Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

dragon098 · Post by **dragon098** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:48 pm

londuk1 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:37 pm
Finally I received my invitation letter.

Date of application: 17/06/2020
Biometrics: 03/08/2020
Approval email: 06/08/2020
Invitation letter (date on the letter): 02/11/2020
Invitation letter (received): 02/12/2020
Citizenship ceremony: I emailed the register office at Wandsworth Council and I am waiting for ceremony date.

I don't know why but it took 1 month to receive the invitation letter. It was posted to my old address and delivered to me with the redirection service.

Congrats londuk1, finally your wait is over. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

May I ask, can you not book ceremony online via Wandsworth council website. Why do you need to email them? And if I am not wrong, the council already had your certificate isn't it, it is just that you were waiting for your invitation.

londuk1 · Post by **londuk1** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:52 pm

dragon098 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:48 pm

londuk1 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:37 pm
Finally I received my invitation letter.

Date of application: 17/06/2020
Biometrics: 03/08/2020
Approval email: 06/08/2020
Invitation letter (date on the letter): 02/11/2020
Invitation letter (received): 02/12/2020
Citizenship ceremony: I emailed the register office at Wandsworth Council and I am waiting for ceremony date.

I don't know why but it took 1 month to receive the invitation letter. It was posted to my old address and delivered to me with the redirection service.
Congrats londuk1, finally your wait is over. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

May I ask, can you not book ceremony online via Wandsworth council website. Why do you need to email them? And if I am not wrong, the council already had your certificate isn't it, it is just that you were waiting for your invitation.

Thank you

You can book online for a public ceremony. When I select to book a private ceremony it says to call the council. I called and they asked me to send an email to the register office. So I did and waiting, hopefully they have a slot soon.

Emeliajayne88 · Post by **Emeliajayne88** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:55 pm

nnn15 wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:10 pm

Emeliajayne88 wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:25 pm
I got my approval letter via email in June and I still am waiting on an invitation for a ceremony...

Have contact HO a number of times and they don't respond, neither do Hackney Council.
I had no luck with that either. I've done some research on what people in our situation could do:

1. If you call the HO helpline, they can now submit an escalation for your case as the HO confirmed all the paperwork for approvals up to August has been issued. They told me I should be contacted within 10 working days which hasn't passed yet. So don't know if they actually resolve the problem, but probably worth trying.

2. You can submit a complaint on the HO website. Apparently they have to respond within 20 working days, however, I understand most of the people on this forum who submitted complaints didn't get any case-specific details.

3. You can reach out to your MP, apparently the HO is obliged to respond to MP correspondence.

Unfortunately it seems that none of the options above helps resolve the problem quickly. But given the HO confirmed that all the paperwork for up to August applications has been generated and sent.. it doesn't look like they are planning to come back to our cases unless we remind them to

Thanks so much

. I tried calling the HO and no luck. Written to my MP twice and no response. Emailed the nationality email address loads of times (they kept getting my new address wrong)... but I have not yet made a complaint so will do that now! Haha... although can't imagine it will do much good really.

awilkes · Post by **awilkes** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:39 pm

Most posts are about people not receiving their invitation letters. I have the opposite; I received it on 21 nov, dated 16 nov. The letter says I have 21 days to sort the ceremony out and the certificate should reach the council in 2 days. I've been chasing the H&F for past 2 weeks and they keep saying we haven't received your certificate try again next week.

Clueless at this point.

FreshFromTheGrave · Post by **FreshFromTheGrave** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:15 pm

Yikes.

So I called Brent council today after them telling me they weren't accepting new bookings during lockdown (not even for December) after my ceremony was cancelled on account of that. Turns out that probably wasn't true because they're booked up until January now but also turns out my certificate which was sent out in September is expiring in December. So I've had to book and pay for a private ceremony anyways otherwise it would have been sent back.

So the 6 months that we're supposed to get for booking a ceremony isn't true and the council obviously had no intention of informing me the certificate was expiring.

Not the best system right now but I have a private ceremony booked for Friday and this whole ordeal will finally be over

macka284 · Post by **macka284** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:27 pm

FreshFromTheGrave wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:15 pm
Yikes.

So I called Brent council today after them telling me they weren't accepting new bookings during lockdown (not even for December) after my ceremony was cancelled on account of that. Turns out that probably wasn't true because they're booked up until January now but also turns out my certificate which was sent out in September is expiring in December. So I've had to book and pay for a private ceremony anyways otherwise it would have been sent back.

So the 6 months that we're supposed to get for booking a ceremony isn't true and the council obviously had no intention of informing me the certificate was expiring.

