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Dear members,

i received approval for my citizenship application yesterday.
I have been asked to attend citizenship ceremony at my local councing. I spoke to my council and the next date they have avaialble is for 21st of sept or 19th of oct. I have work related travel between 26-30 sep and then in first week of november.

can you please advise me how long does it take to get british passport once you have attended the ceremony.
I spoke to my council and she said that i can have a private ceremony which is charged and they inform council same day about this so they get started with passports.
I applied for my passport at NCS with my application.
do you think if i go ahead with private ceremony next week then i will have my passport back in time for my travel on 26th sept?

i will need one additional week as well to get US visa....

i have tried reseraching everywhere and couldn't find any relevant informaion, needless to mention called home office and they didn't tell me anything:(

do you think if i go ahead with private ceremony next week then i will have my passport back in time for my travel on 26th sept?

If you applied using the JCAP scheme, likely that you will have your passport by the end of September.

thanks for your response, what is JCAPS?
i applied for passports when i applied for citizenship at NCS...

diyaabcd wrote:thanks for your response, what is JCAPS?
i applied for passports when i applied for citizenship at NCS...

JCAP refers to joint citizenship and passport scheme. As you've applied for both citizenship and passport at the same time through a Council NCS, you would have applied through that. The comment underlined below was made because you applied through this scheme, though I suspect that what was said was that the council will inform the HO once you attend the ceremony - after which HMPO will begin processing your passport application.

diyaabcd wrote:I spoke to my council and she said that i can have a private ceremony which is charged and they inform council same day about this so they get started with passports.

You may want to take a look through the passport timeline sticky thread to see current passport processing times, given that it is the peak summer period. If you receive your British passport in time you may be able to travel to the US on a ESTA, instead of a visa - unless your circumstances dictate that a US visa is necessary. Alternatively if you will retain your current nationality after naturalisation (a dual national) then you could apply for your US visa on the current passport while waiting for your British passport to arrive.

May I ask a follow-up question, for clarity?

The BRP needs to be returned within 5 days of attendance of the citizenship ceremony or receipt of a certificate of citizenship. I am assuming that these are NOT the same things as the letter of acceptance.

I have international travel plans scheduled for the month of October and it is my assumption that my citizenship application will likely be approved around the end of September or early October (if processing times continue at their current pace). It is my plan to schedule my citizenship ceremony for AFTER my international travel so that I can retain my BRP, as it is incredibly unlikely that my British Passport would arrive in time (applied through JCAP). I then have no travel plans between November and February next year, which would give me plenty of time to attend my citizenship ceremony and receive my British passport.

I was hoping someone might be able to confirm that this should be okay to do, or further clarify that the letter of acceptance is not the same as the certification of citizenship. Thanks for your help.

The ceremony must be BOOKED within 21 days and the applicant must ATTEND ceremony within 90 days from date of approval letter.

londongal796 wrote:May I ask a follow-up question, for clarity?

The BRP needs to be returned within 5 days of attendance of the citizenship ceremony or receipt of a certificate of citizenship. I am assuming that these are NOT the same things as the letter of acceptance.

Not entirely sure what you mean by letter of acceptance. However you only become a British citizen once you have attended the citizenship ceremony and have received your citizenship certificate.

I have international travel plans scheduled for the month of October and it is my assumption that my citizenship application will likely be approved around the end of September or early October (if processing times continue at their current pace). It is my plan to schedule my citizenship ceremony for AFTER my international travel so that I can retain my BRP, as it is incredibly unlikely that my British Passport would arrive in time (applied through JCAP). I then have no travel plans between November and February next year, which would give me plenty of time to attend my citizenship ceremony and receive my British passport.

I was hoping someone might be able to confirm that this should be okay to do, or further clarify that the letter of acceptance is not the same as the certification of citizenship. Thanks for your help.

Yes, what you have suggested will be fine. And seems like the most logical based on the fact that you have not yet received your approval. Just have someone keep an eye out for any letters from the HO while you are away if you haven't yet received a decision by then. You are usually required to book a ceremony date within 21 days of receiving the approval letter and attend the ceremony within 3 months - if I'm not mistaken.

cs95tdg wrote:Not entirely sure what you mean by letter of acceptance. However you only become a British citizen once you have attended the citizenship ceremony and have received your citizenship certificate.

Letter of Acceptance -- it's what everyone has on their 'Timeline' entries, they list things like 'biometrics letter', 'biometrics enrolled', etc etc... one of the lines is 'Letter of Acceptance'. I am assuming this is a letter saying your application for citizenship has been approved, and gives details on how to book your citizenship ceremony / what happens next.

Yes, what you have suggested will be fine. And seems like the most logical based on the fact that you have not yet received your approval. Just have someone keep an eye out for any letters from the HO while you are away if you haven't yet received a decision by then. You are usually required to book a ceremony date within 21 days of receiving the approval letter and attend the ceremony within 3 months - if I'm not mistaken.

Fortunately my husband will be coming back a week earlier than me, so he'll only be gone 2 weeks total -- plus our neighbours will be checking the mail. So either way I'm sure I'll be able to book the ceremony date within 21 days of receiving the letter. And the ceremony can be booked within 3 months.

Thanks so much for your comments.