Citizenship application takes over 4 years...

[annjan]

I applied for British Citizenship 4 years ago (06/2019) and no decision has yet been made. When I contact the HO, I used to get the same response as enquiries have not be completed. My local MP contacted 3 times regarding the delay but he gets the same response. I complained 3 time through their complaint procedures but no luck.

I am really frustrated and stressed. Is there anyone in the similar situation? Would you guys advise me if there is any other way to pressure the HO to make the decision as quickly as possible? I tried to take legal action but there are not any solicitors who would take the case to the court.

[Casa]

I applied for British Citizenship 4 years ago (06/2019) and no decision has yet been made. When I contact the HO, I used to get the same response as enquiries have not be completed. My local MP contacted 3 times regarding the delay but he gets the same response. I complained 3 time through their complaint procedures but no luck.

I am really frustrated and stressed. Is there anyone in the similar situation? Would you guys advise me if there is any other way to pressure the HO to make the decision as quickly as possible? I tried to take legal action but there are not any solicitors who would take the case to the court.

You may find it helpful to submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) to see what information the Home Office have regarding your UK immigration history, if you haven't already done so.
Link below
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... mmigration

[AmazonianX]

I applied for British Citizenship 4 years ago (06/2019) and no decision has yet been made. When I contact the HO, I used to get the same response as enquiries have not be completed. My local MP contacted 3 times regarding the delay but he gets the same response. I complained 3 time through their complaint procedures but no luck.

I am really frustrated and stressed. Is there anyone in the similar situation? Would you guys advise me if there is any other way to pressure the HO to make the decision as quickly as possible? I tried to take legal action but there are not any solicitors who would take the case to the court.

And besides SAR, what is your immigration history? Anything that could have led to the delay and which you know of?

[annjan]

I applied for British Citizenship 4 years ago (06/2019) and no decision has yet been made. When I contact the HO, I used to get the same response as enquiries have not be completed. My local MP contacted 3 times regarding the delay but he gets the same response. I complained 3 time through their complaint procedures but no luck.

I am really frustrated and stressed. Is there anyone in the similar situation? Would you guys advise me if there is any other way to pressure the HO to make the decision as quickly as possible? I tried to take legal action but there are not any solicitors who would take the case to the court.

You may find it helpful to submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) to see what information the Home Office have regarding your UK immigration history, if you haven't already done so.
Link below
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... mmigration

Thank you, I will submit a SAR and see what has caused the delay.

[annjan]

I applied for British Citizenship 4 years ago (06/2019) and no decision has yet been made. When I contact the HO, I used to get the same response as enquiries have not be completed. My local MP contacted 3 times regarding the delay but he gets the same response. I complained 3 time through their complaint procedures but no luck.

I am really frustrated and stressed. Is there anyone in the similar situation? Would you guys advise me if there is any other way to pressure the HO to make the decision as quickly as possible? I tried to take legal action but there are not any solicitors who would take the case to the court.

And besides SAR, what is your immigration history? Anything that could have led to the delay and which you know of?

I have had the refugee status since April 2013. I didn’t enter the country illegally or never stayed illegally. When I claimed asylum, I had legal status and was working full time. From what other members claim here, I believe it could be delayed because I was on a refugee visa.

[annjan]

The HO also has advised in their response to the complaint that my local MP can refer the case to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Has anyone gone through this process? Would it help in anyway?

[AmazonianX]

The HO also has advised in their response to the complaint that my local MP can refer the case to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Has anyone gone through this process? Would it help in anyway?

It's taken so long, if the HO has advised you in this manner, take up the suggestions and promptings.

[jais2015]

Thank you guys for you replies. I made a SAR and I have received the file. To my surprise, there is no update on my records other than the Auto PNC check since I applied for naturalisation. Does that mean Home Office has lost my file and is just lying that they are regularly monitoring my application?

I also asked for a review of the complaint I made and received my final response from Home Office stating that they will contact me within 8 weeks for further information. I can’t trust this anymore as I had similar replies before but they didn’t contact me.

HO also advised me to make a complaint to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints) if I am not happy with the final response. Have anybody gone through this process? My local MP refused to refer the case to the ombudsman committee before raising the issue issue with IEC.

[jais2015]

Hi all,

After 4 and a half years waiting, I have received my approval letter today. I don’t think anyone in this forum waits for such a long time for the application to be processed. If anyone is waiting for such long time, it will be useful.

However, my partner and children have not yet received their approval letter. That worries me.

Thank you all for your answers and suggestions.

[contorted_svy]

Did they apply with you? It could be worth contacting the council where you should attend the ceremony and asking which certificates they have for your family group - maybe their email is just a bit delayed.

[jais2015]

Did they apply with you? It could be worth contacting the council where you should attend the ceremony and asking which certificates they have for your family group - maybe their email is just a bit delayed.

