Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[Waitingagain]

Hi all, spoke to my council, they confirmed that they received a big batch yesterday and was told by HO that they’ll receive another big batch next week, which they think will include up to end of August.

It might actually be happening.....

[Ccouture]

Good afternoon. My council is Newcastle Under Lyme. Rang HO I was told I will receive IL by the end of this week, Friday or Saturday. Loool. Would be nice, but certainly not holding my breath. But I will let you guys know if and when I do.

[nnn15]

Hi,

I have been following this forum for quite a while now and thought I'd share this.
Approved: July 16
Council: Westminster

I haven't received the letter yet, but I tried today to book the ceremony online anyway and it worked! So they have my certificate at the Council.

6 ceremonies are available to book: Nov 4 and Nov 10 (3 per day)

Hope it helps!

Congratulations!
I've just tried now, unfortunately got "Your records cannot be retrieved". I'm just hoping my application didn't get lost as I was approved in spring during the lockdown...

[antti]

Hi,

I have been following this forum for quite a while now and thought I'd share this.
Approved: July 16
Council: Westminster

I haven't received the letter yet, but I tried today to book the ceremony online anyway and it worked! So they have my certificate at the Council.

6 ceremonies are available to book: Nov 4 and Nov 10 (3 per day)

Hope it helps!

Congratulations!
I've just tried now, unfortunately got "Your records cannot be retrieved". I'm just hoping my application didn't get lost as I was approved in spring during the lockdown...

Thank you!

I think it is worth trying again this evening and tomorrow. Maybe it takes time for them to update the system? I tried this morning at 8am and had the same results, then tried at lunchtime and it worked.

[jayzone1]

Approval 7 July 2020, just received a call from my local council for a Ceremony this coming Tuesday

Congrats

Have they mentioned anything about the invitation letter?

She mentioned that she would be posting a letter to me but they did not say anything about bringing it with me. I was just too excited at the news and we both said bye and see you on Tue, No guests allowed. I will be taking my driving licence, travel document, bank cards, biometric card and the Home-Office PDF that I printed out. Hopefully it all goes well

[justaquery]

Called Bristol council today, they said they had received a batch of certificates yesterday. She said they are expecting another one on Wednesday next week and to call and check on Thursday. Things are picking up pace now.

[Soo123]

Ukba reminds me of Pakistan’s Cricket Team one minute down next minute up

[Small]

I wonder if anyone know about my question. My friend got approved in February when restrictions were not imposed. He was out of country. he came back and found his invitation post on door. He rang the council and it was too late. Council already sent his certificate back to HO. He rang HO and explain the reason. Today After 3 weeks he got call from council today that his certificate has arrived. The council told him he could have either choose private ceremony ( £140) or virtual cermony on zoom. He is not sure which option is quicker to get a certificate. He reckons he will go for virtual cermony as he is going out of UK again. His question is how would he get the certificate after having online ceremony. Would he get certificate by post or by email. If by post how long it would take he gets it in UK please

[oxana777]

Called Bristol council today, they said they had received a batch of certificates yesterday. She said they are expecting another one on Wednesday next week and to call and check on Thursday. Things are picking up pace now.

Amazing, did they say what approval date they received, also what is their number? Can you share please? I can only find the email address and i prefer to just call them instead

[fanta]

The certificate is a paper document and will be sent by post. I think there is a requirement that the person has to be in the UK for the zoom ceremony. The most sensible thing for your friend is to do the ceremony on zoom in the UK, wait for the certificate to arrive at this home which is usually sent by special delivery, apply and wait for the passport before travelling out of the country again.

I wonder if anyone know about my question. My friend got approved in February when restrictions were not imposed. He was out of country. he came back and found his invitation post on door. He rang the council and it was too late. Council already sent his certificate back to HO. He rang HO and explain the reason. Today After 3 weeks he got call from council today that his certificate has arrived. The council told him he could have either choose private ceremony ( £140) or virtual cermony on zoom. He is not sure which option is quicker to get a certificate. He reckons he will go for virtual cermony as he is going out of UK again. His question is how would he get the certificate after having online ceremony. Would he get certificate by post or by email. If by post how long it would take he gets it in UK please

[Small]

Thank you Fanta, but what incase of he chosen private ceremony. Would he get his certificate on same day hand over to him please

[024601]

Thank you Fanta, but what incase of he chosen private ceremony. Would he get his certificate on same day hand over to him please

In Southampton, the private ceremony is the exact same as a group one with the only difference being that it's just you and the registrar (and your guests if allowed) no one else would be there. They make you repeat the oath, sing the anthem and then hand you your certificate. So technically in a private ceremony you would get your certificate the same day.

I'm pretty sure private ceremonies are the same everywhere so I think the above would be accurate and applicable for your friend as well.

[Small]

Thank you 024601. I think pvt ceremony is good option for him

[deoliveira]

Anybody from Greenwich here and waiting? I called today and spoke with a helpful chap who looked on the system but my name hasn't been logged on the system yet. There also seems to be some form of division of labour where phone enquiries are dealt with by general Registrar staff rather than those who have direct dealings with the Citizenship side of things. My approval date was 31/07 and this week marks the 12th week "upper limit" according to Home Office.

