Naturalisation application processing timelines (only)

[Fleckitt]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years Tier1 + 1 year ILR
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + MSc UK in 1996
Method of application: NCS Cambridgeshire (JCAP)
Date of application: 13/03/17
Nationality: NON EU
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of acknowledgement / letter requesting biometrics: 24/03/17
Date money gone off account: 28/02/17
Date money gone off account PASSPORT: 02/04/17
Biometrics done: 25/03/17
Date of approval: 28/06/17 (on letter) Online application shows DECIDED 25/06/2017
Received: 07/07/17
Date of ceremony: 19/07/2017 (Today just about to leave for it in CAMBRIDGE )
Date applied for passports: JCAP 13/03/17
Date passports received:

TIME BETWEEN BIOMETRIC AND DECISION: 3 months exactly!
TOTAL TIME FROM APPLICATION TO CEREMONY: 4 months and 1 week!

[rafabeton]

Eligibility criteria: EEA, 5 years + 1 year PR
Language criteria met: British Council IELTS Life Skills B1
Nationality: EU
Method of application: NCS + JCAP - Hammersmith & Fulham
Date of application: 18/3/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKVI/HO: 21/3/2017 (Royal Mail tracking system)
Date of acknowledgement: 27/3/2017 (email)
Date money gone off account: 24/3/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 29/3/2017 (issued 24/3/2017)
Biometrics done: 29/3/2017
Online status update: Decided 16/7/2017 (Updated on 18/7/2017)
Date of approval: 17/7/2017 (Letter received on 19/7/2017)
Date of invitation letter: -
Date of ceremony: -
Date applied for passports: Sent 18/3/2017 (to be processed after citizenship ceremony.
Date passports received: -

[pkjh1708]

Eligibility criteria: 2 years spousal & 2years ILR
Language Criteria: From predominantly English speaking country & Uk Master Degree
Nationality - NON-EU Barbadian
Method of application: Postal
Date of application: 20/03/2017
Date of debit of fees:
Date of receipt by UKVI: 21/03/2017
Date of Bio metric letter issued: 26/03/2016.
Date of biometric letter received: 01/04/2017
Date Biometrics enrolled: 03/04/2017
Date on Approval letter: 12/07/2017
Date of receipt of approval:14/07/2017
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: Waiting
Date of Ceremony: Waiting
Date of Passport Application: Will apply after ceremony
Date Passport to be received:waiting

[genteeldon]

Eligibility criteria: 5 yrs+ 1 Years ILR
Language criteria met: Proved after 2013
Nationality: NON-EU
Method of application: Hammersmith and Fulham
Date of application: 05-Jul-2017
Payment method: Credit Card
Date Received by HO:06-Jul-2017
Date of Charging Fee: 13-Jul-2017
Date of acknowledgement: 17-Jul-2017
Date of Letter: 13-Jul-2017
Date of biometric letter: 13-Jul-2017
Received at :17-Jul-2017
Biometrics done :17-Jul-2017
Tracked online:
Decision decided at
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date of Passport Applied:
Date of Receive Passport:

[sgt12]

Eligibility criteria: 7 1/2 yrs in UK of which 6 1/2 were under ILR
Language criteria met: From Native English Speaking Country
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 15/03/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 22/03/2017
Date of acknowledgement: email: 22/03/2017, email received
Biometrics done: 27/03/2017
Online status: "Decided" on 04/07/2017
Approval Letter Received: 15/07/2017 (Letter dated 07/07/2017)
Date of ceremony: 26/07/2017
Date passports received: waiting

[brixton4ever]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years T1 + 1y6m ILTR
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + Nationality of birth
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS (Lambeth)
Date of application: 04/07/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 06/07/2017 (Royal Mail Tracking)
Date of acknowledgement (Email/Post): 12/07/2017 (email)
Date money gone off account: 11/07/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 11/07/2017 (arrived 14/07/2017)
Biometrics done: 14/07/2017
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports:
Date passports received:

[RUK44]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Yars LLR+ 1 Years ILR
Language criteria met: B1 Trinity college
Nationality: NON-EU
Method of application: Westminster Nationality Checking Service
Date of application: 27/03/2017
Payment method: Credit Card
Date Received by HO:28/03/2017
Date of Charging Fee:04/04/2017
Date of acknowledgement:13/04/2017,Date of Letter:10/04/2017
Date of biometric letter :10/04/2017 Received at 13/04/2017
Biometrics done:13/04/2017
Tracked online:Decision decided at 02/07/2017
Date of approval: Date of Letter is 05/07/17 Received at 13/07/17
Date of ceremony:
Date of Passport Applied:27/03/2017
Date of Receive Passport:

[longresident85]

Eligibility criteria: Long Residence + 1.5 Years ILR
Language criteria met: UK Degree
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 13/03/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Biometrics done: 22/03/2017
Online status: "Decided" on 29/06/2017
Approval Letter: Dated 03/07/2017 (received: 13/07/2017)
Date of ceremony: 14/07/2017 (offered date was 03/08/2017, but I called the Council and booked private ceremony)
Date passports received: waiting

[mkazimhyobo]

I would like to thank all the members of this forum for providing outstanding support to thousands of people like me. I have just got my naturalisation and thought i should share my experience.


