Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

Anatol · Post by **Anatol** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:28 pm

Hi, I am in a similar situation.
Applied on 30 Jan approval letter on 20 May, still, no invitation chased both HO and Council, generic answers from HO, Newham council said they do not have my name in their system yet.

I guess they are posting these invitation based on the council/area. As there are high risk/low-risk regions, I am assuming they do not post anything into a moderate or high-risk area, to avoid the risk of contamination.
However, my (Newham) council started running the ceremonies for over a month now, but I still did not get my invite. It's a bit weird but there is nothing more to do than wait, I am fairly positive next week should be a good week for most of us. Patience, brothers and sisters

learner29 · Post by **learner29** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:46 pm

Learning18 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:55 pm

learner29 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:49 pm
Hi everyone

The good news is that I have received the Home Office Citizenship Ceremony invitation letter. My Citizenship application was completed on the 26th Feb after getting enrolled for my Biometrics. Received my approval on the 26th June after sending them an email a day before so I think approval was made before.

In the invitation letter Home Office has asked me to book my Ceremony within the next 21 days while the Council website still shows no ceremonies are taking place.I will give them a call tomorrow.

I hope council shows some empathy now and conduct a ceremony.
Congratulations!! I am happy for you!
You have received the letter which is great news. Hopefully, your council will start conducting ceremonies soon. Does the date on your approval letter say the 26th of June or another date?

Thanks buddy. Yes the date on the approval letter is 26th June but I think it doednt mean it was aporoved on that sate as I received it the next day after sending them email. So apparently when they download it from the system the letter gets that date. It was suggested by another member on this forum who got two aporoval letter from withtwo different dates.

Iwish u best of luck too.

Meme85 · Post by **Meme85** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:52 pm

ped4 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:07 pm
am abit confused now, i was approved 6,May, i haven't received an invite yet nor my council, but my question is some people approved in June or late May some have started receiving their invite. is the invite been sent randomly or i dont really understand

The only reason I posted on here is to reassure everyone who is on the same boat that their letters are arriving soon, I think comparing timelines is irrelevant here as well all know how random the home office is when dealing with applications

Meme85 · Post by **Meme85** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:54 pm

ped4 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:07 pm
am abit confused now, i was approved 6,May, i haven't received an invite yet nor my council, but my question is some people approved in June or late May some have started receiving their invite. is the invite been sent randomly or i dont really understand

The only reason I posted on here is to reassure everyone who is on the same boat that their letters are arriving soon, I think comparing timelines is irrelevant here as well all know how random the home office is when dealing with applications

learner29 · Post by **learner29** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:11 pm

After receiving approval letter yesterday I.got relieved that the waiting will be over soon but to my surprise I.couldnt reach to my council today. Called them on registrar office numbers and all.numbers are on automated voice mails, seems like the registrar office workers are still under lock down and stay at home. The Council website still shows that annoying message of no ceremonies conducted.

After calling the main customer services the guy some european told me why you called the council about citizenship ceremony and said call the home office instead as it has got nothing to do with us. He had no clue what the Citizenship ceremony is. I had to explain to him and he then diverted my call to switchboard and got to the same automated messages.

It seems the council only deals with the council tax and parking tickets atm. Called them again and another guy answered and said he cant do anything but to.divert my call to the same switchboard which is automated as well. Automated message says you cant book anything over the phone now and use website for payments.

I didnt take a single day off from my work during the lockdown and the council staff still enjoying their stay at home. Even if you go to the council in person you wont be able to enter as security guards will.advise you to call them instead.

Lers see if thw same thing happens on monday too.

igheorghe · Post by **igheorghe** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:56 pm

learner29 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:11 pm
After receiving approval letter yesterday I.got relieved that the waiting will be over soon but to my surprise I.couldnt reach to my council today. Called them on registrar office numbers and all.numbers are on automated voice mails, seems like the registrar office workers are still under lock down and stay at home. The Council website still shows that annoying message of no ceremonies conducted.

After calling the main customer services the guy some european told me why you called the council about citizenship ceremony and said call the home office instead as it has got nothing to do with us. He had no clue what the Citizenship ceremony is. I had to explain to him and he then diverted my call to switchboard and got to the same automated messages.

It seems the council only deals with the council tax and parking tickets atm. Called them again and another guy answered and said he cant do anything but to.divert my call to the same switchboard which is automated as well. Automated message says you cant book anything over the phone now and use website for payments.

I didnt take a single day off from my work during the lockdown and the council staff still enjoying their stay at home. Even if you go to the council in person you wont be able to enter as security guards will.advise you to call them instead.

