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thats sad news.
That was expected though. I'm sad that the alternative way (virtual ceremonies) doesn't seem to work and that several months available weren't used to send all the certificates such that the councils could deal with it.
Thanks for the heads up. Updated my model with this and no material changes, your info is in line with other May approvals I have seen on this threads.Ade1111 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:21 pmAfternoon All,
My ceremony letter also just arrived! It went to my solicitor and it was dated 10th September and HO sent it out with 2nd class post which added to the delay. Anyway, I have called up my council (Richmond Upon Thames) and they are very efficient. My ceremony is now booked for next Tuesday on Microsoft TEAMS.
My timeline is applied 17th March and approved via email on 21st May.
Good luck to everyone still waiting!
I've called the Home Office and, apparently, they are still sticking with the deadline of the end of this month for clearing the backlog of approvals granted prior to 7 August 2020. This is broadly consistent with my model, so I am not binning it just yet.nnn15 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:24 pmThat was expected though. I'm sad that the alternative way (virtual ceremonies) doesn't seem to work and that several months available weren't used to send all the certificates such that the councils could deal with it.
I also got worried so I sent a very detailed email to a few registrar officers at my local Camden council asking them to clarify this. They confirmed almost immediately (replied to my email within 15 mins) that the certificates are still being sent. They also said they receive the certificates every 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem to fit in with your model. They also told me Home Office has informed them that the next batch which will arrive ‘early next week’ will ‘include invitations for those approved in June 2020’ (which includes myself hopefully given I was approved in early June).baybars1 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:15 pm
I've called the Home Office and, apparently, they are still sticking with the deadline of the end of this month for clearing the backlog of approvals granted prior to 7 August 2020. This is broadly consistent with my model, so I am not binning it just yet.
On a separate note, I doubt that a full lockdown, like the one imposed in March, is going to be introduced in the coming months because it would badly hurt the already weakened economy. They are more likely to further restrict people's freedom to hang out with those from different households than go and close all non-essential shops and public services, where social distancing and wearing of masks has reduced the risk of infection anyway.
While citizenship ceremonies are hardly a priority for this Government, they could consider outsourcing virtual ceremonies to a commercial provider, i.e. take councils out of the equation and send certificates to citizens directly, upon completion of the ceremony, much like printed passport booklets are sent directly to the applicants, not their respective local councils. Besides, I am sure that there are service providers who would do a five-minute video call for the juicy fee of £100+ per applicant. They had already outsourced acquisition of biometric data, where fees tend to be £100+ for paid in-person appointments, and doing something similar for citizenship ceremonies would be a logical (and, better still, a socially-distanced) application of an established practice.
Thanks for sharing the info. It makes sense that certificates are sent to councils in batches and I agree that accounting for that would simplify the model. You could well be right about the reason for the delay between when an invite is printed and when it finally reaches the recipient.uuee6543 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:35 pm
I also got worried so I sent a very detailed email to a few registrar officers at my local Camden council asking them to clarify this. They confirmed almost immediately (replied to my email within 15 mins) that the certificates are still being sent. They also said they receive the certificates every 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem to fit in with your model. They also told me Home Office has informed them that the next batch which will arrive ‘early next week’ will ‘include invitations for those approved in June 2020’ (which includes myself hopefully given I was approved in early June).
Incidentally while your model is fairly accurate I think you might be wrongly assuming that the certificate print date is synonymous with Home Office sending the certificate. Often they keep certificates for a long long time after printing them before they are sent. On this very forum there were people approved in April for example that got sent certificates recently with April/May/June print dates on them. I also don’t think it takes 9-20 days for a second class mail to arrive. It often arrives within 1-2 days and I think Post Office advertises up to 4 working days (including Saturdays). So the delay between print date and send date is probably due to them holding onto the certificates for some unknown reason.
The above makes sense. Because if by what I was also told by the HO when I called this afternoon.uuee6543 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:35 pmI also got worried so I sent a very detailed email to a few registrar officers at my local Camden council asking them to clarify this. They confirmed almost immediately (replied to my email within 15 mins) that the certificates are still being sent. They also said they receive the certificates every 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem to fit in with your model. They also told me Home Office has informed them that the next batch which will arrive ‘early next week’ will ‘include invitations for those approved in June 2020’ (which includes myself hopefully given I was approved in early June).
Incidentally while your model is fairly accurate I think you might be wrongly assuming that the certificate print date is synonymous with Home Office sending the certificate. Often they keep certificates for a long long time after printing them before they are sent. On this very forum there were people approved in April for example that got sent certificates recently with April/May/June print dates on them. I also don’t think it takes 9-20 days for a second class mail to arrive. It often arrives within 1-2 days and I think Post Office advertises up to 4 working days (including Saturdays). So the delay between print date and send date is probably due to them holding onto the certificates for some unknown reason.
