Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[CULLINAN]

Hi,
Can someone pls advise when I should return my BRP to Home Office? I had my virtual ceremony today but I will not receive my certificate until next week, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Shall I wait until I receive my certificate or send my BRP tomorrow?

Within 5 working days after today.

[greko10]

Application: 14th September
Biometrics: 6th October
Approval date: 16th November
Ceremony invite letter received: 29th January (postal letter)
Date on ceremony invite letter: 25th January
Date of ceremony: Not scheduled yet.

[Elle01]

Greetings everyone. I just joined this forum. Congrats to everyone who already received their invitation letter. Please does anyone know when December approvals will get their citizenship invitation letter? Also, if you have done your ceremony in Milton Keynes council, can you please share how slow or quick it is to get ceremony dates there. Thanks.

I had mine with MK last week private for Via zoom free only paid for postage it wasn’t long I had completely forgotten about ceremony and got a call out of the blues which was great and after that I also forgot to send back my BC did it on the 3rd day special delivery lol just in the nick of time good luck love

[aswadi]

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all well.

I have finally received the invitation via email in a reply to my email which i sent to the case worker team CT2 a month ago. I am very happy to finally get the invitation, since i was approved on the 19th of October. However, the invitation is addressed to my old address, although I updated it a while ago and I’ve got the confirmation. The problem now is there is currently no one at my old address and it is very likely this is going to be for a while. My concern is that the letter states I should book a ceremony within 21 days of receiving the letter. This period has already lapsed due to me not receiving the invitation letter dated 31st of Dec. I am happy to wait snd have the ceremony at a later stage, but I just wondered has anyone else had a similar situation?
According to the Home Office website you have 6 months to attend the ceremony due to COVID, but this is contradicted by the letter which says you have to book in 21 days.

Don’t worry, the council will keep your certificate for 6 months. Also some councils are happy to send the certificate to a different address than on the letter, I would check with them.

[alexdreame]

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all well.

I have finally received the invitation via email in a reply to my email which i sent to the case worker team CT2 a month ago. I am very happy to finally get the invitation, since i was approved on the 19th of October. However, the invitation is addressed to my old address, although I updated it a while ago and I’ve got the confirmation. The problem now is there is currently no one at my old address and it is very likely this is going to be for a while. My concern is that the letter states I should book a ceremony within 21 days of receiving the letter. This period has already lapsed due to me not receiving the invitation letter dated 31st of Dec. I am happy to wait snd have the ceremony at a later stage, but I just wondered has anyone else had a similar situation?
According to the Home Office website you have 6 months to attend the ceremony due to COVID, but this is contradicted by the letter which says you have to book in 21 days.

Don’t worry, the council will keep your certificate for 6 months. Also some councils are happy to send the certificate to a different address than on the letter, I would check with them.

Hey,
Thank you so much for your reply. Yeah, I will contact them and let you all know. I hope everyone gets their invites soon

[Oria]

Hi,
Can someone pls advise when I should return my BRP to Home Office? I had my virtual ceremony today but I will not receive my certificate until next week, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Shall I wait until I receive my certificate or send my BRP tomorrow?

Within 5 working days after today.

Thank you Cullinan. I will post it tomorrow. Hopefully I will receive my certificate in exchange.

By the way, if I am not at home when Royal Mail delivers my certificate, will they give it to my housemates? I am asking this question because the council said it will be a signed for recorded delivery.

[MALCOM2]

Yes don’t worry. They will give to your house mate and he will sign for it .

[Oria]

Yes don’t worry. They will give to your house mate and he will sign for it .

Thank you.

[imz2020]

Hi,
Is there anyone from October who is still waiting for the invitation letter.

16 oct approval n still waiting. What's ur approval date?

19th Oct:(

Keep us updates pls if you do get any details tks

26 approval, received the HO letter on 21 Jan but my local council hasn't received my certificate so cannot do the ceremony! I believe there's a delay at HO and they messed up the letters

[Sab172]

Thank God, just received my invitation letter in the post from Manchester Registrar Office for the 8th of Feb, just have to email back to confirm. Thought I update to whoever is waiting for Manchester council.

[TN1593]

Can you please share your timeline?

[kenadams]

Newham Council's citizenship ceremony system finally has my details. I tried to book a ceremony yesterday but my Home Office reference was not found. I tried again this evening and my details were found.

Tried to book a private ceremony but I was taken to a page which said there were no appointments available and asked me to call them by phone.

I then decided to try to book a group ceremony instead of a private one but the system now says my Home Office reference was not found so it looks like you are given a single chance to make a booking once your details are found.

