General discussion after BC and Passport application

Absolutely agree. On-line checking system for applications would be a good solution. Applicants don't feel that they are kept in the dark and HO call centre won't be snowed down with calls

Will Singh wrote:

burtsbee wrote:

Jambo wrote:

Will Singh wrote:...

Being a good citizen does not mean just close your eyes and forget that the HO service is Very poor.

If it was a Native British person who paid that much money and received the service that we are getting they would have reacted the same as some people on here.... Also no ones stopping them doing there job we just want a better service regarding statues of application which can easily be put on a system where individual people can check themselves.

Congratulations to all those that received there approvals

what about the money they make from our calls....

sonya24 wrote:hi I finally recieved my approval yesterday after more than 6 months I applied on the 10th may good luck to those who are waiting

Sonya24, congratulations!!! As far as I remember yours was a case of BC wife... What could be easier to process? but they kept you waiting for over 6 months!!! Anyway... All well that ends well!!! Hope I wont have to wait this long,although its been over 3,5 months already...

thanks miu I was a hsmp dependant I dint know why it took them 6 months good luck with your application

I have recieved my approval but it says that I don't have to contact my council I will recieve an invitation letter in the post does anyone know how long does it take to get the invitation letter?

sonya24 wrote:I have recieved my approval but it says that I don't have to contact my council I will recieve an invitation letter in the post does anyone know how long does it take to get the invitation letter?

Congrats Sonya24....i remember you applied at the same time as i did...glad you got approval in the end...

dont worry it may be 3-4 days or sometimes little bit longer but it wont be too long

Completely agree with the status update and yeah online status is a brilliant idea - it works for everything...


Has anyone called HO today - how has the response been ? Is there anyone to avoid ?

today I am celebrating four months of wait...Are there any people left who applied in May/June ?

chocho wrote:today I am celebrating four months of wait...Are there any people left who applied in May/June ?

I understand u,chocho! Applied July31. Still dont understand WHY it takes some people ages while the cases are all similiar!! WHY dont caseworkers consider the applications IN ORDER?? Its only fair!!

I am not sure if there is a method in this madness, some of us really have to wait such a long time.

Eventually managed to get through to someone - Daniel( I think !) very polite and nice but would not at all mention anything about the progress of the application and kept referring me back to the online information (6 months !!) - which is i think what they are taught to say...

However she mentioned that if the decision is taken it will appear on their system (not that it is approved/denied, but just decision completed) and it wasn't the case with me so still in progress.

Another thing i noticed and may be completely wrong is that NCS application are taking longer than postal, but may be that is based on the sample of results that we have available on the forum.

Anyway - as many have said on the forum - that is me done chasing them, will leave it now until i receive anything (well will try!!:-) )

chocho wrote:today I am celebrating four months of wait...Are there any people left who applied in May/June ?

All along I had it in mind that you were about to receive your approval particularly when I got mine.

It shouldn’t be like this (at least I hope so) as these applications should be easier and quicker to deal with as they were pre-checked for residential requirements, absences etc. When I applied the NCS person said that HO tended to process applications within 2-3 months. But I’m just over 2 months in ( very impatient especially when I see that some people have their applications processed within 5-6 weeks) but I’m afraid if you didn’t get lucky and your application wasn’t picked up by a caseworker from the very beginning the new applications start to pile up on top of yours
As Burtsbee I also wonder if the country of origin has any impact on the checks HO make and the speed of application processing. I have a suspicion it might.



[quote="vic_fan"]

Another thing i noticed and may be completely wrong is that NCS application are taking longer than postal, but may be that is based on the sample of results that we have available on the forum.

quote]

In my personal understanding once the payment is taken they are doing initial checks like convictions and offences, days out from the country,home address check, etc... Then the file is ready for the caseworker ONLY to pick it up,have a look at the results of the checks, have a look at the papers (which should be fine just coz NCS did this job for them before!), so the caseworker needs minumum time to make the decision. And it shouldnt depend on the origin country at all since the rules and checks are the same for everyone... At least that's my understanding...
also, only people who got ILR can apply for naturalisation, which means that they were already checked before obtaining permanent residence... Thats when the origin country mattered...
Only IMHO.

Do they have to contact any authorities in the country of origin? If so, maybe it's the language translation that slows everything down. Don't really know, just speculating here

burtsbee wrote:Do they have to contact any authorities in the country of origin? If so, maybe it's the language translation that slows everything down. Don't really know, just speculating here

They dont bother to contact any authorities in country of origin. if they wanted it, they will ask applicant to provide translated documents. they want every thing on their table by applicant.

