Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

Finally received the Invitation letter today (dated August 24th).

Approval Email: Mid June 2020
Council: Havering
Called but no ceremonies through October

Jayrose17 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:32 pm

New rules do not affect weddings, funerals offices etc. Will not affect ceremonies as long as social distancing adheared too.
Approved 4th June. Still waiting.

Not sure if group ceremonies would be considered the same as weddings and funerals, Hopefully it wont have any impact on group ceremonies as it would greatly decrease the speed of the backlog cleaning ...

Lopand wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:52 pm

Starting on Monday, social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal in England, indoors or outdoors. I assume that it will affect the councils' ability to offer group ceremonies (or even private ceremonies as well). Who knows if this isn't a sign for an upcoming full lockdown.

I've been waiting for my invitation letter since May. So frustrating.

Hi Lopand,

Same here. I remember that when checking the timelines - when waiting for the HO answer to my application - I realised that our times were very similar. In fact, our applications were approved the same day I believe

I haven't received any letter yet from the council nor from the Home Office. However, my situation is a little bit trickier than yours. I decided to chose Islington as the council to do the citizenship ceremony in, instead of Redbridge where I live right now.

It now turns out that Redbridge is being faster in doing citizenship ceremonies than Islington. Hence, not a good choice I am afraid...

Rabs wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:55 pm

Finally received the Invitation letter today (dated August 24th).

Approval Email: Mid June 2020
Council: Havering
Called but no ceremonies through October

Congratulations Rabs!

When did you apply?

Rabs wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:55 pm

Finally received the Invitation letter today (dated August 24th).

Applied January 2020
Approval Email: Mid June 2020
Council: Havering
Called but no ceremonies through October

*UPDATE:*

Received an email from Council Registrar at 4.15pm informing us of a slot at 6Pm which we were ecstatic to accept..... Its been a really long & tough journey, but finally British.

God Save the Queen !!!

Wish everyone all the best!!!

Rusland wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:02 pm

Lopand wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:52 pm

Starting on Monday, social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal in England, indoors or outdoors. I assume that it will affect the councils' ability to offer group ceremonies (or even private ceremonies as well). Who knows if this isn't a sign for an upcoming full lockdown.

I've been waiting for my invitation letter since May. So frustrating.

Hi Lopand,

Same here. I remember that when checking the timelines - when waiting for the HO answer to my application - I realised that our times were very similar. In fact, our applications were approved the same day I believe

I haven't received any letter yet from the council nor from the Home Office. However, my situation is a little bit trickier than yours. I decided to chose Islington as the council to do the citizenship ceremony in, instead of Redbridge where I live right now.

It now turns out that Redbridge is being faster in doing citizenship ceremonies than Islington. Hence, not a good choice I am afraid...

Sad but great to hear that we're in the same boat! You actually can't be sure if you made the right choice or not, because each council receives the batches of certificates in a different random way, so who knows. I truly hope that our journey will come to its end soon, I'm tired of looking in my mailbox everyday and repeatedly being disappointed. The wait is crazy.

Hi. Does anyone here have any experience with citizenship ceremonies at Reading council?

Lopand wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:52 pm

Sad but great to hear that we're in the same boat! You actually can't be sure if you made the right choice or not, because each council receives the batches of certificates in a different random way, so who knows. I truly hope that our journey will come to its end soon, I'm tired of looking in my mailbox everyday and repeatedly being disappointed. The wait is crazy.

Glad you are feeling like this, too. My mantra: another day, another empty letterbox...

Finally unexpected invitation letter with other junk mails today.
Approved in 10 March. Date on invitation letter 14May. Called Sheffield council but they have not resumed ceremonies and there is no certificate of my name among other certificates. Rang HO and asked to send Certificate and why it has not been sent. The lady at HO took my details and assured me to post it ASAP. I explained to council if I could have private ceremony and got replied no private or virtual ceremonies at the moment. But council would do something if they got my certificate. I think I am not fortunate enough as compared to recieve my invitation letter as i waited more than 6 months since my approval.
Is anyone here from Sheffield council and had their ceremonies done please?
At last thank you for the people here and admin. I am sorry being pain in ..... but it was an awful wait and stress.
Good luck all of you.

Welp, super duper helpful email from Brent council

"Thank you for your email.

Please contact Home Office for assistance as we only deal with the citizenship ceremonies.

