Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[bizman]

Call them and ask for a date

[dejh911]

My application has been approved since 08/03/2021 yet no ceremony letter even though the application is over 6months which is the time line the promised for the whole application process, i mailed the nationality department and got an auto response which says --------

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE AS THE INFORMATION YOU

REQUIRE MAY BE GIVEN BELOW. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANOTHER RESPONSE TO THIS ENQUIRY. IF THE ANSWER TO YOUR ENQUIRY IS NOT FOUND HERE, FURTHER CONTACT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED.

Message updated – 28/04/2021

Coronavirus
The Home Office will endeavour to process applications as quickly as possible but in the current circumstances, applications will take longer than normal to process, including applications for British Citizenship.

If you wish to seek progress of your application for British citizenship and it has been with the Home Office for less than 6 months, we will be unable to provide you with any further information and you will not receive a reply. If we require further information from you, the case-working team will contact you directly.

If you have applied and are concerned about missing a deadline to enrol biometrics, provide additional information or take a citizenship ceremony, please be assured that extra time will be allowed, and applications will be held open during this period. No adverse decisions will be made on applications because of delays caused by Coronavirus.

Citizenship ceremonies and ceremony invitations

Government restrictions in relation to COVID-19 have understandably restricted the ability of local authorities to provide citizenship ceremonies, as the safety of customers must be paramount

Whilst we will continue to work closely with our local authorities to expand the provision of citizenship ceremonies, including the expansion of availability of virtual ceremonies, due to the changing restrictions and guidance relating to COVID-19, it is not possible at this time to advise when a certificate will be despatched once an application has been approved.

However, we can confirm that we have just completed the processing of certificates and ceremony invitations for applications that were approved on and before the 19 April and have now commenced processing those for applications approved on 20 April. Ceremony invites are sent by 2nd class post and can take up to 10 working days to be delivered.

We will update our website with any new information, in particular, in relation to the time it might take to despatch certificates. Please be assured that once a customer receives their Citizenship Ceremony Invitation Letter, they will still have up to six months within which to complete ceremony.

Exceptional circumstances relating to an urgent need to complete a British citizenship ceremony will, of course, be taken into consideration, with the appropriate supporting evidence. If you need to undertake a ceremony urgently, please contact us at Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk. However, we are unable to guarantee that we will able to expedite any ceremony request at this time.

We would ask that you do not contact us, or your local authority, regarding your ceremony at this time and be assured that we are working as quickly as possible to despatch your certificate. Your patience and understanding at this time are much appreciated.

My point s that they are giving confirmation to what is different to what we are all seeing, when new approvals are getting invitation letter and yet they left the older ones, i think its unfair as its affect me mentally.

[Jojo0316]

My application has been approved since 08/03/2021 yet no ceremony letter even though the application is over 6months which is the time line the promised for the whole application process, i mailed the nationality department and got an auto response which says --------

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE AS THE INFORMATION YOU

REQUIRE MAY BE GIVEN BELOW. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANOTHER RESPONSE TO THIS ENQUIRY. IF THE ANSWER TO YOUR ENQUIRY IS NOT FOUND HERE, FURTHER CONTACT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED.

Message updated – 28/04/2021

Coronavirus
The Home Office will endeavour to process applications as quickly as possible but in the current circumstances, applications will take longer than normal to process, including applications for British Citizenship.

If you wish to seek progress of your application for British citizenship and it has been with the Home Office for less than 6 months, we will be unable to provide you with any further information and you will not receive a reply. If we require further information from you, the case-working team will contact you directly.

If you have applied and are concerned about missing a deadline to enrol biometrics, provide additional information or take a citizenship ceremony, please be assured that extra time will be allowed, and applications will be held open during this period. No adverse decisions will be made on applications because of delays caused by Coronavirus.

Citizenship ceremonies and ceremony invitations

Government restrictions in relation to COVID-19 have understandably restricted the ability of local authorities to provide citizenship ceremonies, as the safety of customers must be paramount

Whilst we will continue to work closely with our local authorities to expand the provision of citizenship ceremonies, including the expansion of availability of virtual ceremonies, due to the changing restrictions and guidance relating to COVID-19, it is not possible at this time to advise when a certificate will be despatched once an application has been approved.

