Away from UK chances of missing ceremony deadline

Dear Forum member,

I had applied for citizenship last year and my application got approved on 23rd October, 2020 I was waiting for invitation to book ceremony but then i had to travel back home (Pakistan) for parental healthcare responsibilities.
Unfortunately the current Covid19 situation in the country has become worst so i need to be with the parents to support them so i can't travel back nor i have the access to the property in UK to see if the invitation letter arrived.

It feels i may miss the deadline to book the citizenship ceremony. I live in Surrey county council.

What are my options in the current situation ?

1. Is it possible to get the citizenship certificate shipped here and have the citizenship ceremony here in the local British Embassy?
2. If Number 1 is not the option then who do i inform about my current situation?

Really stressed at the moment, your guidance will be really appreciated.

1) No. You must be inside UK to attend the ceremony.

2) If your application was approved in October 2020, most likely you would have received a ceremony invitation in Jan 2021/ Feb 2021. Ceremony invitations are sent to the correspondence address or email. You need to ask someone to check your post at the address you live in UK.

You have up to 6 months to attend the ceremony after the ceremony invitation date (Note normally its 3 months but due to corona its extended to 6 months). After that date, your certificate will be sent back to HO and your application maybe cancelled. You will loose the fees. You will have to apply again in that case.

You should contact surrey council and check if they have received your certificate and paperwork from HO. Ask them about the deadline. I am assuming it would be July/Aug 2021.

You will need to contact your local council/HO and see if any extension is given in your circumstances. Note, if HO doubts you are not living in the UK anymore, they may investigate your citizenship application also. You only become British when you attend the ceremony.

Also follow for similar queries:
british-citizenship/citizenship-ceremon ... 99323.html

Agree with @CULLINAN that if you do not attend the citizenship ceremony in the UK within six months, the certificate will be returned to the Home Office and the application will be nullified, with no refund of fees except the £80 citizenship ceremony fees.

Citizenship ceremonies abroad are only done generally for spouses of diplomatic or military staff stationed abroad (on Crown service) or for those people born abroad who would have been born British citizens if their parents were married or if they could inherit British citizenship from their mothers.

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 9:32 pm

1) No. You must be inside UK to attend the ceremony.

2) If your application was approved in October 2020, most likely you would have received a ceremony invitation in Jan 2021/ Feb 2021. Ceremony invitations are sent to the correspondence address or email. You need to ask someone to check your post at the address you live in UK.

You have up to 6 months to attend the ceremony after the ceremony invitation date (Note normally its 3 months but due to corona its extended to 6 months). After that date, your certificate will be sent back to HO and your application maybe cancelled. You will loose the fees. You will have to apply again in that case.

You should contact surrey council and check if they have received your certificate and paperwork from HO. Ask them about the deadline. I am assuming it would be July/Aug 2021.

You will need to contact your local council/HO and see if any extension is given in your circumstances. Note, if HO doubts you are not living in the UK anymore, they may investigate your citizenship application also. You only become British when you attend the ceremony.

Also follow for similar queries:
british-citizenship/citizenship-ceremon ... 99323.html

is it possible that since all ceremonies during Covid are held virtually and no physical appearance is required, the applicant in Pakistan can attend the ceremony online as if he is in Surry?

No. Even if it is a virtual ceremony, you must be inside UK on that date. The registrar will ask you to declare that also. False information or hiding the truth could lead to British Citizenship cancelled even at a later stage.

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon May 03, 2021 1:34 pm

No. Even if it is a virtual ceremony, you must be inside UK on that date. The registrar will ask you to declare that also. False information or hiding the truth could lead to British Citizenship cancelled even at a later stage.

Well, I did not know it is compulsory to be present in the UK for virtual ceremonies. It was compulsory for us prior Covid time as it was physical.
Thanks for clarification CULLINAN.

Part of the naturalisation application is the "future intentions" requirement; that you intend to live in the UK after being granted British citizenship.

There have been a couple of cases on these forums in the recent past (two-three years) where people who have already naturalised in the UK and who applied for their first British passports from abroad had their citizenships investigated, because it was felt that they may have not told the truth about their "future intentions".

Before the citizenship ceremony, you are not a British citizen and if it is felt that you were less than honest in your naturalisation application, your ceremony can simply be cancelled, even after an initial approval.

Manjil wrote: ↑

Tue May 04, 2021 6:09 am

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon May 03, 2021 1:34 pm

No. Even if it is a virtual ceremony, you must be inside UK on that date. The registrar will ask you to declare that also. False information or hiding the truth could lead to British Citizenship cancelled even at a later stage.

Well, I did not know it is compulsory to be present in the UK for virtual ceremonies. It was compulsory for us prior Covid time as it was physical.
Thanks for clarification CULLINAN.

