UKM application experience and timeline

Hi . Congratulations on your successful submission . I am going to apply online for UKM (Romein) on the similar model of mother receives the right to citizenship by marriage to a person who has the right to citizenship by descent through his UK born parents. This is the model where the applicant is born before 1983 and the marriage occurred before 1949. I hope you can assist me with some questions based on your experiences .

1. When using the online submission process, is it allowed to submit some documents during the online process and after the online submission is completed to then supply additional documents at a later date? Perhaps also using the online system, or via courier as hard copy? Or must all documents be submitted during the online application process and no further documents will be accepted after that process is completed?

2. After completing the online registration process, how much time is allowed for sending the hard copies of documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc)?

3. For the documents I need to supply with my application (including birth certificates, marriage certificates) can these be simply copies of the originals? Or must they be original copies as issued by the respective births deaths and marriages Registries of the relevant governments? (In my case the UK government and Australian State governments.)

Also, if the documents originate from a foreign government registry (some of mine will come from Australia) then must these foreign documents also be notarised / apostilled by the issuing agency?

Thank you for your guidance on the points. .

w0mbat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:51 pm

Hi . Congratulations on your successful submission . I am going to apply online for UKM (Romein) on the similar model of mother receives the right to citizenship by marriage to a person who has the right to citizenship by descent through his UK born parents. This is the model where the applicant is born before 1983 and the marriage occurred before 1949. I hope you can assist me with some questions based on your experiences .

1. When using the online submission process, is it allowed to submit some documents during the online process and after the online submission is completed to then supply additional documents at a later date? Perhaps also using the online system, or via courier as hard copy? Or must all documents be submitted during the online application process and no further documents will be accepted after that process is completed?

2. After completing the online registration process, how much time is allowed for sending the hard copies of documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc)?

3. For the documents I need to supply with my application (including birth certificates, marriage certificates) can these be simply copies of the originals? Or must they be original copies as issued by the respective births deaths and marriages Registries of the relevant governments? (In my case the UK government and Australian State governments.)

Also, if the documents originate from a foreign government registry (some of mine will come from Australia) then must these foreign documents also be notarised / apostilled by the issuing agency?

Thank you for your guidance on the points. .

As far as I am aware, the Romeine route is not available to commonwealth country citizens.

https://www.fragomen.com/insights/decis ... nship.html

I read that there are non-standard routes to obtaining BC made possible by Romein. The press articles can be general in nature and address only the most obvious types of application/s based on Romein - and therefore can be misleading if they do not also specifically advise readers to check for other (non-standard) options made possible by Romein. Successful non-standard examples have been posted on this forum... for example in 2018 by user "sepata' who obtained BC when both parents were born in Australia. To quote from the sepata post on Fri May 25 2018 at 8.39am:
"Eligibility: like the OP my case is non-standard. Both my parents were born in Australia and only my paternal grandfather was UK born. However, my parents married before 1.1.49, when my father became a CUKC by descent (under BNA 1948) and my mother, through marriage, became a CUKC other than by descent. I was born after 1949 (and before 1983), so acquired right of abode in the UK from my grandfather, and when section 4C of BNA 1981 was amended in 2010 to end gender discrimination, I could acquire British citizenship through my mother (section 4C(5) confirms her status as a citizen otherwise than by descent).”


w0mbat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:51 pm

Hi . Congratulations on your successful submission . I am going to apply online for UKM (Romein) on the similar model of mother receives the right to citizenship by marriage to a person who has the right to citizenship by descent through his UK born parents. This is the model where the applicant is born before 1983 and the marriage occurred before 1949. I hope you can assist me with some questions based on your experiences .

1. When using the online submission process, is it allowed to submit some documents during the online process and after the online submission is completed to then supply additional documents at a later date? Perhaps also using the online system, or via courier as hard copy? Or must all documents be submitted during the online application process and no further documents will be accepted after that process is completed?