Not the best system right now but I have a private ceremony booked for Friday and this whole ordeal will finally be over

Oh no! So the certificates DO expire? Does that mean we're back to the 21 day window to book the ceremony? (How can that be if it's taking a month for the invitation to reach some people?) Would they actually send it back if it expired, and what would one do about it if that happened? Aghh.

nnn15 · Post by **nnn15** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:04 pm

Emeliajayne88 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:55 pm
Thanks so much . I tried calling the HO and no luck. Written to my MP twice and no response. Emailed the nationality email address loads of times (they kept getting my new address wrong)... but I have not yet made a complaint so will do that now! Haha... although can't imagine it will do much good really.

The escalation of a caseID is a new thing the helpline does (I understand it's been introduced in the end of November). The HO has confirmed they've fully cleared the backlog up to the end of August, so if you were approved before that but still haven't received the paperwork they can apparently start an investigation about what happened to your particular case.

I don't know if that actually works as I haven't heard anything from the HO yet. They are still within the timelines (2 weeks for an investigation). If you haven't filed for escalation yet it might be worth calling them again, explaining them since when you've been waiting and asking them to escalate. You will then receive an automatic email that you requested a progress update. I tried replying to that email, but they didn't respond. So I'm just waiting now again.

FreshFromTheGrave · Post by **FreshFromTheGrave** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:05 pm

macka284 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:27 pm
Oh no! So the certificates DO expire? Does that mean we're back to the 21 day window to book the ceremony? (How can that be if it's taking a month for the invitation to reach some people?) Would they actually send it back if it expired, and what would one do about it if that happened? Aghh.

I think the 21 days is nonsense because I just booked the private ceremony today when the letter came in September. But I believe Brent council have sent certificates back to the Home Office after expiry (it's what they're supposed to do) and then I have no idea, I guess you have to figure out how to get in touch with the home office and get them to print another one for you?

Information is scarce lol.

imz2020 · Post by **imz2020** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:20 am

Hi All,

I've e-mailed HO to inquire about my ceremony documents on NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk and they replied within 24 hours with the below response:

Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office. Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

I received approval in Oct 2020 so it will take a few weeks. Good luck everyone

nnn15 · Post by **nnn15** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:26 am

An update for the long haulers:

- still no luck with the HO support channels (emails, phone helpline, complaints),
- I received a response from my MP. The HO told them my letter was sent back in August.

I reached out to my MP significantly later than the paperwork was supposedly sent, so it's obvious it wasn't received by then. The chances it is going to arrive after 4 months are very slim. My council hasn't received my certificate either, so if both items were issued they were both lost. The HO hasn't provided any explanation, so I guess I will have to follow up with the MP.

eonatura · Post by **eonatura** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:25 am

imz2020 wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:20 am
Hi All,

I've e-mailed HO to inquire about my ceremony documents on NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk and they replied within 24 hours with the below response:

Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office. Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

I received approval in Oct 2020 so it will take a few weeks. Good luck everyone

I received the same email this morning. I was approved on September 29th and given that majority of cases approved until mid to late September already received their documentation, I suspect that this could be a generic email. We will have to wait and see.

Doc12345 · Post by **Doc12345** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:33 am

JETK wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:50 pm

Doc12345 wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:13 pm

JETK wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:08 pm
I called in home office 3 times today to discuss my situation as my certificate was arrived at council on 26th Oct and was sent back to home office on 3rd November due to printing error(this explain “external checks”). they assured me that they have sent out certificates for all who were approved before 31st August and the letters were sent on 19th November so should be expecting my letter by 4th of December.

I am scared to trust them but I will wait until 4th December.
Jetk any news? I call them and they told me the same thing.

Hello Doc1234.. no there is no update. I called HO 4 times since yesterday. One said we sent certificates for everyone who approved before 31st august. Second said oh you shouldn’t ignore when CT team email and tell you they are doing further checks. 3rd one said we cannot comment you just need to wait. And this morning a lady said you email citizenship support so when I said I already emailed them 21 days ago she said they will reply you within 30 days.

So honestly I don’t know what’s happening.

My certificate was arrived to my council and next day home office recalled my certificate and when I asked my council they said May be because “you had previous address”

What I don’t understand is that I got confirmation from home office that they have updated my address about 2 months ago. So now I just have no idea what is happening.

Hi jetk did you get any update?

POPPIES · Post by **POPPIES** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:57 am

POPPIES wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:57 pm

mrmo93 wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:25 pm

Abxnair wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:04 pm

jasmine89 wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 29, 2020 1:52 am
Hi all,

Has Anyone from October approval received their invitation letter ? Stiill waiting
Late September approvals are getting invitations now. Hopefully, October approvals should be getting invitations by the end of this week or early next week.
I am approved on 7th October and waiting!

Woo Im 12th October, so hopefully ill get it in mid december
hi

im approvaled 16 of september there is no any letter or phone call.