However, we can confirm that we have just completed the processing of certificates and ceremony invitations for applications that were approved on and before the 19 April and have now commenced processing those for applications approved on 20 April. Ceremony invites are sent by 2nd class post and can take up to 10 working days to be delivered.

We will update our website with any new information, in particular, in relation to the time it might take to despatch certificates. Please be assured that once a customer receives their Citizenship Ceremony Invitation Letter, they will still have up to six months within which to complete ceremony.

Exceptional circumstances relating to an urgent need to complete a British citizenship ceremony will, of course, be taken into consideration, with the appropriate supporting evidence. If you need to undertake a ceremony urgently, please contact us at Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk. However, we are unable to guarantee that we will able to expedite any ceremony request at this time.

We would ask that you do not contact us, or your local authority, regarding your ceremony at this time and be assured that we are working as quickly as possible to despatch your certificate. Your patience and understanding at this time are much appreciated.

My point s that they are giving confirmation to what is different to what we are all seeing, when new approvals are getting invitation letter and yet they left the older ones, i think its unfair as its affect me mentally.

Hi buddy. I got the same email except my approval was done on the 15th of Jan 2021. I have contacted every possible email and phone number I could find but all of them lead to the same answer. In the email that I got they said the same thing and what I find RIDICULOUS is that they have mentioned invitations for applications that were approved by 26 March and have now commenced processing those for applications approved on 27 March. Ceremony invites are sent by 2nd class post and can take up to 10 working days to be delivered. I don’t even understand how they can say this when I was approved on the 15th and still no invitations. Doesn’t make sense. I have given up and left it to come when it has to. Sick and tired of listening to ridiculous answers. I’m sorry for you my friend I feel your pain as I am also suffering but don’t worry coz no one cares!

[yoz_yok]

Council invitation letter with your approval letter and ID is sufficient. Don’t bother about invitation letter from HO. I did mine ceremony without invitation from HO

Thank you Bizman

[dejh911]

I can see that the home office are not been truthful with thier update on ceremony letter processing after claiming the have processed applications approved be 19th of April 2021 yet loads of applicants have not received any letter , as for me my application has been approved since 8th of march yet no invitation letter for ceremony and you can see that some people got thier invitation even after this date . Even after my application processing period is more than 9months now , they've have made it impossible to reach them on phone even emails will not be responded to . Its sad for putting people into this mental situation of not being able to plan ahead of one's life accurately. It gives me bad feelings about them .check the time line and see if people has updated on this board getting their invitation letter, you will see only few updates . This forum has been dry of updates regarding invitation letters since the past 3weeks . Am tired

[DreamerInDarkness]

Does anyone know a way to get in contact with Cambridgeshire citizenship office? I've emailed 10 days ago, radio silence.

E-mailed them and got a reply in a few hours.
You should provide them all the details they asked for and might be better to send a new email as well.

Thanks. Good to know they're not awful to everyone!

I provided everything they asked for, in all my emails, complete radio silence apart from the auto response (so they can't claim they haven't been getting my emails).

If I don't hear anything for 14 days from the original email I will write to my MP, the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council and the local government ombudsman.

14 days and no response, and now I have contacted the office of the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council, who told me they will look into this. If I don't hear back within 7 days it will be time to contact the local government ombudsman.

Still no response. I have now contacted the local government ombudsman and I'm speaking to a solicitor next week to take legal action against the council.

[alwaysintransit]

Hi All - I received the ceremony invitation letter from home office via email. However, when the council website does not yet recognize the reference number and or name. Has anyone faced similar issues in the past? I am trying this with Tower Hamlets

[CR001]

Hi All - I received the ceremony invitation letter from home office via email. However, when the council website does not yet recognize the reference number and or name. Has anyone faced similar issues in the past? I am trying this with Tower Hamlets

You have already posted what the email you received today says, so why are you trying to book instead of waiting 1 working day as advised??

