singapore in their system) but I could no longer use my Phl passport bec I have lost my Filipino citizenship the moment I made an oath at the UK Embassy.

Actually you did not loose your filipino Citizenship when you gained your British Citizenship, under the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003 (aka Dual Citizenship Law), Republic Act (RA) No. 9225, Which states that a Filipino who acquires foreign citizenship will retain their Citizenship of the Philippines. this act supersedes the previous 1987 commonwealth act no.63 which would automatically void your filipino citizenship. You have to however contact the Bureau of Immigration or nearest Filipino Consulate to register/declare dual citizenship and get a certificate of proof or you could be detained when leaving/entering the country. Under Philippine Law upon arriving and departing the Philippines you will have to show both passports and when/if requested the certificate of dual nationality must be produced.

The only way to lose your Filipino Citizenship is by officially renouncing it at the Bureau of Immigration or at a Philippine Consulate, of if declared by the Government/Court Ruling.

I know that law. I am not a Filipino citizen now unless I make an appointment at the Philippine consulate and make an oath. So legally, at this point in time I am British not a Filipino nor a dual citizen.

Thank you, now I know that one (a dual national) have to show both passports when entering / leaving the country.

Just got an update!
So after emailing the Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk after 2 weeks we got an email from the manila embassy and they called us also to let us know that they got the citizenship document and will about to set the ceremony soon as next week! Goodluck to all of us!

Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

For other USA applicants who opted to go to Canada for biometrics (mbiano21, NJprofessor, bfrenchfry I think)...

They are still issuing biometric delay notices and now are not reporting an anticipated timeline for resolution or to "report back."

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

unfortunately none yet. I intend to mail them in the week ahead though cos they said you can contact them after 4weeks.
sincerely ,everything about the UK system sucks. it seems its practically impossible to have a stress free application with them.

keji wrote:

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

unfortunately none yet. I intend to mail them in the week ahead though cos they said you can contact them after 4weeks.
sincerely ,everything about the UK system sucks. it seems its practically impossible to have a stress free application with them.

Hi.
My passport was done in 3 days. HMPO received my documents on 29-02-2016 and passport was ready by 03-03-2016.
Overall it took 2 weeks from the date I sent my documents to getting them back by courier.

SK413 wrote:

keji wrote:

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

unfortunately none yet. I intend to mail them in the week ahead though cos they said you can contact them after 4weeks.
sincerely ,everything about the UK system sucks. it seems its practically impossible to have a stress free application with them.

Hi.
My passport was done in 3 days. HMPO received my documents on 29-02-2016 and passport was ready by 03-03-2016.
Overall it took 2 weeks from the date I sent my documents to getting them back by courier.

ohhh , excellent!
that's what I expected too but its bin 3wks now apart from the money deducted 2nd day after submission nothing yet.
congrats

SK413 wrote:

keji wrote:

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

unfortunately none yet. I intend to mail them in the week ahead though cos they said you can contact them after 4weeks.
sincerely ,everything about the UK system sucks. it seems its practically impossible to have a stress free application with them.

Hi.
My passport was done in 3 days. HMPO received my documents on 29-02-2016 and passport was ready by 03-03-2016.
Overall it took 2 weeks from the date I sent my documents to getting them back by courier.

ohh i see, i hope you can have good news soon about it, Keji!!

just an update about my application: thanks God, got my documents back and the acceptance letter last wednesday. they said i should hear from them shortly to book the ceremony. I am grateful for the support i found here! Still praying for all applicants who are still waiting.

hope to have the ceremony soon!

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

Hi Bright Star

I applied on a Tuesday and received my passport the following week Wednesday. It is so quick.

Fulgrun wrote:For other USA applicants who opted to go to Canada for biometrics (mbiano21, NJprofessor, bfrenchfry I think)...

They are still issuing biometric delay notices and now are not reporting an anticipated timeline for resolution or to "report back."

