UKM application experience and timeline

PleasantThebest wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 04, 2018 1:37 pm

Shaun45 wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:07 am

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:38 pm

PleasantThebest wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:32 pm

It would be impossible for me to get Retention before 14 December (my ceremony date) because I require my SA Passport (which is currently stuck in SA's shocking postal system which Home Office have sent back following my approval). At the Ceremony I won't need to bring Retention cert with me in order to get my registration certificate right?

No you won't need it for your ceremony.

You will need a form of identification for your ceremony. I suppose your SA ID will be ok. Btw, my ceremony is also on the 14th in Cape Town. If you in Cape Town I will probably see you

Lol I am in CT.. "see" you then

Great, see you next week.

luthersnowak wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:23 pm

HUGE UPDATE!!!! I got my approval today!! Thank you everyone. This forum has been such a huge help. If you are applying via the Romein decision, Keep your hopes up. They are approving cases based on this ruling.

Great news! Congratulations!

I didn't want even to start my own chart until I got the biometrics invitation email. Which arrived today! Three weeks since my documents were received in Liverpool.


Eligibility criteria: UKM (Born in the US to British mother in 1973)
Nationality: United States
Applying from: Unites States
Method of application: online
Date of application: 22nd October 2018
Payment method: Credit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: (Documents received by UPS) 12th November
Date money gone off account: 22nd October
Date of acknowledgement: 22nd October (email)
Date of biometric appt. invitation: 4th December (email)
Date biometrics appt confirmation:
Biometrics done:
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports:
Date passports received:

Well I guess I have a caseworker assigned to me now but apparently my copy of my passport wasn't good enough. I really don't understand why the passport is even a requirement. I've done my biometrics, they have my original birth certificate. I don't see how a person has to have a passport to get citizenship in another country. But regardless this is what he sent

"In order to continue our consideration of your application, please provide the following document by 26 December 2018:
-A full copy of your Canadian passport, certified by a firm of lawyers or immigration advisors"

So now I have to pay a local lawyer to make a full copy of my entire passport and certify it, spend more $ to mail that to England and then wait some more. /pitypartyover

The lack of consistency in the procedural steps is rather aggravating . Others have succeeded with a simple color photocopy of their passport . First time I’m seeing anyone get asked for a lawyer certified copy .

hlassell wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:43 pm

Well I guess I have a caseworker assigned to me now but apparently my copy of my passport wasn't good enough. I really don't understand why the passport is even a requirement. I've done my biometrics, they have my original birth certificate. I don't see how a person has to have a passport to get citizenship in another country. But regardless this is what he sent

"In order to continue our consideration of your application, please provide the following document by 26 December 2018:
-A full copy of your Canadian passport, certified by a firm of lawyers or immigration advisors"

So now I have to pay a local lawyer to make a full copy of my entire passport and certify it, spend more $ to mail that to England and then wait some more. /pitypartyover

Given this news I am just going to send them my actual original passport... I don't have any plans to need it anytime soon anyway.

I seem to remember reading that you need a color copy of every page of your passport including front and back cover. Most importantly it MUST be notarised by a Notary Public attorney.

I am not sure notarization is a requirement, though I do believe they require a color copy of every page, including covers. There are documented cases of others who just sent the color copy, but not a notarized one, being approved.

sunburn wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:55 pm

I am not sure notarization is a requirement, though I do believe they require a color copy of every page, including covers. There are documented cases of others who just sent the color copy, but not a notarized one, being approved.

Definitely frustrating. The email doesn't say it has to be in colour. It just says "full certified copy" of passport. I just picked up what the lawyer did and OMG all he did was a photocopy of the picture page and then stamped and certified that. And it's in black and white. I asked why it wasn't in colour and he said it's because he doesn't have a colour printer. Oh lord... I live in a really small city but geez. I need my passport for a trip in February so I don't think there is any possibility of sending it. And of COURSE I can't find my most recent expired passport to send either. *face palm*

So I've scanned what he gave me and emailed the guy back saying that this is what the lawyer gave me. Canada Post is striking on and off and can't/won't garauntee that this will be in England by December 26th (The date UKVI just requested of me) so my only other option is FedEx at $90!

bletchlypark wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:10 pm

Given this news I am just going to send them my actual original passport... I don't have any plans to need it anytime soon anyway.

I'm gonna say that's a smart idea!

sunburn wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:08 pm

The lack of consistency in the procedural steps is rather aggravating . Others have succeeded with a simple color photocopy of their passport . First time I’m seeing anyone get asked for a lawyer certified copy .

I agree 100% I've seen those posts too of people who simply sent a photocolour copy. That's what I did. But apparently this guy doesn't think that's good enough. And really they looked at my passport at my biometrics, took my photo and finger prints. I don't see why the passport is even necessary since they have my birth certificate also. A foreign passport has no baring on my UK citizenship I don't think anyways.

hlassell wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:43 pm

Well I guess I have a caseworker assigned to me now but apparently my copy of my passport wasn't good enough. I really don't understand why the passport is even a requirement. I've done my biometrics, they have my original birth certificate. I don't see how a person has to have a passport to get citizenship in another country. But regardless this is what he sent

"In order to continue our consideration of your application, please provide the following document by 26 December 2018:
-A full copy of your Canadian passport, certified by a firm of lawyers or immigration advisors"

So now I have to pay a local lawyer to make a full copy of my entire passport and certify it, spend more $ to mail that to England and then wait some more. /pitypartyover

The link to the official guide I posted a good few days ago does say that although you are to send a colour copy of each page of your current passport, they MAY ask to see the original. I guess a notarized/certified copy is a compromise on you having to send the original. Still it is frustrating and leads to delays. I hope you get it sorted.

