June 2014 - Naturalisation Application Timeline

Wow, loads of 16th June applicants here, we seem to be the lowest form of pond-life!

This email went out to my MP today:

Dear Mr X

I am sorry to have to trouble you with this matter which is causing me considerable distress and anxiety.

On 16 June 2014 I submitted my application for naturalisation as a British citizen via Wandsworth NCS. I have been informed that applications are usually dealt with within 6 months, although in exceptional circumstances it may take longer.

I have contacted the UKBA and have been advised that my application is still "under consideration", however, I cannot see in how far my application could fall under the category of "exceptional circumstances". I fully appreciate that thorough checks need to be carried out, however, I have not been asked for additional documents or been given any reason why my application is taking so long to be processed or what those "exceptional circumstances" are. Naturally, I have paid my fee of £906.

I wonder if you could kindly contact the UKBA on my behalf to bring the matter back to their attention, as I fear my application has been forgotten and I feel I do not receive the same standard of service which other applicants receive, especially when recent applications are being dealt with within weeks of their initial submission.

My reference details are as follows:
Name:
HO Ref.
DOB:
Town & country of birth:
Current Nationality:
Address:
Telephone:

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated and may I take this opportunity to thank you in advance. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further details when contacting the Home Office.

With my very best regards,

Hi All,

just wanted to drop a quick line. I am in the same boat as many on this board. I applied on 17th June and I have not heard anything yet. I called the 0300 number yesterday and was told (as many were before me) that my application is still 'under consideration' with case worker. There were no further notes on the system and no additional information seems to be required.

I was told to send a letter to the below address requesting additional information from the case worker:
UKVI
Department 1
The Capital
New Hall Place
Liverpool
L3 9PP

I sent my letter yesterday but, to be honest, I do not expect much. I did, however, email my MP yesterday as well and was told that they will make enquiries with UKVI on my behalf.

I think this is all I can do for the time being. I know everyone's circumstances are different and just because someone from June or September got their approval already does not mean I should as well. However, saying that, it is very frustrating and disheartening that after 6 months (which is long enough as it is) we are none the wiser and all we get when calling for an update is 'under consideration'. Especially as my application was really rather straightforward with no exceptional circumstances.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for everyone on the June board that Christmas miracles will happen and the approvals start flooding in over the coming weeks!

I'll keep you posted if I hear anything.

Good luck to all,
mm_kitkat

Hi all, i called today my application its on its final stages, so am hoping i get it b4 the new year..But the man said i can contact the UKVI ..so am confused. .if i dnt hear anything by 20th Dec i will write to them ..lets not give up hope..am sure they r working on the old applications. Cheers all and God Bless..Xx

Update - called HO today and was told my application is in its final stages. Should call again on Friday to see if a decision has been made by then.

And to check whether pigs can fly.

Samaralady wrote:Update - called HO today and was told my application is in its final stages. Should call again on Friday to see if a decision has been made by then.

And to check whether pigs can fly.

Hi,

You guys have given me hope too that hopefully my application is in its final satges as well.
@Samaralady I don't know whether pigs can fly or not but I do count my flying lambs (baa baaa baaaaa) every night before I drift into asleep hahahaha....

Such a reply does not mean a positive sign ... these statements are standard replies from the call centre which not necessarily reflect what is the reality of the situation or the status of the application.

Hi guys

i call them today, on the phone guy was polite, replied that my application is on final stages and he also said that, i have very good chances to recieve my application before 30th december which is my last day of 6 months (he also used words that my application is being reviewed). when i asked Sir please can you roughly tell more about its update, he said he can not see further information on my board. fingure crossed and hope for the best lol people who applied in november getting their passports and we are hanging with ????????????????????????????????????

Hi all,

I phoned the HO today and got the standard reply that my application is under consideration but when I asked the lady over the phone that the acknowledgement letter states that HO will notify us by letter if HO is not able to decide application within 6 months mark, she replied "I'm sorry if you did not receive any letter".