Lers see if thw same thing happens on monday too.

Not every council does ceremonies I believe. My local council does not but checked on https://www.gov.uk/organise-citizenship ... ny-council with my postcode and redirected my to the county council registrars who does it. Not saying you have not checked the gov website but just in case you haven't.. if your council did ceremonies, they would have known about it

Small · Post by **Small** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:33 pm

learner29 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:11 pm
After receiving approval letter yesterday I.got relieved that the waiting will be over soon but to my surprise I.couldnt reach to my council today. Called them on registrar office numbers and all.numbers are on automated voice mails, seems like the registrar office workers are still under lock down and stay at home. The Council website still shows that annoying message of no ceremonies conducted.

After calling the main customer services the guy some european told me why you called the council about citizenship ceremony and said call the home office instead as it has got nothing to do with us. He had no clue what the Citizenship ceremony is. I had to explain to him and he then diverted my call to switchboard and got to the same automated messages.

It seems the council only deals with the council tax and parking tickets atm. Called them again and another guy answered and said he cant do anything but to.divert my call to the same switchboard which is automated as well. Automated message says you cant book anything over the phone now and use website for payments.

I didnt take a single day off from my work during the lockdown and the council staff still enjoying their stay at home. Even if you go to the council in person you wont be able to enter as security guards will.advise you to call them instead.

Lers see if thw same thing happens on monday too.

It has been happening to me too. Here is sign outside door of council stating no meeting in person only phone calls. When you call them they don’t know about ceremonies

. Reception will divert your call to their so called mangers and then phon switch off. But obviously if you are paying tax or bills etc they will definitely get your call in a second

, very politely and explain you each and every step how to pay

Raihanul · Post by **Raihanul** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 11:36 pm

Hi folks,

I'm on my 10th week. Still nothing. I contacted HO few weeks ago and didn't get a reply. My local council is unable to offer me any updates in regards to my certificate. I too got my approval early June but nothing since then.

Frou01 · Post by **Frou01** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:21 am

Small wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:33 pm

learner29 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:11 pm
After receiving approval letter yesterday I.got relieved that the waiting will be over soon but to my surprise I.couldnt reach to my council today. Called them on registrar office numbers and all.numbers are on automated voice mails, seems like the registrar office workers are still under lock down and stay at home. The Council website still shows that annoying message of no ceremonies conducted.

After calling the main customer services the guy some european told me why you called the council about citizenship ceremony and said call the home office instead as it has got nothing to do with us. He had no clue what the Citizenship ceremony is. I had to explain to him and he then diverted my call to switchboard and got to the same automated messages.

It seems the council only deals with the council tax and parking tickets atm. Called them again and another guy answered and said he cant do anything but to.divert my call to the same switchboard which is automated as well. Automated message says you cant book anything over the phone now and use website for payments.

I didnt take a single day off from my work during the lockdown and the council staff still enjoying their stay at home. Even if you go to the council in person you wont be able to enter as security guards will.advise you to call them instead.

Lers see if thw same thing happens on monday too.
It has been happening to me too. Here is sign outside door of council stating no meeting in person only phone calls. When you call them they don’t know about ceremonies . Reception will divert your call to their so called mangers and then phon switch off. But obviously if you are paying tax or bills etc they will definitely get your call in a second, very politely and explain you each and every step how to pay

That’s not a good attitude by them.

ForILR · Post by **ForILR** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:30 am

Dear Meme85 and Learner29,
Please let us know HO email-id to contact for application status or for ceremony invitation letter.

Thank you

rozearo · Post by **rozearo** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:31 am

I think the generation of invitation letter is based on the actual approval date. The email communication that most of us received is not the actual approval date.

Personally, I applied in January. Received an email response to my enquiry telling me that decision has been made on beginning of May. (In the email it state: please allow for 28 days for letter to be received).

Then received the decision by email Mid May. Since that, nothing else received.

My council (Trafford) has been holding ceremonies since second week of July (6 weeks ago)! I called them on Friday, and

they didn't receive my certificate!!

It has been 7 months since I applied and still waiting. However, I got a feeling that I will receive it next week

Good luck every body and thanks for everyone who is sharing their experience. Without you, I would imagined it is only me who had waited long.

I think the HO need to be more proactive of publishing more updates to avoid many unnecessary emails. If they keep posting regular update, no body will complain and everybody will be happy.

Raihanul · Post by **Raihanul** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:10 am

Anatol wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:28 pm
Hi, I am in a similar situation.
Applied on 30 Jan approval letter on 20 May, still, no invitation chased both HO and Council, generic answers from HO, Newham council said they do not have my name in their system yet.

