Naturalisation application processing timelines (only)

[Adventurer101]

Hi everybody, here is my update with my naturalisation application:

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 6 years(Ancestry) + 2 years ILR
Method of application: NCS Southampton
Date of application: 13 March 2014 (Sorry, my previous submission had April, it is March)
Date of receipt by UKBA: 17 March 2014
Date of debit of fees: 17th March 2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 17th March 2014
Date of receipt of approval: 29th March 2014
Date of Ceremony: 13th May 2014

I was really expecting a sort of 6 week wait time, but it is all concluded within 3 weeks of sending the application in. Now we just have 5 weeks to wait before we can attend the ceremony, which is a bummer as I was hoping to get this all concluded by the end April, but hey, all done and dusted, finally!

[Blessingallmy]

Application Timeline:
Eligibility criteria: 5yr+ 1yr ILR
Method of application: Postal
Date of receipt by UKBA: 20/02/2014
Date of debit of fees: 5/03/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 5/03/2014
Date of receipt of approval:soon
Date of Ceremony: soon

Lord I need you always, thank you lord xx

[londonboulevard]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years + ILR
Nationality: Montenegro
Method of application: NCS Hounslow
Date of application: 31/10/2013
Date of receipt by UKBA : 02/11/2013
Date of debit of fees: 09/01/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 15/01/2014
Date of receipt of approval: none
Date of ceremony : none


Jesus, after waiting for 5 months and 6 days, still nothing

[Zainy]

Eligibility criteria: 10 years long residence + 22 months ILR
Method of application: NCS Manchester,13/02/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 14/02/2014
Date of debit of fees: 19/02/2014 (£874 was disappear yesterday from my account)
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 21/02/14 ( dated 18/02/14)
Date of receipt of approval: 05/04/14 dated (27/03/14)
Date of Ceremony:waiting for Monday

I Am very happy today as immigration problem has been solved forever now and thanks everyone and good luck

[masjam]

Hi,
Finally I received Brown Envelope this morning Good Luck to everyone
Eligibility criteria: 10yr + 1yr ILR
Method of application: NCS Wandsworth
Date of receipt by UKBA: 24/10/2013
Date of debit of fees: 18/12/2013
Date of receipt of acknowledgement:22/12/2013
Date of receipt of approval: 05/04/2014 (dated 26/03/2014)
Date of Ceremony: Not Yet

[majamcr]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years residence, non-EEA spouse of EEA/naturalised British citizen
Language criteria met: Life in the UK and CPE
Method of application: self/postal
Date of application: 07/01/2014
Payment method: credit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 08/01/2014 (Royal Mail Tracking)
Date of acknowledgment: 28/01/2014 (dated 25/01/2014)
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 25/01/2014
Date approval and documents received: 05/04/2014 (dated 03/04/2014)
Date of ceremony: to be organised

I received a special delivery with my documents and approval letter this morning!!! Still waiting for the ceremony invitation letter.

I guess it took slightly longer than average in my case because I applied without NCS and without an EEA PR card (EEA4 application). But it worked out and I believe it was faster in the end than first applying for a PR card and then for BC.

I requested my passport back for travel more than 3 weeks ago and was getting slightly nervous as the HO was not gettting back to me. I contacted the HO using the tel. number and email address people posted on this forum (many thanks to everyone!).
On Tuesday I called 0300 123 2253 (got through after 20min) and was told my case is with the case worker and they would put a note that I need my passport back for travel.
On Thursday I received a reply email from ‪FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk‬ (after 4 working days) saying that a decision has been made recently and a letter posted on April 3.

It seems that the HO has improved their customer service recently. I certainly found the latest correspondence with them much more informative than before.

I wish the best of luck to everyone still waiting for their approval letters!!!

Also posted in the January 2014 thread:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1016405

[Zeeshan123]

Eligibility criteria : 2 years spouse of BC + ILR
Method of application:Ncs hammersmith
Date of application: 13/01/14
Date of receipt by ukba: 14/01/14
Date of acknowledgement: 28/01/14,recieved on
31/01/14
Date of debit of fee: 28/01/14
Date of approval: 05/04/14 dated (27/03/14)
Date of ceremony: waiting

[triademobile]

Language criteria met: UK Degree & KEL
Eligibility criteria: 5yr + 1.5 yr ILR
Method of application: Manchester NCS
Date of Application: 13/02/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 14/02/2014
Date of debit of fees: 18/02/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 21/02/2014
Date of receipt of approval: 05/04/2014 (Dated 28/03/2014)
Date of Ceremony: TBC (Will be private) I will book it for after Easter as I will be outside the UK next week.