Well sorry is not good enough we need results.... but there we go.... what else can we do.... obviously. ..nothing else but WAIT........... How deep is the rabit hole? God knows....

Hi All,
I phoned HO today (again) to ask if any progress on my application. Apart from the usual "under consideration", they have record of my MP's enquiry about it and the man reassured me that it is definitely looked at. He didn't mention anything about the request letter that I sent to HO prior contacting the MP , but I think and I hope that the MP's request makes a difference...Maybe the application is not at the bottom of the pile anymore I know there are so many people in this situation and it is so frustrating. I hope things start to move on and we'll get our responses soon.
Good luck everyone!

Hi guys,

I applied last 15 of July, I gave them call after 2 months as I havent heard anything but then I was told that upon checking my application it seems that I forgot to submit my original life in the UK test result. So 16th of September sent it and end of September I got my approval. Book a citizenship ceremony but they said they are fully book in my council (RIchmond upon Thames) until January 2015, so I asked for a private ceremony and I was booked the very next day!. They HO hotline was a bit helpful everytime I phone them (or it was just pure luck to get nice agents on the phone). Book my passport interview same week as my ceremony and 2 days later I got my passport. Roughly 3months to get all done from application to passport.

I was (like all of us here) frustrated and anxious but it'll come in time if they will not make any fuss about your papers or that it ticks all the box.

I suspect that the delay from some applicants is because of the recent happening that they granted citizenship to a person with a murder case history back then and as a result of that they need to look at every application thoroughly and review past 12months granted citizenship as well.

Matishoney, which phone number did you use after two months?

When I tried calling them, I was told not to bother them for until 6 months pass. So I wonder, how some people get info from them because they did not even allow me to tell them my reference number. They did not even try to look at me individually.

Thanks a lot!

Maxwell wrote:Matishoney, which phone number did you use after two months?

When I tried calling them, I was told not to bother them for until 6 months pass. So I wonder, how some people get info from them because they did not even allow me to tell them my reference number. They did not even try to look at me individually.

Thanks a lot!

Hi, Maxwell,

I rang the number below, I told them that I submitted my application about 2months ago at that time and I will totally appreciate it if he/she can look it up and let me know about the progress of the application. Then the agent took my reference number and confirmed some security details, yeah I was told that it seems that I did not enclosed my Life in the UK test result and they needed it, so the agent suggested me to send it as soon as i can (which i did). and 2 weeks after that I got the approval letter dated 5 days after they got my original test redult!!!

Note: I asked then why did the HO did not sent me a letter notifying me what is missing or that they needed anything else, I was told that they usually do that only if it passes the 6 month period!!!! So i was just lucky enoug to call and got a nice agent that time.


0300 123 2253

Thank you, Matishoney. Have a great Chrismas and happy new year!

WISH YOU ALL HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Today is 6 month and 1 week that i submitted my application and still nothing!!! just called home office right now and been told is "under consideration" and i need to write a letter to my case worker, if home office hired bunch of dogs or cats or donkeys I'm sure they would have done this job way faster, these people are jokes! SHAME ON UK HOME OFFICE!!!!

Happy new year when it comes

Still waiting... 7 months next week All we need is patience. Happy New Year !

Same here applied on the 16th and still waiting patiently. When time comes we will have it..... stay blessed everyone.

6 months nad 2 weeks now still waiting

Hi all me too 6 months 2 weeks...am Kenyan citizen...will email them today coz am tired of calling. ..

It will be 7 months in 3 days for me. I sent an official letter requesting a status update on the 6 month anniversary (6th of December) and have not yet had a response. When I called them a few days before the 6th of December they said my application was still under consideration and that the only way to get an update was to write an official letter after the 6 month anniversary. Fingers crossed it will all start to happen when the agents start to come back from their Christmas holidays. I cannot for the life of me understand why, as I am a Canadian and Hungarian Citizen (Commonwealth and EU), have been married to a British Citizen (British Born) for 6.5 years now and have been living and working in the UK as an EU member under the Workers Registration Scheme for over 8 years now. I also have no criminal record in any country and have been paying a significant amount of tax for nearly a decade now (I know this is not something to be taken into account on applications). I sent in my application through the Cannock NCS to ensure a speedy and fault-free application, where I also paid my fee's on the day. I got 100% on my Life in the UK test.... Oh well, onwards and upwards good luck to all and fingers crossed.