2. After completing the online registration process, how much time is allowed for sending the hard copies of documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc)?

3. For the documents I need to supply with my application (including birth certificates, marriage certificates) can these be simply copies of the originals? Or must they be original copies as issued by the respective births deaths and marriages Registries of the relevant governments? (In my case the UK government and Australian State governments.)

Also, if the documents originate from a foreign government registry (some of mine will come from Australia) then must these foreign documents also be notarised / apostilled by the issuing agency?

Thank you for your guidance on the points. .

Hi w0mbat. This was my experience:

1. There was no option to submit documents online for the UKM application. All documents were submitted as hard copies via courier/post.

2. I submitted my online application on 23 Oct 2021. I received a letter explaining the biometric enrolment procedure on 5 Jan 2022. In that email it stated: "If you have yet to supply your supporting documents for your application please send your documentation to the address below by registered post by 2/2/2022. Please include a cover letter stating your case id XXXXXXXX."
So I was allowed about 3 months.

3. This was the instruction in the email from Home Office: "You can submit photocopies of your documents as long as they are certified by a solicitor, notary public or justice of the peace. Please note each page of the passport should be certified including the blank pages."
All the documents I sent were photocopies of the originals (including my passport) that had been certified. I included a cover letter that explained that I was applying for registration as a BC under section 4C of the BNA of 1981 and outlined how I met the requirements for registration. I also explained that I needed my passport for travel purposes and was therefore including a certified copy (including blank pages).

4. I had my South African birth certificate apostilled and submitted certifed copies of both the certificate and the apostille. BUT my sister did not have her South African birth certificate apostilled and it was accepted.

I haven't read any very recent posts about timelines so thought I would share my experience thus far. My advice so far is similar to other posts, you want to get your referee forms completed before submitting the online form. When they asked me for available times/days for the biometric screening I stated - Mon-Fri 8-4pm.

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: American
Applying from: USA
Method of application: Online with documents sent by FedEx to Liverpool
Date of application: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgment of application: Payment acknowledged Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date supporting documents sent: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date of receipt by UKVI: (confirmation from FedEx): Sept 20, 2022 (Tuesday)
Date of letter requesting biometrics: Sept 24, 2022 (Saturday) - responded immediately with available time and they responded back on Sept 28, 2022 (Wednesday)
Biometrics appointment date: Oct 24, 2022 (Monday)
Biometrics done: TBD
Date of approval: TBA
Date of ceremony: TBA
Date applied for passport: TBA
Date passport received: TBA

Here are my deets...

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK (I'm here as a visitor. Immigration attorney said it would be faster to put in the application while I was here.)
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Home Office asks for spouse information (which is already in my application, but whatever): 25 August 2022 I was on vacation and didn't see this email!
Home Office again asks for spouse information: 22 Sept 2022 This time I saw it and responded, and then panicked when I found the earlier email I never opened. Oh well, a month lost!

Now just waiting...

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: United States
Applying from: United States
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgement of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment acknowledged: 3 JUL 2022
References signed: 10 JUL 2022
Reference photos taken: 15 JUL 2022
Date supporting documents sent (mailed): 18 JUL 2022
Date of receipt by UKVI (confirmation from EMS): NA
Date of email requesting biometrics: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email setting up biometrics date: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email and letter received confirming biometric appointment: 18 AUG 2022
Biometrics appointment date: 15 SEP 2022
Biometrics done: 15 SEP 2022
Follow-up email from Nationality Biometrics overseas: NA
Date of approval: 12 OCT 2022
Date of approval letter received: 24 OCT 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony invitation: WAITING
Date of citizenship ceremony: WAITING

Thank you for posting your timeline and congrats! It was encouraging to read that you received notice of approval one month after the biometrics.

I just had my Biometrics done yesterday (24th), so now I wait.