Regards,"

Like this does not even remotely address my query

Small wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:32 pm

Finally unexpected invitation letter with other junk mails today.
Approved in 10 March. Date on invitation letter 14May. Called Sheffield council but they have not resumed ceremonies and there is no certificate of my name among other certificates. Rang HO and asked to send Certificate and why it has not been sent. The lady at HO took my details and assured me to post it ASAP. I explained to council if I could have private ceremony and got replied no private or virtual ceremonies at the moment. But council would do something if they got my certificate. I think I am not fortunate enough as compared to recieve my invitation letter as i waited more than 6 months since my approval.
Is anyone here from Sheffield council and had their ceremonies done please?
At last thank you for the people here and admin. I am sorry being pain in ..... but it was an awful wait and stress.
Good luck all of you.

Congratulations!!

Do you mind sharing the home office number that you called?

Thanks a lot.

It’s a 0300 number on letter. You need to tell them if you did not get your certificate. But they are not efficient on other enquiries

Small wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:31 pm

It’s a 0300 number on letter. You need to tell them if you did not get your certificate. But they are not efficient on other enquiries

I’ve called them just now, they’ve said I need to wait. He did say that HO is planning to clear all backlog by end of October. So hopefully soon!

That is fine but in my case it was HO fault not mine. They should have sent both.
Good luck

Doc2020 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:33 pm

Small wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:31 pm

It’s a 0300 number on letter. You need to tell them if you did not get your certificate. But they are not efficient on other enquiries

I’ve called them just now, they’ve said I need to wait. He did say that HO is planning to clear all backlog by end of October. So hopefully soon!

Interesting. As the backlog is growing everyday and since 3 months so many people get approved so quickly.
So I assume everyone waiting since April and the ones waiting just since yesterday are included in that backlog.

Hi Friends,

Here I am joining you all in the waiting list. Got an approval last week. I know it’s way too early for me to expect to receive an invitation for ceremony but I would like to know is anybody here who has done his/her ceremony recently at Leeds City Council? Just want to get the feeling how Leeds City Council is doing tried calling the Registrar office but all no luck (got an automated reply saying ceremonies have been suspended etc etc)

Many Thanks,
BlueSkies

Did anyone who moved houses at the beginning of lockdown have issues with where the invitation letter or certificate were sent?

I informed UKVI if my address change and received my approval via email in May. The email showed the correct address on it but I never received a physical letter. I tried calling UKVI and only managed to speak to the call centre operative who told me to wait until the end of October and that my certificate will be sent to the correct council. For my ease of mind I thought I'd check here if anyone was in a similar situation...

Rzee7 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:29 am

Did anyone who moved houses at the beginning of lockdown have issues with where the invitation letter or certificate were sent?

I informed UKVI if my address change and received my approval via email in May. The email showed the correct address on it but I never received a physical letter. I tried calling UKVI and only managed to speak to the call centre operative who told me to wait until the end of October and that my certificate will be sent to the correct council. For my ease of mind I thought I'd check here if anyone was in a similar situation...

Not the same situation, but I moved after already receiving approval. I informed them as instructed by my then local council of the address change (I have mail redirection set up anyway) but am yet to hear from them in terms of any confirmation they changed the address or anything of the sort. I don't even know if this will mean the council for the ceremony will change or not. Who knows, with the previous email I sent them it took them over a month to respond so who knows what will happen...

Rzee7 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:29 am

Did anyone who moved houses at the beginning of lockdown have issues with where the invitation letter or certificate were sent?

I informed UKVI if my address change and received my approval via email in May. The email showed the correct address on it but I never received a physical letter. I tried calling UKVI and only managed to speak to the call centre operative who told me to wait until the end of October and that my certificate will be sent to the correct council. For my ease of mind I thought I'd check here if anyone was in a similar situation...

Yes, I changed address a couple of times during the application and did not receive approval/invitation letter. I am worried about the letters being lost as well.

blueskies89 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:51 pm

Hi Friends,

Here I am joining you all in the waiting list. Got an approval last week. I know it’s way too early for me to expect to receive an invitation for ceremony but I would like to know is anybody here who has done his/her ceremony recently at Leeds City Council? Just want to get the feeling how Leeds City Council is doing tried calling the Registrar office but all no luck (got an automated reply saying ceremonies have been suspended etc etc)

Many Thanks,
BlueSkies

Yea i am with Leeds City council. I got approved in May but no ceremony yet. They are doing small group ceremonies though.

Rzee7 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:29 am

Did anyone who moved houses at the beginning of lockdown have issues with where the invitation letter or certificate were sent?

I informed UKVI if my address change and received my approval via email in May. The email showed the correct address on it but I never received a physical letter. I tried calling UKVI and only managed to speak to the call centre operative who told me to wait until the end of October and that my certificate will be sent to the correct council. For my ease of mind I thought I'd check here if anyone was in a similar situation...

ok that made me worry I moved houses after I sent My application. I uploaded a cover letter with my new address in my UKVI account before my biometrics appointment. My approval letter had my old address but I thought its because I used that address for my application. Should I be worried hat the case worker never read the cover letter that I uploaded? Thankfully I have set up mail redirection so I hope the invitation letter will not be lost.