Hi I am Balles brother and helped our younger brother apply for his citizenship via the Romein case without an agent and here is my experience:

Applying UKM via Romein case
Applied Online: 11 September 2018
Payment: 11 September 2018
Documents sent via courier: 24 September 2018 (I was in the UK anyway so decided to send them from there)
Documents received by Home Office: 25 September 2018
Biometrics email request: 7 November 2018
Biometrics Completed: 21 November 2018
Email advising Success: 4 December 2018
Citizenship ceremony email: Pending
Citizenship Ceremony: Pending
Passport application: Pending

I was rather surprised at how quickly this came thru ( about 2.5 months from application to successful outcome) and can only think the Home Office do have some sort of "joined up thinking" whereby they could see that another Brother had applied and was successful, (Balles had his positive result in November).

So I imagine if any of you have had siblings applying with the same parents and grandparents it will go quicker or the Home Office is just getting thru applications quicker.

The other interesting observation is the letter confirming a positive outcome was emailed and not sent in the post which also seems to be a new development.

Anyway good luck to the rest of you and I await my younger brothers ceremony confirmation to update you.

balles wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 06, 2018 3:14 am

The link to the official guide I posted a good few days ago does say that although you are to send a colour copy of each page of your current passport, they MAY ask to see the original. I guess a notarized/certified copy is a compromise on you having to send the original. Still it is frustrating and leads to delays. I hope you get it sorted.

Definitely frustrating and costly. That's what's bothering me the most. I have to pay a lawyer to make a certified copy for me and then pay $90+ to ship the stupid copy to England. Canada Post has been striking since October so they won't guarantee the envelope will get there by Dec 26th so I have to use a more expensive courier. And at the perfect time of year cause I'm already stretching the $. Meh.

Thank you. I'm sure it will all work out.

hlassell wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:24 pm

bletchlypark wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:10 pm

Given this news I am just going to send them my actual original passport... I don't have any plans to need it anytime soon anyway.

I'm gonna say that's a smart idea!

It's not ideal but hopefully it gets my application processed without delay.

bletchlypark wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:21 pm

It's not ideal but hopefully it gets my application processed without delay.

I think you're on the right track.

hlassell wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:36 pm

bletchlypark wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:21 pm

It's not ideal but hopefully it gets my application processed without delay.

I think you're on the right track.

If only the copy of my mum's BC could arrive and I would be ready to apply.

Just a word of warning. My situation is a bit of a nightmare right now. I applied in July via mail. (I found out later that it was a day or two after they began accepting online applications.)

I had a several paragraph explanation that I decided to not post, but I'll sum it up like this: My processing is done, my documents - sent via tracked mail - haven't gotten to me going on a month since mailing. UKVI won't tell me about status of my application, and the USPS won't help me find my damn documents. I've done the paid email route to have someone look into it, but they will respond by the end of the year. Maybe. Who knows!?

In the meantime, my original (and some near irreplaceable) documents are floating around somewhere in the US. If I have deadlines on my application, I have no way of knowing them. If I am approved, unless my documents are found, I likely have no way of applying for a passport.

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Thanks Balles, great to know. Was worried about the vault birth certificate. My SA passport is still in the post.. so will have to wait some time before I can apply for my passport. Otherwise I may just go take a trip to Home Affairs and get a new one.

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Were your copies certified?

PleasantThebest wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:49 am

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Thanks Balles, great to know. Was worried about the vault birth certificate. My SA passport is still in the post.. so will have to wait some time before I can apply for my passport. Otherwise I may just go take a trip to Home Affairs and get a new one.

Might just be worth spending the R800 on a replacement passport - I think your health is worth more than having to deal with our pathetic postal system

PleasantThebest wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:50 am

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Were your copies certified?

No they weren’t. Just your average xerox colour copy

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Sorry, one item I meant to mention is proof of address (e.g. copy of utility bill, or other official document bearing your name & residential address)

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:32 am

PleasantThebest wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:50 am

balles wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:40 am

So there you have it folks: from passport application submission to it being dispatched to me has taken just over a week. I'll probably receive it from DHL either tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday. Just to confirm the documents I submitted were: colour copy of every page of my SA passport, 2 passport photos, my citizenship certificate (as received at ceremony), copy of my drivers license, copy of ID card and copy of countersignatory's British passport.

Were your copies certified?

No they weren’t. Just your average xerox colour copy

Grr the inconsistency of this drives me insane. Cause I am being told I must get a full copy of my passport certified by a lawyer before they will continue with my app! & I had sent a colour copy of my passport with my original app.