Hi all,

Had my ceremony today, please see my timeline / details below.

Date of Application: 30th may 2020
Date of Biometrics Appointment: 4th September 2020
Date of Approval: 16 of September 2020 via Email (PDF attachment)
Date Ceremony Letter Received: 2th December 2020 1 pm (arrived through Royal Mail )
I have called council at 4 pm for Private Ceremony then they booked Ceremony today at 10.30 am
( so i have become British citizen in 20 hours ) even they have been surprised)
Date on Ceremony Letter: 3th December 2020
Date of Ceremony: Private ceremony 3th December 2020

Good luck to everyone and will update you again about my passport period.

if you have any idea please share with me.

Thanks

Liai · Post by **Liai** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:51 pm

Hello,
I contacted UKVI and got this response~
Good Morning

Thank you for your enquiry below.

I am pleased to advise that your certificate will be despatched to your local authority in the next 10 days and your ceremony invitation sent to your representatives address on the same day. This will be sent by second class post and should arrive in the next 10 days.

On receipt of your invitation please check your local authority website for further information about Citizenship Ceremony bookings over coming weeks for the most up to date information in your local area.

Kind regard

UKVI

I don’t know if this is a generic reply but it made be pleased. I just hope I received the invitation soon. I got my approval at the end of September. Fingers crossed they deliver.

naruto · Post by **naruto** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:06 pm

Liai wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:51 pm
Hello,
I contacted UKVI and got this response~
Good Morning

Thank you for your enquiry below.

I am pleased to advise that your certificate will be despatched to your local authority in the next 10 days and your ceremony invitation sent to your representatives address on the same day. This will be sent by second class post and should arrive in the next 10 days.

On receipt of your invitation please check your local authority website for further information about Citizenship Ceremony bookings over coming weeks for the most up to date information in your local area.

Kind regard

UKVI

I don’t know if this is a generic reply but it made be pleased. I just hope I received the invitation soon. I got my approval at the end of September. Fingers crossed they deliver.

Some hope at least!!

Sounds like a general automated response, however when was your approval date?

JadDip · Post by **JadDip** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:40 pm

Hello everyone,

I see some of you either received their letters but the council didn't receive the certificate but the common is the council receiving the certificate and letter has not arrived.

My case is different, my council has the certificate and I have the letter for 3 weeks now, and the council refuses to book ceremonies for anyone. Is this normal? are they allowed to suspend the ceremonies without giving any further information?

Thanks

fandorin · Post by **fandorin** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 7:16 pm

fandorin wrote: ↑
Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:24 pm
I've been a silent reader of the forum for months. I'm finally one step closer to the British citizenship. I've just received my invitation letter from HO today.

Applied: 03/08/2020
UKVCAS: 27/08/2020
Approval: 16/09/2020 by email
Invitation: 21/11/2020 (date on letter 16/11/2020)
Ceremony: I'll call to the council on Monday. There is no online booking system
Council: Reading

I had my ceremony in Reading Council today. It was quick, just 10 minutes. Just me, no one else. I booked it for free.

Applied: 03/08/2020
UKVCAS: 27/08/2020
Approval: 16/09/2020 by email
Invitation: 21/11/2020 (date on letter 16/11/2020)
Ceremony: 03/12/2020
Council: Reading

Thanks for this forum. See you in the passport forum

null1639 · Post by **null1639** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:22 pm

Hello, finally I've done my ceremony. Here's my timeline :

Application submitted : 18/05/20 via online
Application approval : 18/09/20 received by email
Ceremony invitation : 01/12/20 received by post
Date on letter : 19/11/20
Ceremony : 02/12/20 private (free) at Westminster council

Thank you all for your support. This forum has been very helpful for the past 14 years! Believe it or not, it does take that long for me to come to this end line

Good luck to everyone!

woabgh · Post by **woabgh** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:31 pm

imz2020 wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:20 am
Hi All,

I've e-mailed HO to inquire about my ceremony documents on NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk and they replied within 24 hours with the below response:

Upon investigation I can confirm that your citizenship ceremony documents have not yet been printed or despatched to the local authority. Your citizenship paperwork will be generated in coming weeks when current restrictions due to Coronavirus are eased.

In normal circumstances customers were required to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office. Due to the current circumstances we have extended this period to six months. We will keep this under constant review. Please be assured that no adverse decisions will be made on your application because of delays caused by Coronavirus (unless there is a material change in your circumstances, for example, you are convicted of a criminal offence).