Thank you very much for this forum and the people that administer it as it provides people with an estimate processing time.

[milan69]

You can only go to the council that is assigned as they have your certificate. Should you want to change the council it is a very long wait and I would not suggest you do it.
Should you want you can arrange private ceremony which costs around 100 pounds. You just need to call them.

[karthiky]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Year ILR + 1 Year
Hi All,
Want to share the good news that my wait for the brown envelope is over today. Thanks for immigrationboards and everybody who always assured me throughout all stages of this long journey.
I am surprised that the letter says to call Winchester Citizenships ceremony officer ( I believe they are the first point of contact for whole Hampshire), even though I live in Aldershot. Has to call them tomorrow and find out about the dates. I know there is a public ceremony in hampshire on monday somewhere (One of my frnd is attending).
1) Is there any possibility that ceremony officer can accommodate me into that ceremony. Can anyone tell how to approach the officer to get the earliest date. Is it better to go in person to the winchester council. If so, does anyone know if the winchester council is open on saturdays.
2) For private ceremonies can we change the councils according to our wish or do we have to stick to the councils allotted for us.

Can some one shed some light on this.

Language criteria met (degree & 10 Points in English Language from UKBA Calculator)
Method of application: NCS Fareham
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of application: 12/02/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 13/02/2014 (Royal Mail tracking)
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 18/02/2014
Date of acknowledgement: 18/02/2014 ( received on 24/02/14)
Date approval received: 04/04/2014 ( approved on 27/03/14).
Date of ceremony: Pending.

[majamcr]

Good luck farrukhnizam, I really feel for you.

[farrukhnizam]

@farrukhnizzam: Try writing to FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
It took them 4 working days to reply my email, but the answer was much more informative than what I got from nationalityhelpdesk@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk the previous time (the latter email address has been disabled recently btw)@

thanks majamcr i try that ..
let see...
Thanks
FN

[majamcr]

@farrukhnizzam: Try writing to FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
It took them 4 working days to reply my email, but the answer was much more informative than what I got from nationalityhelpdesk@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk the previous time (the latter email address has been disabled recently btw)@

[kimleeds]

Sorry for late reply as my internet was out of order

following is my time line

Eligibility: 5 years tier 1 + 1 year ILR
Nationality: Pakistani (joint + 1 AN)
Method of application: NCS Manchester
Date of application: 29/01/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 30/01/2014
Date of debit of fees: 05/02/2014
Date of acknowledgement: 13/02/2014
Approval dated: 19/03/2014
Approval received: 29/03/2014
Date of ceremony:09/04/2014

Thank God its all sorted now , thanks to all the members on this forum - this forum is really very helpful - I rang HO on 24th March asking for update, the lady said my case has been assigned to case worker on 18th march, where as the letter was printed on 19th & it took 10 days to arrive at my door, they charge us hundreds of pounds in fees & not even bother to send letters with 1st class or recorded delivery - :S

secondly HO call center agents don't get any updates from case workers, there are some set sentences that they say to every caller - "its in process", "its in-completed" - so i will request do not call them as its just a waste of time

In last I would like to thanks every one & wish all the people who are still waiting & good Luck

best regards

Kimleeds

[milan69]

I wrote to them 3 times and each time I got reply.

[farrukhnizam]

Try this one:
NationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

thanks a lot i try now.
I just received auto reply home office saying
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ AS YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANOTHER RESPONSE

Below is information to our most popular enquiries, including links to relevant pages of our website: www.gov.uk/browse/citizenship/citizenship

[milan69]

Try this one:
NationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

[farrukhnizam]

Have you tried emailing them?

Yes i sent a lot of emails on below address
nationalityhelpdesk@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk,
nationalityenquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk
But i have not received any reply from them

[milan69]

Have you tried emailing them?

