New citizenship form UKF

[PleasantThebest]

So I managed to find a call center number for tlscontact. the lady told me that they do not process UK biometrics. Which is crazy, considering I did my biometrics at their office less than 12 months ago for my visa.

I have since paid to submit an inquiry with UKVI as the suggested contact address yields a canned response which is in no way applicable to my situation.

This lady is probably not well informed. I had a friend who recently did biometrics for his visa application about 2 weeks ago. Also read a post from someone on another forum a couple of days ago who was going to TLSContact for biometrics for a UKM application (in SA). You should ask for a supervisor or something. Let us know how it goes. I sent off my documents for UKF yesterday

Yeah. I did my visa biometrics at the very same center last year.

The problem is they have no public contacts. I had to "hack" my way through by phoning a random landline I found on another website, pushing 1 for AU instead of UK and then asking to be put through to UK. Coz if you push 2 for UK they say "Phone the UKVI on this British phone number". The AU and UK people share the same office.

I have since sent all the information and dates to UKVI paid support (R150 an email!). They are looking into it.

If I may ask, where in SA are you attempting to have biometrics taken?

[mercuree]

In Port Elizabeth. I live about 4 hour's drive from there. If I were closer I would simply go and see them in person and ask about the appointment. But taking a day off work and driving 8 hours only to have to do the same another day simply does not make sense.

[PleasantThebest]

In Port Elizabeth. I live about 4 hour's drive from there. If I were closer I would simply go and see them in person and ask about the appointment. But taking a day off work and driving 8 hours only to have to do the same another day simply does not make sense.

lol I'm also in PE. I believe they don't allow walk-ins though so I don't think you can just go and ask - so find that out before making the trip if you decide to just go there to ask about your appointment. Let me know when you come right - I'm guessing I'll also need to go in there soon.

[balles]

Has anyone in South Africa had much experience with booking their biometric appointment with TLSContact?

It has been a week since I contacted them to book my appointment. I used the email address and information as instructed in my Biometrics Letter.

I have had no response;, not even an automated acknowledgement of receipt which, considering one only has 4 weeks to get this done, this is a little worrying.

Relax, they take about two weeks to acknowldge yoru email and set a date for you to enrol your biomterics. The 30 days on the HO enrolmnet letter is 30 business days.

[mercuree]

Relax, they take about two weeks to acknowldge yoru email and set a date for you to enrol your biomterics. The 30 days on the HO enrolmnet letter is 30 business days.

Good to know. Thanks.

Their website promises a response "within three business days, providing either a substantive response to your message or informing you of when you can expect to receive a substantive reply.".

It has been 9 days.

[KasMac]

Relax, they take about two weeks to acknowldge yoru email and set a date for you to enrol your biomterics. The 30 days on the HO enrolmnet letter is 30 business days.

Good to know. Thanks.

Their website promises a response "within three business days, providing either a substantive response to your message or informing you of when you can expect to receive a substantive reply.".

It has been 9 days.

we only got a reply after a week and my sons biometrics were done at TLS in Durban at about 10 days after we sent email with 3 chosen dates, don't bother going in , its a different dept that deals with citizenship biometrics appointments and the people at TLS have no say and a way to give you info or book a slot for you

[KasMac]

In Port Elizabeth. I live about 4 hour's drive from there. If I were closer I would simply go and see them in person and ask about the appointment. But taking a day off work and driving 8 hours only to have to do the same another day simply does not make sense.

they cannot help you , there is 1 person in JHB that books these appointments for you once you have emailed so just wait for the allocated appointment , its very frustrating i know been there myself. i drove to TLS offies in Durban and nobody could help me , wasted few hours of my time

[KasMac]

Hello
Please can someone advise me about sending documents to UK from South Africa.

When my son sends his application and documents to the UK, how does he arrange a courier or Special Delivery of his passport, Birth Certificate etc when his application is complete?

I dont trust the passage services in South Africa with these important documents.

Please can someone who has done this advise me?