And nothing new for me at all, except I emailed NationalityBiometricsOverseas@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk just to confirm they actually got my biometrics on file (did them in Toronto on December 15.) I did get an email back within 3 days confirming they have the biometrics. But no other information. So given that my original application was on April 8, 2015, I have emailed FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk for an update, got the standard autoresponse saying they strive to respond within 20 working days...

I will note on another board I learned that someone else who went from the US to Canada to do biometrics (Vancouver) on December 15 has just received his/her approval letter. http://www.expatforum.com/expats/britai ... ics-4.html

So maybe soon...

I'm in a similarly depressing situation. I applied in May, did my biometrics in Vancouver in January because I live in the USA where there are no biometric centres, and have heard nothing since. Meanwhile someone who applied in December (seven months after me) and completed their biometrics in February (a month after me) has already received their approval only three months after applying:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1320613

Received my approval letter on Friday. Total time it took is exactly three months.

Timeline:

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: South Africa
Applying from: South Africa, Cape Town
Method of application: Courier - DHL (to agency in UK)
Date of application: 07/12/2015
Payment method: Credit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: Application handed in by agency on 11/12/2015
Date money gone off account: 10/12/2015 (via agency)
Date of acknowledgement: 26/01/2016 (letter dated 12/01/2016)
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 26/01/2016 (letter dated 12/01/2016)
Biometrics done: 03/02/2016 in Cape Town
Date of approval: 11/03/2016 (letter dated the 8th)

I can't help feeling disgust for the total disregard with which some of us are entirely ignored while others are treated with attentive solicitude.

Lord Avebury was the person who introduced the UKF law into the Immigration Act 2014. Because I was one of the long-time campaigners for this law I was in contact with him and he knew that I had applied for citizenship; I imagined that I'd be able to give him the good news of my approval months ago. Instead, they strung me along endlessly and mercilessly and now he is dead. Also, because I had to fight so hard for my birthright (which my father's other children were of course granted automatically), I wanted to make sure that any offspring of mine would have British citizenship (even though as a citizen 'by descent only' I might have to give birth in Britain to ensure this). Therefore, despite being married for ten years, I waited to procreate, and now I'm old and presumably infertile. Nice job doing your job, Home Office robot people.

JJL wrote:

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

Hi Bright Star

I applied on a Tuesday and received my passport the following week Wednesday. It is so quick.

thanks for your reply, JJL.

did you have a British countersignatory?

bright_star wrote:

JJL wrote:

bright_star wrote:Guys who have already applied for passport, any news about it?

Hi Bright Star

I applied on a Tuesday and received my passport the following week Wednesday. It is so quick.

thanks for your reply, JJL.

did you have a British countersignatory?

Hi Bright Star,

Yes I did. I think that did help hurry things along. Also I emailed the office processing my application and very politely aked for a quicker processing time. They very kindly agreed. Worth a try.

Well,

I hit my 6 week mark after receiving the approval letter yesterday. So I emailed the support address, as it stipulates in the letter, but nothing from Home Office or the Consulate here in Toronto yet... Here we go...

Ironically, I was sent an email by them asking me to fill out a survey about customer service. No joke. Think I'll wait until I get my ceremony.

Update... We are in the UK now on holiday. Within a week of being here, we emailed home office and let them know we were here and that hubby wanted to do Biometrics. A couple of days later, a brown envelope slipped in the mail slot.. It was his biometrics letter!! That was last Saturday, biometrics were completed this past Monday. Very hopeful that being here will speed things up so we can get to Ireland!!
Recap:
US citizen applied September 1, 2015
Got all the delay letters... Decided to just come on holiday to UK to try to get things moving, seems it's working!

update on my passport application which has taken long.
i have being sending mails upon mails and getting the same reply that the passport office has sent me a letter requesting for additional documents of which i haven't gotten any letter or mail. my reply has being samething all the times - no letter, but if they will send me an email to that effect i will respond. after too much disturbance. they sent me a phone number to call today of which i called immediately and same story of me not responding to additional document request. so i asked her, what document is it? - she said proof of address - national identity card, letter from employer, letter from govt etc.
of which i replied that my national identity card and employment letter has already been submitted and she said hold-on let me pass u to d passport office- after like 5mins she came back on the line that she cant reach them and that i should try again later
i dont know what else to do.

