Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

Roxen wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:18 pm

ASegs wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:29 pm

Hi All,
Hope you are keeping well. Massive thanks to the coordinators and contributors of this forum! Its been a massive help.

Is anyone from Oxfordshire County Council? I received my invitation on 28/09/2020 dated 01/09/2020 (I applied in 09/03/2020 got approval email 09/06/2020). I have been trying to get my ceremony booked but the council says they are yet to received certificate from HO.

Below is the reply I received on Friday 09/10/2020 from the registers office


Good Afternoon,

Please be aware we are still waiting for certificates to be delivered from the Home Office, there is an issue with the courier service they use which we have raised with them.

If you have received a letter from the Home Office stating you need to contact your local authority to book a ceremony with in 21 days do not worry due to the pandemic this is no longer being enforced.

As soon as we receive your certificate of naturalisation from the Home Office we will send you an invitation to the earliest available ceremony date.



Thank you for your patience during this time.

Is anyone else in similar situation ?

Hello ASegs
I am in a same boat where you are. I am also from Oxfordshire county council. No wonder why Oxfordshire county council is very popular in the whole country they always have issues, they may be arguing with the courier company demanding them to pay money with the certificates. ( just joking ) same here they told me this morning that 21 days limit is not in force. That means forget about your ceremony go back to waiting. Good luck man its been over 2 weeks they couldn't get your certificate. Now I need more patience and this wait is killing me. Please do update here when they received it so I can see some hope. Good luck

When did you received your approval and invitation

lmannova wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:49 pm

Jojo19 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 29, 2020 7:25 am

Is there anyone here from Greenwich council?
If so any updates from them?

Been waiting since June. Applied in Mar approved in June and still waiting for my invitation letter

Hi, I am am from Greenwich council.

Did you receive your invitation letter already?

My approval was on 20th July but I am worried they suspended the ceremonies for now..

Hi,

Sadly I am still waiting. Approved 16th of June so hopefully my letter will come this week.

ASegs wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:56 pm

Roxen wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:18 pm

ASegs wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:29 pm

Hi All,
Hope you are keeping well. Massive thanks to the coordinators and contributors of this forum! Its been a massive help.

Is anyone from Oxfordshire County Council? I received my invitation on 28/09/2020 dated 01/09/2020 (I applied in 09/03/2020 got approval email 09/06/2020). I have been trying to get my ceremony booked but the council says they are yet to received certificate from HO.

Below is the reply I received on Friday 09/10/2020 from the registers office


Good Afternoon,

Please be aware we are still waiting for certificates to be delivered from the Home Office, there is an issue with the courier service they use which we have raised with them.

If you have received a letter from the Home Office stating you need to contact your local authority to book a ceremony with in 21 days do not worry due to the pandemic this is no longer being enforced.

As soon as we receive your certificate of naturalisation from the Home Office we will send you an invitation to the earliest available ceremony date.



Thank you for your patience during this time.

Is anyone else in similar situation ?

Hello ASegs
I am in a same boat where you are. I am also from Oxfordshire county council. No wonder why Oxfordshire county council is very popular in the whole country they always have issues, they may be arguing with the courier company demanding them to pay money with the certificates. ( just joking ) same here they told me this morning that 21 days limit is not in force. That means forget about your ceremony go back to waiting. Good luck man its been over 2 weeks they couldn't get your certificate. Now I need more patience and this wait is killing me. Please do update here when they received it so I can see some hope. Good luck

When did you received your approval and invitation

I received my approval on 25th June and received my invitation today on 13th October. According to the council website it says ceremonies are currently taking place on every Thursday so I thought just contact them but they didn't had my certificate yet. As you mentioned that they have some courier issues so waiting is the only option. I am fed-up with the wait.

baybars1 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:16 pm

AnnOsun wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 11:34 am

Hi Everyone

I've recently stumbled upon this website and I must say it has so many useful reads!

I got approved on the 16th of July 2020 and still waiting for an invitation letter for my ceremony. Like many of you I've emailed the Home office and local council but been told to wait.

Is anyone able to give ne a timeline as to when I should expect to received the ceremony invitation letter?

Thanks in advance

The model I have suggests that your invitation should have been printed yesterday, 12 October 2020, and it should reach you on or around 3 November 2020. Good luck!

Hi can you tell mine please Im not good with maths but I got approved in June, letter dated in June 16th. Does it mean I should get mine in October 16th?

Thanks in advance

standrews wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:32 pm

BoyTed wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 1:51 pm

Dear Members,
Hope you are wearing the best colours of health.
This is what i got via email today.

Baybars1 your formula is working

Dear Mr xxxxx

 

Thank you for contacting the Further Nationality Enquiry email inbox. We apologise for the delay in reply.

We can confirm that your ceremony invitation was dispatched on 28 September. We ask that you allow 10 working days for delivery.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office.  Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).      

 

Yours sincerely

 

X xxxx

Central Operations

UK Visas & Immigration

Hi BoyTed,

Many congratulations and I hope you get the letter in a day or two. In how many days does this "Further Nationality Enquiry email" replied back to you?

Thanks!

Hello Standrews,

I sent them an email on 01/09/2020 and got reply today.
Here's what i wrote to them.

Good Day,

This is in regards to citizenship ceremony can you kindly update me if or when the letter will be sent please.

Please advice and once again thank you so much.

 

Regards,
Xxx xxx

nnn15 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:34 pm

Hi BoyTed, congratulations!
Which email did you send your enquiry to and how long did they take to respond?

BoyTed wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 1:51 pm

Dear Members,
Hope you are wearing the best colours of health.
This is what i got via email today.

Baybars1 your formula is working

Dear Mr xxxxx

 

Thank you for contacting the Further Nationality Enquiry email inbox. We apologise for the delay in reply.

We can confirm that your ceremony invitation was dispatched on 28 September. We ask that you allow 10 working days for delivery.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office.  Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).      

 

Yours sincerely

 

X xxxx

Central Operations

UK Visas & Immigration

Hello nnn15,
The email
FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
Sent an email on 01/09/2020

BoyTed wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:27 pm

Baybars1 your formula is working

May thanks for keeping us in the loop. If not too much trouble, once your invite has arrived, please confirm the date on it. At present. I am assuming that it is 28 September 2020 ("the despatch date"), but it would be good to make sure, not least because your approval is currently the most recent one feeding into the model.

Thank you!

[/quote]

Hello nnn15,
The email
FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
Sent an email on 01/09/2020
[/quote]

N1234 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:19 pm

Finally Ceremony done!! I had to wait 18 days for it, a week before my ceremony I sent a complaint about not having the option to do a private ceremony for safety and for speed. They sent me an email saying I can book a private ceremony for earlier date. By then, it was too late because I was gonna have my ceremony in a week time. So for anyone waiting for ceremony, it might be worth emailing your council to speed up the process if it takes long like mine.

Good luck everyone and see you in passport.

Waiting for approval- 21/12/2019–03/07/20 (6 months and 10 days)

Waiting for invitation- 03/07/2020 — 25/09/20 (2 months and 22 days)

Waiting for ceremony day- 25/09/20 — 13/10/20 (18 days)

It almost took 10 months.

Good luck mate. The wait was worth it and see you in passport forum

Hi all - does anyone have any update from Westminster Council and where they stand with clearing the backlog? Thanks

Parisiana wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:40 am

Hi all - does anyone have any update from Westminster Council and where they stand with clearing the backlog? Thanks

I am not sure that this necessarily answers your question, but I have been told that it is the Home Office, not local councils, who is the bottleneck.

Furthermore, someone has posted on this forum a response from the Home Office where they explained that they had about 20,000 certificates waiting to be printed at the start of August. While the Home Office seem intent on reducing the wait time to pre-Covid standards, they can print only so many certificates in a day, apparently.

According to my estimates, using the information gleaned from this forum, the current queue of certificates is just under 6,300 and this queue is shortening by roughly 140 cases a day, after we have accounted for new approvals. In other words, applicants whose approvals are communicated at the end of this week, should have their invite printed at the end of November and it should reach them before Christmas. Of course, this assumes that the Home Office keep their pace.

Update model projections for timelines of ceremony invite letters depending on the approval date (substantially the same as the original ones, as more recent approvals are being resolved at the same pace as earlier ones):

Approval Date - Letter date - - - Letter arrives
01/07/2020 - - - 02/10/2020 - - - 22/10/2020
08/07/2020 - - - 06/10/2020 - - - 26/10/2020
15/07/2020 - - - 09/10/2020 - - - 29/10/2020
22/07/2020 - - - 14/10/2020 - - - 03/11/2020
29/07/2020 - - - 16/10/2020 - - - 05/11/2020
01/08/2020 - - - 19/10/2020 - - - 08/11/2020
08/08/2020 - - - 22/10/2020 - - - 11/11/2020
15/08/2020 - - - 27/10/2020 - - - 16/11/2020
19/08/2020 - - - 28/10/2020 - - - 17/11/2020
29/08/2020 - - - 03/11/2020 - - - 23/11/2020
01/09/2020 - - - 04/11/2020 - - - 24/11/2020
08/09/2020 - - - 06/11/2020 - - - 26/11/2020
15/09/2020 - - - 11/11/2020 - - - 01/12/2020
22/09/2020 - - - 16/11/2020 - - - 06/12/2020
29/09/2020 - - - 18/11/2020 - - - 08/12/2020
01/10/2020 - - - 19/11/2020 - - - 09/12/2020
08/10/2020 - - - 24/11/2020 - - - 14/12/2020
15/10/2020 - - - 27/11/2020 - - - 17/12/2020
22/10/2020 - - - 01/12/2020 - - - 21/12/2020
29/10/2020 - - - 04/12/2020 - - - 24/12/2020
01/11/2020 - - - 04/12/2020 - - - 24/12/2020
08/11/2020 - - - 09/12/2020 - - - 29/12/2020
15/11/2020 - - - 14/12/2020 - - - 03/01/2021
22/11/2020 - - - 16/12/2020 - - - 05/01/2021
29/11/2020 - - - 21/12/2020 - - - 10/01/2021
01/12/2020 - - - 22/12/2020 - - - 11/01/2021
08/12/2020 - - - 25/12/2020 - - - 14/01/2021
15/12/2020 - - - 29/12/2020 - - - 18/01/2021
22/12/2020 - - - 01/01/2021 - - - 21/01/2021
29/12/2020 - - - 05/01/2021 - - - 25/01/2021
02/01/2021 - - - 07/01/2021 - - - 27/01/2021
08/01/2021 - - - 12/01/2021 - - - 01/02/2021
15/01/2021 - - - 15/01/2021 - - - 04/02/2021

Hello all,

My MiL is a bit concerned now that she hasn't received anything from her council (Bucks). She was approved on 03/06/20 - as per the HO letter.

Based on the formula she surely should've received something by now? We've tried contacting the council but they've not been particularly helpful.

Anyone else here dealing with Bucks that was approved around the same time?

List of members whose info has contributed to the model:

Actual Approval Date ----- Actual Letter Date --------- Username
14/05/2020 ------------------ 07/09/2020 ------------------ 38j
14/05/2020 ------------------ 07/09/2020 ------------------ madihaali_304
20/05/2020 ------------------ 08/09/2020 ------------------ Anatol
20/05/2020 ------------------ 08/09/2020 ------------------ atam91
20/05/2020 ------------------ 14/09/2020 ------------------ hassanwaheed87
21/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ apostrophe 
21/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ Ade1111
22/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ dapto10
26/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ ummalido
26/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ bppartnerclub
27/05/2020 ------------------ 09/09/2020 ------------------ user5877
29/05/2020 ------------------ 01/09/2020 ------------------ Humble123
29/05/2020 ------------------ 14/09/2020 ------------------ Lopand 
01/06/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ AlexGo 
01/06/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ Pinkoojee17
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ I'mInMyPJ's 
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ slavipg
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ serg_ko
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ b41
03/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ Learning18 
04/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ beaujam90
05/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ jovaknokovich
05/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ zcranso
08/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ Xmz12x 
08/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ Doc2020
09/06/2020 ------------------ 01/09/2020 ------------------ ASegs
09/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ adubeys2020 
10/06/2020 ------------------ 21/09/2020 ------------------ mrduplicity
11/06/2020 ------------------ 23/09/2020 ------------------ sevka
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Sochi08
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ uuee6543
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Runner12345
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Vilandra
14/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Haider
15/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Greatness1
16/06/2020 ------------------ 23/09/2020 ------------------ FreshFromTheGrave
25/06/2020 ------------------ 26/09/2020 ------------------ Roxen
26/06/2020 ------------------ 26/09/2020 ------------------ poqlpiusefdousngdn
29/06/2020 ------------------ 28/09/2020 ------------------ BoyTed

zoltan_the_conqueror wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 9:26 am

Hello all,

My MiL is a bit concerned now that she hasn't received anything from her council (Bucks). She was approved on 03/06/20 - as per the HO letter.

Based on the formula she surely should've received something by now? We've tried contacting the council but they've not been particularly helpful.

Anyone else here dealing with Bucks that was approved around the same time?

same problem with Cardiff ,

Good news guys. I just got my invitation letter and the model worked for me.

Applied : Mar 2020
Biometrics: 6th June 20
Approval email: 16th June 20
Invitation letter date: 22nd Sept 20
Invitation letter received : 14th Oct 20

Good luck guys and see you in the passport forum.

baybars1 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:33 pm

BoyTed wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:27 pm

Baybars1 your formula is working

May thanks for keeping us in the loop. If not too much trouble, once your invite has arrived, please confirm the date on it. At present. I am assuming that it is 28 September 2020 ("the despatch date"), but it would be good to make sure, not least because your approval is currently the most recent one feeding into the model.

The Legend Baybars1,

As always we highly rate you for the idea and always helping in this forum.

I will definitely keep you in the loop as i want that puzzle to help even future applicants.
Bless you.

I just had my citizenship ceremony and I officially became a British Citizen. Applied for a passport straightaway, and now back to waiting. This time I’m waiting for my friend to confirm my identity as he said he won’t be free until Friday to do it online

It has been a bumpy ride of 8+ months for me but it was worth it in the end. Best of luck to everyone here and special thanks to @baybars1

Parisiana wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:40 am

Hi all - does anyone have any update from Westminster Council and where they stand with clearing the backlog? Thanks

I'm curious about it as well. Please post if you get any information from them. Last time I asked (2 weeks ago) they said they were getting irregular deliveries of certificates and the backlog was going back to April.

Interesting dispersion of dates on the invitation letter across days of the week, which has been compiled based on information supplied by 40 members of the forum.

Date on the invitation letter (day of the week)
Monday ------------------- 6
Tuesday ----------------- 11
Wednesday --------------- 3
Thursday ------------------ 7
Friday --------------------- 0
Saturday ------------------ 7
Sunday -------------------- 6

baybars1 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:29 pm

Interesting dispersion of dates on the invitation letter across days of the week, which has been compiled based on information supplied by 40 members of the forum.

Date on the invitation letter (day of the week)
Monday ------------------- 6
Tuesday ----------------- 11
Wednesday --------------- 3
Thursday ------------------ 7
Friday --------------------- 0
Saturday ------------------ 7
Sunday -------------------- 6

Hi babar, I was approved on 9July - when should I receive my invitation ? Thanks buddy

TheTraveller wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:04 pm

Hi babar, I was approved on 9July - when should I receive my invitation ? Thanks buddy

Your letter should have been printed on 7 October and it should reach you by 27 October 2020. Good luck and please keep us posted.

It is quite incredible but I have just received my invitation letter.

Approval (email): 10/07/2020
Invitation letter date: 06/10/2020
Invitation letter received: 14/10/2020

I have contacted the council but they haven’t received my certificate yet, which makes sense considering that I was expecting the invitation to arrive at the end of next week. Hopefully they’ll receive it soon.

Thank you baybars1 for the projections model, very helpful.

2 of my friends got their invitation today. Approval on 7th and 10th of july. Date on letters 05.10.2020. Brent.

Finddd wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:39 pm

It is quite incredible but I have just received my invitation letter.

Approval (email): 10/07/2020
Invitation letter date: 06/10/2020
Invitation letter received: 14/10/2020

I have contacted the council but they haven’t received my certificate yet, which makes sense considering that I was expecting the invitation to arrive at the end of next week. Hopefully they’ll receive it soon.

Thank you baybars1 for the projections model, very helpful.

You are most welcome.
Thanks for posting the update. It is good to see that the model is working for early July approvals too.