I guess they are posting these invitation based on the council/area. As there are high risk/low-risk regions, I am assuming they do not post anything into a moderate or high-risk area, to avoid the risk of contamination.
However, my (Newham) council started running the ceremonies for over a month now, but I still did not get my invite. It's a bit weird but there is nothing more to do than wait, I am fairly positive next week should be a good week for most of us. Patience, brothers and sisters

Same. Newham council. Emailed them few times, they are unwilling to chase up with HO.

Mhmd2005 · Post by **Mhmd2005** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:07 pm

Hi , hope all are well, my Certificate arrived to my council but they refused to book a ceremony to me as still I didnt receive my invitation letter.
My approval was by email on 19/05/2020
My council is London , Brent
They confirmed they have my certificate since Tuesday 18/08/20
Is there any way to get a copy of the invitation letter as they told me it should be posted to me in the same day ( Tuesday) by the home office.

Malikg123 · Post by **Malikg123** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:28 pm

Don’t worry you will get it by next week it comes in second class post.

Mhmd2005 wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:07 pm
Hi , hope all are well, my Certificate arrived to my council but they refused to book a ceremony to me as still I didnt receive my invitation letter.
My approval was by email on 19/05/2020
My council is London , Brent
They confirmed they have my certificate since Tuesday 18/08/20
Is there any way to get a copy of the invitation letter as they told me it should be posted to me in the same day ( Tuesday) by the home office.

Tirinti · Post by **Tirinti** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:35 pm

ped4 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:07 pm
am abit confused now, i was approved 6,May, i haven't received an invite yet nor my council, but my question is some people approved in June or late May some have started receiving their invite. is the invite been sent randomly or i dont really understand

I think it depends on council. Some council, like Croydon where I live, haven't restarted ceremonies yet so their backlog is still growing and HO hasn't started sending them certificates since April. Other councils restarted a few weeks ago so they reducing their backlog and HO is sending them more certificates including approved in June and some councils has just restarted and so HO sent them certificates from April.

Anatol · Post by **Anatol** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 7:37 pm

Raihanul wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:10 am

Anatol wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:28 pm
Hi, I am in a similar situation.
Applied on 30 Jan approval letter on 20 May, still, no invitation chased both HO and Council, generic answers from HO, Newham council said they do not have my name in their system yet.

I guess they are posting these invitation based on the council/area. As there are high risk/low-risk regions, I am assuming they do not post anything into a moderate or high-risk area, to avoid the risk of contamination.
However, my (Newham) council started running the ceremonies for over a month now, but I still did not get my invite. It's a bit weird but there is nothing more to do than wait, I am fairly positive next week should be a good week for most of us. Patience, brothers and sisters
Same. Newham council. Emailed them few times, they are unwilling to chase up with HO.

That's good to know I'm not alone from Newham. I guess we'll receive the letter the same day. Will update here once I receive it, council seams to be annoyed by my questions and isn't really cooperative. We'll see, I am 95% confident we should receive our papers next week.

Jayrose17 · Post by **Jayrose17** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:10 pm

Enfield council recieved a batch. I was informed that they believe it will be weekly batches arriving from now on.
Application 31/12/19. Completed biometrics and submitted docs end Jan. Approval 4/06/20 e mail.
So still waiting for my cert to arrive.

Soo123 · Post by **Soo123** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:45 pm

Hi All

I know people who got their approvals in may and June are getting their certificates. If you live in the boroughs who has resumed ceremonies should get their approvals by next week or after the bank holiday and people who got their approvals in July should get the invitation letters in July should get the invitation letters by mid September.

Is anyone here who lives in Hillingdon? I spoke to them last week they haven’t received anything yet.
As they say good things happens to those who wait

U Aziz · Post by **U Aziz** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:14 am

Soo123 wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:45 pm
Hi All

I know people who got their approvals in may and June are getting their certificates. If you live in the boroughs who has resumed ceremonies should get their approvals by next week or after the bank holiday and people who got their approvals in July should get the invitation letters in July should get the invitation letters by mid September.

Is anyone here who lives in Hillingdon? I spoke to them last week they haven’t received anything yet.
As they say good things happens to those who wait

Hi
M from Hillingdon and waiting for almost 3 months after the approval, no invite from HO and council didn’t get anything either!

