TIMELINE AFTER NATURALISATION APPLICATION SUBMISSION

[killinghall]

Application for my wife

NCS or Postal : NCS Leeds
Date of submission or posting : 16 May 08
CRITERIA : 3 years residence as spouse of British Citizen (+ ILR)
Date of debit of debit/credit card :
Date of receipt of acknowledgement :
Date of receipt of approval :
Date of Ceremony :
Date of appln. for passport :
Method used :
Date of Receipt :

We have excessive absences in the three years (341 days in total); however 270 of these days are due to absence with my work (temporary secondment abroad in NL) - so I guess it may take a bit longer

[killinghall]

two posts in one day

Looks like the backlog is indeed clearing up.

NCS or Postal : NCS Leeds
Date of submission or posting : 16 May 08
CRITERIA : 3 years residence as spouse of British Citizen (+ ILR)
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 3 June 08
Date of receipt of acknowledgement :
Date of receipt of approval :
Date of Ceremony :
Date of appln. for passport :
Method used :
Date of Receipt :

[Mr_LoL]

CS or Postal : Postal
Date of submission or posting : 2nd Jun 08
CRITERIA : 10 years + 1 year ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 06th June 08
Date of receipt of acknowledgment : 11th June 08 (Dated 6th June)
Date of receipt of approval :
Date of Ceremony :
Date of appln. for passport :
Method used :
Date of Receipt :

Payment debited already after 3 days. Fingers crossed.

[maibesa]

NCS or Postal :NCS Sandwell, West Midlands
Date of submission or posting :9th Jun 2008
CRITERIA : 5 Years Work Permit +1yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 12th Jun 2008
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 16 Jun 2008 (dated 12 Jun 2008)
Date of receipt of approval :
Invitation Letter:
Date of Ceremony :
Date of appln. for passport :
Method used :
Interview date:
Date of Receipt :

The woman queried a four month gap due to an application for a new passport. It's a good thing I carried my P60 covering that period. I guess all I can do now is wait.........

[guly3]

Hi,

I submitted my ILR application exactly 1 month ago, I got a letter of approval a couple of days after sending the application but I still haven't received my passport back. I thought my application was quite straightfoward as I was on WP for 2 yrs and on HSMP from thereone. Total no. of absences outside UK in the 5 yr period is around 90 days.

Is someone else is waiting for their passport as well?

[Xzibit1]

Guly3,
First of all I think you have posted in the thread that was reserved for nationality related applications, where members can track progress with citizenship applications.

Anway check below for decison times for ILR:

For charged applications, we will:

decide 70% of postal applications within 20 working days;
decide 90% of postal applications within 70 working days;
decide 98% of applications made in person at a public enquiry office within 24 hours.
For non-charged applications, we will:

decide 25% of postal applications within 20 working days;
decide 30% of postal applications within 70 working days;
decide 98% of applications made in person at a public enquiry office within 24 hours.

[dnicky]

I submitted my ILR application exactly 1 month ago, I got a letter of approval a couple of days after sending the application ....

Are you sure was it a approval letter or just an acknowledgement letter for your application ???

[dvijay]

NCS or Postal : Postal NCS Dudley, West Midlands
Date of submission or posting :7th Apr 2008
CRITERIA : 5 Years Work Permit +1yr ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 19th APR 2008
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 23 APR 2008
Date of receipt of approval : 30 JULY (Dated 16th JULY)
Invitation Letter: Waiting
Date of Ceremony : Booked for 6th August over Phone
Date of appln. for passport : Waiting
Method used : N/a
Interview date: Waiting
Date of Receipt : Waiting

My indian passport expired in Oct 2007 so i took my empoyment letter. I didnt had my marriage certificate but had a letter from homeoofice saying application would be considered as we got ILR same time and wife travelled to UK on dependent visa. Finger Crossed

[beyogish]

Hi,

Could anyone Please post info about the work permit & visa extension processing times by the HO ?

It would be of help if People who have done it recently (April & May 08) & give us an idea how long it took for them to get their documents back (WP & stamped passport).

Pl. help.


Thanks
BEY

[maibesa]

Like someone said before , You have posted in the thread that was reserved for nationality related applications, where members can track progress with citizenship applications. :D :D :D :D

[drabix1]

Coming 9th of May, I would have been waiting 1 year for an decision on my naturalisation application. Lately I have contacted my MP and he has in return contacted the Home Office on my behalf. The reply that came back said that they are doing character checks and its time-period has no limit.

As an EEA national and an resident of Europe for most of my life, I find it strange that security checks such as these would take so long as they should be readily available.

Anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do to speed this process up?
They would contact me if they couldnt check up on one of my references right?

thanks in advance

Just call them and ask for two things :1.put a Priority flag for your file because it is more than a year old.( that's their own guidelines)
2.Ask for the name and adress of the department which your file is in and it's director then write to him(her) asking why it is taking so long as 99.9% applications should be resolved within 6 months( again their own guideline)

Hopefully it will help.

[pksachdeva]

My timetable:

NCS or Postal : NCS
Date of submission or posting : 16th May 08
CRITERIA : 5 years + 1 year ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 3rd June 08
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 3rd June 08
Date of receipt of approval : 20th June 2008(dated 16th June 2008)
Date of Ceremony : 1st july 2008
Date of appln. for passport : 14th July
Method used : Check & Send
Date of Receipt : 28th July

Good luck to everyone!!!!