It is mandatory, I did two weeks ago. Council will make sure you are physically present in th UK on the ceremony day.

katanayi wrote: ↑

Tue May 04, 2021 10:03 am

Manjil wrote: ↑

Tue May 04, 2021 6:09 am

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon May 03, 2021 1:34 pm

No. Even if it is a virtual ceremony, you must be inside UK on that date. The registrar will ask you to declare that also. False information or hiding the truth could lead to British Citizenship cancelled even at a later stage.

Well, I did not know it is compulsory to be present in the UK for virtual ceremonies. It was compulsory for us prior Covid time as it was physical.
Thanks for clarification CULLINAN.

It is mandatory, I did two weeks ago. Council will make sure you are physically present in th UK on the ceremony day.

I understand what you are saying, but how the council will make sure you are physically present since the ceremony is virtual. I think we may need to go back for physical attendance to ceremonies, or it gonna be difficult for the council to know.

Manjil wrote: ↑

Wed May 05, 2021 10:00 am

I understand what you are saying, but how the council will make sure you are physically present since the ceremony is virtual. I think we may need to go back for physical attendance to ceremonies, or it gonna be difficult for the council to know.

IP Address blocking or tracing?

And if it came out at any point in the future that you lied during the citizenship ceremony (which involves taking an oath or making an affirmation), the Home Office are (a) highly unlikely to take an oath/affirmation made in bad faith at face value and (b) can deprive you of the citizenship or declare your citizenship null and void (because the oath/affirmation itself was improperly taken).

Is that a threat you would want hanging over your head for life?

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Wed May 05, 2021 10:20 pm

Manjil wrote: ↑

Wed May 05, 2021 10:00 am

I understand what you are saying, but how the council will make sure you are physically present since the ceremony is virtual. I think we may need to go back for physical attendance to ceremonies, or it gonna be difficult for the council to know.

IP Address blocking or tracing?

And if it came out at any point in the future that you lied during the citizenship ceremony (which involves taking an oath or making an affirmation), the Home Office are (a) highly unlikely to take an oath/affirmation made in bad faith at face value and (b) can deprive you of the citizenship or declare your citizenship null and void (because the oath/affirmation itself was improperly taken).

Is that a threat you would want hanging over your head for life?

I couldn't agree more

It is mandatory, I did two weeks ago. Council will make sure you are physically present in th UK on the ceremony day.

I understand what you are saying, but how the council will make sure you are physically present since the ceremony is virtual. I think we may need to go back for physical attendance to ceremonies, or it gonna be difficult for the council to know.

I think should contact the home office/council and explain your situation as they might help you in this phase.

Thanks all. Your comments were really helpful.

I have contacted my local council and they told me that deadline is 6th July, 2021 I then contacted home office on this email address "Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk" on 5th May,2021 requesting to extend the deadline but since then I haven't got any reply back. Is there any other way I can communicate with HO get response back ?

Pakistan is going through the third wave of Corona Virus at the moment due to that some parts of the country are in lockdown and they themselves and other countries have reduced the flight operation. So really in a difficult situation at the moment.

Did you get any reply back from HO?Me too in the same boat.Also if you can write a letter through your solicitor , then you can expect a more formal reply?

I'm also in a similar situation.

I submitted my application in October 2020, then traveled to Brazil and then the US in December due to the hospitalisation and death of my mother in law. I'd only planned to be away a few months, but because of travel restrictions, lockdown and my being on the NHS shielding list, I've been postponing my return flight to the UK. During all this time, my husband's cousin was collecting the post and unfortunately she completely missed a letter from Hackney Council inviting me for a ceremony in February! To be honest, I never expected a decision to made that quickly. Strangely, I also never received an official letter from the HO, only the council's invitation.

Hackney Council has been quite responsive but told me I will need to request an extension from the Home Office. I've emailed the HO multiple times but have no response. I have had an automatic reply from NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk, acknowledging my email and advising longer than usual wait times. Hackney has advised me to keep persevering as HO is very busy right now. I've seen several people on the boards attempting to get in touch with the HO without success, so I feel like even if I'd tried requesting an extension earlier, I would still risk running out of time.

Hi all,

Wanted to update all on my case. So I ended up writing an email to "complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk" as "Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk" wasn't responding could be due to been very busy and the expected response time is around 20 days. After that I eventually got the reply with 3 months extension.

Nik87 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:01 am

Hi all,

Wanted to update all on my case. So I ended up writing an email to "complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk" as "Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk" wasn't responding could be due to been very busy and the expected response time is around 20 days. After that I eventually got the reply with 3 months extension.

thank you so much for letting us know.

So when are you going to attend your citizenship ceremony ?

Best of luck

Faheemryk wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:29 pm

Nik87 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:01 am

Hi all,

Wanted to update all on my case. So I ended up writing an email to "complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk" as "Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk" wasn't responding could be due to been very busy and the expected response time is around 20 days. After that I eventually got the reply with 3 months extension.

thank you so much for letting us know.

So when are you going to attend your citizenship ceremony ?

Best of luck

@Faheemryk I returned back the start of September and attended the ceremony towards the end of September.