Yes, we all applied together. I haven’t received the approval through the email, it has been sent by post.

[contorted_svy]

Well, congratulations on receiving your outcome. I would try to contact the council and ask if they have the certificates - surely they must have yours.

[MuhammadM86]

Wow 4 years this is long time!!! What was it that you did to push the HO for decision? Or did they just give the decision eventually?

[jais2015]

Wow 4 years this is long time!!! What was it that you did to push the HO for decision? Or did they just give the decision eventually?

Yes, this is. HO advised me to make a complaint to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints) if I am not happy with the final response. I made a complaint to IEO in November 2023 and also applied for SAR. I am not sure if those actions pushed Home Office to make the decision.

[jais2015]

Well, congratulations on receiving your outcome. I would try to contact the council and ask if they have the certificates - surely they must have yours.

Thanks, will the Home Office send children’ certificates to the council or home address?

[contorted_svy]

Wow 4 years this is long time!!! What was it that you did to push the HO for decision? Or did they just give the decision eventually?

Yes, this is. HO advised me to make a complaint to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints) if I am not happy with the final response. I made a complaint to IEO in November 2023 and also applied for SAR. I am not sure if those actions pushed Home Office to make the decision.

Could you share how you made the complaint to IEC? It could help other forum members in similar situations.

[contorted_svy]

Well, congratulations on receiving your outcome. I would try to contact the council and ask if they have the certificates - surely they must have yours.

Thanks, will the Home Office send children’ certificates to the council or home address?

From what I know, if children apply on their own certificates are posted at the address given, but if a parent also naturalises the certificates can be picked up by the parent - I am not entirely sure though.

[jais2015]

Wow 4 years this is long time!!! What was it that you did to push the HO for decision? Or did they just give the decision eventually?

Yes, this is. HO advised me to make a complaint to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints) if I am not happy with the final response. I made a complaint to IEO in November 2023 and also applied for SAR. I am not sure if those actions pushed Home Office to make the decision.

Could you share how you made the complaint to IEC? It could help other forum members in similar situations.

I made several complaints to the Home Office and got standard responses. Then I send an email to review my complaints to complaintsreview@homeoffice.gov.uk. I got the final response from complaint review and was asked to complain to IEC if I am not happy with their internal complaint team’s response. Then I complained to IEC
IEC@homeoffice.gov.uk. IEC will only take the case if final response is received from home office complaint team.

[jais2015]

Wow 4 years this is long time!!! What was it that you did to push the HO for decision? Or did they just give the decision eventually?

Yes, this is. HO advised me to make a complaint to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints) if I am not happy with the final response. I made a complaint to IEO in November 2023 and also applied for SAR. I am not sure if those actions pushed Home Office to make the decision.

Could you share how you made the complaint to IEC? It could help other forum members in similar situations.

I made several complaints to the Home Office and got standard responses. Then I send an email to review my complaints to complaintsreview@homeoffice.gov.uk. I got the final response from complaint review and was asked to complain to IEC if I am not happy with their internal complaint team’s response. Then I complained to IEC
IEC@homeoffice.gov.uk. IEC will only take the case if final response is received from home office complaint team. I wish I had followed this procedure after one year of applying. IEC team was really helpful and they keep you updated. I received an email from IEC in November stating that home office will contact me within 8 weeks.

[MuhammadM86]

Thanks for sharing.
One question, does it mean if the HO don’t hold your initial complaint then you can’t escalate to IEC?

[jais2015]

Yes, the case can’t be escalated to IEC if the home office doesn’t hold the initial complaint. But I believe sending a complaint review following the initial complaint could force the home office to send the final response.

[jais2015]

Yes, the case can’t be escalated to IEC if the home office doesn’t hold the initial complaint. But I believe sending a complaint review following the initial complaint could force the home office to send the final response.

This is what I received in their final response,

“This is our final response to your complaint. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can escalate your complaint to the Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) within three months of the date of this letter by: e-mailing iec@homeoffice.gov.uk or writing to PO BOX 6147, SHEFFIELD, S2 9JD. If you decide to escalate your complaint to the OIEC, please provide them with copies of all correspondence you sent us and our replies.”

[MuhammadM86]

Thank you for sharing and congratulations!

[Bibivaly]

Hi
I’m in a similar situation regarding my citizenship application
I have made few complaints and I have received an email response from HO compliant team saying that they are unable to uphold my complaint. Does this means this is my final response and I now can go straight to IEC (Independent Examiner of Complaints ) or I must first send it to the review team and only after a response from the review team I can complain to IEC ?

The review team (complaintsreview@homeoffice.gov.uk) generally are not responding to people asking for reviews

[contorted_svy]

If the email from the complaints team doesn't state that you can go to the IEC I think you need to get a review first.