TIMELINE AFTER NATURALISATION APPLICATION SUBMISSION

mhunjn, good to see your first post.

A search of this Board will show that quite a few people have been in your situation. So given that the payment has been taken and therefore you know the application definitely arrived in Liverpool I think I should say that you have no need to worry about anything.

IND in Liverpool are probably still trying to cope with the huge number of recent applications.

John,

Allow me to add my point , I was very releived to get the aknowledgment letter, because i was so worry that the IND hasnt got my address correctly, so i wouldnt know if they sent me approval or not... so by not receiving the aknowledgment letter, one should worry.... what if they sent the approval letter or asnother letter requesting information to the wrong address? how we suppose to know??? sorry

If you are so worried, my suggestion is to give it 2-3 weeks and if you don't get an acknowledgement by then - give them a call. They aim to acknowledge within 2 weeks for applications submitted using NCS.

Getting the address wrong is a fairly low probability event though - unless you have filled the application particularly indistinctly.

Thanks for the replies.

Does debiting the account mean that they are working on the file?... or is this routine and the applications just pile up for the next available caseworker after they (IND) have received payment?

A bit concerned as I was told by the NCS that number of applications to IND had reduced significantly since the 01Nov05; and hence processing would be quicker. And, some of the recent posts here indicate that way as well.

Yes no doubt a reduction in the number of applications since 1st November but they still have lots of applications to work through from prior to that date. I suspect that it will be 2 or 3 months yet before they recover fully from the deluge of paper in late October.

According to this IND webpage naturalisation applications are still taking an average of 3.99 months. Your application has been in less than 3.99 weeks! So really no need to be concerned at all.

mhunjn wrote:Thanks for the replies.

Does debiting the account mean that they are working on the file?... or is this routine and the applications just pile up for the next available caseworker after they (IND) have received payment?

A bit concerned as I was told by the NCS that number of applications to IND had reduced significantly since the 01Nov05; and hence processing would be quicker. And, some of the recent posts here indicate that way as well.

I applied a few weeks before 1st Nov and my wife applied on 15/11 so i have seen the it from the pre and apres le deluge prespectives

In my case, acknowledgement was very quick and I had a decision in about 2.5 weeks. In my wife's case, the acknowledgement and payment took a week longer but she too had the final decision in 3.5 weeks. So I think though they may be catching up on workload etc. the general processing times are still quite short for straightforward applications.

Mine is a WP + ILR case with 6yrs + in country. First year as a student.

Just been going through the copy of my applicaiton form. Noticed that I didn't delete/cross a couple of points on the last page. This is where they ask you to tick mark for the documents etc before signing the application.
Two points are marked '*' and one of these (7.4)is about enclosing fee for your kids application. I didn't tick this as NA for me, but then again didn't delete/cross it as well!...
Another one (7.7) is the last one where it asks for any special circumstances. You have to mention these or just delete/cross the line... again, didn't do anything on it!...

Can't believe I missed these ones!... though logically, it shouldn't matter.

Got approval today.

BASED ON 5 year stay (4 years work permit + 1 year ILR) with lifeintheuk test
10-11-05 NCS appointment at Wandsworth
14-11-05 Payment received at Liverpool
17-11-05 Acknowledgement letter received by applicant
14-12-05 Approval letter received (dated 06-12-05)

Regards

Application for BC received on 10 Nov via NCS Brent, payment Debited on the 24 th of Nov.(2 weeks after receiving application)

Aknowledgament letter dated on 23/11/05
Another letter dated on 13/12/05 saying that they are doing character enquiries, and that they returning enclosed documents which they wont be needing any more, the funny things is that there was no enclosed documents, not even a Life in the UK pass certificate.......

reading other posts on this boards it seems that not everyone get a character enquiries letter???? or everyone gets it but they dont mention it???

Not everyone gets it. Neither my wife nor I did.

I just got one letter returning documents and the letter also mentioned my application had been successful.

My wife got a letter returning documents and mentioning "we are still making a decision" and confirming details on the certificate should the application succeed. The invitation letter arrived about a week later. No mention of character inquiries.

Ours cases were straightforward though.

Looks like the IND website has become quite fast/efficient again...

My daughter applied by special delivery post on the 3rd of October, the cheque was cleared on the 31st of October but still no acknowledgement letter and no docs returned including her current passport. Her application seems to me a straightforward one based on 4yrs +1 yr ILR.
Any advice?

Thanks.

enpv wrote:Any advice?

She needs to be patient! She needs to realise that the IND indicates that the average naturalisation application is currently taking 3.99 months.

