Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[Yazzz95]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thou ... -5xn9dhzz3

This is for the Ireland not for the UK.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40208945.html

[bruteforce]

lol.. yes. Just realised that.

[imz2020]

Hi All,

I called the home office and a lady informed me that all ceremony letters for applications approved after 23 Oct until 3rd nov were sent via post on 15 Jan 2021 and will take up to 10 days to be received so we should get it this week or by next at the latest.

Hiya! Can you please give me the number you ring on.. Thanks

sure, I used the number listed on the approval letter: 03001232241

[askmeplz82]

It is really annoying. It was bad enough that we had to wait for months for the invitation from home office now we have to wait for council to send us invite. It is seriously affecting my mental health now

same here for me in London EALING. invitation date 8th December but still can't book ceremony because it is suspended

Hi

Ealing council send me an email few days ago.


“”Thank you for your email.

Congratulations on your successful application for British Citizenship.
We are aware that you may have received your Home Office letter which states that you need to book a ceremony within 21 days, but we can confirm that all citizens have 6 months to attend their ceremony and we will ensure that you are allocated a ceremony before your deadline expires.
Currently we are focusing on accommodating citizens whose ceremonies were scheduled for January but have been cancelled due to the current nationwide lockdown.
Once we are able to book your ceremony, we will contact you either by email or by post.

Our resources are currently being redirected to assist with the excess volume of death registrations, therefore we ask that you do not contact us and wait for us to contact you.
We thank you in advance for your patience.””




They didn’t mention anything about cancellation. Their website says public ceremony are cancelled and there’s nothing about private. How do you know all ceremony are cancelled? I thought they are still doing private.

Surprised they address people as citizens when clearly they are not yet citizens, that council must be a zoo....

issue here is they will send you an invitation for Group ceremony and then you can change it to Private .

but if they don't send you any email or letter how you going to book private ?

this group ceremony invitation email / letter is suspended right now.

[Yazzz95]

Hi All,

I managed to get in touch Newham council today. Unfortunately, they cannot conduct any ceremonies ( group/private/virtual) until end of Jan although they advised if I want to change council, I could do by emailing citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Really frustrating tbh you wait all this time and still the waiting is neverending - the whole process is shambles tbh

Anyone in a similar situation? did anyone request to change council by any chance?

Thanks

My council is also newham. Hopefully I will get my invitation letter in next couple of weeks (approved on 5th nov).
Guess I'll have another waiting period from council as they will have to clear backlog first after resuming ceremonies.

[London249]

Hi All,

I managed to get in touch Newham council today. Unfortunately, they cannot conduct any ceremonies ( group/private/virtual) until end of Jan although they advised if I want to change council, I could do by emailing citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Really frustrating tbh you wait all this time and still the waiting is neverending - the whole process is shambles tbh

Anyone in a similar situation? did anyone request to change council by any chance?

Thanks

My council is also newham. Hopefully I will get my invitation letter in next couple of weeks (approved on 5th nov).
Guess I'll have another waiting period from council as they will have to clear backlog first after resuming ceremonies.
I was approved on 9th on November my council is barking & Dagenham they are doing the private and group cermony.

[Missi]

Morning to all members!
I just called home office regarding my invitation latter my application was approved on 12th of November 2020 and they informed me I will get my invitation arround 4 of February.

[Missi]

Hi All,

I called the home office and a lady informed me that all ceremony letters for applications approved after 23 Oct until 3rd nov were sent via post on 15 Jan 2021 and will take up to 10 days to be received so we should get it this week or by next at the latest.

Hiya! Can you please give me the number you ring on.. Thanks

sure, I used the number listed on the approval letter: 03001232241

Thanks a lot

[PhantomPermit]

anyone still waiting approved on 15th of October?

Approved 16 October n still waiting rang homeoffice today n was told that 1 Oct till 22 was posted last Tuesday n have to wait 10 working days so hopefully will get this week let's c

10 working days? that's pathetic considering how much they charge for the fee

[Rabs]

Morning to all members!
I just called home office regarding my invitation latter my application was approved on 12th of November 2020 and they informed me I will get my invitation arround 4 of February.

Hello,
I was approved on the 12th too, so will be looking out for your post. Hope you let us know as soon as you receive it.

[Bazaar]

I guess those approved in December will have to wait at least until March.. pffftttt

[Bazaar]

anyone still waiting approved on 15th of October?

Approved 16 October n still waiting rang homeoffice today n was told that 1 Oct till 22 was posted last Tuesday n have to wait 10 working days so hopefully will get this week let's c

10 working days? that's pathetic considering how much they charge for the fee

yes exactly , and still no guarantee you will get it when they say

[nadeem75]

Hi Members!
Just to update, I received my approval at end of Nov,

I request for update and got a reply that

“ Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased. “

Regards.

[Missi]

Morning to all members!
I just called home office regarding my invitation latter my application was approved on 12th of November 2020 and they informed me I will get my invitation arround 4 of February.

Hello,
I was approved on the 12th too, so will be looking out for your post. Hope you let us know as soon as you receive it.

Yeah for sure I will update here if I get my invitation letter,from few last posts and from today’s conversation I am assuming they will b posting out invitation letter for approval 3rd November onwards from next week.

[onyx_ng]

Anyone from Kent get an update?

I had a 14th of January ceremony cancelled and rescheduled for today. I emailed 'Citizen_SP@kent.gov.uk' after the cancellation and they called me back a couple of days later to ok a time.

[alexdreame]

anyone still waiting approved on 15th of October?