Gallagheria wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 25, 2022 4:10 am

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: United States
Applying from: United States
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgement of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment acknowledged: 3 JUL 2022
References signed: 10 JUL 2022
Reference photos taken: 15 JUL 2022
Date supporting documents sent (mailed): 18 JUL 2022
Date of receipt by UKVI (confirmation from EMS): NA
Date of email requesting biometrics: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email setting up biometrics date: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email and letter received confirming biometric appointment: 18 AUG 2022
Biometrics appointment date: 15 SEP 2022
Biometrics done: 15 SEP 2022
Follow-up email from Nationality Biometrics overseas: NA
Date of approval: 12 OCT 2022
Date of approval letter received: 24 OCT 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony invitation: WAITING
Date of citizenship ceremony: WAITING

Wow, approval less than a month after your biometrics appt - that's amazing! You will have to tell me what sort of fairy dust you sprinkled on your application. Was it a Romein application or something else?

I am not a Romein applicant, so maybe that is why. My mother was born in the UK to American parents, so she was brought back to the US as a child.

Happy day for me. My British citizenship application has been approved!!!! Only 3.5 months from when I submitted my application.

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK (I'm here as a visitor. Immigration attorney said it would be faster to put in the application while I was here.)
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Home Office asks for spouse information (which is already in my application, but whatever): 25 August 2022 I was on vacation and didn't see this email!
Home Office again asks for spouse information: 22 Sept 2022 This time I saw it and responded, and then panicked when I found the earlier email I never opened. Oh well, a month lost!
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!! My county council has not yet received my naturalisation certificate. The Home Office says this takes one or two days.
Citizenship ceremony scheduled:
Citizenship ceremony takes place:
Passport application filed:
Passport received:

EquinoxHorizon wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:33 am

Happy day for me. My British citizenship application has been approved!!!! Only 3.5 months from when I submitted my application.

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK (I'm here as a visitor. Immigration attorney said it would be faster to put in the application while I was here.)
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Home Office asks for spouse information (which is already in my application, but whatever): 25 August 2022 I was on vacation and didn't see this email!
Home Office again asks for spouse information: 22 Sept 2022 This time I saw it and responded, and then panicked when I found the earlier email I never opened. Oh well, a month lost!
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!! My county council has not yet received my naturalisation certificate. The Home Office says this takes one or two days.
Citizenship ceremony scheduled:
Citizenship ceremony takes place:
Passport application filed:
Passport received:

Congratulations!

Update:

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: American
Applying from: USA
Method of application: Online with documents sent by FedEx to Liverpool
Date of application: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgment of application: Payment acknowledged Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date supporting documents sent: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date of receipt by UKVI: (confirmation from FedEx): Sept 20, 2022 (Tuesday)
Date of letter requesting biometrics: Sept 24, 2022 (Saturday) - responded immediately with available time and they responded back on Sept 28, 2022 (Wednesday)
Biometrics appointment date: Oct 24, 2022 (Monday)
Biometrics was done: Oct 24, 2022 (Monday)

Dec 8, 2022 - received UKVI survey email - I have read that this pre-dates possible approvals, so keeping a positive outlook. Out of curiosity I clicked the link to take the survey, 1st question was about age and the next was if you had received a decision in the past 3 months. I hit 'no' for this 2nd question and it ended the survey.

Fingers crossed that receiving the survey is the indication to approval.

Best of luck to everyone!

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: United States
Applying from: United States
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgement of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment acknowledged: 3 JUL 2022
References signed: 10 JUL 2022
Reference photos taken: 15 JUL 2022
Date supporting documents sent (mailed): 18 JUL 2022
Date of email requesting biometrics: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email setting up biometrics date: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email and letter received confirming biometric appointment: 18 AUG 2022
Biometrics appointment date: 15 SEP 2022
Biometrics done: 15 SEP 2022
Date of approval: 12 OCT 2022
Date of approval letter received: 24 OCT 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony invitation: 13 December 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony letter received: 17 December 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony (MS Teams):


Just received the letter today. I have to call the consulate on Monday to set up an MS Teams ceremony. It said the citizenship certificate will be mailed via UPS after that.

