Immigrationboards.com

I have received an invitation letter but the ceremony would be after six weeks. I cannot wait for that long and need to book a private ceremony. I'd be grateful to you indeed if anyone could advise on- how much it costs apart from regular fees of £80 to book a private citizenship ceremony and how long does it take for them to arrange it? Many thanks indeed for all the incredible support you have provided so far!

call your local council and ask for private ceremony dates and cost?

My council charges £175 for private ceremonies.

Many thanks indeed Zhonor! My council is offering a ceremony after a week and it costs £100 per applicant.

£100 is not bad!!! Good luck

I am still waiting and applied back in Feb 2017

Another example of a rather increasing practice with some councils where there's no general ceremony appointments for 6 weeks, but an appointment miraculous turns up in a few days if you're willing to pay another £100 (or more in some cases), for a ceremony that lasts 10 minutes! Real shame, but on a positive note, what's another £100 knowing you'll never have to pay them anything ever again after becoming British. I guess even privileges have a price afterall. I hope you enjoy your ceremony.

Carling40 wrote:Another example of a rather increasing practice with some councils where there's no general ceremony appointments for 6 weeks, but an appointment miraculous turns up in a few days if you're willing to pay another £100 (or more in some cases), for a ceremony that lasts 10 minutes! Real shame, but on a positive note, what's another £100 knowing you'll never have to pay them anything ever again after becoming British. I guess even privileges have a price afterall. I hope you enjoy your ceremony.

Private ceremony is only the applicant present, so a person will miss out on all the pomp and ceremony and experience of the group ceremonies. Given that group ceremonies cater for large groups, it would be unreasonable for the Council to offer this every day or many times a week, which is why most (in London) only offer them 2 or 3 times a month, if that. It costs a lot and the Council do have other duties to fulfill.

I do get your point CR001, maybe I'm just playing devils advocate because I had exactly the same experience and paid for a private ceremony because I didn't fancy waiting 6 weeks for a group ceremony. I just wanted to get it over with, although I was promised refreshments for my guests (2 people) we weren't even offered water. 1 registrar in a room, national anthem from the iPad and 10 mins later done. £100 for 10 mins. At least I didn't have to pay for parking as that was free for 30 minutes. Just feels a bit of a money making exercise to me, from 6 weeks down to 1 week if you're willing to pay up. I get your point though looking at it from another angle. Apologies for being cynical, I can't help myself being an immigrant and going through the system

Carling40 wrote:I do get your point CR001, maybe I'm just playing devils advocate because I had exactly the same experience and paid for a private ceremony because I didn't fancy waiting 6 weeks for a group ceremony. I just wanted to get it over with, although I was promised refreshments for my guests (2 people) we weren't even offered water. 1 registrar in a room, national anthem from the iPad and 10 mins later done. £100 for 10 mins. At least I didn't have to pay for parking as that was free for 30 minutes. Just feels a bit of a money making exercise to me, from 6 weeks down to 1 week if you're willing to pay up. I get your point though looking at it from another angle. Apologies for being cynical, I can't help myself being an immigrant and going through the system

I attended the group ceremony back in 2012, no long waits back then, but there was no rush of applications from people re Brexit then. I found the ceremony moving and glad I did the group one, it was an emotional experience for me, but I have strong maternal Ancestry in the UK, so that might be a strong reason too.

And obviously, the ceremony fee, private or group, is a Council fee not an HO one.