Approved 16 October n still waiting rang homeoffice today n was told that 1 Oct till 22 was posted last Tuesday n have to wait 10 working days so hopefully will get this week let's c

10 working days? that's pathetic considering how much they charge for the fee

yes exactly , and still no guarantee you will get it when they say

Hey everyone, I am in exactly the same situation. I was approved on the 19th of October 2020 and still no letter. My council- Westminster City said they have the certificate but won't be able to book me in for a ceremony without the letter. They said to contact the HO to request an electronic copy of the letter and I have already done that so many times to all the emails which you've kindly provided in this topic. I just feel it is all going in a circle.

[PhantomPermit]

anyone still waiting approved on 15th of October?

Approved 16 October n still waiting rang homeoffice today n was told that 1 Oct till 22 was posted last Tuesday n have to wait 10 working days so hopefully will get this week let's c

10 working days? that's pathetic considering how much they charge for the fee

yes exactly , and still no guarantee you will get it when they say

cant wait to get it done with. I can't be bothered to deal with HO again they have been so poor during my visa applications, ILR etc. Rip off fees and shit service. they charge almost 100 times more than they should

[russn]

I just got a reply from them saying that they are not doing any virtual ceremonies. I think they are still doing private ones but the queue is long apparently...

Thanks for reply are u waiting for ceremony and if u don’t mind what was ur date of approval

No probs. I applied on Aug 31 and got the approval email on Oct 27. Still waiting for my invitation letter and the Council still hasn't got my certificate.

Oh wow we are sharing same date me and my husband is also waiting for invitation fingers crossed hopefully we get it soon good luck

Hey. I sent an email last Saturday to ask if my invitation letter and my certificate had been sent out and they just replied saying they did send them out on Jan 13, even with the electronic copy of the letter in the same email. I wonder why Ealing said in their email to me on Jan 16 that they have not received my certificate... maybe it was not registered on the system yet at the time. But yea, ours should be on their way.

[tkp]

Good news for me today. I've just received the brown envelope. My timeline as below:
---
Applied: 23 August
Approved: 19 Nov
Letter received: 19 Jan (by post), letter date: 29 Dec.
Council: Southwark
Good luck everyone waiting.

[lc42]

Good news for me today. I've just received the brown envelope. My timeline as below:
---
Applied: 23 August
Approved: 19 Nov
Letter received: 19 Jan (by post), letter date: 29 Dec.
Council: Southwark
Good luck everyone waiting.

Congrats. Can you please let us know the earliest date Southwark offers you for the ceremony and how much they charge?

[jasmine89]

@everyone waiting for a ceremony in manchester city council, they have said the they are in the testing phase of conducting the ceremonies online. And once their system is updated they will be contacting people for ceremonies themselves. Hopefully it wont be long now. this process has been soo draining and stressful.

[tkp]

Good news for me today. I've just received the brown envelope. My timeline as below:
---
Applied: 23 August
Approved: 19 Nov
Letter received: 19 Jan (by post), letter date: 29 Dec.
Council: Southwark
Good luck everyone waiting.

Congrats. Can you please let us know the earliest date Southwark offers you for the ceremony and how much they charge?

Thanks! I've sent an email to ask for the ceremony. Will keep you guys posted.

[Sanaazim]

Thanks for reply are u waiting for ceremony and if u don’t mind what was ur date of approval

No probs. I applied on Aug 31 and got the approval email on Oct 27. Still waiting for my invitation letter and the Council still hasn't got my certificate.

Oh wow we are sharing same date me and my husband is also waiting for invitation fingers crossed hopefully we get it soon good luck

Hey. I sent an email last Saturday to ask if my invitation letter and my certificate had been sent out and they just replied saying they did send them out on Jan 13, even with the electronic copy of the letter in the same email. I wonder why Ealing said in their email to me on Jan 16 that they have not received my certificate... maybe it was not registered on the system yet at the time. But yea, ours should be on their way.

That’s awesome news can u plz let me k ow what email address u used and now that u have electronic copy are u going to email council again for ceremony? Or still going to wait for post

[mrmo93]

Anyone from Kent get an update?

I had a 14th of January ceremony cancelled and rescheduled for today. I emailed 'Citizen_SP@kent.gov.uk' after the cancellation and they called me back a couple of days later to ok a time.

Awesome when was your approval?

[shahzy970]

Hi All,

I managed to get in touch Newham council today. Unfortunately, they cannot conduct any ceremonies ( group/private/virtual) until end of Jan although they advised if I want to change council, I could do by emailing citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Really frustrating tbh you wait all this time and still the waiting is neverending - the whole process is shambles tbh

Anyone in a similar situation? did anyone request to change council by any chance?

Thanks

My council is also newham. Hopefully I will get my invitation letter in next couple of weeks (approved on 5th nov).
Guess I'll have another waiting period from council as they will have to clear backlog first after resuming ceremonies.

Hi,
I am sure you'll your invitation letters in the coming days/weeks.

In terms of ceremony, unfortunately, Newham council is not conducting any sort of ceremonies which is bizarre tbh considering other councils are putting an effort to clear backlogs by arranging virtual or private ceremonies. I am really not sure why they are pilling up certificates without even loading them on the system.

You will not be able to book ceremony online as Newham council has received loads of certificate which hasn't been uploaded on the system yet, hence every time you'd try to book online it would say" Home Office Number Not Found".

I would advise you to chase up with the council and try to escalate to see if they can arrange private or virtual ceremony just like other councils and reach out to local councillor or mayor.

Let us know if you hear back anything.

Thanks