Eligibility criteria: 5 years Tier 2 General + 1 ILR
Language/LIUK Criteria: Trinity GESE 5 + Life in the UK
Nationality: Indian
Method of application: Online
Date of biometrics enrolled: 16/02/2021
Date on approval letter: 15/04/2021
Date of receipt of approval: 15/04/2021 (via email)
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 14/05/2021 (via email)
Council applied for: Tower Hamlets

Seems like this whole process in picking up speed with more recent submissions also getting approvals and feels like there is a bit of LIFO system (e.g. recent applicants getting ceremony letter) although difficult to figure out how the systems prioritizes the applications.

Good luck to all of us who are still waiting and congratulations to those who are done with the process!

Received the invitation letter via email this morning. Currently unable to book the ceremony, the letter does say wait 1 working day to try and book.

"Please contact the Citizenship Ceremonies Officer Tower Hamlets to book your ceremony. You must attend your ceremony within three months of the date of this approval email, so please contact the local authority early to ensure you can book a convenient time. Please wait one working days after receiving this approval before you try to book, as it may take a few days for documentation to arrive at the local authority."

[alwaysintransit]

Hi All - I received the ceremony invitation letter from home office via email. However, when the council website does not yet recognize the reference number and or name. Has anyone faced similar issues in the past? I am trying this with Tower Hamlets

You have already posted what the email you received today says, so why are you trying to book instead of waiting 1 working day as advised??

Eligibility criteria: 5 years Tier 2 General + 1 ILR
Language/LIUK Criteria: Trinity GESE 5 + Life in the UK
Nationality: Indian
Method of application: Online
Date of biometrics enrolled: 16/02/2021
Date on approval letter: 15/04/2021
Date of receipt of approval: 15/04/2021 (via email)
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 14/05/2021 (via email)
Council applied for: Tower Hamlets

Seems like this whole process in picking up speed with more recent submissions also getting approvals and feels like there is a bit of LIFO system (e.g. recent applicants getting ceremony letter) although difficult to figure out how the systems prioritizes the applications.

Good luck to all of us who are still waiting and congratulations to those who are done with the process!

Received the invitation letter via email this morning. Currently unable to book the ceremony, the letter does say wait 1 working day to try and book.

"Please contact the Citizenship Ceremonies Officer Tower Hamlets to book your ceremony. You must attend your ceremony within three months of the date of this approval email, so please contact the local authority early to ensure you can book a convenient time. Please wait one working days after receiving this approval before you try to book, as it may take a few days for documentation to arrive at the local authority."

i realised it after i posted but didnt know how to delete the post. thanks

[LTr]

I wanted to share what happened with my address change during the process because I know I was following all the other questions about it closely. It looks like in some cases they do make updates in a timely manner.

When I applied I lived in Tower Hamlets, but thought I would be moving to Newham so I chose that as the council for my ceremony. I submitted my address change request for my new actual address in Greenwich council while a decision was still being made. This resulted in my address being updated in their system so the approval email had my new address on it and the decision letter that was mailed to me was sent directly to the new address. The decision letter also told me that they were sending it to my new council, not my previous one or the one I requested. It was actually received by Greenwich council. So they changed the council along with my address change. I didn't request the council change.

Short timeline:
Applied: 11 Dec 2020
Address change request: 19 March 2021
Approval received: 30 April 2021
Invitation received: 8 May 2021

[intrusive]

Hi there guys,
By the Grace of Almighty Allah I have attended my virtual ceremony and got my citizenship certificate. And today I have applied for my passport.

Nationality: Pakistan
Date of application: 12 Feb 2021
Date Biometrics enrolled: 16 March 2021
Date on Approval via email: 24 march 2021
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 26 April 2021
Date on the letter printed: 19 April 2021
Date of letter from Birmingham council: 29 April
Date of ceremony: 06 July 2021

I Had opted for Birmingham council instead of my council because that council used to offer virtual ceremonies. That is very late its more than two months from the letter of invitation date. i cannot believe my eyes when i opened and saw the letter from Birmingham council.
Does any one have any idea can i change it to my local council in Worcester please. or any one knows how to expedite it with birmingham council. Many thanks.
Good luck to everyone waiting

[Mak9878]

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are fine.

My timeline is mentioned below but I am still waiting for invitation letter from Home Office and Newham council since approval on 07/01/2021.

