Experiences using new UKVCAS for naturalisation/citizenship applications

[arovbukay]

thanks, i'm going to try and get the ceremony done and apply for my British Passport ASAP

One more question, do I need to send off my Indian Passport as documentary evidence when applying for my British Passport or will copies suffice?

You need to send your passport along with your naturalisation certificate. Both needs to be originals. If you apply online, turnaround at the moment is very quick (less than 3 weeks).

perfect, thank you.

[Nerazzuri]

some good news:

Date Biometrics submitted 01/12/18
Date of Citizenship Ceremony Invitation letter : 11/02/19

I have a few questions regarding the Ceremony, I have checked with my local council and there is availability for the ceremony this Wednesday 13/02/19.

I am due to travel out of the UK at the start of April and require a visa to travel to Malaysia.

1) If I attend the ceremony this week, is that enough time to get my new British passport back before I travel in April?

2) Do I need to surrender my Indian passport once I have attended the Ceremony? What happens if I travel with my Indian passport having attended the ceremony but not applied for my British passport, will my ILR in my Indian passport still be valid on re-entry into the UK

3) can I delay my Citizenship ceremony until after I return (late April)

Thanks in advance.

Congrats Arovbukay! When did you submit the application?

[arovbukay]

some good news:

Date Biometrics submitted 01/12/18
Date of Citizenship Ceremony Invitation letter : 11/02/19

I have a few questions regarding the Ceremony, I have checked with my local council and there is availability for the ceremony this Wednesday 13/02/19.

I am due to travel out of the UK at the start of April and require a visa to travel to Malaysia.

1) If I attend the ceremony this week, is that enough time to get my new British passport back before I travel in April?

2) Do I need to surrender my Indian passport once I have attended the Ceremony? What happens if I travel with my Indian passport having attended the ceremony but not applied for my British passport, will my ILR in my Indian passport still be valid on re-entry into the UK

3) can I delay my Citizenship ceremony until after I return (late April)

Thanks in advance.

Congrats Arovbukay! When did you submit the application?

Payment was taken 14/11/18

[na2316]

Hi All

Just a quick question.

We have an appointment coming up soon.

Previously you/kids could accompany or go with your husband/wife to their appointment at premium appointment centres.

Can you join your partner to go in ukvicas center or only the applicant is allowed to go in?

Thanks

[shankar981]

In Croydon (core centre), partner is allowed to remain in the waiting area.

[g_w_83]

Hi

I am looking for some advice...on the question
Have you made any previous UK immigration applications in the UK or abroad?

I answered 'No' and have submitted my application. I misunderstood the question... and I cannot change my response now.

Does anyone have any experience on what might happen next?

Thanks for your response!

[na2316]

Hi,

Quick question.

Wife naturalisation appointment coming up.
Non EU. 5 year tier 1 and ILR for 1 year


Uploaded all the docs already on ukvicas.

Just wanted to check if council tax bill and utility bills are needed to upload and need to be taken to ukvicas appointement?

Any people who recently attended appointment at ukvicas.

Please advise

Thanks

[CR001]

Hi,

Quick question.

Wife naturalisation appointment coming up.
Non EU. 5 year tier 1 and ILR for 1 year


Uploaded all the docs already on ukvicas.

Just wanted to check if council tax bill and utility bills are needed to upload and need to be taken to ukvicas appointement?

Any people who recently attended appointment at ukvicas.

Please advise

Thanks

NO!

[na2316]

Thanks CR001 for quick reply.

There is one option saying ‘provide proof of living in the Uk’

How will my wife proof this requirement if she doesn’t submit these latest council tax and gas/elec bills?

Thanks

[CR001]

Thanks CR001 for quick reply.

There is one option saying ‘provide proof of living in the Uk’

How will my wife proof this requirement if she doesn’t submit these latest council tax and gas/elec bills?

Thanks

Passports!!

[bookerw100]

Hi,

Quick question.

Wife naturalisation appointment coming up.
Non EU. 5 year tier 1 and ILR for 1 year


Uploaded all the docs already on ukvicas.

Just wanted to check if council tax bill and utility bills are needed to upload and need to be taken to ukvicas appointement?

Any people who recently attended appointment at ukvicas.

Please advise

Thanks

NO!

They did ask for proof of address from me. That could be a driver's license but if you haven't got one I suggest you take some sort of proof of address

[stone_ta]

Hi All

Just a quick question.

We have an appointment coming up soon.

Previously you/kids could accompany or go with your husband/wife to their appointment at premium appointment centres.

Can you join your partner to go in ukvicas center or only the applicant is allowed to go in?