Mayo101 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:59 am

blueskies89 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:51 pm

Hi Friends,

Here I am joining you all in the waiting list. Got an approval last week. I know it’s way too early for me to expect to receive an invitation for ceremony but I would like to know is anybody here who has done his/her ceremony recently at Leeds City Council? Just want to get the feeling how Leeds City Council is doing tried calling the Registrar office but all no luck (got an automated reply saying ceremonies have been suspended etc etc)

Many Thanks,
BlueSkies

Yea i am with Leeds City council. I got approved in May but no ceremony yet. They are doing small group ceremonies though.

Nice one. That’s good to hear Mayo101 let’s keep each other updated of any progress on the ceremonies.

Many Thanks

gbalague123 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:45 pm

hashmil wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:33 am

My ceremony will be held on Friday virtually!

I applied in February, and got my letter of inviation only in August. Though the letter was dated in March.

I called the council as soon as i got the letter, and they said there's a huge backlog and to get in touch early September - and to keep checking their website for details.

On the website there was an email address for the council - so yesterday i emailed them asking about whats happening. Today i got a call from the council saying that they can have a virtual ceremony via Microsoft Teams on Friday.

My council is Wandsworth Council in London btw.

Hey, same council as mine. When did you get your email approval? Congrats! Im still waiting.....

I never got an email confirmation. I applied mid Feb before the lockdown. I got the invitation straightaway via post mid August. However the letter was dated mid march! (the invitation had an extra page explaining that due to Covid ceremnies can be delayed etc). Then i called the council, and they just asked to check the wandsworth council website. On the website, under the "book a citizenship ceremony" section there's an email address they ask you to send the details of the invitation. I did, and they called me the very next day saying that they havent got my certificate from Home Office, and it might arrive around early september based on the date on my letter. So, earlier this week i emailed them again reminding them about the earlier conversation. And the very next day i got a call, and was booked for a virtual ceremony. This morning i attended the virtual ceremony via Microsoft Teams, and i'm happy to say that i'm a British Citizen now! (they will be posting the Naturalisaion certificate, which i'll get sometime next week, so i can apply for the passport)

londuk1 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:26 pm

Rzee7 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:29 am

Did anyone who moved houses at the beginning of lockdown have issues with where the invitation letter or certificate were sent?

I informed UKVI if my address change and received my approval via email in May. The email showed the correct address on it but I never received a physical letter. I tried calling UKVI and only managed to speak to the call centre operative who told me to wait until the end of October and that my certificate will be sent to the correct council. For my ease of mind I thought I'd check here if anyone was in a similar situation...

ok that made me worry I moved houses after I sent My application. I uploaded a cover letter with my new address in my UKVI account before my biometrics appointment. My approval letter had my old address but I thought its because I used that address for my application. Should I be worried hat the case worker never read the cover letter that I uploaded? Thankfully I have set up mail redirection so I hope the invitation letter will not be lost.

this advice probably doesnt help much right now. But with Royal Mail you can set up mail forwarding (you have to pay for it). when i moved once i was in the middle of a visa application, and did this (also informed Home Office) but they had sent the decision to my old address. But because of the mail forward i got it.

I've been following this thread for a while and I can see we're all in the same situation - waiting for our invitations.

I didn't see anyone post anything about Southampton, so I decided to chip in what I've got so far.

I submitted my application in the middle of lockdown because I finally had the time to put together all the documents I needed; couldn't submit my biometrics so it was put on hold. As soon as the biometric centre opened, I booked the first available appointment and submitted my application. I got my approval over email in July and since then I have heard nothing.

I emailed the council a few times asking if they have started receiving any certificates, if they have mine, if they have a backlog etc. and they have responded they have not received any documents from HO yet but it wasn't clear if they have received nothing whatsoever or if just they haven't received mine yet. They said once they get the certificate, they will write to me to book a ceremony.

So now I'm just waiting. My main concern is what if because of the second wave everyone is talking about, they decide to cancel all ceremonies yet again.

It was wrong of them to put the citizenship ceremonies in the same pile as weddings. I get that weddings are just as important however, for some people, the citizenship ceremony is much more important because they will finally get their document showing they are a citizen entitled to all of the perks that other Brits are entitled to. Just saying that a citizenship ceremony is a legal requirement, whereas a wedding is something you choose to have. (Don't mean to offend anyone but this is my opinion)

Anyway, rant over!