My situation continues as well...

Waited the 6 weeks after the approval letter for a ceremony invitation, but it never came. So I emailed the address given in the letter about 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard a peep yet. Tried emailing the FurtherInquiries address yesterday and got an immediate stock response saying that it may take 20 business days for a response. But that's basically a month, which isn't helpful at all, because it's now been two months since my letter and you only have 3 to complete the ceremony.... Sooooo, not sure what to do here. I guess I just have to wait and hope that someone miraculously checks the emails at home office, but it seems silly that I can't just go to the consulate here to get things moving (they tell you not to in the letter). Ugh.

Thoughts?

Did anyone pass the 6 week mark, email the support address and get a response in a timely manner? If it wasn't timely, did you do anything to speed things up?

The approval letter I got a few weeks back says I should expect an invitation within twelve weeks. Acccording to the agency I used there are major backlogs at the moment with issuing invitation letters.

Yeah, they just said something similar... Finally had a reply from Home Office this morning stating that in fact they sent my 'documents' (what I presume is the certificate) towards Toronto on 'March 12th', and said it could take 8-12 weeks for the delivery of those documents, which makes no sense at all, considering it usually takes them maximum a week to send anything via Royal Mail to its destination. But point being, it's now out of their hands and I'm waiting for the consulate to get in touch. Though I would assume the consulate already received everything, so anyone's guess is as good as mine (as to when I'll actually hear from them)...

canabrit wrote:Yeah, they just said something similar... Finally had a reply from Home Office this morning stating that in fact they sent my 'documents' (what I presume is the certificate) towards Toronto on 'March 12th', and said it could take 8-12 weeks for the delivery of those documents, which makes no sense at all, considering it usually takes them maximum a week to send anything via Royal Mail to its destination. But point being, it's now out of their hands and I'm waiting for the consulate to get in touch. Though I would assume the consulate already received everything, so anyone's guess is as good as mine (as to when I'll actually hear from them)...

You aren't in Toronto, you just went for biometrics right? Do we really think they'll make us fly abroad again just to collect our certificates??

Yeah, I'm in Toronto... Did my biometrics a week after you in December.

An enquiry to ones who have already attended the citizenship ceremony: which is the date stamped on your certificate? Is this the citizenship ceremony date?

I am asking because I will have my ceremony next week and, as I will need British passport soon, I would like to send the passport application in the same day, if possible. So I am trying to fill the form in advance, but I need the date of issue of my registration certificate.

Thanks a lot for all the support once more.

All the best!

your certificate will only be dated when after you take your oath.

please,i need advice on what to do since the home office have refused to do my passport because of no evidence of address of which i had sent enough with my application.

OK friends, this is an email I just received from Nationality Biometrics....
slight recap, American Citizen, applied while in the US September 2015
Here on holiday in the UK to finish up citizenship, biometrics completed in the UK on March 14...
Emailed Nationality Friday April 1 and this is the response I got today regarding Hubby's case where we asked if his biometrics had been received, to confirm the change of address and the change of ceremony venue from atlanta, Ga to oxford, Oxfordshire...Hubby thinks they haven't touched his case at all due to biometrics and I say its possible the work is done, just waiting on biometrics and now being sent to caseworker for approval....what say you friends?? :

"Thank you for your email.



I can confirm that your biometrics enrolled successfully on 14/03/2016. We were unable to move your case forward until your biometrics had enrolled. Your case is awaiting allocation now to a casework team. I am sorry I am unable to give you any more details on timescales at this point.



I have forwarded your request for a change of venue for your ceremony, if approved, to the relevant department.



I can confirm that your change of address has been recorded on our systems



If you have any further queries on your application you may e mail : FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk



I hope this is of some assistance"