Apologies, I just noticed that it was the Camden council. I am not surprised that they are so helpful at Camden because they were great when I was going through the application process and the citizenship ceremony ten years ago. Good stuff.uuee6543 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:35 pm
I also got worried so I sent a very detailed email to a few registrar officers at my local Camden council asking them to clarify this. They confirmed almost immediately (replied to my email within 15 mins) that the certificates are still being sent. They also said they receive the certificates every 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem to fit in with your model. They also told me Home Office has informed them that the next batch which will arrive ‘early next week’ will ‘include invitations for those approved in June 2020’ (which includes myself hopefully given I was approved in early June).
It’s funny you say this because I have been complaining about them to a certain extent hehe. I guess it’s different by email than over the phone though. By email I got replied to by an actual person (they replied from their email rather than the general CRS email address) eventually and a few people CCed. So I finally had someone knowledgeable to contact. Over the phone I didn’t have much luck I must say and those who replied were usually poorly informed.baybars1 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:10 pmApologies, I just noticed that it was the Camden council. I am not surprised that they are so helpful at Camden because they were great when I was going through the application process and the citizenship ceremony ten years ago. Good stuff.uuee6543 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:35 pm
I also got worried so I sent a very detailed email to a few registrar officers at my local Camden council asking them to clarify this. They confirmed almost immediately (replied to my email within 15 mins) that the certificates are still being sent. They also said they receive the certificates every 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem to fit in with your model. They also told me Home Office has informed them that the next batch which will arrive ‘early next week’ will ‘include invitations for those approved in June 2020’ (which includes myself hopefully given I was approved in early June).
Good to know.uuee6543 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:18 pmIt’s funny you say this because I have been complaining about them to a certain extent hehe. I guess it’s different by email than over the phone though. By email I got replied to by an actual person (they replied from their email rather than the general CRS email address) eventually and a few people CCed. So I finally had someone knowledgeable to contact. Over the phone I didn’t have much luck I must say and those who replied were usually poorly informed.
Hi secret.simon,secret.simon wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 7:00 pmIt is again worth remembering that the Home Office call centre is outsourced and that the person answering the phone may not have a complete or up-to-date knowledge of developments on this front. Various parts of the Home Office may be working at different speeds, especially with a large part working from home.
My compliments to @baybars1 for developing a model based on the data that we know and that was gathered from this site.
It is also worth remembering that it is just that, a model, an approximation based on data. It can change and will not be exact. But at the very least, it gives a broad (not precise) picture to set an expectation of when the certificates will be released.
I think he deserves our appreciation and our thanks for his selfless work.
Many thanks for your kind words.secret.simon wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 7:00 pmIt is again worth remembering that the Home Office call centre is outsourced and that the person answering the phone may not have a complete or up-to-date knowledge of developments on this front. Various parts of the Home Office may be working at different speeds, especially with a large part working from home.
My compliments to @baybars1 for developing a model based on the data that we know and that was gathered from this site.
It is also worth remembering that it is just that, a model, an approximation based on data. It can change and will not be exact. But at the very least, it gives a broad (not precise) picture to set an expectation of when the certificates will be released.
I think he deserves our appreciation and our thanks for his selfless work.
The information provided, more specifically the quote, looks to be straight from the Home Office, and likely applies to all councils ("National Panel for Registration colleagues").Hello Janis,
We have had a recent update from the Home Office which states:
"National Panel for Registration colleagues have been advised that the June citizenship certificates will be issued this coming Friday 2nd October and should be with the local registration service on Monday/Tuesday next week. Invitation letters to prospective citizens will also be dispatched a couple of days after the certificates are issued."
As you can see from the statement form the Home Office, they are slowly getting through the back log.
As soon as we have your file we will be back in touch.
Kind regards,
Morning Janis,JanisZiemelis wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:51 amI was able to extract the following information from my council, in Birmingham, when asked if they could advise what months certificates they have received last (as I'm trying to figure out how long of a wait I'm in for, having been approved at the start of July):
The information provided, more specifically the quote, looks to be straight from the Home Office, and likely applies to all councils ("National Panel for Registration colleagues").Hello Janis,
We have had a recent update from the Home Office which states:
"National Panel for Registration colleagues have been advised that the June citizenship certificates will be issued this coming Friday 2nd October and should be with the local registration service on Monday/Tuesday next week. Invitation letters to prospective citizens will also be dispatched a couple of days after the certificates are issued."
As you can see from the statement form the Home Office, they are slowly getting through the back log.
As soon as we have your file we will be back in touch.
Kind regards,
If so, hopefully this might give you guys a better idea on when to expect to receive these certificates. I'm guessing July's will come later in October, as others have highlighted here.
You have received an approval email. You will need to wait for an invitation letter in the post.askmeplz82 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:12 amGuys i got an email from Home Office that my application has been succesful. Do i have to wait for another email for invitation ? My council is open but can i book ceremony without invitation email ?
It's a tough one. You may want to book in advance, but out of courtesy, call them again at least two days beforehand, potentially to postpone in case that your certificate has not arrived at that point, to avoid wasting a slot.omarwan wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:02 pmI received the confirmation from the Home Office that my application for naturalization has been successful on 10th July and I have not received the invitation letter to book a ceremony with my local authority yet. I have contacted my local council and they confirmed for me that the ceremony for naturalization has been resumed and they can book me in, but they can't process the booking without the invitation letter from the Home Office. Any advice, please