In case anyone is interested, my timeline:

Application: 4th August
Approval: 27th October
Ceremony invitation: Haven't received yet (I moved house in November but have an active Royal Mail redirection, so I am hoping the invitation will come soon)

[Nature11]

Yes, we will definitely receive in between these date, but I have seen one more post today that someone has received invitation yesterday (application submission date was 25th June) . I hope we will get invitation next week...

Hi CULLINAN,

I have received ceremony invitation yesterday. 9:00am and I have also booked private ceremony for 23rd Dec...
as they don't have free slot until mid-march 2021.

@CULLINAN
I have received my passport today. you can see my timeline.
Have you received your?
Thank you to the members here who has supported me in this journey. And special thanks to God!

Congratulations! How long did it take you to get your passport post-ceremony?

Thank you, 22 working days

[Nature11]

That is great. I have applied for mine also. Will get soon in 1-2weeks inshaAllah. Good luck and thanks for all the updates.

I hope you will receive next week...

[Qurjib]

Hi

I am from London Borough of Hounslow.
I received my approval email on 20th November, but have not received my ceremony letter yet.

Has anyone from Hounslow received their ceremony letter recently?

Thanks

[CULLINAN]

Hi

I am from London Borough of Hounslow.
I received my approval email on 20th November, but have not received my ceremony letter yet.

Has anyone from Hounslow received their ceremony letter recently?

Thanks

Some members including myself have yes (Dec-Jan). If you search the forum you can read past experiences. If you have any particular questions do let me know.

[askmeplz82]

Newham Council's citizenship ceremony system finally has my details. I tried to book a ceremony yesterday but my Home Office reference was not found. I tried again this evening and my details were found.

Tried to book a private ceremony but I was taken to a page which said there were no appointments available and asked me to call them by phone.

I then decided to try to book a group ceremony instead of a private one but the system now says my Home Office reference was not found so it looks like you are given a single chance to make a booking once your details are found.

In case anyone is interested, my timeline:

Application: 4th August
Approval: 27th October
Ceremony invitation: Haven't received yet (I moved house in November but have an active Royal Mail redirection, so I am hoping the invitation will come soon)

i don't think you can redirect gov mail. check redirect terms and condition

[CULLINAN]

Some members have reported to successfully redirect HO mail to new address using RM redirection service. But obviously I will still be a little cautious.

[kenadams]

Newham Council's citizenship ceremony system finally has my details. I tried to book a ceremony yesterday but my Home Office reference was not found. I tried again this evening and my details were found.

Tried to book a private ceremony but I was taken to a page which said there were no appointments available and asked me to call them by phone.

I then decided to try to book a group ceremony instead of a private one but the system now says my Home Office reference was not found so it looks like you are given a single chance to make a booking once your details are found.

In case anyone is interested, my timeline:

Application: 4th August
Approval: 27th October
Ceremony invitation: Haven't received yet (I moved house in November but have an active Royal Mail redirection, so I am hoping the invitation will come soon)

i don't think you can redirect gov mail. check redirect terms and condition

Hi - Thanks for the warning! I've just checked the T&Cs and it says some key government letters such as Benefits cannot be redirected, but most can and they just inform government departments when they redirect a government letter.

So, it sounds to me like a ceremony invite will be redirected without an issue, fingers crossed.

[Alisher715]

Some members have reported to successfully redirect HO mail to new address using RM redirection service. But obviously I will still be a little cautious.

I have done the redirection from royal mail but still my invitation letter came to my old address.

[mrmo93]

Hi quick question,

Any news about kent ceremonies?

Also can I send my council another message?

[NinashK]

Hi yes you can send Kent County another message as their quite good with replying messages. Kent is conducting individual ceremony. I had mine last week so be patient as they will write to you when it gets to your turn. They are very polite. After ceremony they will give you a jar of nice fruit jam lol....

When did you receive your ho letter. The lady told me they're in the process of clearing backlogs from January. Ceremony per person is every 15mins. Hooe you hear from them soon.

[mrmo93]

Thank you for the reply Glad to hear about the jam

i recieved my letter on the 20th of december and approval was 12 of October. When was your letter date?

[Yazzz95]

Has anyone from Newham council been able to book ceremony (virtual/private/group) ??

[Aragon1]

My progress update!

Date of application: 22/08/2020
Date of receipt of approval: 13/11/2020 (by email)
Date on the ceremony letter: 25/01/2021
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 30/01/2021 (2nd Class post)
Date of receipt of ceremony invitation letter from Shropshire Council: 30/01/2021 (1st Class post) - Delivered together with Ceremony letter by the postie!
Date of Ceremony: 03/02/2021 (Zoom Meeting)

Very impressed with the timing of the two letters arriving together and friendly & professional staff at the Shropshire Council.

Finally end is in sight. Good luck everyone.