[Nat23]

Hi everyone

I also contacted my local (Slough Borough) Council yesterday and was told HO has sent them an email confirming that they will receive the certificates for July approvals by next week. I was approved on 31st ofJuly so let’s hope for the best

Thanks for the update. I’m with Slough Council too. 2nd of July approval. I’ll ring them tomorrow (Friday) and check if they’ve arrived. Will keep you posted.

Yes please. I will be waiting for the update. Good to know someone here is with the same council.

[justaquery]

Called Bristol council today, they said they had received a batch of certificates yesterday. She said they are expecting another one on Wednesday next week and to call and check on Thursday. Things are picking up pace now.

Amazing, did they say what approval date they received, also what is their number? Can you share please? I can only find the email address and i prefer to just call them instead

Their number is ‭0117 922 2800‬ (option 3 I think for ceremonies). They didn’t tell me what approval dates they have received till but the lady was very helpful and if you give your details she will check if your certificate has arrived. She also seemed very confident that another delivery of certificates is coming next week too alongside the one this week.

[lemmeseeyouwalk]

Stockport council.

My partner and I were approved on 7th of July, and have had nothing but radio silence since then :\
The phone number of the register office is always ringing, with no one picking up the phone.

We're slowly running out of time to book the ceremony, and by all calculations on here, we should have received our invitation by now!

Is there anyone in a similar situation with any advice to dish out? Anything helps, as I'm starting to panic here!

Kind regards!

[lmannova]

Anybody from Greenwich here and waiting? I called today and spoke with a helpful chap who looked on the system but my name hasn't been logged on the system yet. There also seems to be some form of division of labour where phone enquiries are dealt with by general Registrar staff rather than those who have direct dealings with the Citizenship side of things. My approval date was 31/07 and this week marks the 12th week "upper limit" according to Home Office.

I am with the Greenwich council! Finally somebody. I was approved on 20th July and still nothing..

I called the council on Monday and the guy didn't really answer any of my questions.. Kept saying he doesn't have access to the things I was asking, like when was the last time they received any certificate, etc. HO said we should receive an ivitation by end of October but honestly I lost hope..

[oxana777]

Called Bristol council today, they said they had received a batch of certificates yesterday. She said they are expecting another one on Wednesday next week and to call and check on Thursday. Things are picking up pace now.

Amazing, did they say what approval date they received, also what is their number? Can you share please? I can only find the email address and i prefer to just call them instead

Their number is ‭0117 922 2800‬ (option 3 I think for ceremonies). They didn’t tell me what approval dates they have received till but the lady was very helpful and if you give your details she will check if your certificate has arrived. She also seemed very confident that another delivery of certificates is coming next week too alongside the one this week.

Thank you!! Did you receive invitation/booked the ceremony? My approval was end of September so I won’t be waiting for my invitation just yet, but nice to hear that things started to move

[Padus]

Stockport council.

My partner and I were approved on 7th of July, and have had nothing but radio silence since then :\
The phone number of the register office is always ringing, with no one picking up the phone.

We're slowly running out of time to book the ceremony, and by all calculations on here, we should have received our invitation by now!

Is there anyone in a similar situation with any advice to dish out? Anything helps, as I'm starting to panic here!

Kind regards!

I'm in ROCHDALE and haven't heard a thing since I was approved 15 weeks ago in mid-July. I've not tried contacting the council either but will be after invitation letter arrives, which by the look of things should be by end of next week, fingers crossed! Anyone else in Rochdale?

[Frou01]

Now I’m holding my breath which are the dates getting letters today and tomorrow!

[londuk1]

Now I’m holding my breath which are the dates getting letters today and tomorrow!

Me too!! It should arrive anytime soon - approval date 3/8

[Frou01]

Now I’m holding my breath which are the dates getting letters today and tomorrow!

Me too!! It should arrive anytime soon - approval date 3/8

I will only know in the evening if there was mail.

But I keep my eyes open on that thread during the day of people posting it they got mail.

[deoliveira]

Anybody from Greenwich here and waiting? I called today and spoke with a helpful chap who looked on the system but my name hasn't been logged on the system yet. There also seems to be some form of division of labour where phone enquiries are dealt with by general Registrar staff rather than those who have direct dealings with the Citizenship side of things. My approval date was 31/07 and this week marks the 12th week "upper limit" according to Home Office.

I am with the Greenwich council! Finally somebody. I was approved on 20th July and still nothing..

I called the council on Monday and the guy didn't really answer any of my questions.. Kept saying he doesn't have access to the things I was asking, like when was the last time they received any certificate, etc. HO said we should receive an ivitation by end of October but honestly I lost hope..

Oh you are 20/7 - that means the backlog is massively behind their promised timeline. Greenwich folks seem to be trooping on under the radar anyway as I think I saw somewhere on this thread that ceremonies are now lined up to December (and that was weeks ago), unless we go private And I have a feeling we spoke to either the same person / team...

[BoyTed]

Good Morning All,

First i would like to thank Allah the most gracious the most merciful.
Second the Moderators and all of you.

I just had my ceremony without the invitation letter at Hammersmith and Fulham Council and I'm officially British.

My timeline.
Applied 6th December 2019
Approved 29 June 2020 via post
Received decision 2nd July 2020
Got email to send my contact details 29th October 2020
Attended ceremony without invite today 30th October 2020

Goodluck my dear friends and a special thanks to Baybar1