Thanks

My wife did her appointment last week at Croydon. Myself and baby not applying joined her. We weren’t allowed to go to do the biometrics with her and had to wait in the seating area, however were able to join her when they were checking documents. They have baby changing and toilets, I think we were only there for about 20 minutes.

[sghughes42]

Just stumbled on this as we are looking to apply for nationality for my wife. She got ILR back in October but hasn't progressed it since then, we were surprised to see a new service live! A few questions:

Are we right in thinking she doesn't have to send off her passport while they make the decision? She travels fairly often on work so that would be inconvenient to put it mildly!

I've seen messages in this thread that talk about having to surrender your existing passport once approved - does this apply to all nationalities, or only ones that don't allow dual citizenships? She is Taiwanese and was planning to keep both passports if allowed.

On that topic, the form seems to suggest that Taiwanese need to provide additional proof of residence. I don't know if it's badly worded, it seems to suggest their passports aren't stamped on entering the UK, but hers always is. Or do they mean those stamps aren't considered evidence enough as we don't officially recognise Taiwan as a country? Either way, what sort of evidence do we need to provide?

Lastly, are they a planning to open any more centres? They seem to have plenty dotted around the country with the exception of Sheffield! We have a visa premium centre, but to have our documents checked we have to go to either Manchester or Nottingham - seems very odd for a city of this size!

[kautya]

Are we right in thinking she doesn't have to send off her passport while they make the decision? She travels fairly often on work so that would be inconvenient to put it mildly!

Yes you dont need to send the passport, instead just uploading copies of it as part of the application.

[mtsgill]

1. If she applies online via UKVCAS New Service, She is not required to send any originals to the HO.

2. Passport is only required to be surrendered if your country of origin doesn’t allow dual citizenship e.g. India.

3. For Non-EEA nationals, their passports act as proof of residence in the UK. It’ll have entry and exit stamps when travelling abroad. Only EEA nationals need to provide additional residence evidence because their passports aren’t stamped within the EEA countries.

4. Refer to HO guidance on opening of new centres.

[Abdul83]

I applied using the New service on 14-01-2019 , used UkVCAS document checking and recieved email confirming the document uplouded correctly. Finger print taken after two days at Manchester central library after paying £100 for the apointment in addition to £35 for checking the documents. Now I am waiting ? People Told me that waiting time mostly depend on the personality of your case worker , wether if he is a lazy or hard worker. confused to see people met all the requirment get approval in one month while others wait two or three months .Not including the applicants who got legal problems and might wait longer . I hope that is not true

Oh please. I really wish people would just use some common sense sometimes, bearing in mind that many applicants only post the 'favourable' aspects of their circumstances on the forum.

Applying for BC has everything to do with meeting all the requirements of NATIONALITY LAW and the Good Character Requirement and not a 'lazy caseworker'. It is after all not an entitlement but a privilege to be granted citizenship that must be earned.

I applied to rigster my 2 sons as British citizen on the basis they were born in the UK for parents with ILR at the time of their Birth. when I applied for them "last October" both application posted on the same day, their age was 4 and 6. beleive it or not!!! my son who is 6 years old received his Registration Certificate after 22 days which left me ver impressed , while my 4 years old received his Certificate after 3 months + few days
I think this 3 months and my 4 years old son has something to do with NATIONALITY LAW and the Good Character Requirement but not a 'lazy caseworker'

[Mariefairie]

Hi everyone I am about to apply soon and I'm very confused with the below Can someone help please : do I ask two referees to take their own photos and upload onto each form or do I upload MY OWN photos onto referee forms ? Very confusing and also they ask to write date of birth etc and name is it my name or referees? After weve written we glue the photo ? Doesn't make sense abd also then I rescan it and upload to the system after they signed it and uploaded pcis ? Many thanks

[alsanober]

Hi everyone I am about to apply soon and I'm very confused with the below Can someone help please : do I ask two referees to take their own photos and upload onto each form or do I upload MY OWN photos onto referee forms ? Very confusing and also they ask to write date of birth etc and name is it my name or referees? After weve written we glue the photo ? Doesn't make sense abd also then I rescan it and upload to the system after they signed it and uploaded pcis ? Many thanks

you need to affix your photos, referees needs to countersign the forms.

[bp-122]

Hi,

Just saw a few comments about free appointments not being available.

Would like to add that I managed to get free appointment in Croydon. It was definitely not easy to get the appointment, was kind off checking for the appointment every now and then.

But was lucky all of a sudden around 3.45 pm on Tuesday 27th Nov was able to see free slots in Croydon, which I booked. Guess the free slots might open around evening time.

Will share my experience about the visit, once I finish the appointment.

Hope this helps.

Hi gkuk

Did you get your decision, if yes, how long did it take after the submission of biometrics?

