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I received my ceremony invitation email from my local Consulate General on the 14th November. Basically a month before my ceremony.
Oh, that's pretty good. Were you offered options to pick a ceremony date, or did they start off making a default choice for you, with the opportunity to reschedule if required ?
I believe if you *request* a private ceremony there is a small fee.luthersnowak wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:37 amThey haven’t indicated there is. May be that I’ll have to pay it at the consulate. Honestly, even if I have to pay, I’m okay with that, just to get this finished.
You say you used USPS and ParcelForce for postal methods. Can you tell me what you did? I'm ready to send off my application and want to make sure I supply the correct return envelope and postage. Appreciate your help.luthersnowak wrote: ↑Sun Jan 13, 2019 4:39 amUpdate. The Boston Consulate contacted me by email to schedule the citizenship ceremony. They didn’t have a ceremony planned in the near future, so I opted for a private ceremony. Almost there.
Eligibility criteria: UKM (Via Romein decision)
Nationality: United States
Applying from: Unites States
Method of application: (Postal) USPS/ParcelForce
Date of application: 09/06/2018
Payment method: Credit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 25/06/2018
Date money gone off account: 13/07/2018
Date of acknowledgement: 28/06/2018 (email)
Date of biometric appt. invitation: 22/08/2018 (email)
Date biometrics appt confirmation: 24/08/2018 (email)
Biometrics done: 06/09/2018 At USCIS Anchorage, AK.
Date of approval: 16/11/2018 - Approval and Documents in 1 envelope, sent Royal Mail Signature Required.
Date of ceremony: scheduled for 07/02/2019
Date applied for passports:
Date passports received:
I used USPS Priority Express International. USPS had some trouble finding the postal code provided in the application. They had to manually enter it. Once in the UK, the postal service transfers it to Parcelforce for delivery. For the return, I didn’t provide a return, so my documents were returned to me through Royal Mail. I felt pretty comfortable with the postal service getting it to me.
I did the same. Sent my documents by regular mail (Canada Post) and my documents were returned by Royal Mail. Barely took 2 weeks to come back to me.luthersnowak wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:57 pmI used USPS Priority Express International. USPS had some trouble finding the postal code provided in the application. They had to manually enter it. Once in the UK, the postal service transfers it to Parcelforce for delivery. For the return, I didn’t provide a return, so my documents were returned to me through Royal Mail. I felt pretty comfortable with the postal service getting it to me.
No. UKVI will send them back to you through Royal Mail if you don’t provide a prepaid return method. I think if you are in the US, USPS is pretty reliable, although it may take a while to get to you. Also, UKVI will send it “signature required” so you will need to keep an eye out for it. I ended up having to track the postal carrier down, as he left a “delivery attempted” slip in my mailbox. If you sign up for something called “Informed Delivery” on the USPS website, you can see mail that will be delivered to your address daily. You will also be able to see any packages that have a tracking number. If UKVI doesn’t send you a tracking number for the return of your documents, it will show up in there as a package with a tracking number that starts with “RZ”.
Congratulations!!rhino57 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:11 amAt last! My British passport arrived! Here's the final rundown of my timeline:
Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: USA
Date of application: 7/9/18
Payment method: credit card
Date of acknowledgement by Home Office: 7/13/18
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 7/26/18
Biometrics appointment confirmed as 8/10/18
Biometrics done: 8/10/18
Date of approval: 9/20/18
Ceremony invite: 11/14/18
Date of ceremony: 12/7/18 12:00 SF British Consulate
Date applied for passport: sent application 12/18/18 arrived 12/21/18
Date email received that passport has been approved and will be sent: 01/10/19
Date passport received: 01/17/19
All in, from application to passport in hand - just over 6 months. It's AMAZING to have this completed!
Good luck to all in process.
Thank you! This website has been so helpful in the process, especially given how new the Romein decision was when I applied. It has been great to watch other folks succeed - and it feels great to now be one of them! All the best!luthersnowak wrote: ↑Sun Jan 20, 2019 7:29 pmCongratulations!!rhino57 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:11 amAt last! My British passport arrived! Here's the final rundown of my timeline:
Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: USA
Date of application: 7/9/18
Payment method: credit card
Date of acknowledgement by Home Office: 7/13/18
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 7/26/18
Biometrics appointment confirmed as 8/10/18
Biometrics done: 8/10/18
Date of approval: 9/20/18
Ceremony invite: 11/14/18
Date of ceremony: 12/7/18 12:00 SF British Consulate
Date applied for passport: sent application 12/18/18 arrived 12/21/18
Date email received that passport has been approved and will be sent: 01/10/19
Date passport received: 01/17/19
All in, from application to passport in hand - just over 6 months. It's AMAZING to have this completed!