Eligibility criteria: 5 year (Tier 1 Entrepreneur) + 1 year ILR
Language/LIUK Criteria: UK Degree + LIUK
Nationality: Non-EU Pakistan
Method of application: online
Date of application: 19/10/2020
Date of acknowledgement: 20/10/2020
Date of debit of fees: 19/10/2020
Date Biometrics enrolled: 03/11/2020
Date of receipt of approval: 07/01/2021 by email
Date on Approval letter: 07/01/2021 by email pdf file attached.
Date of receipt of ceremony invitation letter from Newham Council: waiting
Date of receipt of ceremony invitation letter from Home Office: waiting
Date of Ceremony: waiting

Have anyone had approval from January 2021 from Newham council?

Has anyone received invitation letter either from Home Office or Newham Council since January approval only? And shall I chase up home office for invitation letter and on which email address?

Is Newham inviting for ceremonies virtually or in person?

Please guide

Received Ceremony Invitation Letter from HO: 31/03/2021, date on letter is 17/03/2021.

Instructed on letter to book within 21 days of receipt of letter with your council (Newham).

I logged into Newham website, it is asking Group and and Private Ceremony option. Private ceremony is costing £105.

Is Private ceremony free in coronavirus pandemic?

Group ceremoney dates are coming after three month.


Plz guide

Booked Citizenship Ceremony on 30/06/2021 as this was only date available at that time in March 2021. But in the months of April 2021, Newham Council brought the date back nearly 1.5 months early automatically and notified me in email and new date was 16/05/2021.

Finally British. Thanks everyone for your support and help throughout.

[peterhon]

Hello everyone,

Long story short, I've applied in Sep, was approved in Nov but then my ceremony letter never arrived. Around March I started calling whatever numbers I could find to get more info and realised it was actually sent early Feb but it never arrived anywhere, so it got lost.

Since late March/early April I've been emailing the citizenship support email address, complaints address and called the 0300 790 6268 contact centre number to have this escalated many times but I literally got no responses in months.

Could anyone suggest if there is anything else I should do? I am wasting so much time here as I could've and should've had this paper months ago, unfortunately.

I don't know who else to reach out to and no one seems to be doing anything. Why is the government acting so slowly on this?

I also scheduled my appointment over 2 months in advance (it's in 2 weeks) but I cannot attend without that paper. Why don't they send it over email in the first place and avoid months of extra work and delays...

Would appreciate some advice

[bizman]

Hello everyone,

Long story short, I've applied in Sep, was approved in Nov but then my ceremony letter never arrived. Around March I started calling whatever numbers I could find to get more info and realised it was actually sent early Feb but it never arrived anywhere, so it got lost.

Since late March/early April I've been emailing the citizenship support email address, complaints address and called the 0300 790 6268 contact centre number to have this escalated many times but I literally got no responses in months.

Could anyone suggest if there is anything else I should do? I am wasting so much time here as I could've and should've had this paper months ago, unfortunately.

I don't know who else to reach out to and no one seems to be doing anything. Why is the government acting so slowly on this?

I also scheduled my appointment over 2 months in advance (it's in 2 weeks) but I cannot attend without that paper. Why don't they send it over email in the first place and avoid months of extra work and delays...

Would appreciate some advice

Same happened to me. I just called the council and they booked my ceremony for me as they have received my certificate. I have done the ceremony on 6th of May and until now no ceremony letter. So call your council and find out about your certificate they might agree to do your ceremony with your approval letter.

[peterhon]

Thank you, I just called and they said they already had the paper so could attend without it.

[Hkg1222]

Hi there guys,
By the Grace of Almighty Allah I have attended my virtual ceremony and got my citizenship certificate. And today I have applied for my passport.

Nationality: Pakistan
Date of application: 12 Feb 2021
Date Biometrics enrolled: 16 March 2021
Date on Approval via email: 24 march 2021
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 26 April 2021
Date on the letter printed: 19 April 2021
Date of letter from Birmingham council: 29 April
Date of ceremony: 06 July 2021

I Had opted for Birmingham council instead of my council because that council used to offer virtual ceremonies. That is very late its more than two months from the letter of invitation date. i cannot believe my eyes when i opened and saw the letter from Birmingham council.
Does any one have any idea can i change it to my local council in Worcester please. or any one knows how to expedite it with birmingham council. Many thanks.
Good luck to everyone waiting

Hi - did you change your council for ceremony and if so how? Grateful if you could please share more detail. Many thanks!