Thank you

Does anyone have advice with regards to this? I am also in a similar situation. I sent an email inquiry to Home Office explaining this but they just referred me to the UKF guide. A pretty useless response actually because UKF guide tells me what I already know..

i have included a covering letter requesting that documents are sent to my sisters address in the UK , she is a British Citizen and i have included a copy of her utility bill and passport and just said in my letter that SA postal service is unreliable and i would like to request that documents are sent there instead , add pre-addressed envelope as well

[KasMac]

So I managed to find a call center number for tlscontact. the lady told me that they do not process UK biometrics. Which is crazy, considering I did my biometrics at their office less than 12 months ago for my visa.

I have since paid to submit an inquiry with UKVI as the suggested contact address yields a canned response which is in no way applicable to my situation.

they certainly do process UK biometrics , my son had his done in May at Durban TLS

[PleasantThebest]

Do you guys know if communication from UKVI/HO subsequent to sending documents to Liverpool is via email or post? Seems to be varied for a lot of people. Just worried about my application being jeopardised by not getting a letter in the post (not unlikely considering South Africa's terrible postal system). I did mention in a cover letter the unreliable postal service here and requested that correspondence be via email.

[jaffictram]

For anyone concerned about getting their documents back and you're an overseas applicant... don't buy a prepaid Royal Mail International Signed and Tracked as the UKF Guide suggests. Once you buy a tracking label, you have until the end of the next working day to post the letter, which is obviously impossible. I found this out this hard way and wasted £13 odd on a useless tracking label because I didn't read the Royal Mail FAQs properly - which I concede is my own fault. HO should really remove this suggestion from the guide as one can't include a prepaid label because you'll never know for sure when the HO are actually going to post your documents back

Thank you for your reply.

I am based in the UK and my son in SA. I think I am going to courier his application to UK and post here, then return address here and then courier back to SA. Do you think that would work?

Thanks

[mercuree]

Do you guys know if communication from UKVI/HO subsequent to sending documents to Liverpool is via email or post? Seems to be varied for a lot of people. Just worried about my application being jeopardised by not getting a letter in the post (not unlikely considering South Africa's terrible postal system). I did mention in a cover letter the unreliable postal service here and requested that correspondence be via email.

It is via email. At least in my case.

First mail was acknowledgement of receipt. Second mail was biometric instructions.

Entering week 3 now and still no response from TLSContact. That leaves me 2 weeks to get the email and take time off work and drive to the nearest city - before my application gets canceled for me not submitting my biometrics.

[mercuree]

Do you guys know if communication from UKVI/HO subsequent to sending documents to Liverpool is via email or post? Seems to be varied for a lot of people. Just worried about my application being jeopardised by not getting a letter in the post (not unlikely considering South Africa's terrible postal system). I did mention in a cover letter the unreliable postal service here and requested that correspondence be via email.

It is via email. At least in my case.

First mail was acknowledgement of receipt. Second mail was biometric instructions.

Entering week 3 now and still no response from TLSContact. That leaves me 2 weeks to get the email and take time off work and drive to the nearest city - before my application gets canceled for me not submitting my biometrics.

There were actually three mails. After the acknowledgement of receipt came a mail with case number.

[PleasantThebest]

For anyone concerned about getting their documents back and you're an overseas applicant... don't buy a prepaid Royal Mail International Signed and Tracked as the UKF Guide suggests. Once you buy a tracking label, you have until the end of the next working day to post the letter, which is obviously impossible. I found this out this hard way and wasted £13 odd on a useless tracking label because I didn't read the Royal Mail FAQs properly - which I concede is my own fault. HO should really remove this suggestion from the guide as one can't include a prepaid label because you'll never know for sure when the HO are actually going to post your documents back

Thank you for your reply.

I am based in the UK and my son in SA. I think I am going to courier his application to UK and post here, then return address here and then courier back to SA. Do you think that would work?

