Registration Timeline

[Racutis]

Hi all,
I have applied for British Citizenship through registration and I am posting the information for others to follow.

My details are:

I am a Canadian with right of abode and am permanently residing in the US and was born between 1961 and 1983 (OK, 1966, then) to a British mother born in King's Lynn. My father was Canadian and both parents are now deceased.

I applied using the UKM application and sent my long birth certificate, my Mum's BC, and my Mum's Canadian passport. She never applied for a British passport eventhough a British immigration officer said she could apply. She did not see the need for one. The application was sent to the British Embassy in Washington DC on 01 August 2006. The embassy phoned me at home asking of my mother ever had a British passport. I said "no". I did send on my Mum's National Registration Card with a Liverpool immigration stamp and a Canadian Travel Certificate with the same embarking immigration stamp. I also sent the embassy my parents wedding certificate.

The application was then sent to the Home Office: 10 Aug 2006
Waiting for approval.

Thanks,
Racutis

[Jeff Albright]

ok. Good luck with this.
What were you going to ask the forum?

[Racutis]

Hi Jeff and all,

I wasn't going to ask the forum of anything but I thought posting my info would help others who were thinking of entering the process to give them a timeline of what to expect. I hope this is acceptable.

Thanks,
Racutis

[JAJ]

Latest processing time for adult registrations is just over 2 months:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/nationality/

Allow a little extra time to attend a citizenship ceremony at a British diplomatic mission in the U.S.

You should be aware you'll be British "by descent" and hence not automatically able to pass on your citizenship to non-UK born children.

[Racutis]

Hi JAJ,

Thanks for the info. I realise that I will not be able to pass citizenship onto children but the law may change in the future so I decided to apply anyway. In the here and now, citizenship is a want and not a need but if we knew about registration back in 1980 when we were in England for holiday, things may have turned out different. I had a desire in my teens to join HM forces but I was told about the security clearance issues (I didn't even know about ROB until I was 25).

Thanks again.
Racutis

[Racutis]

Hi all,

I just received a Citizenship Ceremony confirmation from the British Consulate-General at San Francisco. They did not include the invitation but I will fax them Monday as I need to identify my wife as a guest. The HO took less than 2 months! I will let everyone know how the ceremony went!

I do have a question now. My wife is from Hong Kong and has a BNO passport. Would she be entitled to right of abode?

Thanks for all your help.

Racutis

[JAJ]

Hi all,
I do have a question now. My wife is from Hong Kong and has a BNO passport. Would she be entitled to right of abode?

No, sorry. Unless she can prove she's not a Chinese citizen and then the provisions of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 might apply.

You can however sponsor her to live in the UK, and after 3 years she can become naturalised British. http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk is the place to start.

[Racutis]

An update: The ceremony will be on 06 November, 2006.

A question: Does the HO allow B&W printouts of the passport application?

Thanks,
Racutis

[JAJ]

A question: Does the HO allow B&W printouts of the passport application?

Don't know. But if you're applying for a British passport in the U.S. you apply to the British Embassy, Washington DC, not to the Home Office.

Issuance of British passports outside the United Kingdom and its Territories is the responsibilty of the Foreign Office, not the Home Office.

Congratulations on your ceremony date. Remember you don't legally become a British citizen until you attend and take the Oath and Pledge.

[ppron747]

The Home Office (well actually the Identity & Passport Service, which issues passports in UK) doesn't allow any form of customer-printed application forms. Customers in UK must use the paper forms provided by IPS, or else apply online. (This is because paper applications are scanned into their system, and the ink is specially coloured so as to be invisible to the scanning equipment, so the optical character recognition thingy doesn't have to work so hard).

HOWEVER, as JAJ says, applicants outside UK must apply to their British Embassy, using a different form. So far as I know, there is no problem using a B&W printout of the downloaded form.

You want application and notes C1, downloadable from here, on the BritainUSA website.

[Racutis]

I should have clarified this sooner as i am aware that the passport applications are sent to the embassy in Washington DC. My question was, and thanks for answering, was: Since I do not have access to a colour printer, am I able to print the C1 application off of a b&W laser printer and use that or do I call the nearest consulate and ask for an application? If I have to call, it seems pointless to have it online to download. This is where my confusion is.

Thanks for your help.
Racutis

[RobinLondon]

B&W is fine. My father recently applied for his UK passport through the Embassy in Washington after downloading the forms from the internet. He got his passport in less than a month.

[Racutis]

Thanks for the info.

I am planning to complete the application, then send the whole thing with the Registration certificate after the ceremony.

Racutis

[Racutis]

Hi all,

I am back from British Consulate-General at San Francisco where the ceremony took place. During the 1 hour ceremony, the Consular general spoke then we either said an oath or affirmed our allegence. Lots of pictures and tea with buscuits after.

Cheers,
Racutis