[farrukhnizam]

Eligibility criteria: 5yrs HSMP + 1 Yr ILR
Council: Hatfield Council on 08-01-2014
* Method of application: NCS
* Received application at Home office: 09-01-2014 - thedx.com
* Date of debit of fees: 26-01-2014 at 12:05pm (Sunday)
* Date of acknowledgement of fees: 29-01-2014 (dated on 26-01-2014)
* Date of approval: Waiting
* Date of Ceremony: Waiting
Hi,
Can anyone guide what should I need to do?
Home office took the decision of my application on 6th of March and they dispatched the letter on 11th of March but I did not receive the letter. I contacted them on 20th of March they said please wait till 26th of March if you did not receive by 26th then contact again. I contacted them on26th they said they are going to chase with dispatch team and resend the letter. Again please for 1 week. Then I called on 27th to chase the letter has been dispatched or not. They said unable to confirm but they said we can confirm that the request has been sent to dispatch team please till 2nd of April.
I called to home office on 2nd of April to chase the letter. They said they are going to dispatch today please wait for 1 week.
Again I called to home office on 3rd of April to chase the home office has been dispatch the letter she said unable to see any request for resend we already sent you letter last month but unable to confirm the date please for 14 days.
Today, I called to council to check if they received any nationality certificate with my name (Normally home office sent letter to applicant and council at the same time).
The Council has confirmed me today they have not received anything with name.
I don’t understand that the status of my application, Is that rejected or approved.
Please guide me where I need to chase.
Thanks
FN

[robakles]

I got both the letters today... HO brown cover, and council letter and my ceremony was booked for 30/04/2014. I called local council, the lady was very nice and they can tell only if they have received the approval from Home office the same week... She checked on the system and my name was there and she confirmed my address too .....

see,the thing is she didnt even wanna check whether they 've received the approval from home office or not , she basically said - no letter no booking , bye , anyway congratulations to you , i'll just wait for my letter if you got yours today then maybe i'll get mine tomorrow lol?

[hchalla]

I got both the letters today... HO brown cover, and council letter and my ceremony was booked for 30/04/2014. I called local council, the lady was very nice and they can tell only if they have received the approval from Home office the same week... She checked on the system and my name was there and she confirmed my address too .....

[robakles]

Eligibility Criteria : 2 Yrs on HSMP, 3 Yrs on Tier 1 General+ 1 Year ILR
English language requirement: UK NARIC English language comparability.
Date of postingt to UKBA: 18/02/2014 NCS Colchester,Essex.
Date of delivery by UKBA: 19/02/2014
Date of debit of fees: 21/02/2014 (UKBA debeted the credit card but money was taken 22/02/2014).
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 22/02/2014 dated 21/02/2014
Date of receipt of approval: Approved ( but did not received HO brown cover, still waiting).
Contacted local council by phone they told it's approved this week (May be 02/04/2014).
Booked ceremony.
Date of Ceremony: 30/04/2014.

Best of luck those who are waiting....
Thanks for all the replies on this group... This board was very helpful thanks again....

Hi,my timeline is pretty much the same, i applied 1 day later, i know it's been approved but dont have a letter yet , so i called my council - Kent County Council and a very rude lady told me this - NO , i cant check it , we wouldnt know anyway????? you need your letter, so i said i know people who booked a ceremony without a letter (like yourself) and she told me , it's impossible , you are misinformed !!! dont believe this ,i'm going away for a month in 6 days so i was hoping i could sort this out but i need to wait for a letter , or i will call again on monday and hopefully speak to someone else

[ali_asad_pk]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 5yr T1G + 1yr ILR
Method of application: NCS (Enfield) 11/03/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA:
Date of debit of fees: 20/03/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 25/03/2014 (Dated 20/03/2014)
Date of receipt of approval:
Date of Ceremony:

Other Updates:

Interim Updates
13/03/2014: Called NCS council to get tracking reference of royal mail because the letter which council gave me says that I can get one but upon my call, they said that its get treated as internal mail and there is no tracking as yet and I can get reference number if I call back after not hearing from home office in 4 weeks

[virgo_mermaid]

Eligibility criteria: EEA exercising treaty rights (had ILR when arrived as minor trough parent residence permit)
Language criteria met: Life in the UK + B1 CEFR
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Bracknell Forest
Date of application: 27.03.2014
Payment method: Credit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 28.03.2014
Date of acknowledgment:
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 02.04.14 (online statement)
Date approval received:
Date of ceremony:

The nice lady at NCS Bracknell said "this is a busy time for UKBA as it's when they change the fees and all, so it might take longer than average, however every case is different, but ideally it should take between 2 and 3 months "
judging by how fast they've taken the fee, considering they received on a Friday, that was 3 working days so hopefully they've catch up with the applications.