Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

The government has also allowed places of worship to open and allow private prayers. There is no excuse for councils to not allow private ceremonies.

If they continue with their excuses then we should contact someone from the government, maybe the local MPs because I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies. This is getting frustrating now.

Polka909 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:52 pm

I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies.

Probably because...

Rusland wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 4:38 pm

They also said that they have not received any certificates since March

The council can't hand out naturalisation certificates it does not have. And video ceremonies will also likely cause a minor issue with handing over certificates remotely.

There are other possibilities (before 2004, one could take the oath/affirm in front of a local magistrate or Commissioner of Oaths), but the government needs to get around to changing the rules to allow that. And currently it is somewhat busy.

Remember that this may be urgent for you, but is neither urgent nor important for the government, who has got much bigger fish to fry at the moment (including, ironically, the Brexit discussions on fishing).

Polka909 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:52 pm

The government has also allowed places of worship to open and allow private prayers. There is no excuse for councils to not allow private ceremonies.

If they continue with their excuses then we should contact someone from the government, maybe the local MPs because I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies. This is getting frustrating now.

Yes agree, they dont bother, its infringement of natural right freedom of movement. Some people need to fly urgently and they cant coz of unsure unseen decision from councils or registrar

Raja786786 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:14 pm

Polka909 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:52 pm

The government has also allowed places of worship to open and allow private prayers. There is no excuse for councils to not allow private ceremonies.

If they continue with their excuses then we should contact someone from the government, maybe the local MPs because I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies. This is getting frustrating now.

Yes agree, they dont bother, its infringement of natural right freedom of movement. Some people need to fly urgently and they cant coz of unsure unseen decision from councils or registrar

What is preventing you from flying on your foreign passport and ILR BRP card?? Absolutely nothing. There is no 'infringement of natural right of freedom of movement', you are free to travel.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:19 pm

Raja786786 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:14 pm

Polka909 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:52 pm

The government has also allowed places of worship to open and allow private prayers. There is no excuse for councils to not allow private ceremonies.

If they continue with their excuses then we should contact someone from the government, maybe the local MPs because I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies. This is getting frustrating now.

Yes agree, they dont bother, its infringement of natural right freedom of movement. Some people need to fly urgently and they cant coz of unsure unseen decision from councils or registrar

What is preventing you from flying on your foreign passport and ILR BRP card?? Absolutely nothing. There is no 'infringement of natural right of freedom of movement', you are free to travel.

Unfortunately those of us with travel documents can't even travel to Europe without a visa anymore which is expensive and often makes your application less likely to be approved if not impossible

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:19 pm

Raja786786 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:14 pm

Polka909 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:52 pm

The government has also allowed places of worship to open and allow private prayers. There is no excuse for councils to not allow private ceremonies.

If they continue with their excuses then we should contact someone from the government, maybe the local MPs because I fail to understand why councils cannot allow private ceremonies and why the HO is not allowing video ceremonies. This is getting frustrating now.

Yes agree, they dont bother, its infringement of natural right freedom of movement. Some people need to fly urgently and they cant coz of unsure unseen decision from councils or registrar

What is preventing you from flying on your foreign passport and ILR BRP card?? Absolutely nothing. There is no 'infringement of natural right of freedom of movement', you are free to travel.

First ask question and then think

HO extended upto 6 months for ceremony which is going to expire 1 month and few days, so I'm not sure when they will ask me to come for ceremony or they will extend another 3 months

Try to call or email HO and your council and ask them that your invitation is expiring in a month. Seeing the queues outside primary and Bicester village, there shouldn’t be any excuse that they need to extend your by another 3 months. At least you can have a private ceremony.

Hi all.

i just wanted to know that anybody has received ceremony letter from Home Office, as i spoke to my local authorities and they are saying that citizenship ceremony will start on next Thursday 25/06/2020. If you got approval letter from Home office give us your Ref NO and then we can book a place for you.

If anyone is registered with Hackney council for the citizenship ceremony, you can join their waiting list once your application has been approved. You do not need to wait for your invitation letter. You will however need to provide your Home Office/Case ID number to join the list. I received this advice directly from Hackney Council.

chand92 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:36 pm

Hi all.

i just wanted to know that anybody has received ceremony letter from Home Office, as i spoke to my local authorities and they are saying that citizenship ceremony will start on next Thursday 25/06/2020. If you got approval letter from Home office give us your Ref NO and then we can book a place for you.

Which council is this? I spoke to my council yesterday based in Swindon and they said they have not received any guidance from Home Office to restart ceremonies nor have they received any certificates since March and obviously they can't do ceremonies without certificates. They said maybe since there's a lot of backlog in London, some London councils are under pressure to restart ceremonies but that's not the case outside London.

Moa7 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:50 pm

chand92 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:36 pm

Hi all.

i just wanted to know that anybody has received ceremony letter from Home Office, as i spoke to my local authorities and they are saying that citizenship ceremony will start on next Thursday 25/06/2020. If you got approval letter from Home office give us your Ref NO and then we can book a place for you.