Thanks

Yip this is definitely the way to go. I unfortunately don't know anyone in the UK (family all in SA) so have to chance it with SA's terrible postal system. Your son could courier directly to Liverpool and include a cover letter requesting documents to be returned to your address in UK - I have seen other people on this forum go this route good luck.

[PleasantThebest]

Do you guys know if communication from UKVI/HO subsequent to sending documents to Liverpool is via email or post? Seems to be varied for a lot of people. Just worried about my application being jeopardised by not getting a letter in the post (not unlikely considering South Africa's terrible postal system). I did mention in a cover letter the unreliable postal service here and requested that correspondence be via email.

It is via email. At least in my case.

First mail was acknowledgement of receipt. Second mail was biometric instructions.

Entering week 3 now and still no response from TLSContact. That leaves me 2 weeks to get the email and take time off work and drive to the nearest city - before my application gets canceled for me not submitting my biometrics.

There were actually three mails. After the acknowledgement of receipt came a mail with case number.

Thanks. I have received an acknowledgement email with a case number. Got it the next day after submitting and paying online. Awaiting biometrics now. Keep us in the loop re. TLSContact... I honestly thought that would be a smooth process, considering the fact that I know many people have gotten their biometrics taken for visa applications. Perhaps its complicated by the fact that its a citizenship application

[mercuree]

Thanks. I have received an acknowledgement email with a case number. Got it the next day after submitting and paying online. Awaiting biometrics now. Keep us in the loop re. TLSContact... I honestly thought that would be a smooth process, considering the fact that I know many people have gotten their biometrics taken for visa applications. Perhaps its complicated by the fact that its a citizenship application

Wow yours was fast. Mine only came a week or so later.

Yeah, when I did my visa it was really simple, but that is because one can book the visa appointment online. So you get a date immediately. This - there is no online booking functionality. You just send an email to an address and hold thumbs for a timeous response.

[PleasantThebest]

Thanks. I have received an acknowledgement email with a case number. Got it the next day after submitting and paying online. Awaiting biometrics now. Keep us in the loop re. TLSContact... I honestly thought that would be a smooth process, considering the fact that I know many people have gotten their biometrics taken for visa applications. Perhaps its complicated by the fact that its a citizenship application

Wow yours was fast. Mine only came a week or so later.

Yeah, when I did my visa it was really simple, but that is because one can book the visa appointment online. So you get a date immediately. This - there is no online booking functionality. You just send an email to an address and hold thumbs for a timeous response.

Was an automated response with a case number... probably came quickly because their systems detected I applied online. The online application for UKF is fairly new. Went live on 19 July 2018

5 August 2018 -> Applied and paid online
6 August 2018 -> Acknowledgement received via email with case no
6 August 2018 -> DHL'ed documents to Liverpool
9 August 2018 -> Documents arrived and signed for

Rest is pending.... waiting for instructions re. biometrics.. but assuming this could take a while. So trying to be patient. Patience is the hardest part

[mercuree]

Thanks. I have received an acknowledgement email with a case number. Got it the next day after submitting and paying online. Awaiting biometrics now. Keep us in the loop re. TLSContact... I honestly thought that would be a smooth process, considering the fact that I know many people have gotten their biometrics taken for visa applications. Perhaps its complicated by the fact that its a citizenship application

Wow yours was fast. Mine only came a week or so later.

Yeah, when I did my visa it was really simple, but that is because one can book the visa appointment online. So you get a date immediately. This - there is no online booking functionality. You just send an email to an address and hold thumbs for a timeous response.

Was an automated response with a case number... probably came quickly because their systems detected I applied online. The online application for UKF is fairly new. Went live on 19 July 2018

5 August 2018 -> Applied and paid online
6 August 2018 -> Acknowledgement received via email with case no
6 August 2018 -> DHL'ed documents to Liverpool
9 August 2018 -> Documents arrived and signed for

Rest is pending.... waiting for instructions re. biometrics.. but assuming this could take a while. So trying to be patient. Patience is the hardest part

I had no idea there was an online application!!! Where does one see this? - Edit: I see it on the page now. Wow. If only I had known this was in the works - I would have waited.