I received approval in Oct 2020 so it will take a few weeks. Good luck everyone

Thanks for sharing the reply and sorry to come at you like this, but if you received your approval in Oct 2020, that means you were advised in your approval letter to wait for 12 weeks before contacting the Home Office. Why then would you write to them only halfway into this timeline?
I agree this is a rather long wait but sadly this is because of impatient individuals like you that the HO has huge backlogs to deal with and will now take more than 30 days to reply to individual queries, and still hasn't processed certificates or reasonable escalation queries of people that have been waiting for much, much longer than that...
Please be considerate and wait for the full recommended period before reaching out to them, otherwise it will likely make it worse for the rest of us.

JETK · Post by **JETK** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:03 am

Doc12345 wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:33 am

JETK wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:50 pm

Doc12345 wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:13 pm

JETK wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:08 pm
I called in home office 3 times today to discuss my situation as my certificate was arrived at council on 26th Oct and was sent back to home office on 3rd November due to printing error(this explain “external checks”). they assured me that they have sent out certificates for all who were approved before 31st August and the letters were sent on 19th November so should be expecting my letter by 4th of December.

I am scared to trust them but I will wait until 4th December.
Jetk any news? I call them and they told me the same thing.

Hello Doc1234.. no there is no update. I called HO 4 times since yesterday. One said we sent certificates for everyone who approved before 31st august. Second said oh you shouldn’t ignore when CT team email and tell you they are doing further checks. 3rd one said we cannot comment you just need to wait. And this morning a lady said you email citizenship support so when I said I already emailed them 21 days ago she said they will reply you within 30 days.

So honestly I don’t know what’s happening.

My certificate was arrived to my council and next day home office recalled my certificate and when I asked my council they said May be because “you had previous address”

What I don’t understand is that I got confirmation from home office that they have updated my address about 2 months ago. So now I just have no idea what is happening.
Hi jetk did you get any update?

Yes, so yesterday they replied back with saying I was approved in Error and they shall notify me as soon as they have decision made. So all this time I have been waiting since August was waste of time. I am not sure who do I go to complain about this as in August I was informed in writing that I am approved and left me there hanging. They didn’t notify me when my council sent my certificate back until I chased them over and over again. When I confronted case worker saying my council told me that you recalled my certificate then case worker told me that I was approved in error otherwise they wouldn’t have told me. And every time I call home office number they tell me I should expect my certificate by 7th December as they have sent all August approvals. It is vicious circle really, So now I have lost all hopes and I am not bothered anymore.

imz2020 · Post by **imz2020** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:36 am

@woabgh you have no idea of my circumstances or why I followed up with HO and I am not here to justify to you so please don't come at me as we are all waiting and this forum is meant for people to support each other and not throw their frustrations on others. Your comment added no value to this forum just negativity that no one needs. I am entitled to do what I want, when i want and to share with this forum that is full of empathetic and caring people. Please be more considerate when addressing others as you don't know what they are going through nor the urgency of their situations. Do Better

MALCOM2 · Post by **MALCOM2** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:39 am

Im sorry to hear that u was approved by error. So sad and scary. Why doing that to someone.dont give up please. I have got approval letter by email as well. That’s mean anything can happen. So scary

Oria · Post by **Oria** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:19 am

imz2020 wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:36 am
@woabgh you have no idea of my circumstances or why I followed up with HO and I am not here to justify to you so please don't come at me as we are all waiting and this forum is meant for people to support each other and not throw their frustrations on others. Your comment added no value to this forum just negativity that no one needs. I am entitled to do what I want, when i want and to share with this forum that is full of empathetic and caring people. Please be more considerate when addressing others as you don't know what they are going through nor the urgency of their situations. Do Better

IMZ2020. I totally agree with you. We need to keep it as positive and realistic as possible. This is a forum where people can share their experiences. We obviously have no influence Whatsoeveover what the HO does vis-à-vis the dispatching of certificates.

Can I perhaps ask you what date you had received your Approval in October?

Thank you.

askmeplz82 · Post by **askmeplz82** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 3:58 am

JETK wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:03 am

Yes, so yesterday they replied back with saying I was approved in Error and they shall notify me as soon as they have decision made. So all this time I have been waiting since August was waste of time. I am not sure who do I go to complain about this as in August I was informed in writing that I am approved and left me there hanging. They didn’t notify me when my council sent my certificate back until I chased them over and over again. When I confronted case worker saying my council told me that you recalled my certificate then case worker told me that I was approved in error otherwise they wouldn’t have told me. And every time I call home office number they tell me I should expect my certificate by 7th December as they have sent all August approvals. It is vicious circle really, So now I have lost all hopes and I am not bothered anymore.

OH NO..... sad news ... I am worried now as well. is it common ?

askmeplz82 · Post by **askmeplz82** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:14 am

just found this in the guidance

" certificate of citizenship may be withdrawn if it is found to have been
obtained by fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact, and that this may
affect my permission to remain in the UK. "

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

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