Naturalisation enquiry before 6 months for accepting a job offer

[kooch_kar]

Hi,

I applied for naturalisation and completed my biometrics in October, during the first few days TLSContact started handling them. It’s been over two months since my biometric appointment, and I haven’t received any updates from the Home Office.

From the naturalisation timeline posts, I’ve noticed the following:

• Many applicants who applied around the same time or even later than me have already received their approval emails.
• Some users have mentioned that decisions are often made earlier than the approval email date, based on paperwork timelines.
• A few users have reported emailing citizenship.support@ or similar addresses to confirm whether the Home Office had received their documents. In response, they sometimes received early indications that their applications were confirmed—well before receiving the formal approval email, such as this one:

Post by Lucky18 »Mon Nov 04, 2024 10:12 pm
I can confirm from our records that your application has been approved and your ceremony paperwork is due to be printed and despatched within the next week.

I am in the process of transitioning to a new job, which requires British citizenship (and a British passport). The uncertainty surrounding my application timeline is causing significant pressure, and any early indication of whether my application has been approved would help immensely in deciding whether to accept the job offer.

I understand that even if my application has been approved, the formal approval email and ceremony paperwork might not be released until much later in January, as the Home Office could be low on staff during the holiday season. However, iff the HO confirms (even informally through an reply to an inquiry email) that approval is forthcoming, it would allow me to make an informed decision on which job offer to take. I could then accept the job requiring citizenship and inform the company of a tentative acceptance.

I’m considering sending an email to the HO to check if they’ve received my documents and inquire about updates. However, I’ve heard mixed advice that contacting them might “complicate things” or “cause delays.”

I want to avoid any action that could negatively affect the outcome—even if there’s only a 1% risk. Do you know if sending such an email could have any adverse impact on my application process?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[contorted_svy]

Contacting them won't complicate your case. However, to your timeline analysis, each application is assessed on an individual timeline so comparing to others isn't necessarily helpful. Your inquiries may take much longer or much shorter than someone else's that applied on the same day and has the exact same immigration history as yourself. There have been cases of people who waited well over a year for their approval. As you are well within the six months standard processing times, they would most likely just ignore your request until you reach the six months mark. Sending an email at this stage won't complicate things, however it is also extremely unlikely to help.

This being said, what i would personally do in this situation is to tell the company that you have applied for citizenship two months ago and waiting for an outcome. Maybe they can hold the offer until then. Accepting the offer, knowing that the job requires British citizenship, isn't a wise choice as unless you get the approval email very soon you would fall at the first hurdle and lose the offer. I am sure that it is not the first time this happens to them and they should be somewhat familiar with HO timelines if they require post holders to be British citizens.

[Lucky18]

Hi hope all is well. I contacted the citizenship support because 3 weeks after biometrics TLS still never updated their website .And I don't know how to check if UKVI received my supporting documents.
Upon enquiring I hadn't expected, that I would received a good news about my application being approved.

[kooch_kar]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice so far. Ok, I’m convinced that sending an email is unlikely to provide updates or speed up the process. However, I’m now considering submitting a SAR request to check the status of my application.

1. Has anyone here used a SAR to get indications of whether their naturalisation application has been approved (internally) or to identify what might be causing delays? If so, which level of request would you recommend (Basic, Specific, or Detailed) to get this kind of information?
2. Is there even a slight chance that submitting a SAR request could negatively affect the outcome of my application? I’m keen to avoid anything that might risk or delay the process, even marginally.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

[alterhase58]

SAR "Subject Access Request" is a generic request to government and commercial organisations to obtain information that they may be holding about you. It comes under the Freedom of Information Act. It's not specifically designed for naturalisation. It is your right as a citizen to request information.

Members here have been using this facility with varying success. It would appear that in most cases very little information was provided. Can't comment whether one type of request is better than the other. These requests are dealt with by separate teams i.e. not caseworkers.

As for your point 2, your application cannot be negatively impacted as it's your legal right to ask for information. Certainly you can't be "victimised". Also of course they will provide the data they can see at the time of dealing with the request, which may not be complete. And sometimes they may not deal with a particular request if the expense to do so is excessive. I'm commenting here in general terms, not specifically on the Home Office processes.

[kooch_kar]

It's been about 4.5 months since I applied for naturalisation and did my biometrics in October.​

A month ago, I emailed the Home Office and asked if they could give any insight about the approval date, as I've got a job offer that needs British citizenship, and I need to decide. Normally, they don't reply to general enquiries, but this time they did reply, albeit it was a somewhat template response saying they needed to make more inquiries before deciding. Since then, I've received no updates in the past month.​

My concern is that lately I've been getting a lot of missed calls from 020 numbers (London area), mostly from estate agents and recruiters, during work hours, so I haven't answered. I'm worried I might have missed a call from the Home Office about my application.​

On the one hand, I think contacting them could allay my concern about phone calls, and this could also be a chance to get an update on my application's status or prod them...​

On the other hand, I've already sent 4-5 emails so far, so I don't want to annoy the caseworkers or make the HO ignorant of my further emails, as I'll be launching a massive campaign of emails/SAR/MP/complaint requests near or after the 6-month point and don't want to lose my leverage now.​

What do you think?​

Thanks again for any advice!

[contorted_svy]

The calls are probably not from the HO. They would contact you via email for updates on your application. As I advised above, contacting them before 6 months has very little chance to speed things up. Unless you hear back from them at this stage you can only wait.

A month ago, I emailed the Home Office and asked if they could give any insight about the approval date, as I've got a job offer that needs British citizenship, and I need to decide. Normally, they don't reply to general enquiries, but this time they did reply, albeit it was a somewhat template response saying they needed to make more inquiries before deciding. Since then, I've received no updates in the past month.​

This is the typical standard response they give when chasing applications before the 6 months mark, no surprises there.