[DreamerInDarkness]

Does anyone know a way to get in contact with Cambridgeshire citizenship office? I've emailed 10 days ago, radio silence.

E-mailed them and got a reply in a few hours.
You should provide them all the details they asked for and might be better to send a new email as well.

Thanks. Good to know they're not awful to everyone!

I provided everything they asked for, in all my emails, complete radio silence apart from the auto response (so they can't claim they haven't been getting my emails).

If I don't hear anything for 14 days from the original email I will write to my MP, the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council and the local government ombudsman.

14 days and no response, and now I have contacted the office of the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council, who told me they will look into this. If I don't hear back within 7 days it will be time to contact the local government ombudsman.

Still no response. I have now contacted the local government ombudsman and I'm speaking to a solicitor next week to take legal action against the council.

Still no response. We will send the council a letter of intent to take legal action against them for breach of statutory duty.

[engineer86]

Hi all,
I received my naturalisation approval letter through email on 7th May. The letter states that I should not contact the local council until I have received a ceremony invitation letter. It also states that if I do not receive the invitation within 3 weeks of approval, I should email the Home Office. I dropped them an email about 2 weeks ago and yet haven't heard anything back.

I am a bit perplexed, because most people in the application processing timeline section have mentioned that they received their invitation letter within a week or two of approval.

What would be the best course of action? I would greatly appreciate help.

Thanks.

[engineer86]

Does anyone know a way to get in contact with Cambridgeshire citizenship office? I've emailed 10 days ago, radio silence.

E-mailed them and got a reply in a few hours.
You should provide them all the details they asked for and might be better to send a new email as well.

Thanks. Good to know they're not awful to everyone!

I provided everything they asked for, in all my emails, complete radio silence apart from the auto response (so they can't claim they haven't been getting my emails).

If I don't hear anything for 14 days from the original email I will write to my MP, the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council and the local government ombudsman.

14 days and no response, and now I have contacted the office of the chairman of the Cambridgeshire council, who told me they will look into this. If I don't hear back within 7 days it will be time to contact the local government ombudsman.

Still no response. I have now contacted the local government ombudsman and I'm speaking to a solicitor next week to take legal action against the council.

Still no response. We will send the council a letter of intent to take legal action against them for breach of statutory duty.

Well done!

I think I will take the same route. These local councils are not a law unto themselves and must be held accountable for their failings.

[samapply]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

[DreamerInDarkness]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

There is no booking phone number other than the one that's listed on your invitation letter, which goes to an automated message telling you to email and hangs up. From what I understand, the process is that they will check the list of people who contacted them every 2 weeks and respond to emails if they've received the certificates, they don't recheck every day. These emails are usually (though not always) sent on Tuesdays.

You are only required to contact the council within 21 days to book the ceremony, not actually book the ceremony. So as long as you've sent the first email within 21 days of the letter, you've got that bit covered.

Also, it's the Cambridgeshire country council that's responsible for the ceremonies, not the Cambridge city council. In case you want to contact someone (like the chairman of the council) to escalate, or get the MP involved, make sure you escalate at the county council and not the city council.

[samapply]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

There is no booking phone number other than the one that's listed on your invitation letter, which goes to an automated message telling you to email and hangs up. From what I understand, the process is that they will check the list of people who contacted them every 2 weeks and respond to emails if they've received the certificates, they don't recheck every day. These emails are usually (though not always) sent on Tuesdays.

You are only required to contact the council within 21 days to book the ceremony, not actually book the ceremony. So as long as you've sent the first email within 21 days of the letter, you've got that bit covered.

Also, it's the Cambridgeshire country council that's responsible for the ceremonies, not the Cambridge city council. In case you want to contact someone (like the chairman of the council) to escalate, or get the MP involved, make sure you escalate at the county council and not the city council.

