Online ceremony and ILR BRP return while stuck outside UK - COVID delays

[Extrovert Nerd]

Hello,

I have been stuck outside the UK since lock-down began in march and still stuck since commercial flights haven't really started in the country I'm in. My citizenship ceremony was extended 6 months which ends in August. My local council has now offered me the chance to take the ceremony online which is great since I'm stuck outside but I'm not sure how I can send my ILR BRP to home office 5 days after the ceremony. Will I not need it to travel back to the UK when the flights start again? Could I still apply for my passport from outside? Could I travel back to the UK just with the Naturalisation certificate and no British passport or ILR?
Is it better to try and travel to the UK and have my ceremony there instead of doing the online ceremony?
Any advice on what my options are in this situation would be great.

Thanks.

[secret.simon]

Nobody will be able to advise you correctly on this as the situation is evolving. Video citizenship ceremonies and reusing biometric data are both innovations that have come about in the past month because of the situation that we are in.

You can try contacting the Home Office on their usual email addresses (which you will find littered all over this forum) whether you can continue to hold the ILR BRP till your return. You could then surrender it once back in the UK (which would take care of your return to the UK).

I would advise against applying for a first British passport from abroad, as it has caused issues in the past. Again, given the fluidity of the situation, one does not know if that advise holds.

I would suggest holding onto your ILR, returning to the UK with your ILR BRP and then applying for your British passport.

Be aware that there is a major backlog of passport applications at HMPO, as most of the staff of that office were forwarded to other government departments during the current pandemic.