Post
by tigerram » Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:07 pm
Well I didn't get any updates through in my emails...so I presumed there was no more news on this thread. And I have missed at least three pages!
Congratulations to everybody sorted. I am happy for you. I will read it in detail later.
I'm in week 24. I'm off work today, preparing to fly out and get married. A letter from ukvi came through the door today...yay! I got so excited. This was it! But...
...it wants me to prove I am British. Which is patently obvious as my birthplace is on the original passport I sent them already! And why would I want to go through the whole of this process if I wasn't British?
I am lucky as they want the info by the 28th or the process is cancelled. I return from HK on the 28th. I could have easily missed this letter.
I am furious.
Here is the email of complaint the call centre peeps have advised me to send. I hope you can see my horror at this whole farce:
Ref: 0000
Date of written correspondence (arrived today)
My details:
0000
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am sadly writing in to complain about the ridiculous treatment of my renunciation of British citizenship that I am currently receiving - which should be a rather simple process. I am left asking myself, is this all some kind of joke? Let me explain:
On the 0000 of June, I began my application to renounce my British nationality. I was born in Northern Ireland in 0000; under the Good Friday agreement, and other agreements between the states of the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic: due to my location of birth I am a dual national and have the right to choose one or both nationality. I have chosen to be Irish. This is, of course, my undeniable right under law.
I sent in my Irish passport with my initial application. My place of birth is County Fermanagh; the passport states this. Look at the copy you should have on file. Clearly, County Fermanagh is in Northern Ireland and has been part of it continuously since the early 1920s when the six-county province/state of Northern Ireland was created.
Suddenly, 24 weeks have passed and I get a farcical letter from yourselves through this morning. I am pinching myself, because it asks me to prove I am British. My reaction is one of dismay and disbelief:
1 Why would I want to pay £220 plus to renounce being British, wait a stupid amount of time and be messed about with if I wasn't British to start with? Please kindly would someone explain the logic in that - logic beyond anything that could belong on the 1st April.
2 From the original passport I sent in, it is clear that I was born in Fermanagh on the 0000. I would expect the UK immigration to know that Fermanagh is situated in the south-west of Northern Ireland and thus is legally part of their own country - as much as London, Liverpool or Barnsley. Surely you can see how hilarious this possible oversight is. An Irish passport is a legal document. You still have a copy you took for the original I sent in. Any cursory glance at a map will prove what I am saying. Sadly this seems to back up what many citizens of Fermanagh have long suspected - that anything lying west of the Bann simply does not exist to anyone who lives on the British mainland.
3 Your letter doesn't make it clear what documents you actually need. I am guessing that it is an old British passport and my birth certificate (issued in Belfast, Northern Ireland - part of the UK, just in case your department has lost those maps again!) . However, noone knows and I cannot contact you by phone to discuss it. UKVI must be the most public-unfriendly organisation there is - people pay over £200 for what kind of service? A simple call to someone connected with processing the application would sort this all out. Yet, that isn't even a possibility.
So, I am scrabbling around trying to find documentation to prove what is painfully obvious to any half-wit. In the meanwhile, I must conclude that the truth could possibly be one or more of the following:
- UKVI don't know basic British geography (which is not very reassuring)
- Fermanagh has been annexed by Ireland overnight and noone has bothered to tell anyone
- UKVI haven't bothered to do their job properly after 24 weeks of a simple open and shut application (possibly marked by coffee stains by now)
- The process is just overly bureaucratic, lacks transparancy and proper customer service, and the UKVI are short-staffed and not trained properly,
- 0000 of CT1 doesn't read letters before they go out
- Something that I am missing here
I apologise if my tone doesn't reflect the gravity of the situation; however, it truly reflects the image that has been presented by UKVI to myself based upon this application, and how utterly risible your stance is on this issue. You have some good employees at your callcentre who are helpful but their hands are tied, because they cannot give out a direct number to yourself nor access anything to do with the case; when I explained the situation, one gentleman at the callcentre laughed and said the situation was 'ridiculous' and I should complain. However, he could not really give me any detailed advice.
As such, I am more than prepared to go to the national and Irish press over this matter if it is necessary. I expect a full explanation for my treatment, and clarification over what I do or do not have to provide. Also, I feel an apology is due. I would at least expect compensation for having to send further documents in by recorded post - it is unnecessary, and I have already paid enough to be treated in such a shoddy and idiotic way by what should be a institution for all to look up to, which probably does a lot of good work. I am sad and disappointed to make this complaint.
Please contact me on 0000 to discuss the matter further, as I would like this egregious situation resolved speedily.
Regards,
0000
... I got some advice and was told to apply for the new Irish Passport Card, so that I could send that with my RN. That way I don't have to send my full Passport book. It arrived today, and first thing tomorrow morning, my RN application is going straight in the post! I am OK with waiting the 6 months as I am working here already - my biggest fear all along has been legislation change. 
So welcome! Hearing other peoples good news is great. And since you have read through everything you know people have started to get their RNs back now. 