(A call is due to be placed next week to check on the response to my letter now).

jvincent wrote:It will be 7 months in 3 days for me. I sent an official letter requesting a status update on the 6 month anniversary (6th of December) and have not yet had a response. When I called them a few days before the 6th of December they said my application was still under consideration and that the only way to get an update was to write an official letter after the 6 month anniversary. Fingers crossed it will all start to happen when the agents start to come back from their Christmas holidays. I cannot for the life of me understand why, as I am a Canadian and Hungarian Citizen (Commonwealth and EU), have been married to a British Citizen (British Born) for 6.5 years now and have been living and working in the UK as an EU member under the Workers Registration Scheme for over 8 years now. I also have no criminal record in any country and have been paying a significant amount of tax for nearly a decade now (I know this is not something to be taken into account on applications). I sent in my application through the Cannock NCS to ensure a speedy and fault-free application, where I also paid my fee's on the day. I got 100% on my Life in the UK test.... Oh well, onwards and upwards good luck to all and fingers crossed.

(A call is due to be placed next week to check on the response to my letter now).

i'm in the same boat will be 7 month is 4 days please let us know once you got response from them . GOOD LUCK

Hi All,

I have been a silent reader of this thread for a long time now and today I have decided to post my story here as well! I applied on the 30th June and I am still waiting as well.

I got my acknowledgement letter on the 8th July and nothing after that.

I have contacted my MP after reading that some of the other members have done the same, hopefully I will get some sort of answer from them soon.

it is very frustrating waiting for UKVI to get somewhere with this.

Hopefully we all will get some answers/approvals this month...

All the best

Finally some movement on my husband's application, nearly seven months in (applied 9th of June) and following a letter to our MP and a letter to the Home Office after it passed the six-month mark with no word...

Received a letter this morning requesting his original degree certificate and a printout of the points-based calculator regarding language requirement, which we've now sent. No clarification as to why these weren't requested during the six month SLA, and weren't deemed necessary by NCS (we submitted his degree transcript and the Naric language assessment, so clearly there was no point wasting money on that), but that's not surprising given that we were told upon phoning at six months that we wouldn't even receive word on the status of the application unless we first wrote to them! Dazzling customer service. A grand well spent, then. Will update again once we have further feedback - hopefully an approval!

therian wrote:Finally some movement on my husband's application, nearly seven months in (applied 9th of June) and following a letter to our MP and a letter to the Home Office after it passed the six-month mark with no word...

Received a letter this morning requesting his original degree certificate and a printout of the points-based calculator regarding language requirement, which we've now sent. No clarification as to why these weren't requested during the six month SLA, and weren't deemed necessary by NCS (we submitted his degree transcript and the Naric language assessment, so clearly there was no point wasting money on that), but that's not surprising given that we were told upon phoning at six months that we wouldn't even receive word on the status of the application unless we first wrote to them! Dazzling customer service. A grand well spent, then. Will update again once we have further feedback - hopefully an approval!

Hi therain,

same thing happened to me 2months after submitting my application I was anxious and rang them up, I had a hunch that I did not submit everything (which was actually the case) the customer service agent that day was kind and told me that I need to submit my original certificate too, I asked why did I not get any letter for that and the agent said they don't usually give letters after acknowledgement the application until the 6 month period is over. So yeah I sent it same day and approval was granted after 4days.


The agents are restricted to say anything about the progress of the application as they have a guidelines to follow too not to lose their job.

It is frustrating I know. Wish you all good news in the coming days...