Gallagheria wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 17, 2022 11:13 pm

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: United States
Applying from: United States
Method of application: Online
Date of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgement of application: 3 JUL 2022
Payment acknowledged: 3 JUL 2022
References signed: 10 JUL 2022
Reference photos taken: 15 JUL 2022
Date supporting documents sent (mailed): 18 JUL 2022
Date of email requesting biometrics: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email setting up biometrics date: 16 JUL 2022
Date of email and letter received confirming biometric appointment: 18 AUG 2022
Biometrics appointment date: 15 SEP 2022
Biometrics done: 15 SEP 2022
Date of approval: 12 OCT 2022
Date of approval letter received: 24 OCT 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony invitation: 13 December 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony letter received: 17 December 2022
Date of citizenship ceremony (MS Teams):


Just received the letter today. I have to call the consulate on Monday to set up an MS Teams ceremony. It said the citizenship certificate will be mailed via UPS after that.

Thank you for posting an update and Congrats!
A couple of questions if you don't mind, Did you receive a survey email from UKVI? Did you receive approval via email and then by post?

Thank you

I got the survey on 7 NOV. All notifications have been by letter. No emails, except the biometric enrollment.

Update

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK (I'm here as a visitor. Immigration attorney said it would be faster to put in the application while I was here.)
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Home Office asks for spouse information (which is already in my application, but whatever): 25 August 2022 I was on vacation and didn't see this email!
Home Office again asks for spouse information: 22 Sept 2022 This time I saw it and responded, and then panicked when I found the earlier email I never opened.
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!!
Citizenship ceremony scheduled: 28 November 2022 (It took a week for the registration certificate to make it to the county council.)
Citizenship ceremony takes place: 10 January 2023 (I had the option of scheduling a private ceremony as early as 8 December but opted not to as it cost GBP 295.)
Passport application filed: I'm planning to file it the day of my ceremony.
Passport received:

Great. I took my earlier today but they made me do it on MS Teams. I have to wait for the certificate to arrive in the mail, and then apply for the passport. The lady stated it may be early January because of the holidays.

Congrats to you both! (EquinoxHorizon and Gallagheria). and thank you for sharing your experience.

I am still waiting. Nothing received by post yet, the last communication was the UKVI survey email on 8 Dec.

Update:

Eligibility criteria: UKM
Nationality: American
Applying from: USA
Method of application: Online with documents sent by FedEx to Liverpool
Date of application Online: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Payment method: Credit card
Date of acknowledgment of application: Payment acknowledged Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date supporting documents sent via FedEx: Sept 16, 2022 (Friday)
Date of receipt by UKVI: (confirmation from FedEx): Sept 20, 2022 (Tuesday)
Date of email requesting biometrics: Sept 24, 2022 (Saturday) - responded immediately with available time and they responded back on Sept 28, 2022 (Wednesday)
Biometrics appointment date: Oct 24, 2022 (Monday)
Biometrics was done: Oct 24, 2022 (Monday)

Dec 8, 2022 - received UKVI survey email - I have read that this pre-dates possible approvals, so keeping a positive outlook. Out of curiosity I clicked the link to take the survey, 1st question was about age and the next was if you had received a decision in the past 3 months. I hit 'no' for this 2nd question and it ended the survey.

Dec 28, 2022 - sent an email to furthernationalenquiry, since I have yet to receive any email or letter since receiving the survey email on 8 Dec. I know it wasn't the 6 months that they ask you to wait, but thought I would give it a shot.

Dec 29, 2022 - received an email reply from furthernationalenquiry, they stated that my citizen invitation letter was dispatched on 18 November 2022 and can take 12-16 weeks to arrive.