Gurly93 · Post by **Gurly93** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:32 am

Hi

I have received my approval last week after a long 10 months wait.. then couple of days later I received my ceremony invitation saying to contact my local council to book a ceremony within 21 days from the date of the letter, however when I call them goes straight to automated! Not sure wat to do does this mean they have my certificate? Anyone in this situation? Would appreciate any response thank u

Frou01 · Post by **Frou01** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 12:23 pm

Gurly93 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:32 am
Hi

I have received my approval last week after a long 10 months wait.. then couple of days later I received my ceremony invitation saying to contact my local council to book a ceremony within 21 days from the date of the letter, however when I call them goes straight to automated! Not sure wat to do does this mean they have my certificate? Anyone in this situation? Would appreciate any response thank u

On your councils website you will find an email address to contact them.
Just ad your ref number starting with 0 say you received an invitation (that means actually council has your certificate) and ask to book a date for the ceremony.

learner29 · Post by **learner29** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:03 pm

igheorghe wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:56 pm

learner29 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:11 pm
After receiving approval letter yesterday I.got relieved that the waiting will be over soon but to my surprise I.couldnt reach to my council today. Called them on registrar office numbers and all.numbers are on automated voice mails, seems like the registrar office workers are still under lock down and stay at home. The Council website still shows that annoying message of no ceremonies conducted.

After calling the main customer services the guy some european told me why you called the council about citizenship ceremony and said call the home office instead as it has got nothing to do with us. He had no clue what the Citizenship ceremony is. I had to explain to him and he then diverted my call to switchboard and got to the same automated messages.

It seems the council only deals with the council tax and parking tickets atm. Called them again and another guy answered and said he cant do anything but to.divert my call to the same switchboard which is automated as well. Automated message says you cant book anything over the phone now and use website for payments.

I didnt take a single day off from my work during the lockdown and the council staff still enjoying their stay at home. Even if you go to the council in person you wont be able to enter as security guards will.advise you to call them instead.

Lers see if thw same thing happens on monday too.
Not every council does ceremonies I believe. My local council does not but checked on https://www.gov.uk/organise-citizenship ... ny-council with my postcode and redirected my to the county council registrars who does it. Not saying you have not checked the gov website but just in case you haven't.. if your council did ceremonies, they would have known about it

Well I know they do conduct ceremonies as they have mentioned it on their website too. The Home Office letter also indicates me to contact the same council but the guy on the phone didnt have any idea and asked me to contact home office instead. After explaining to him he then diverted my call to the switchboard and call would end as usual. They are more interested in getting council tax or other money they are getting from us but they dont bother about ceremonies much and probably they are still working from home I meant not working at all. I worked for the same council and have witnessed such ceremonies my self.

learner29 · Post by **learner29** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:09 pm

Frou01 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 23, 2020 12:23 pm

Gurly93 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:32 am
Hi

I have received my approval last week after a long 10 months wait.. then couple of days later I received my ceremony invitation saying to contact my local council to book a ceremony within 21 days from the date of the letter, however when I call them goes straight to automated! Not sure wat to do does this mean they have my certificate? Anyone in this situation? Would appreciate any response thank u
On your councils website you will find an email address to contact them.
Just ad your ref number starting with 0 say you received an invitation (that means actually council has your certificate) and ask to book a date for the ceremony.

Same thing is happening to me too. You cant get them on the phone, you cant go in person to meet them and there is no email address on the website to contact them. Twitter has an account for the customer services which is inactive for years now. If you call the relevant numbers they are all automated or end after a single ring. If you call the main customer services number for the council they would say we just deal with the taxes and parking tickets etc. Dont even know who is our mayor.

Frou01 · Post by **Frou01** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:47 pm

I can tell from the posts many people are really fed up.
It’s been far over two months ago many parts of life went back to normal and we in department stores who deal with many customers and staff on a daily basis managed to work perfectly with health and safety requirements.
Put into place zoom trainings on health and safety still in May, had lots of PPE delivered far before stores opened to be perfectly prepared by the 15 June.

HO and councils missed our doing their bit at that stage.
They could have perfectly prepared trainings, rules, PPE and all it needs to start secure ceremonies from 15 June.
If they would have done organised all at the same time I’m sure at this stage they could have sorted their backlog, but they were disorganised and NOW they are dealing with their March backlog only like I was told by my council.

I find it astonishing in the department store I’m working the beauty department can offer beauty treatments, but councils can’t held 10 minute meetings handing out certificates.

If they don’t put in a better plan this week to speed up things proper I‘m sure the ones being approved in August waiting until next year for their ceremony.

Best to contact MPs and also write an email to HO complaints department.

Parisiana · Post by **Parisiana** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:41 am

Has anyone dealt with the Westminster council recently? Their website says that they resumed ceremonies on August 19th but I'm trying to understand if they managed to clear some of the existing backlog and if they started inviting people who got their approval in the past few weeks. Thanks

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