And of course she needs to appreciate that IND in Liverpool were inundated with applications in October before the new rules kicked in on 1st November.

She is not the only person not to have received an acknowledgement. I don't think she needs to be unduly concerned by that.

You and your family are of course the current "living experiment", comparing application by NCS compared to the postal route. Good evidence emerging.

Seems like a hit and miss thing. A colleague at work applied in oct-end and got everything through in nov-end, within four weeks. Similar case of 4+1; though he applied through NCS.

mhunjn,
this is the point. Myself and my wife applied via NCS a week later and got our approval letter a week ago but my daughter still waiting for the decision.
kind regards.

I have similar situation as K2004.

15-Nov-2005 sent via NCS
21-Nov-2005 Acknowledgement letter (but said payment not enclosed)
28-Nov-2005, sent another payment slip
07-Dec-2005, partial payment taken by HO, but leave balance for daughter
08-Dec-2005, 2nd acknowledged letter, and indicate

we are still dealing with application, and we will inform you of our decision as soon as we have received the results of our character enquiries, which are carried out on all naturalisation applications. This may take several months.

Does everyone's letter receive similar paragraph?

10-Dec-2005, 3rd payment slip sent for outstanding balance(for daughter).

after seen other's experience, its unlikely every application have been done character enquiries if your application is quite straightforward.

Besides as the unluckiest applicat in November, I wonder what background of applicant that HO will choose to carry out a further enquiries? Its just police record check, or ask your referee about applicant?

In either way, it can be said that your application will be likely slower than those who's acknowledgement letter with no referring 'character enquiries'.

flyez wrote: we are still dealing with application, and we will inform you of our decision as soon as we have received the results of our character enquiries, which are carried out on all naturalisation applications. This may take several months.

Does everyone's letter receive similar paragraph?.

flyez,

my acknowledgement letter (postal application) stated exactly as the above which i recieved in about 2.5 weeks after posting.

KP

As I said not everyone's letter has a reference to character inquiries. My wife's one said they are dealing with the application and will inform us when the decision has been made but made no reference to character inquiries - final approval came through shortly afterwards.

Hey Guys!
I received the approval letter today! Feeling so excited!!!

Here is my time-line.

• Applied at Hatfield NCS on 15 Nov based on 4 yrs WP + 1 yr ILR.
  18/11/2005 - Application received by HO at Liverpool.
  24/11/2005 - Fees debited on credit card.
  26/11/2005 - Acknowledgement, dated 23/11/2005, received.
  17/12/2005 - Received approval letter dated 07/12/2005.

To add a few more points:
1. I did not receive any other communication from HO between acknowledgement to approval.
2. HO did not return Life in the UK pass letter to me.
3. I had a concerning issue that my NI number didn't match the one on my form P60s. So I explained this on page 14 of the BC application form and also enclosed photo copies of latest form P60 and NI card and said that corrective action has been taken.

John, Thanks a lot! You rightly advised me not to worry about the NINo issue for my BC application. Here is that thread:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... highlight=

congrats dabar

so applications for some of us is fast tracked and some of us need to wait a bit more and some of us get a letter stating that a character check is being done.

Finally received the acknowledgement letter on Friday, 16; although it's actually dated 12th Dec. They have mentioned about the character inquiries as well in it.


==================

mhunjn wrote:Thanks for the replies.

Does debiting the account mean that they are working on the file?... or is this routine and the applications just pile up for the next available caseworker after they (IND) have received payment?

A bit concerned as I was told by the NCS that number of applications to IND had reduced significantly since the 01Nov05; and hence processing would be quicker. And, some of the recent posts here indicate that way as well.

I was wondering if this character enquiry was started after the 1st of November?

did anyone who applied before the 1st of november receive the " we have to do a character check" letter?

rogerroger wrote:I was wondering if this character enquiry was started after the 1st of November?

did anyone who applied before the 1st of november receive the " we have to do a character check" letter?

My wife applied after 1st Nov and did not receive the letter. Bear in mind also that character enquiries have always been carried out for all applicants so it isn't a new requirement.

how do they determine if character requirements need to be carried out?

is it random?

Roger, they will always carry out electronic checks after the application is received ... PNC (police national computer) .... HMRC ... quite possibly checking out the referees, if only to ensure that the quoted passport number matches with the name as quoted on the form.

Sometimes they might decide to do further checks. I suspect that will happen in two circumstances :-

• where the electronic check throws up some sort of query
• totally at random

Very reasonably IND in Liverpool are not going to publish details of exactly how they operate, because if they did, it would make it that much easier for those wanting to "bend the rules".