Thank you for your replay

I am thinking to go to Home office Liverpool in person and asked them about letter , I am sure they will say they can't help and you need to wait . but I am hoping they can re-send letter if I asked.
Stress level is very high at the moment.

Is home office "Liverpool" open for visitors ? if yes when and what time I should be there ?
Thanks

[CR001]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

There is no booking phone number other than the one that's listed on your invitation letter, which goes to an automated message telling you to email and hangs up. From what I understand, the process is that they will check the list of people who contacted them every 2 weeks and respond to emails if they've received the certificates, they don't recheck every day. These emails are usually (though not always) sent on Tuesdays.

You are only required to contact the council within 21 days to book the ceremony, not actually book the ceremony. So as long as you've sent the first email within 21 days of the letter, you've got that bit covered.

Also, it's the Cambridgeshire country council that's responsible for the ceremonies, not the Cambridge city council. In case you want to contact someone (like the chairman of the council) to escalate, or get the MP involved, make sure you escalate at the county council and not the city council.

Thank you for your replay

I am thinking to go to Home office Liverpool in person and asked them about letter , I am sure they will say they can't help and you need to wait . but I am hoping they can re-send letter if I asked.
Stress level is very high at the moment.

Is home office "Liverpool" open for visitors ? if yes when and what time I should be there ?
Thanks

You cannot access the Liverpool office. They won't even let you in. They don't deal with applicants in person

[engineer86]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

There is no booking phone number other than the one that's listed on your invitation letter, which goes to an automated message telling you to email and hangs up. From what I understand, the process is that they will check the list of people who contacted them every 2 weeks and respond to emails if they've received the certificates, they don't recheck every day. These emails are usually (though not always) sent on Tuesdays.

You are only required to contact the council within 21 days to book the ceremony, not actually book the ceremony. So as long as you've sent the first email within 21 days of the letter, you've got that bit covered.

Also, it's the Cambridgeshire country council that's responsible for the ceremonies, not the Cambridge city council. In case you want to contact someone (like the chairman of the council) to escalate, or get the MP involved, make sure you escalate at the county council and not the city council.

Thank you for your replay

I am thinking to go to Home office Liverpool in person and asked them about letter , I am sure they will say they can't help and you need to wait . but I am hoping they can re-send letter if I asked.
Stress level is very high at the moment.

Is home office "Liverpool" open for visitors ? if yes when and what time I should be there ?
Thanks

As suggested above, you can try escalating the matter to the chairman of the council as well as to the MP for your constituency. You may also inform the Home Office. Their email address is: citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk

[aswadi]

Hi All

I received my invitation letter from home office on 12/06/2021 for ceremony , seems like it I have to book ceremony within 21days received letter . date on letter is 03/06/2021 and I don't have enough time.

My issue is I am living in Cambridge and rubbish Cambridge council only responded by email , I tried to call them multiple times but no luck .

What should I do ? will they contact me ?

is anyone know their booking phone number ?

thanks

There is no booking phone number other than the one that's listed on your invitation letter, which goes to an automated message telling you to email and hangs up. From what I understand, the process is that they will check the list of people who contacted them every 2 weeks and respond to emails if they've received the certificates, they don't recheck every day. These emails are usually (though not always) sent on Tuesdays.

You are only required to contact the council within 21 days to book the ceremony, not actually book the ceremony. So as long as you've sent the first email within 21 days of the letter, you've got that bit covered.

Also, it's the Cambridgeshire country council that's responsible for the ceremonies, not the Cambridge city council. In case you want to contact someone (like the chairman of the council) to escalate, or get the MP involved, make sure you escalate at the county council and not the city council.

Thank you for your replay

I am thinking to go to Home office Liverpool in person and asked them about letter , I am sure they will say they can't help and you need to wait . but I am hoping they can re-send letter if I asked.
Stress level is very high at the moment.

Is home office "Liverpool" open for visitors ? if yes when and what time I should be there ?
Thanks

You need to chill out. You need to attend the ceremony within 6 months, and have already contacted the council to book your ceremony. There is is a 0% chance that they will turn you back because of the 21 day time frame lapsing due to delays on their side. There is absolutely no need to contact the home office at this point. Just wait for your council to offer you a ceremony appointment.