Has any one changed there address after submitting the application, i have changed my address after 3 months, worried as they might have posted letter to the old address, any suggetions ?

engineer83 wrote:Has any one changed there address after submitting the application, i have changed my address after 3 months, worried as they might have posted letter to the old address, any suggetions ?

You need to telephone them and inform them of the change- they will update it immediately

malaika wrote:

engineer83 wrote:Has any one changed there address after submitting the application, i have changed my address after 3 months, worried as they might have posted letter to the old address, any suggetions ?

You need to telephone them and inform them of the change- they will update it immediately

Yes i have already done so, was just thinking what if they have already sent the letter to the old address, would they re-send the letter to the new address??

Not sure how much checking HO make for ILR as they have an option of obtaining ILR within one day.

Miu wrote:In my personal understanding once the payment is taken they are doing initial checks like convictions and offences, days out from the country,home address check, etc... Then the file is ready for the caseworker ONLY to pick it up,have a look at the results of the checks, have a look at the papers (which should be fine just coz NCS did this job for them before!), so the caseworker needs minumum time to make the decision. And it shouldnt depend on the origin country at all since the rules and checks are the same for everyone... At least that's my understanding...
also, only people who got ILR can apply for naturalisation, which means that they were already checked before obtaining permanent residence... Thats when the origin country mattered...
Only IMHO.

fev wrote:Not sure how much checking HO make for ILR as they have an option of obtaining ILR within one day.

Miu wrote:In my personal understanding once the payment is taken they are doing initial checks like convictions and offences, days out from the country,home address check, etc... Then the file is ready for the caseworker ONLY to pick it up,have a look at the results of the checks, have a look at the papers (which should be fine just coz NCS did this job for them before!), so the caseworker needs minumum time to make the decision. And it shouldnt depend on the origin country at all since the rules and checks are the same for everyone... At least that's my understanding...
also, only people who got ILR can apply for naturalisation, which means that they were already checked before obtaining permanent residence... Thats when the origin country mattered...
Only IMHO.

Well they must do checks for ILR and if they can do them in a day it just shows that if the wanted to they can do things quick...

Well they must do checks for ILR and if they can do them in a day it just shows that if the wanted to they can do things quick...

Dont remember if I read it on this forum or somewhere else, when a person applied for a 1-day ILR and ended up getting it in more than a month! (also dont remember exactly, ,something between 1 to 3 months!!). It means they do check it properly!!
Wish there were a 1-week superservice for a naturalisation!! I'd pay twice the fee

Miu wrote:

Well they must do checks for ILR and if they can do them in a day it just shows that if the wanted to they can do things quick...

Dont remember if I read it on this forum or somewhere else, when a person applied for a 1-day ILR and ended up getting it in more than a month! (also dont remember exactly, ,something between 1 to 3 months!!). It means they do check it properly!!
Wish there were a 1-week superservice for a naturalisation!! I'd pay twice the fee

I completely agree !! or also if they want to build a system for online status - it should be simple, however i think the process is different per each chase (i hope its not just luck!!) and giving any status would expose them... - my view..

vic_fan wrote:

Miu wrote:

Well they must do checks for ILR and if they can do them in a day it just shows that if the wanted to they can do things quick...

Dont remember if I read it on this forum or somewhere else, when a person applied for a 1-day ILR and ended up getting it in more than a month! (also dont remember exactly, ,something between 1 to 3 months!!). It means they do check it properly!!
Wish there were a 1-week superservice for a naturalisation!! I'd pay twice the fee

I completely agree !! or also if they want to build a system for online status - it should be simple, however i think the process is different per each chase (i hope its not just luck!!) and giving any status would expose them... - my view..

A big organisation like UKBA should have had a system in place long ago so that we can check online to see the statues of our claim when ever we feel necessary, not just for BC but all applications. My view is that its just a matter of luck and what sort of mood the CW is in when he/she randomly picks up a application

Miu I agree if we had a fast track service I would to pay the extra...

About the tracking system - it would be nice to check online status every day and not waste money on telephone calls (which are now banned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). And also it would save our nerves when we come back from work in hope to find the letter and then end up in dissapointment....
Really, is it so hard to organize? I would find people to do it! Im sure most of us waiting here would sign up to volunteer for this project!