card lost - please help

hello, I applied for british citizenship on 29/02/12 at NCS Barnet. today on 03/03/12 I lost my bank card from where the fees should have been debited. I have spoken to my bank and was advised that the HO has not attempted to take the fees yet and it will NOT go though any more. I will not get my new bank card details for the next 6 -8workding days which means that I will not know my new card number etc. What should I do know? I can still send a cheque but, how can I sort it out with the HO?

even the receipt of applications have not been acknoledged yet.

Thanks

Ask the NCS.

irjinao wrote:hello, I applied for british citizenship on 29/02/12 at NCS Barnet. today on 03/03/12 I lost my bank card from where the fees should have been debited. I have spoken to my bank and was advised that the HO has not attempted to take the fees yet and it will NOT go though any more. I will not get my new bank card details for the next 6 -8workding days which means that I will not know my new card number etc. What should I do know? I can still send a cheque but, how can I sort it out with the HO?

even the receipt of applications have not been acknoledged yet.

Thanks

They will write to you. It is not that uncommon for people to get the letters from HO saying that their card has been rejected. Usually they will enclose a payment form with that. But you can call the direct line for payment and pay over telephone. You cant do it until you know the reference number

Thanks a lot. Do you know the direct payment telephone number? Thanks.

payment.

Thanks. This number 0151 213 1694 is no longer in use, but if you call general helpdesk number, they will put you through the payment department.

Hi irjinao
I am just checking if you have had anything from home office yet. like you I applied on 22/02/2012 then lost my debit card 3 days later. I knew at once the payment will not go through as my bank stated that they could not do anything about it.
today I got my acknowledgement letter dated 03/03/2012 enclosed with new payment slip and giving me 14 days to pay (works out to be 7 days seeing as I received the letter a week later).
I plan on contacting home office on Monday to try paying over the phone. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Hi, no, I have not heard from them and am so worried. That is so good that you wrote to me as at least I know it is not only me and it has happened to other people as well. As you applied on 22/02 and received the letter on 7/03 dated 3/03 , it is nothing to worry about for me, i suppose - so, I am assuming I will hear from them next week as I applied on 29/02 and HO should have received the application on 1/03.

Please do let me know how the phone call goes on Monday and the number you are going to call and good luck!

By the way have you tried contacted your bank, before you got the letter from the HO, if they attempted taking the fee using the lost bank card details. I have and as of today the HO has not attempted to debit the fee.

irjinao wrote:By the way have you tried contacted your bank, before you got the letter from the HO, if they attempted taking the fee using the lost bank card details. I have and as of today the HO has not attempted to debit the fee.

Hi there. Yes I did try to contact the bank to find out if they had attempted to get the money, but I was informed that they had no way of knowing as the card had been cancelled. I was informed that maybe their fraud unit would know but it would take weeks to get that information. Lol. By the way I received my acknowledgement letter on the 10th dated the 3rd. Do not know why it took so long, so be patient and expect yours by the end of the week at most.

Anywhere, I woke up early today and at exactly 9am I rang home office, only to be told payment section is not open till 10am. I patiently waited and tried to call the general helpline number at 10am from the acknowledgement letter only to be on hold for 10 minutes then the phone just cut off. Lucky enough someone gave me this number on the time-line section 0151 672 5626. After being on hold for 4 minutes I was put through a lady who asked for my ref number and date of birth. She then attempted to put me through to the cashier, only to tell me that they are all busy so can I call back later or send a payment slip. She stated that she could not put me on hold and there was nothing else she could do as she had calls waiting. By then I was getting frustrated.
Soon after hanging up I thought "what the hell", so I dialled the number again hoping to get a different operator this time. 5 minutes later behold a guy this time answered and I again went through the ref number and D.O.B process then he told me that he would try to put me through to the cashier. This time I was put through without any problems, I gave them my new card details then was told the money has gone through. I was given a ref number and told that I would hear from them within the next 8- 12 weeks.
So that was my experience of paying by card this am. I wish you all the best and hope you receive your acknowledgement letter soon and your payment goes much smooth.

Thanks for letting me know. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

hello the same happened with me too.I have even lost ma card. I have applied for a different visa. I wanted to know if this help line can be used by the people who are applying for a different visa or its just for the one who are applying for the british citizenship.If thats not the number i need to contact is there any other number i can try with. please help me with this.. Awaiting for your reply.

Thank You

Hello, it was BC, I am afraid I do not know a number for visa extensions, but it will be in the guadance notes for sure.Hope this helps.

hi irjinao
I am just checking if you have received your approval letter from home office and if you managed to pay over the phone. Just worried and I hope it has gone well.