Citizenship Ceremony / Travel after Citizenship issue

[DavidScot]

Hi there,

My wife is soon to be taking her UK citizenship ceremony.

However, her mother is quite ill, and she may need to leave the country at short notice, and for an extended period of time.

I understand that when you commit yourself at the citizenship ceremony, and once you are 'British', your BRP is then void.

At this point you can apply for a passport, but this can take up to 6 weeks (I have asked if we could get a day appointment, but you have to go the slow way for your 1st time).

If she were to leave after she becomes British, but before she has her British passport, I understand that it would be difficult for her to re-enter the UK. It is a kind of interim period, where she has no proof of eligibility to reside in the UK (no valid BRP, no passport) but she is a British citizen.

Does anyone have experience, or knowledge on this subject?

Obviously, ideally we would just wait in the UK until she has her passport, but we may need to leave soon after her ceremony due to her mother's illness. I am just worried what would happen on return to the UK - how would she prove her eligibility to reside in the UK? Is the Citizenship certificate enough (I have read that it isn't enough proof)?

Her ceremony is right on the cusp of the 90 days from the date of the acceptance letter - so I'm not sure we can change that.

My direct Questions would be:
Q1: Once you are a Citizen, can you r-enter the country without a British Passport/BRP?

Q2: How much can you delay the Citizenship Ceremony by? Does it need to be within the 90 days? What happens if you can't make it within the 90?

Any advice/info appreciated.

David

[secret.simon]

Q1: Once you are a Citizen, can you r-enter the country without a British Passport/BRP?

Yes. A British citizen has the right to enter the UK. The hard part would be getting onto a flight. Most Stupid will not allow you to board without either a passport or a visa. If your wife is a non-visa national, she can present herself at the UKV&I and try to get into the UK. There can be a delay (of a few hours) at the airport while they check the details out, but they should let her through.

Q2: How much can you delay the Citizenship Ceremony by? Does it need to be within the 90 days? What happens if you can't make it within the 90?

If you don't attend the citizenship ceremony within the 90 days, the citizenship certificate is passed by the council back to the Home Office.

As I understand it, you would need to reapply ab initio, as if you were making a new application, with the full fees and submitting the relevant proof of absence, etc again.

[DavidScot]

Q1: Once you are a Citizen, can you r-enter the country without a British Passport/BRP?

Yes. A British citizen has the right to enter the UK. The hard part would be getting onto a flight. Most Stupid will not allow you to board without either a passport or a visa. If your wife is a non-visa national, she can present herself at the UKV&I and try to get into the UK. There can be a delay (of a few hours) at the airport while they check the details out, but they should let her through.

Thanks Simon. Would you think you need the original Citizenship certificate? As in, can she apply for the UK passport (sending in the original Citizenship certificate), leave the country, then re-enter without the UK passport, but with a copy of her citizenship certificate? (+ other docs we can get together to prove the citizenship point).

[AnotherUUID]

Her ceremony is right on the cusp of the 90 days from the date of the acceptance letter - so I'm not sure we can change that.

It's a long shot, but what you may be able to do is phone the registrar's office at your local council and check if they have received her naturalisation certificate. If they have it, it may be possible to attend a private ceremony subject to additional cost. If they offer private citizenship ceremonies, it may be possible to reschedule the ceremony for the closest available date.

In my case, the first available slot for a public (group) ceremony was just over 2mo away, so I enquired about having a private ceremony. They had a slot available for the next day with a private ceremony cost of £200 (the cost was irrespective of the date). I applied to HMPO the next day and got my passport in about a week which saved me a lot of wait and hassle.

This may be different as my approval letter explicitly said I should make arrangements with my local council myself as opposed to being given a pre-booked date as some people have. However, it doesn't hurt to try if you're willing to spend the extra cash which will hopefully allow her to attend a ceremony soon enough to allow her to travel on a British passport.

Would you think you need the original Citizenship certificate? As in, can she apply for the UK passport (sending in the original Citizenship certificate), leave the country, then re-enter without the UK passport, but with a copy of her citizenship certificate? (+ other docs we can get together to prove the citizenship point).

Once she makes it to the UK and speaks to border officials, as @secret.simon points out, they will run checks and eventually let her into the UK once her citizenship is established. The naturalisation certificate should not be needed in any form, but it may reduce delay if you have a copy/photo of it. If it were me, I wouldn't carry originals to avoid them getting lost, but a digital copy on a phone/tablet could be useful in her situation.

However, the naturalisation certificate itself cannot be used as proof of being allowed entry insofar as Stupid are concerned which is the main obstacle here and it is unlikely that Stupid will accept it as a valid entry/travel document when boarding.