[mercuree]

Rest is pending.... waiting for instructions re. biometrics.. but assuming this could take a while. So trying to be patient. Patience is the hardest part

I imagine you should get the instruction fairly soonish. But after that it will be the wait for TLSContact to do their thing. I'm still waiting. I have no idea whether anything is being done. Friday this week will be the tipping point for me. That will leave me with 10 working days to get it all done.

[KasMac]

Thanks. I have received an acknowledgement email with a case number. Got it the next day after submitting and paying online. Awaiting biometrics now. Keep us in the loop re. TLSContact... I honestly thought that would be a smooth process, considering the fact that I know many people have gotten their biometrics taken for visa applications. Perhaps its complicated by the fact that its a citizenship application

Wow yours was fast. Mine only came a week or so later.

Yeah, when I did my visa it was really simple, but that is because one can book the visa appointment online. So you get a date immediately. This - there is no online booking functionality. You just send an email to an address and hold thumbs for a timeous response.

Was an automated response with a case number... probably came quickly because their systems detected I applied online. The online application for UKF is fairly new. Went live on 19 July 2018

5 August 2018 -> Applied and paid online
6 August 2018 -> Acknowledgement received via email with case no
6 August 2018 -> DHL'ed documents to Liverpool
9 August 2018 -> Documents arrived and signed for

Rest is pending.... waiting for instructions re. biometrics.. but assuming this could take a while. So trying to be patient. Patience is the hardest part

I had no idea there was an online application!!! Where does one see this? - Edit: I see it on the page now. Wow. If only I had known this was in the works - I would have waited.

here https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... nality-ukf good luck , we submitted my sons documents in March and hoping the decision will come through any day now.

[keji]

Hello all, first off, thank you all (especially CR001 and KasMac) for the advice and information in this forum and also to Antsmall for fighting to change the law that allows us to register. I have a few general questions about filling out the UKF form and would appreciate any advice or guidance. My father was born in Northern Ireland, UK in 1936 and I was born in USA in 1965.

What documents pertaining to my father do I need to send ? I do not have his passport and no chance to get it since he has been dead for many years. All I have is his birth certificate that clearly shows he was born in the UK in 1936. Should I send his death certificate ?

I read in an earlier post by keji that someone was told that UKF was not the correct option as that person's parents' surnames were the same on their birth certificate and were thus presumed to be married. I am in a similar situation where my mother did not marry my father but did legally change her surname to my father's and so on my birth certificate it shows both parents with the same surname. If I write a note explaining this, will this be sufficient ? Will I need to find a legal document showing my mother's name change ?

In the guide, there is a section named "The requirements you have to meet and the citizenship you will acquire if your application is successful" and it lists 4 requirements, the fourth being "the Secretary of State is satisfied that you are of good character". Below it says "You can meet the fourth requirement above if". Does this mean that I will not need to prove good character since I would meet "You never acquired British subject or CUKC status, but would have automatically done so had your parents been married at the time of your birth (Section 4I of the British Nationality Act 1981)." as my father was born in the UK and I was born before 1983 ? This is very confusing to me.

Do I need to fill in grandparents' information (1.24 - 1.41) if my father was born in the UK and I have his birth certificate showing this ? All I know about them are their names.

Thank you again. Once I start my UKF journey I will be sure to post my experiences.

Yes include documents showing that your mother changed her surname and you can just include covering letter that she never married your Dad, include his Birth certificate , would it be possible to obtain a letter from your local registrar office that can confirm that your Mom has "unmarried " status which would help . These applications are processed at the discretion of Home Secretary if you have a criminal record ( and you have to declare it in the form) then they will decide if they want to award your citizenship to you , the 3 main criteria for UKF registrations are:

• Born before 2006

• Parents not married at the time of your birth

• British born/registered/naturalised Father - naturalisation or registration should have taken place before your birth

hello,
believe me the said friend of mine has not being registered yet as every correspondence came back upholding the caseworker"s decision. so am really interested in how yours will go,as the ukf team considered her parents married and therefore not qualified for ukf registration