Good luck to all in process.
I don't know for sure. I was able to request that I attend the Ceremony in Boston rather than San Francisco. I would think it would be possible. You should get an email from the Consulate in the US that receives your registration certificate. When the San Francisco consulate contacted me, I asked them if it would be possible, and they were more than happy to accommodate my request.
Ceremonies in the UK are held at your local council where you are resident, per the UK residential address listed in the form. They also limit the number of guests you can have to 1 or 2 as the group ceremony is often a very large number and they must accommodate everyone and kids.
In addition to the comments by others, there are anecdotal statements of some prior applicants getting an email or call with a suggestion to attend a ceremony within days of the notification. Are you prepared to travel there at such short notice ?
This more or less confirms the theory that Paper forms are being processed faster than online at this point. Seems like the difference maybe the time it takes them to match up the documents with the application.jellybean19 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 01, 2019 1:34 pmUpdate on my UKM application...
My timeline is as follows:
Eligibility criteria: UKM ( By descent )
Nationality: American
Applying from: UK
Method of application: Paperform
Date sent to UKVI - 27th Dec 2018 ( next day , tracked service with P/O)
UKVI in Liverpool received my Form & Docs - 28th Dec 2018
Payment method: Debit Card
Date money gone off account: Tuesday 29th 2019
Email with case number : Wednesday 30th Jan 2019
Date of acknowledgement by letter : Letter dated 29th Jan 2019, received in post Friday 1st Feb 2019
Date of letter requesting biometrics: Letter dated 29th Jan 2019, received in post Friday 1st Feb 2019
Biometrics done: Friday 1st Feb 2019
Date of approval: ----
Date of ceremony: ---
Date applied for passports: ----
I've found the waiting after sending everything off stressful and not hearing anything til last week has played with my anxiety to the max. My letter with of acknowledgment states they aim to decide applications within 6 months from the date you submitted . I'm not sure when I'll hear again now Biometrics have been done. To wait again I suppose. Hope your hear soon.bletchlypark wrote: ↑Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:17 pmThis more or less confirms the theory that Paper forms are being processed faster than online at this point. Seems like the difference maybe the time it takes them to match up the documents with the application.jellybean19 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 01, 2019 1:34 pmUpdate on my UKM application...
My timeline is as follows:
Eligibility criteria: UKM ( By descent )
Nationality: American
Applying from: UK
Method of application: Paperform
Date sent to UKVI - 27th Dec 2018 ( next day , tracked service with P/O)
UKVI in Liverpool received my Form & Docs - 28th Dec 2018
Payment method: Debit Card
Date money gone off account: Tuesday 29th 2019
Email with case number : Wednesday 30th Jan 2019
Date of acknowledgement by letter : Letter dated 29th Jan 2019, received in post Friday 1st Feb 2019
Date of letter requesting biometrics: Letter dated 29th Jan 2019, received in post Friday 1st Feb 2019
Biometrics done: Friday 1st Feb 2019
Date of approval: ----
Date of ceremony: ---
Date applied for passports: ----
I applied and sent my documents in a good week before, but I am yet to hear anything back. Not worried yet as others have experienced about a 2 month delay from Online form to Bio-metrics.
Current State
Eligibility Criteria: UKM
Nationality: United States
Applying from: Unites States
Method of application: Online with documents sent via DHL
Payment method: Credit card
Date of application: Dec 17, 2018
Date documents sent: Dec 19, 2018
Date of UKVI acknowledgement email: Dec 18, 2018
Date of receipt by UKVI: Dec 21, 2018
Date funds withdrawn: Dec 18, 2018
Date of letter requesting bio-metrics: PENDING
Bio-metrics done: PENDING
Date of approval: PENDING
Date of ceremony: PENDING
Date applied for passport: PENDING
Date passports received: PENDING