[dnicky]

My timetable:

NCS or Postal : NCS
Date of submission or posting : 16th May 08
CRITERIA : 5 years + 1 year ILR
Date of debit of debit/credit card : 3rd June 08
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 3rd June 08
Date of receipt of approval : 20th June 2008(dated 16th June 2008)
Date of Ceremony : waiting (booked for 1st july 2008)
Date of appln. for passport :
Method used :
Date of Receipt :

That is incredibly fast !!!!!

[maibesa]

Yes indeed!!!!!!!!!! Looks like the backlog is clearing.

[stacyf]

My timeline:

NCS 3 March (after hours)
Application received by home office 5 March
Card debited 25 April
Acknowledgment letter received 28 April
Approval received 18 June
Ceremony booked for 26 June

[tuna108]

Finally received my approval today . Looks like backlog is certainly clearing up. Hopefully more approvals start flowing in for everyone waiting...... Timeline below:

Date of submission or posting : 19 March 2008 via NCS
CRITERIA - 5 yr stay
Date of debit of debit/credit card :25 April 2008
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : 28 April 2008
Date of receipt of approval: June 28, 2008 (dated June 19, 2008)
Date of Ceremony: TBD
Date of appln. for passport: TBD
Method used
Date of Receipt

[whirly]

Hi All,

Am still waiting to hear about my citizenship application. I applied through NCS (Merton Council) on 6 May; payment and acknowledgement on 16 May. I was told not to expect anything before July, so I'm just sitting tight.

I did notice, however, that UKBA recently updated the waiting times on their website, complete with typo!

...applications made since January will take up to seven months to complete. Someone who applied in June 2008 should not expect to here from us before the end of December 2008.

Link here

[maibesa]

Yes!!! , but they also say '' .... this is only an average waiting time and some applications may be dealt with more quickly and some may take longer depending on the nature of the enquiries to be carried out.''

Some people have had approvals within a month hence I'm still hopeful.

[jonbon]

Hi folks

I applied on 21st June 2008. CC Debit and acknowledgement was on 1st July 2008. I'm hoping to hear in next 2 months.

The thing is I want to travel to India in Oct/Nov. time. Can I do so on my Indian Passport?

Thanks for help in advance.

Regards

Jon.

[whirly]

Hi folks

I applied on 21st June 2008. CC Debit and acknowledgement was on 1st July 2008. I'm hoping to hear in next 2 months.

The thing is I want to travel to India in Oct/Nov. time. Can I do so on my Indian Passport?

Thanks for help in advance.

Regards

Jon.

jonbon: did you apply via NCS (so you have your Indian passport in your possession right now), or via post (so the Home Office has your passport)? If you have your passport and you're just waiting for an invitation to a citizenship ceremony, I don't see why you can't travel in the meantime. I recently went to Italy while my application was (still is) outstanding. If you need your passport back to travel, that's a different story...

[jonbon]

Whirlly: I applied via NCS and yes have my passport with me. The only thing I am concerned with is that I book my tickets to travel in October by which time I might get British Citizenship but not the British Passport or the Indian OCI visa....so I'm wondering..If I just attend the ceremony...can I still go to India on Indian passport?

[whirly]

I applied via NCS and yes have my passport with me. The only thing I am concerned with is that I book my tickets to travel in October by which time I might get British Citizenship but not the British Passport or the Indian OCI visa....so I'm wondering..If I just attend the ceremony...can I still go to India on Indian passport?

Bravo for not giving up your passport during the application process

In your case, why not wait to attend the ceremony until after you get back from India? You have 90 days to book a ceremony once you receive your invitation letter. Link here. The HO is taking longer and longer to approve applications, so you probably have some time to wait before you get your invitation (boo hoo). Even if you got your letter today, you would have until 15 Oct to attend a ceremony, right? Seems like you could have your cake and eat it, too...

[jakeyscreek]

Hi guys,

I've been following this thread for a while now and congrats to all who's got the approval so far, and good luck to all the rest of us!

Date of submission or posting : 15th July 2008 via NCS
CRITERIA - 5 yr stay (4+1ILR)
Date of debit of debit/credit card :TBC
Date of receipt of acknowledgement : TBC
Date of receipt of approval: TBC
Date of Ceremony: TBC
Date of appln. for passport: TBC

By the way, the officer at my NCS office told me that because of the backlog, the HO shifted staff from caseworkers team to simply opening the envelopes and registering them onto the system. I think the reason is that, they want to bank the cheques before they are expired. Of course, by doing this, there are even fewer actual caseworkers now, hence the delay after acknowledgement. My brother submitted his application on 11th March, got his acknowledgement letter one month later and got the approval just 4 days after that! Fingers crossed that mine wouldn't take very long either...

Good luck to all!

Jake

[dnicky]

CRITERIA - 5 yr stay (4+1ILR)

Is it 5+1, or did you apply late?

[jakeyscreek]

CRITERIA - 5 yr stay (4+1ILR)

Is it 5+1, or did you apply late?

Sorry, should have made it clear. I applied on the ground of unmarried Partner visa. 4 years of cohabitaton plus 1 year ILR. I have lived in the UK though for over 9 years in total.