Is this what's causing delays for naturalization application?

Hi, my wife submitted her biometrics for natrualisation on 16.08.23 and we have been waiting since then. We are going through all the escalation steps (MP, SAR, complaint, complaint review..etc).

I have come across this Guardian article and I'm wondering if this is what's causing problems for my wife and many other people here on the board.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... 000-people


"Last week the i newspaper reported that issues with Atlas had left Home Office asylum caseworkers “sobbing” as the problems were causing them to miss performance targets and financial incentives.

Officials working on immigration applications are unable to work on any cases where there is an issue with merged identities in case further problems are caused."

What do you guys think about this? Am I reading too much into it? Thanks a lot.

Your wife's application is still within standard processing times, so your actions are unlikely to uncover anything meaningful at this stage. Each application is different and gets assessed on an individual timeline.

It is difficult to know how the news you are reporting may influence citizenship applications, as it is referring to asylum claims - two very different processes regulated by different legislation. We don't know how resources are allocated within the HO so the only thing we can safely assume is that asylum applications are being affected.

Thanks a lot for your reply. It's been 7 months since the biometrics, so it's beyond the standard processing times.

The i article (behind a pay wall) refers to both asylum and naturalization. Anyway Atlas is the data base for the Home office so I imagine it's related. I'll try to write an email to my MP and reference this article. My wife was happy to wait and be patient, but this new information makes it difficult to be patient as it the seems the system is flawed and unfair.

I understand it is stressful (and apologies for my calendar fail). In this thread there are some actions you can try to follow up british-citizenship/6-months-plus-waiti ... 43483.html

You can certainly link the article to your MP, perhaps to ask them to raise this with their party/in the commons, unlikely it will make a difference when chasing in my opinion.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/fault ... ng-2943859

Also may I ask did you try the prove right to work with her details? Does the information show their match her BRP?

There have been "IT issues" that have been reported recently for citizenship applications, perhaps they could be linked to this piece of news. Keep an eye out for emails quoting an IT issue, though it is unclear what an applicant can do to resolve it.

Her right to work webpage is showing correct details, but I'm not sure if this rules out that her details are not linked with someone else.

We'll write to our MP to highlight this, but I don't really expect much. He has been clear with us that the all he can do is ask the HO for updates only, he can't press them to move forward. But maybe it will be different if there's evidence there's a faulty software which the government knows about!

I work for the NHS, and heads would roll if there was ever any suggestion that patients records are compromised/linked. I would have thought the HO is even more strict with their records.

I would raise it if you have reason to be concerned it is what is happening, the application is taking a bit longer but that happens sometimes. Overstressing won't make the wait any easier.

Come to think of it, she actually applied for priority ILR in June 2023 and was granted in a few days. So I suppose if there was something wrong with her records, it probably would have affected her ILR application. Not sure though, it is all speculation!

We have highlighted our concern to our MP, now is the time for waiting.

Hard to know. There have been a few members reporting "IT issues" but we don't know if they are tied to this situation. Good luck and I hope you get an outcome soon.

Hi, just wanted to post a quick update. My wife emailed our MP on 15.03.24 with regards to the Guardian article, but he is yet to reply.


Separatley, on 14.02.23 she emailed the following addresses asking for an update:

furthernationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk,
NationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk,
citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk,
NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk,
furthernationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk,
complaints@homeoffice.gov.uk


On 15.03.23, FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk replied that application is in process...bla bla bla (standard message she has been getting for months now).

On 19.03.24, thankfully she received a reply (to the email from 14.03.24) from Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk advising that application is succesful!


I am not sure what did the trick, it is very unlikely to be anything the MP did. But it might be an idea for any future applicants who face a delayed application, especially if they get the ''IT problem'' email. Thanks very much for your help.