Best regards
BP

[CR001]

Hi,

Just saw a few comments about free appointments not being available.

Would like to add that I managed to get free appointment in Croydon. It was definitely not easy to get the appointment, was kind off checking for the appointment every now and then.

But was lucky all of a sudden around 3.45 pm on Tuesday 27th Nov was able to see free slots in Croydon, which I booked. Guess the free slots might open around evening time.

Will share my experience about the visit, once I finish the appointment.

Hope this helps.

Hi gkuk

Did you get your decision, if yes, how long did it take after the submission of biometrics?

Best regards
BP

Useful to look at the timeline post the user posted on 5th Feb, no decision as yet after bio appt on 30th Dec.

Citizenship:
eligibility criteria: 5 years + 3year ILR
Language Criteria: Life in UK Test, ILR obtained before 28-Oct-2013
Nationality: Indian
Method of application: UKVCAS- Croydon London
Date of application: 27/11/2018
Payment method: Online by Card
Date of acknowledgement: 27/11/2018
Date of debit of fees: 26/11/2018
Date of Biometric letter issued: na
Date of biometric letter received: na
Date Biometrics enrolled: 30/12/2018
Date of UKVCAS appointment: 30/12/2018
Date on Approval letter:
Date of receipt of approval:
Date of receipt of ceremony letter:
Date of Ceremony:

[charmy244]

Can someome please help me out here who has received approval for citizenship ? I am applying this week for naturalization and I am going to use new UKVCAS service.

Do I need to upload "consent form" as well as a part of my application ?

[beedle123]

I found an appointment within a week of submitting the application form back in November.

Just posting my experience with the 'new' process for naturalisation applications.

a) I duly completed the required online application on the Home Office website.
b) Once I submitted the application, I was directed to UKVCAS website to create a login and password for submitting my documents and booking a biometrics appointment.
c) I created my credentials on the UKVCAS website and uploaded all scanned copies of my supporting documents and chose a date for my appointment at my preferred location (normal service, not premium).
d) I went to the service centre where I had to submit biometrics at an automatic machine (I was impressed).
e) The lady at the counter verified that my biometrics were taken correctly by the machine as well as asked me if I would like to submit any more supporting documents and then let me go.

Before all this, I had initially booked an appointment at another centre, however UKVCAS called me to say that their new biometrics system was down, hence I should cancel my appointment. I did so immediately and booked a new one - above account is related to that.

However, I had to pay again and UKVCAS have not yet refunded me for the first appointment even though they said that I would get the money back in 10 working days which are long gone now.

Very expensive to call them as well because the call charges are GBP 2.50 per minute - so I have lodged a complaint on their website.

If I do not get a response or refund in 5 days, I will have no alternative but to tweet and write to the Home Office itself as it is their subcontractor who is handling this process.

Hi beedle123

Can you please let me know how long in the future your appointment was? In other words, when booking, how long did you have to wait to attend? Thanks.

[CR001]

This is NOT a timeline topic. Please only post here with experience of the new system. Timelines must be posted in the November timeline only topic please.

[sghughes42]

3. For Non-EEA nationals, their passports act as proof of residence in the UK. It’ll have entry and exit stamps when travelling abroad. Only EEA nationals need to provide additional residence evidence because their passports aren’t stamped within the EEA countries.

4. Refer to HO guidance on opening of new centres.

The guidance specifically says entry and exit stamps aren't sufficient for Taiwanese. Not sure why or what else we can provide.

As for new centres, I can't find anything anywhere that suggests they are planning any more beyond the 57 already open. It seems amazing that Sheffield has a visa processing centre but you have to travel 30+ miles to submit your documents.

[mtsgill]

3. For Non-EEA nationals, their passports act as proof of residence in the UK. It’ll have entry and exit stamps when travelling abroad. Only EEA nationals need to provide additional residence evidence because their passports aren’t stamped within the EEA countries.

4. Refer to HO guidance on opening of new centres.

The guidance specifically says entry and exit stamps aren't sufficient for Taiwanese. Not sure why or what else we can provide.

As for new centres, I can't find anything anywhere that suggests they are planning any more beyond the 57 already open. It seems amazing that Sheffield has a visa processing centre but you have to travel 30+ miles to submit your documents.

On the same guidance document (Link-https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... _2018_.pdf) Page 16, It says the following :

"If you are unable to provide your passport explain why on page 22 and supply
letters from employers (including start and finish dates), payslips, P60s,
educational establishments or other government departments indicating the
applicant’s presence in the United Kingdom during the relevant period."

As for centers, I referred to HO website for an updated guidance because there is very little this forum can do in terms of why there are few centers or when more will be opened.