Record for longest time waited to reach a decision on naturalisation (multiple threads merged)

[contorted_svy]

I'm sorry. It sounds like your MP needs some additional pressure.

[secret.simon]

Is there a time limit for ukvi by which they are obligated to make a decision?

No. Also see my response to this thread.

I have, they require approval from the MP. I have sent the MP the ombudsman complaint form with multiple reminders but haven't received and answer yet.

It sounds like your MP needs some additional pressure.

Keep in mind that the MP is not obliged to intervene in all requests put to them by constituents. Indeed, they can, if thus inclined, ignore their constituents completely.

Indeed, it used to be the case till the 1950s-60s that MPs used to tell their constituents outright not to contact them after election and that their (the MP's) job was to be in London representing the interests of the constituency, not of the opinions of individual constituents (a Burkean view of the role of an MP).

Modern MPs tend to be more helpful so that they can develop a personal constituency of votes that could come in handy during elections, but crucially, they are not legally required to help their constituents. And the MP filter was intentionally put to prevent the Parliamentary Ombudsman service from being overrun by too many complaints. Also see this Commons Library guidance for constituency staff on how to deal with the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

If your MP is not progressing the case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, that route is pretty much shut for you as the MPs's role in such a circumstance is precisely to be a gatekeeper to that service.

You can complain to the political party that the MP belongs to, but isn't the chain of complaints already long enough (political party > MP's Office > Parliamentary Ombudsman > Home Office)?

Your power to persuade the political party would be limited if the MP has a decent majority of their own at general elections. So the political history of the constituency you live in may have an impact on the MP's willingness or otherwise to help you, and a factor that you have no control over (apart from changing your MP by moving your residence to another location).

At some point in time, you have to accept that your power to progress the case is minimal to none.

I presume that you have already reviewed the SAR to see if anything particular has been flagged up that may be causing your case to be examined in more depth. And that you have looked into whether your name is not shared by any people who may have had questionable or troublesome persuasions.

EDIT: I have merged some of your threads so that people who respond have a fuller understanding of your circumstances.

[b44b5]

The email I recieved after asking for a complaint review.

13 August 2025

Dear Mr

Thank you for your further email correspondence of 11 August where you have raised a complaint regarding a delay with the conclusion of your Nationality application, submitted on 26 June 2023.

I am partially upholding your complaint.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused with the delay in concluding this application.

As previously notified by my colleagues, mandatory checks and enquires are part of your application, and these are still on-going. The case working team are aware that you have been in contact on several occasions regarding the delay, once these checks and enquiries are completed the application will be concluded.

Enquiries are not limited to criminal records or to a person’s activities within the United Kingdom. Nor is there a limit set out in nationality law on the time taken to carry out those enquiries. As part of the application process, the Home Office routinely conducts enquiries with other government departments and external agencies. The extent and length of time taken to complete these varies according to the particular circumstance of each application.

The progress of outstanding enquiries is regularly monitored with the agencies carrying out these enquiries on our behalf. It is only when we have the results of the enquiries that we can reach a decision on whether citizenship should be granted. We do not, ourselves, carry out these checks and we cannot, therefore, be sure how long they will take in each case.


www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite ... ve-applied.


As you will note, it is also made clear on the website that, in some cases, these enquiries may take longer than average to complete. You will appreciate the need to be careful and thorough in such matters.

Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK

The time taken to consider an application can vary from case to case due to the various checks that must be carried out. It is not always appropriate to disclose the exact nature of the checks being conducted in the course of assessing applications.

I can confirm this application remains under consideration at this time and is in the final stage of assessment.

Our threshold for expediting is only considered in the most serious life-threatening circumstances. We normally only accept a request to expedite an application ahead of others in situations such as where a customer needs to travel to attend a close relatives funeral abroad, or to attend to a severely ill relative overseas who requires one-to-one care that cannot be provided by another individual. They are only granted in the most serious of cases.

If you do receive documentation that fits with our expedite guidelines, please forward this to TPHResponse@homeoffice.gov.uk and include your name and Unique Application Number in the subject bar.

It is not the intention to cause any unnecessary delay and every endeavour is being made to make decisions at the earliest opportunity.

Please be assured you will be notified once a decision has been reached or if we require any further information, however we are unable to provide a timescale for a decision at the moment.


Thank you for your ongoing patience and I hope my response clarifies the position.

If there are aspects of your complaint you consider have not been addressed, please see information about our complaint review procedure: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk- ... -procedure

How to provide feedback on the complaints service

We value your feedback. Please share your experience in this anonymous survey to help us enhance our service: Customer Survey - Complaint Service

Yours sincerely

[contorted_svy]

This feels positive, they said they are in the final stages. Give it a few weeks and see if you di indeed receive an outcome. You can also escalate this further now that you have received the review.

