I have just noticed that at least one member with an EU state flag has mentioned that they might have to apply for an EU settled status if their citizenship ceremony is not completed before the year-end.
Well, the good news is that the deadline is actually 30 June 2021 for those who are currently holders of UK permanent residence documents, which are issued to EU nationals. Those who have ILR, i.e. indefinite leave to remain, which are issued to all nationals who qualify and apply for one, are not affected by this deadline.
https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-ci ... -to-remain
While I sincerely hope that ceremonies will not be delayed until after 30 June 2021 for those who have been approved already, I am sure that if it were to come to that, an alternative solution would be found by then.
On that note, I have emailed my MP, explaining the issue with ceremonies and suggesting a digital alternative, as we have already discussed in this thread.
Whilst my MP is fairly seasoned and had responded and acted upon all emails in the past, this would be quite a change, with implications for jobs at the Citizenship Ceremonies Support Team (CCST), not least because a digital option could make ceremonies redundant on a permanent basis.
Yet, change may happen anyway if the hiatus lasts well into 2021 - while I understand that many people are fine with being patient, which is admirable, what is really happening here is that the only real beneficiaries of these ceremonies are a couple of hundred Home Office employees with the CSST, at the expense of the tens of thousands of citizens-to-be. If there wasn't for the pandemic-induced delay, few would care, I guess, but with this mess exposing the needlessness of the in-person ritual in a digital age, I don't think that the situation is sustainable in perpetuity.