Criteria :: 5 yrs + 1 Yr ILR
Type :: NCS Bracknell
Date of submission :: 06/05/2015
Date of acknowledgement :: 29/05/2015
Date of approval: 30/05/2017 (Yes it took around 2 years)
Date of receipt of approval :: 12/06/2017
Date of ceremony :: 04/07/2017

As you can see it took almost 2 years to get approval. During this time i contacted home office through different channels (myself, my local MP, Citizen Advise Bureau) but no luck. Every time i received a standard letter from HO that "Good Character" checks are being conducted as standard process, and I will be updated as soon as all checks are completed.
Eventually in March 2017 I decided to get advise from a lawyer. who decided to go for a less expensive option SAR (Subejct Access Request). SAR is where you ask HO to send all the record they have about the applicant. In lawyer's experience requesting SAR can sometimes help getting an outcome of a delayed application. This can in some cases help us identify why application is delayed, what checks are completed and when was the last activity logged in to your application. HO charge £10 per applicant to send the complete record. You can download SAR form and do it yourself or you can ask your lawyer to do it for you. My personal opinion is to ask your lawyer to do it for you.

Thankfully, it worked for me and i got approval from HO after about a month of HO sent the record to me.

[CR001]

I don't know why someone deleted the post from here...

Because this topic is for timelines only not for questions or chit chat or 'any updates', 'how to check my status' etc.

[CR001]

So why do the instructions tell you to update your processing times rather than reposting by editing the original post?

Quote your last post you made and update it and by reposting (updating in this case) it is then most recent post for members to see. Simples.

[longresident85]

Eligibility criteria: Long Residence + 1.5 Years ILR
Language criteria met: UK Degree
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 13/03/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Biometrics done: 22/03/2017
Online status: "Decided" on 29/06/2017(but till today haven't received approval letter)
Date of ceremony: waiting
Date passports received: waiting

[brixton4ever]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years T1 + 1y6m ILTR
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + Nationality of birth
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS (Lambeth)
Date of application: 04/07/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 06/07/2017 (Royal Mail Tracking)
Date of acknowledgement (Email/Post):
Date money gone off account: 07/11/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics:
Biometrics done:
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports:
Date passports received:

[yorky]

Eligibility criteria: EEA PR (acquired in 2009) + 1 year
Language criteria met: UK Degree (x2)
Nationality: EU (Latvia)
Method of application: Post (from within the UK)
Date of application: 13 March 2017
Payment method: Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 14 March (Royal Mail tracking)
Date of acknowledgement: 22 March (letter, as dated), 23 March (e-mail)
Date money gone off account: 20 Match
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 22 March (together with acknowledgement letter)
Biometrics done: 27 March
Date of approval: 4 July 2017 (letter, as dated; received - 8 July)
Date of ceremony: pending
Date applied for passports: pending
Date passports received: pending

(I have requested the return of some documents in June - this may have affected the timeline a little bit. Documents were returned within a week. Also note that the online status check still says "awaiting decision" - fairly useless.)

[lalastical]

Eligibility criteria: PR CARD
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + IELTS
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS + JCAP (Wandsworth)
Date of application: 17/03/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 18/03/2017
Date of acknowledgement (Email/Post):
Date money gone off account: 31/03/2017 (My bank rejected the first attempt )
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 23/03/2017
Biometrics done: 27/03/2017
Online Status: Updated 05 July 2017 to decided
Date of approval: ????
Date of ceremony: ????
Date applied for passports: 17/03/2017
Date passports received:

[MAS99]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years ILR
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + IELTS
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS + JCAP (Tower Hmlet)
Date of application: 03/07/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 05/07/2017
Date of acknowledgement (Email/Post):
Date money gone off account: 07/07/2017 (reserved but not taken yet)
Date of letter requesting biometrics:
Biometrics done:
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports: 03/07/2017
Date passports received:

[Sami007]

[quote="Sami007"][quote="Sami007"]Eligibility 10 years+life in UK+trinity college B1+1year indef Date of application:- 30/01/17 NCS Wandsworth
Date of acknow+bios :-06/02/17
Date of biometrics:- 09/02/17
Date of approval:-dated 14/6/17 received 21/6/17
Date of passport app:- 30/01/17
Date of ceremony:-28/06/17
Date of passport received:-06/07/2017