[sabmiut]

I received for one of the complaints a year ago and asked for a review within 3 months but didnt hear again about it. I have since made many complaints that get ignored.

I have recieved a new saru which is clearer than the previous one. The delay is due to an arrest 2 years ago for alleged assault. There was no evidence for it and the police didnt charge or caution me. No further ongoing investigations.

I sent further nationality an email with proof of this hoping this will speed things.

I do not have a criminal record , but have a vindictive ex wife trying to make my life difficult, which is soemtimes worse.

May I ask which type of SAR showed the detail/progress of your citizenship application? Basic or detailed?

I asked for detailed and wrote in the request to not redact the reason for the delay.

Many thanks for that, I tried requesting for the reason of delay not to be redacted but they said they're unable to do so due to privacy concerns etc..

I'm susprirsed that worked for you, was there anything specific that you mentioned?

I included my request in the field where they ask for 'why do you need this information' under the personal information section.

It's been 15+ months waiting for me.

[b44b5]

It think it was just luck they didnt redact this information this time, it was not present in the first SARU i received. I think apply again and ask for the reason of delay rather than not to redact.

Hope this helps

[b44b5]

After 6 weeks of receiving the reply for my previous complaint, I made another one as havent got an out come yet. This time they are upholding my complaint instead of partially upholding it. I am not sure what it means as I havent yet recieved any news a week later. Has anyone receieved a positive outcome after 2.5 years of waiting?


Dear Mr



Thank you for your email correspondence of 1 October where you have raised a complaint about the delay in processing your application for Naturalisation as a British Citizen application.



I am upholding your complaint.



Please accept my apologies for the delay you have faced in this matter being resolved and for any inconvenience this may have caused.



We have prioritised your application and aim to make a decision as soon as possible.



Please note this is not an indication of the outcome. As with all applications, your application may be subject to enquiries with other Government departments and international organisations to ensure that statutory requirements have been satisfied. The extent and length of time taken to complete such enquiries varies according to the circumstance of each application.



Further information may also be required from yourself to progress the case; the case-working unit will contact you if such information is required.



Because of those possible enquiries, or the possible need for further supporting evidence, we are unable to provide a timescale for completion; and it would be inappropriate to advise of a guaranteed timescale for completion where that may not be met.



Please note that we will endeavour to progress your application as a priority, and you will be contacted as soon as possible.



I hope this information is helpful.



If there are aspects of your complaint you consider have not been addressed, please see information about our complaint review procedure: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk- ... -procedure



How to provide feedback on the complaints service



We value your feedback. Please share your experience in this anonymous survey to help us enhance our service: Customer Survey - Complaint Service

Yours sincerely

Customer Operations Support Services

www.gov.uk/ukvi

[contorted_svy]

It means they are prioritising your application, which is good news, but there is no timeline yet. So essentially you need to keep waiting, but with the partial reassurance that they are having some special regard for your application.

[b44b5]

After 2 years and 4 months I finally recieved yhe approval email.

Thank you all for helping and best of luck to you!

[contorted_svy]

Congratulations, glad your long wait is over.

[sabmiut]

After 2 years and 4 months I finally recieved yhe approval email.

Thank you all for helping and best of luck to you!

Great news! really glad to hear it's finally approved after a long period of waiting!!

What was the type of complaint that you recently made and received responses for?

I'm aware you made one with obdusman and others direct with HO but not sure which ones worked out for you

[b44b5]

After 2 years and 4 months I finally recieved yhe approval email.

Thank you all for helping and best of luck to you!

Great news! really glad to hear it's finally approved after a long period of waiting!!

What was the type of complaint that you recently made and received responses for?

I'm aware you made one with obdusman and others direct with HO but not sure which ones worked out for you

Thank you

I actually didnt end up to do the omdusman as it needed MP approval and its a long process.

I simply made another complain throught he ukvi complaint process.

[gingerbread777]

After 2 years and 4 months I finally recieved yhe approval email.

Thank you all for helping and best of luck to you!

Congratulations, all the best

2 yrs and 4 months - thats a really long wait - how many complaints in total did you send to them?

[b44b5]

After 2 years and 4 months I finally recieved yhe approval email.

Thank you all for helping and best of luck to you!

Congratulations, all the best

2 yrs and 4 months - thats a really long wait - how many complaints in total did you send to them?