Which council is this? I spoke to my council yesterday based in Swindon and they said they have not received any guidance from Home Office to restart ceremonies nor have they received any certificates since March and obviously they can't do ceremonies without certificates. They said maybe since there's a lot of backlog in London, some London councils are under pressure to restart ceremonies but that's not the case outside London.

That is exactly what my council just said to me.no certificates had been received since March .no instructions received as well . It is in Walea

I spoke to my council yesterday based in Swindon and they said they have not received any guidance from Home Office to restart ceremonies nor have they received any certificates since March and obviously they can't do ceremonies without certificates. They said maybe since there's a lot of backlog in London, some London councils are under pressure to restart ceremonies but that's not the case outside London.

Moa7 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:57 pm

I spoke to my council yesterday based in Swindon and they said they have not received any guidance from Home Office to restart ceremonies nor have they received any certificates since March and obviously they can't do ceremonies without certificates. They said maybe since there's a lot of backlog in London, some London councils are under pressure to restart ceremonies but that's not the case outside London.

My council in North Wales hasn't received certidicates since March.no instructions about ceremonies as well

I spoke to my local council in Bolton, Lancashire, northwest region (Manchester). she took my name, date of birth and address and said we got information from Home office for you but we need (Ref No) to book an ceremony for you.

Just speak to my local council they said birth registration are opening probably citizenship ceremony will open too they currently in process of cleaning their office may be next week they will be open for face to face appointment but don’t know the exact date.

Found some potentially great news

According to Merton London Borough Council, they are planning to offer a modified citizenship ceremony:

• The Ceremony will be held outside

• You will not be able to bring any guests

• There is no need to book the ceremony, just turn up on the day

• We will only offer one ceremony date a month

The next designated day is:

• 1 July 2020

Details on the official website:
https://www.merton.gov.uk/births-marria ... itizenship

Hopefully other councils/boroughs will offer similar ceremonies!

That's cool and all but I think we need to receive official invitation letter from Home Office before we can turn up for the ceremony, isn't that correct?

I believe you are right - without invitation letter I think you cannot attend ceremony.

Irakli wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:29 pm

I believe you are right - without invitation letter I think you cannot attend ceremony.

It depends on the council if they have your certificate sime of them will do without the confirmation letter.
My council does but I only received a reply to me email that my application is approved.no letter of confirmation yet though

Sous49 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:05 pm

Irakli wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:29 pm

I believe you are right - without invitation letter I think you cannot attend ceremony.

It depends on the council if they have your certificate sime of them will do without the confirmation letter.
My council does but I only received a reply to me email that my application is approved.no letter of confirmation yet though

Could you please clarify. You are saying your council will perform a citizenship ceremony without you having received a physical confirmation letter, or are you saying that your council has received your certificate of naturalisation?

You cannot attend a citizenship ceremony without an invitation letter from your council. The home office mails out a certificate to your council once your application has been approved, who will then send you an invitation letter to attend the ceremony. In some instances, yes the council may have your certificate already but are waiting to invite you due to Covid restrictions.

Also, in some instances, your council may allow you to join a waiting list before they have received your certificate if your application has been approved by the home office - such as hackney council. You will need to provide your reference number and wait until the council receives your certificate, which will then be followed by an invitation letter from your council.

This is my understanding anyway. Think it’s pretty clear, it’s just a waiting game.

I see that Merton council has started to allow citizenship ceremonies. I really hope that other councils will follow as well.
In the news today is that Cineworld will be opening on 10th July as well, understand that citizenship Ceremonies are not priority but given that every other non-essential thing is opening, the delay in giving out naturalisation certificates is just pure laziness and incompetence by councils. Certificates post 23rd March were not sent by HO but before this date, councils have the certificates with them. Apologies for the rant but I fail to understand further delay especially when I see news around queues outside primark and opening of cineworld.

They can at least start with people whose ceremonies were cancelled and never refunded. Clearly councils have their certificates.

I've just asked a council in Northern Ireland and they told me they don't have any certificates yet nor any word from Home Office as to when it's going to resume.

tcell88 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:26 pm

Sous49 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:05 pm

Irakli wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:29 pm

I believe you are right - without invitation letter I think you cannot attend ceremony.

It depends on the council if they have your certificate sime of them will do without the confirmation letter.
My council does but I only received a reply to me email that my application is approved.no letter of confirmation yet though

Could you please clarify. You are saying your council will perform a citizenship ceremony without you having received a physical confirmation letter, or are you saying that your council has received your certificate of naturalisation?

Hello
My council did not receive certificates since March.but in normal conditions they would alow attending the ceremony as long as they received the certificate even if confimation letter is not presented . And example is that my daughter got her ceremony invitation letter before she got her confirmation letter . And they did not mind as they had the certificate

HI everyone!

Good news for today!!!

I have received a phone call from my council and they are starting the private ceremony next week. I was booked for Monday.

Unfortunately the group ceremony is suspended so if you want to do it quicker just pay the fees for private one.

My Local council is in Borough London of Newham.