[Kuks]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say that I have been following and reading responds on this forum as I would like to register as well. I read the UKF guide and realize I qualify to register. However, I have a few questions that weren’t answered in the guide and haven’t read any similar case on this forum either. My question is: In my case, I was born to a British father before 2006. He passed away a few years ago and so I have his birthcertificates and death certificate. However, I bear my mother’s last name since,I was told, my parents were not married at the time of birth and so the Dutch system automatically lets the child have the mother’s last name. I do not know how accurate that information is but my question is: since I have my mother’s last name but do have my father on my birth certificate; would that be an issue?
I would appreciate it a lot if someone can reply

[Bummiey]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say that I have been following and reading responds on this forum as I would like to register as well. I read the UKF guide and realize I qualify to register. However, I have a few questions that weren’t answered in the guide and haven’t read any similar case on this forum either. My question is: In my case, I was born to a British father before 2006. He passed away a few years ago and so I have his birthcertificates and death certificate. However, I bear my mother’s last name since,I was told, my parents were not married at the time of birth and so the Dutch system automatically lets the child have the mother’s last name. I do not know how accurate that information is but my question is: since I have my mother’s last name but do have my father on my birth certificate; would that be an issue?
I would appreciate it a lot if someone can reply

Hi Kuks,
Since your father was named on your birth certificate then it shouldn't be an issue. Though the certificate had to have been issued within a year of your birth for it to be accepted as a proof of paternity.

I had a similar issue, different surname from my father but my birth certificate was issued after I was 1yr old so not valid. I went for a DNA test instead, used one of the accredited DNA test centres listed on the gov.uk site.

[Kuks]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say that I have been following and reading responds on this forum as I would like to register as well. I read the UKF guide and realize I qualify to register. However, I have a few questions that weren’t answered in the guide and haven’t read any similar case on this forum either. My question is: In my case, I was born to a British father before 2006. He passed away a few years ago and so I have his birthcertificates and death certificate. However, I bear my mother’s last name since,I was told, my parents were not married at the time of birth and so the Dutch system automatically lets the child have the mother’s last name. I do not know how accurate that information is but my question is: since I have my mother’s last name but do have my father on my birth certificate; would that be an issue?
I would appreciate it a lot if someone can reply

Hi Kuks,
Since your father was named on your birth certificate then it shouldn't be an issue. Though the certificate had to have been issued within a year of your birth for it to be accepted as a proof of paternity.

I had a similar issue, different surname from my father but my birth certificate was issued after I was 1yr old so not valid. I went for a DNA test instead, used one of the accredited DNA test centres listed on the gov.uk site.

Hi Bummiey,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. Yes it was issues a day after I was born luckily so it is valid. I will share my timeline as soon as I submit the application. Thank you once again

[Kuks]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say that I have been following and reading responds on this forum as I would like to register as well. I read the UKF guide and realize I qualify to register. However, I have a few questions that weren’t answered in the guide and haven’t read any similar case on this forum either. My question is: In my case, I was born to a British father before 2006. He passed away a few years ago and so I have his birthcertificates and death certificate. However, I bear my mother’s last name since,I was told, my parents were not married at the time of birth and so the Dutch system automatically lets the child have the mother’s last name. I do not know how accurate that information is but my question is: since I have my mother’s last name but do have my father on my birth certificate; would that be an issue?
I would appreciate it a lot if someone can reply

Hi Kuks,
Since your father was named on your birth certificate then it shouldn't be an issue. Though the certificate had to have been issued within a year of your birth for it to be accepted as a proof of paternity.

I had a similar issue, different surname from my father but my birth certificate was issued after I was 1yr old so not valid. I went for a DNA test instead, used one of the accredited DNA test centres listed on the gov.uk site.

Hi Bummiey,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. Yes it was issues a day after I was born luckily so it is valid. I will share my timeline as soon as I submit the application. Thank you once again

*issued