Probably around 10 in the course of 2.4 years, most were ignored by ukvi

[rakimmn]

Thank you for your email correspondence of 7 May where you have raised a complaint about a delay with the conclusion of your application for naturalisation as a British citizen



I am upholding your complaint.


Firstly, I would like to apologise for the delay in replying to your complaint. We aimed to reply to you within 20 working days. However, due to current demands it has taken us longer than usual to respond. We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.



By way of background, naturalisation is not an automatic process, and we have to make a number of enquiries before we can reach a decision on whether to grant citizenship.



The nature and extent of those enquiries, and the length of time taken to complete them, varies according to the particular circumstance of each application.



The progress of outstanding enquiries is regularly monitored with the agencies carrying out these enquiries on our behalf. It is only when we have the results of the enquiries that we can reach a decision on whether citizenship should be granted. We do not, ourselves, carry out these checks and we cannot, therefore, be sure how long they will take in each case.



I appreciate that our website gives the following information in relation to waiting times for naturalisation applications:



"All applications for citizenship are subject to enquiries to ensure that the statutory requirements have been satisfied. Because of these enquires, we anticipate that applications may take up to six months to complete. Some applications may be dealt with more quickly and some may take longer, depending on the nature of the enquiries to be carried out".



As you will note, it is also made clear on the website that, in some cases, these enquiries may take longer than average to complete. You will appreciate the need to be careful and thorough in such matters.



The enquiries are still ongoing in regard to your application, and we are sorry for the delay. As soon as the enquiries outstanding on your application are completed, we will ensure that an immediate decision is taken, and that you will be notified accordingly.



However, we have failed to keep you updated about the progress of your application as you have requested. For this reason, I am upholding your complaint, and I am sorry that the notifications were not issued to you.



I hope this information is helpful.



If there are aspects of your complaint you consider have not been addressed, please see information about our complaint review procedure:

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk- ... -procedure



We value your feedback. Please access a brief anonymous survey to help us improve our service to you:



Customer Survey - Complaint Service

It's been 21 months for me, I'm not sure what to take from their reply to my complaint back in May which took ages to hear back, there is not much of explicit hints, but I noticed from other members , it's usually a good sign if they uphold the complaint

[contorted_svy]

If you haven't heard anything for 6 months, you can lodge another complaint if you wish.

[rakimmn]

If you haven't heard anything for 6 months, you can lodge another complaint if you wish.

Will it help if I ask for a complaint review? as the reply I got was only for a complaint.

[contorted_svy]

I thought you had received a response that they were upholding your complaint? If that is not the case please do ask for a review of your complaint.

[rakimmn]

I thought you had received a response that they were upholding your complaint? If that is not the case please do ask for a review of your complaint.

Yes the response clearly stated that they are upholding my complaint (haven't done any request for complaint reviews as its the first time I receive an answer for the original first complaint)

[gingerbread777]

21 months is still very long - there is no accountability. Have you done a SAR to see what is going on?

[rakimmn]

21 months is still very long - there is no accountability. Have you done a SAR to see what is going on?

Agreed, the member b44b5 had waited 2 yrs and 4 months so I'm still 7 months behind.

I did multiple times, could not find anything that could hint on what's happening (except an internal note that said my application was not assigned to a caseworker in Dec 2024)

I've also asked my MP to contact the HO and they did and received a generic response (6 months ago)

Also done a PAP (10 months ago) received a generic response too.

[contorted_svy]

I thought you had received a response that they were upholding your complaint? If that is not the case please do ask for a review of your complaint.

Yes the response clearly stated that they are upholding my complaint (haven't done any request for complaint reviews as its the first time I receive an answer for the original first complaint)

Try both things then, both a new complaint and ask for a review of this one.

[gingerbread777]

I received my SAR this evening, and what’s concerning is that it shows the last activity on my case was on January 7th — with nothing recorded after that. There’s some redacted information, but nothing stands out or seems suspicious to explain the delay.

My application was submitted in December 2024, and I completely understand that many people have been waiting much longer. It’s just frustrating to see that a caseworker last touched my file nearly 11 months ago

[contorted_svy]

Do you have acomplaint raised already? You can try raising one if not, or follow up.

[gingerbread777]

I raised a complaint previously and just got the usual boilerplate response. Do you think it’s worth raising another one — perhaps this time through my MP?

I also noticed something in my SAR that caught my attention: during the enrolment process, there’s a note saying “Passport: one or more fields missing in document.” It actually appears twice. I completed my biometrics at the centre and submitted everything properly, so I’m not sure how this could’ve happened — but I’m wondering if this might be the reason for the delay.