So, I have been approved!! but have not received any letter or email with the decision. I will wait for the ceremony letter that they confirmed was sent out Nov 18th. I don't fully trust my local mail service where I live, wondering if my approval letter was lost in the US post.

Congratulations, les1419rby! That's great news. But how frustrating that it takes 12-16 weeks?? I mean, I know the postal service isn't what it once was but seriously? I was not aware that letters could even remain in the system that long.

Where did you sign up to do your ceremony? Could you contact that location to inquire if they have received your registration certificate? I was able to schedule my ceremony once my location had received my certificate; it was independent of receiving the letter. That was not in the US though. It is however worth a shot, imho.

Update

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!!
Citizenship ceremony scheduled: 28 November 2022 (It took a week for the registration certificate to make it to the county council.)
Citizenship ceremony takes place: 10 January 2023 (I had the option of scheduling a private ceremony as early as 8 December but opted not to as it cost GBP 295.)
Passport application filed: 10 January 2023
Passport documents sent: 12 January 2023
Passport received:

EquinoxHorizon wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 12, 2023 1:29 pm

Congratulations, les1419rby! That's great news. But how frustrating that it takes 12-16 weeks?? I mean, I know the postal service isn't what it once was but seriously? I was not aware that letters could even remain in the system that long.

Where did you sign up to do your ceremony? Could you contact that location to inquire if they have received your registration certificate? I was able to schedule my ceremony once my location had received my certificate; it was independent of receiving the letter. That was not in the US though. It is however worth a shot, imho.

Thank you for the reply to my post...

Super frustrating. I have not received anything via the post at all. Only emails, for the Biometrics and then the reply to my email enquiry. Haven't received an approval letter (yet). All they said in the email reply was that they dispatched the ceremony invite. So, does that mean they sent it to me or that they sent it to the closest Consulate (like you pointed out). I have not been given a choice to pick a Consulate but would assume it would be Chicago. I will take you up on your suggestion and reach out to them. Also have on my calendar for late this month, to email them back since it will be at the 12 week mark. Sooo close but still in limbo.

EquinoxHorizon wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 12, 2023 1:39 pm

Update

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!!
Citizenship ceremony scheduled: 28 November 2022 (It took a week for the registration certificate to make it to the county council.)
Citizenship ceremony takes place: 10 January 2023 (I had the option of scheduling a private ceremony as early as 8 December but opted not to as it cost GBP 295.)
Passport application filed: 10 January 2023
Passport documents sent: 12 January 2023
Passport received:

I got my certificate of registration today and began the passport application. Do I need to send the same documents (my US passport and the certificate of registration) that they just sent me back, or just copies? Thanks.

EquinoxHorizon wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 10:07 pm

Update

Eligibility criteria: UKM (Romein)
Nationality: USA
Applying from: UK (I'm here as a visitor. Immigration attorney said it would be faster to put in the application while I was here.)
Online application submitted: 28 July 2022 (All documents scanned and submitted online)
Date of biometrics: 18 August 2022
Home Office asks for spouse information (which is already in my application, but whatever): 25 August 2022 I was on vacation and didn't see this email!
Home Office again asks for spouse information: 22 Sept 2022 This time I saw it and responded, and then panicked when I found the earlier email I never opened.
Citizenship application approved: 21 November 2022 !!!!!!!
Citizenship ceremony scheduled: 28 November 2022 (It took a week for the registration certificate to make it to the county council.)
Citizenship ceremony takes place: 10 January 2023 (I had the option of scheduling a private ceremony as early as 8 December but opted not to as it cost GBP 295.)
Passport application filed: I'm planning to file it the day of my ceremony.
Passport received:

Hi EquinoxHorizon .
I see you applied from within the UK while on a visitors visa. Were you on a 6 months visa? What would happen if the process took longer than 6 months? Would you need to have exited the UK and then continue the processing of your application from your home country somehow? How did your advisors say you could manage the process if it stretched out longer than your visitor visa? Thanks !