They really make you wait,I don't know but it's taking longer than expected.Good luck everyone and it's worth waiting.finally I am free from visas.Best of luck everyone:)

[mnurunnabi]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years Tier 1 + 1 Year ILR
Language criteria met: UK Degree
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS
Date of application: 15/03/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 17/03/2017
Date of acknowledgement: email: 24/07/2017, email received
Biometrics done: 30/03/2017
Online status: "Decided" on 26/06/2017(but till today haven't received approval letter)
Date of ceremony: waiting
Date passports received: waiting

[softy monster]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years RC + PR (Spouse BC)
Language criteria met: Life in the UK Test + Trinity Certificate
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS + JCAP (Camden)
Date of application: 06/07/2017
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI:
Date of acknowledgement (Email/Post):
Date money gone off account:
Date of letter requesting biometrics:
Biometrics done:
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports: 06/07/2017
Date passports received:

[genteeldon]

Eligibility criteria: 5 yrs+ 1 Years ILR
Language criteria met: Proved after 2013
Nationality: NON-EU
Method of application: Hammersmith and Fulham
Date of application: 05/07/2017
Payment method: Credit Card
Date Received by HO:06/07/2017
Date of Charging Fee:
Date of acknowledgement:
Date of Letter:
Date of biometric letter:
Received at :
Biometrics done:
Tracked online:
Decision decided at
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date of Passport Applied:
Date of Receive Passport:

[RUK44]

Eligibility criteria: 5 Yars LLR+ 1 Years ILR
Language criteria met: B1 Trinity college
Nationality: NON-EU
Method of application: Westminster Nationality Checking Service
Date of application: 27/03/2017
Payment method: Credit Card
Date Received by HO:28/03/2017
Date of Charging Fee:04/04/2017
Date of acknowledgement:13/04/2017,Date of Letter:10/04/2017
Date of biometric letter :10/04/2017 Received at 13/04/2017
Biometrics done:13/04/2017
Tracked online:Decision decided at 02/07/2017
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date of Passport Applied:27/03/2017
Date of Receive Passport:
Top

[Scotkaz]

I've got the cheque for the passport application (through JCAP) cashed in today - does it mean anything?
Although the online application says "Awaiting a decision"

Eligibility criteria: 5 Years Tier 1 + 1 Year ILR
Language criteria met: UK Degree
Nationality: Non-EU
Method of application: NCS + JCAP
Date of application: 15/06/2017
Payment method: Cheque
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 19/06/2017
Date of acknowledgement: 26/07/2017 (by email)
Date money gone off account: 29/06/2017 (for the AN application)
Date of letter requesting biometrics received: 29/06/2017
Biometrics done: 01/07/2017
Date of approval letter received: waiting
Date of ceremony: waiting
Date applied for passports: 15/06/2017
Date passport application fee gone off account: 05/07/2017
Date passports received: waiting

[lanz001]

Eligibility criteria: 13years ILR
Language criteria met: UK Masters Degree + Life in the UK test
Nationality: Nigerian
Method of application: Private - Aberdeen
Date of application: 09/06/2017
Payment method: Debit card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 12/06/2017 (Royal Mail Tracking)
Date of acknowledgement: 27/06/2017
Date money gone off account: 26/06/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 26/06/2017 (wrong date of birth on biometric letter, biometric letter refused at Post Office). Sent letter to UKVI asking for new biometric letter on 03/07/2017. Letter delivered and signed on 04/07/2017. Also sent email to National Biometrics and Appointment Exceptions emails on 03/07/2017
Biometrics done: waiting
Date of approval: waiting
Date of ceremony: waiting
Date applied for passports:
Date passports received

[discomama]

Eligibility criteria: 15 years
Language criteria met: UK degree
Nationality: EU Citizen
Date of application: 24/4/2017
Payment method: Debit card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 25/4/2017 - I checked the Royal Mail website
Date money gone off account: 11/5/2017
Date of acknowledgement of receipt: email received on 12/5/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics: 25/5/2017 - letter dated 17/05/2017
Biometrics done: 26/5/2017
Date of acknowledgement of application: official letter received on 1/6/2017 - letter dated 18/5/2017
Date of approval: waiting....
Date of ceremony: waiting....

[Salim1uk]

Still not received Biometrics letter, getting slightly worried. Any advice?

Eligibility criteria: Spouse BC 3 Year Route
Language criteria met: LIUK + Trinity B1
Nationality: Pakistani
Method of application: NCS Preston (JCAP)
Date of application: 14/06/2017
Payment method: Credit Card
Date of receipt by HO/UKVI: 15/06/2017
Date of acknowledgement: 26/06/2017 (by Email)
Date money gone off account: 23/06/2017
Date of letter requesting biometrics:
Biometrics done:
Date of approval:
Date of ceremony:
Date applied for passports: 14/06/2017
Date passports received: