Naturalisation application processing timelines (only)

[GGreg]

Application Timeline:

Eligibility criteria: 2 years HSMP + 3 years Tier 1 General + 2 years ILR
Language Criteria: Degree taught in English
Method of application: NCS Oxford
Application Form Type: AN form (for self & wife) + MN form (for daughter)
Date of application: 16-Mar-2015
Date of receipt by UKBA: 17-Mar-2015 (as per tracking provided by NCS)
Date of debit of fees: TBD
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: TBD
Date of receipt of approval: TBD
Date of Ceremony: TBD

[happyguy82]

FYI.

I had submitted this FOI request some time ago (see below link) about Sept applicants.

There were 7375 September applicants. Basically as of Dec 31st, 64.8% had been approved.

Number of decisions by month:
Sept-14 40
Oct-14 1,205
Nov-14 3,275
Dec-14 265

This is consistent to the showing on the September 2014 forum here - that roughly 70% were decided quite quickly (within Oct and Nov). I think this the case for each month - about 65-70% get approved within 10 weeks, the remaining are in for the long ride (6 months or more). There is little in between - ie. it seems quite binary - most likely you are put in the "further checks" bucket or not.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 034542.pdf

Data beyond Dec 2014 is not available and will not be available for a few months.

Cheers for this info too. At least the number of outstanding applications is now just 2.6k (or probably much less by the time we're reading this). They're clearing the backlog!. As I mentioned above, I'm sure they're keen to get this done as the surge of applications to beat the fee increase date would just add to their workload.

[cmpic]

FYI.

I had submitted this FOI request some time ago (see below link) about Sept applicants.

There were 7375 September applicants. Basically as of Dec 31st, 64.8% had been approved.

Number of decisions by month:
Sept-14 40
Oct-14 1,205
Nov-14 3,275
Dec-14 265

This is consistent to the showing on the September 2014 forum here - that roughly 70% were decided quite quickly (within Oct and Nov). I think this the case for each month - about 65-70% get approved within 10 weeks, the remaining are in for the long ride (6 months or more). There is little in between - ie. it seems quite binary - most likely you are put in the "further checks" bucket or not.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 034542.pdf

Data beyond Dec 2014 is not available and will not be available for a few months.

[Manka10]

- since british immigration numbers are so high why dont they just start rejecting application randomly to control immigration as it is just a "previlege not a right"

Thats a ridiculous but interesting argument.
Imagine you open a shop and a customer comes in to buy an item and is ready to pay for it, will you be able to tell the customer that this item is on sale but you don't want to sell it to that customer???

Bottom line, even if its a privilege, it is bound by law to be fair, just and non-discriminatory!

[mavdi]

received brown envelop today after 6.5 months and application unsuccessful because of gap (leave expired and made new application which took ages to decide than appeal) in qualifying resident period of 5 years. They ignored the fact that the gap was covered by S.3c and S.3d bcoz application and appeal were made in time.

what's next now seniors please ?

Seek legal help and if you are right then for an application for reconsideration.

[bestmd]

received brown envelop today after 6.5 months and application unsuccessful because of gap (leave expired and made new application which took ages to decide than appeal) in qualifying resident period of 5 years. They ignored the fact that the gap was covered by S.3c and S.3d bcoz application and appeal were made in time.

what's next now seniors please ?

[london_2014]

You can protest as much as you want, write letters, complaint... that won't change this : British citizenship is a privilege NOT a right. you can't argue with that, even if when they refuse an application, you can ask for reconsideration and not an appeal. I think this is very important that people understand these words : PRIVILEGE AND RECONSIDERATION.

When you pay £906 and send off your application, you have to agree with those 'terms'. It clearly says 'A decision about your application will usually be made within 6 months - some applications can take longer' AND 'While we try to deal with cases quickly this cannot be guaranteed'... Again you have to read the sentence properly and see the words 'usually' and 'cannot' it doesn't say they will, may, must, can, have to make a decision within 6 months, but 'usually'. The fact that they are using those words mean they can take as long as they want, even years if they have to. So you can protest but they are pretty much covered with that, the HO haven't misled anyone, are not late or anything, and complaining and protesting about 'delays' is pointless...

Another good example, is the good character requirement. While there is a 'definition' and a guidance for it. This doesn't limit the HO to apply certain rules, change or define the 'good character' in a different way. Like this has changed in December 2014, for anyone who has been in Britain illegally, overstayed etc (and probably causing the 'delays' and affecting a lot of applications as they have to start them over again), and this applies even for applications submitted BEFORE this change, and you cannot complaint about it because there is no accurate definition of the 'good character' requirements and the HO defines it, not the applicants.

To sum up, protesting, complaining, taking them court, won't affect or speed up your applications. Just take it easy, honestly, this is not worth stressing as most of you have ILR and have the same right as British citizen and can travel too. But you are free to do otherwise, not going to achieve anything though...

Good luck!

you are right in saying what you have said....however these are not all black and white...i understand it the following way (just my 2 cents):

- since british immigration numbers are so high why dont they just start rejecting application randomly to control immigration as it is just a "previlege not a right"
-they work towards an Service Level Agreement (SLA) and as stakeholders they to some extent are answerable to the applicants. If that is not the case they can just straighaway close the customer service department sitting there who currently picks up the phone to say something (while it si just their usual 'under processing')
-'usually 6 months' leaves HO some room for maneuover..however there has to be some sort of reason..vanilla applications should be decided by the end of 6 months. if not, they need to justify to the court (not to the applicant) telling them as to why the target could not be achived..
- agreed the letter has been drafted in a careful way, however the court as well as the chief auditor will also look at the fair decision making time...the chief auditor clearly pointed out in his report that the 6 months timeline is not very challenging (page 32)...so unless they have a very strong reason the case should be decided in 6 months...hitting 95% mark every month leaving out the rest to gather dust does not sound a nice logic to me....

[happyguy82]

Dear All,
I have been quietly following this blog since I applied and I was anxious to reply for many posts but I had difficulties to register on this website. However I have now managed to register through proxy server.
I posted my application through an agent on 31st July 2014 but as per Home office my date of application is 01st of August 2014.
It has been a very long wait and i'm not sure when this dream will come true .
Initially, I was so frustrated but later I understand there has been lot of work load at the case worker end because lot of naturalisation case workers have been transferred to passport office and most of them were returned only at the end of year 2014. Besides, I have also seen a document produced by an independent body in May 2014 complaining that "the Home office has been too good in processing naturalisation application and the customer service has been excellent unfortunately they are missing to tight the security and it seems they are not scrutinising the naturalisation applications thoroughly".
Mainly due to the above two reasons, Home office might have decided to put a hold on applications from June 2014 to express the reality in-addition to shortage of staffs to process the applications (transfer of staffs till end of year 2014). Once all the staffs were returned back to naturalisation department, they started kicking swiftly most of the application which was in front of them i.e January 2015 onwards and thats the reason you see most of the applications this year has been processed in a very short time-scale. In my opinion Home office understands that applications from May 2014 till November 2014 has been collecting dust for a long time and they might have agreed internally that they are covered by the complaint/review produced by independent body. So they consider all those applications as a backlog since most of the application has also passed the 6 months deadline. However they would have set a target that they had to clear all these backlog application in the next 3-6 months in addition to the current incoming application by juggling. This is one of the reason, most of the people who made an enquiry or a complaint earlier received the letter in February stating that their application process will take another 3-6 months which was sent out by Home office to cover their back. For your information, home office has been receiving around 7000 -8000 naturalisation application on an average for a month. Gradually, they completed processing almost 60-70% of the may 2014 and June 2014 applications this year and they also released the exact number as part of their FOI release. But the untouched and mainly affected applications are between July 2014 till October 2014 and they would have agreed to hold these statistical information and not to release as part of FOI. That is the reason you all would have noticed that the FOI release for July and August 2014 applications processed were less than 8% as recorded at september 2014 and they are hesitating to release those numbers as at today, however I believe they would have now randomly started picking these backlog applications and as a result you all would have noticed few approvals have started coming through for the applicants between July 2014 and October 2014 since Feb 2015. I hope they are gradually processing the backlogs and sending out the approval letters once in two weeks or in a bulk. I wish you all a good Luck and hope the approval letter knocks all your door soon.

I have also raised with Home office regarding Naturalisation Applications received in JULY 2014 and AUGUST 2014 as part of the Freedom of Information act and they are supposed to respond by 24th March 2015. We all would get a clear picture if they released the figures as at today. Please follow the below link for more details

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ons_rece_3

I have posted my application time line below for your reference.

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 1 Year ILR + 5 years Tier 1 General
Language Criteria: Masters degree in UK + Life in the UK Test
Method of application: Legal Agent (By post)
Application Form Type: FORM AN for naturalisation
Date of application: 31/07/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/08/2015
Date of debit of fees: 11/08/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: Letter Dated 11/08/2015
Date of receipt of approval: Still Waiting .....................and its been a long wait.................
Date of Ceremony: Still Waiting .......................


I wish you all a good Luck and hope the approval letter knocks all your door soon.

Thanks

Thanks for your detailed report. Most of us here suspect the same was happening and your post has helped to affirm these suspicions. The figures that you've provided are very helpful.

I also wanted to add that UKVI are expecting a huge surge in applications this month as people want to apply before the April price hike. I hope this will give them a good reason to clear the backlog and recent applications before this happens.

[Magdalena L]

Received email reply following my query that I need to wait another 3-6 months for decision and even that is not certain.

How on earth this is fair?

Any idea how long will it take. Has anyone with this timeline received a decision lately? Does this mean that I shouldn't expect anything in next 3 months? So many questions and so many thoughts curropting my mind at the moment. The email I received seem a standard reply with every para in a different font and name and dates in different colour. Are they for serious? They can't even draft a professional email for heaven sake. May be I'm ranting too much. Huh

Im waiting for over 8 months now. Recieved that 3-6 months letter 6th of feb like many others did. I think few people recieved their approval after that but most of them still waiting.

I am waiting about 8 months too. got letter 6.02,2015

[chrispratt4uk]

Dear All,
I have been quietly following this blog since I applied and I was anxious to reply for many posts but I had difficulties to register on this website. However I have now managed to register through proxy server.
I posted my application through an agent on 31st July 2014 but as per Home office my date of application is 01st of August 2014.
It has been a very long wait and i'm not sure when this dream will come true .
Initially, I was so frustrated but later I understand there has been lot of work load at the case worker end because lot of naturalisation case workers have been transferred to passport office and most of them were returned only at the end of year 2014. Besides, I have also seen a document produced by an independent body in May 2014 complaining that "the Home office has been too good in processing naturalisation application and the customer service has been excellent unfortunately they are missing to tight the security and it seems they are not scrutinising the naturalisation applications thoroughly".
Mainly due to the above two reasons, Home office might have decided to put a hold on applications from June 2014 to express the reality in-addition to shortage of staffs to process the applications (transfer of staffs till end of year 2014). Once all the staffs were returned back to naturalisation department, they started kicking swiftly most of the application which was in front of them i.e January 2015 onwards and thats the reason you see most of the applications this year has been processed in a very short time-scale. In my opinion Home office understands that applications from May 2014 till November 2014 has been collecting dust for a long time and they might have agreed internally that they are covered by the complaint/review produced by independent body. So they consider all those applications as a backlog since most of the application has also passed the 6 months deadline. However they would have set a target that they had to clear all these backlog application in the next 3-6 months in addition to the current incoming application by juggling. This is one of the reason, most of the people who made an enquiry or a complaint earlier received the letter in February stating that their application process will take another 3-6 months which was sent out by Home office to cover their back. For your information, home office has been receiving around 7000 -8000 naturalisation application on an average for a month. Gradually, they completed processing almost 60-70% of the may 2014 and June 2014 applications this year and they also released the exact number as part of their FOI release. But the untouched and mainly affected applications are between July 2014 till October 2014 and they would have agreed to hold these statistical information and not to release as part of FOI. That is the reason you all would have noticed that the FOI release for July and August 2014 applications processed were less than 8% as recorded at september 2014 and they are hesitating to release those numbers as at today, however I believe they would have now randomly started picking these backlog applications and as a result you all would have noticed few approvals have started coming through for the applicants between July 2014 and October 2014 since Feb 2015. I hope they are gradually processing the backlogs and sending out the approval letters once in two weeks or in a bulk. I wish you all a good Luck and hope the approval letter knocks all your door soon.

I have also raised with Home office regarding Naturalisation Applications received in JULY 2014 and AUGUST 2014 as part of the Freedom of Information act and they are supposed to respond by 24th March 2015. We all would get a clear picture if they released the figures as at today. Please follow the below link for more details

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ons_rece_3

I have posted my application time line below for your reference.

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 1 Year ILR + 5 years Tier 1 General
Language Criteria: Masters degree in UK + Life in the UK Test
Method of application: Legal Agent (By post)
Application Form Type: FORM AN for naturalisation
Date of application: 31/07/2014
Date of receipt by UKBA: 01/08/2015
Date of debit of fees: 11/08/2014
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: Letter Dated 11/08/2015
Date of receipt of approval: Still Waiting .....................and its been a long wait.................
Date of Ceremony: Still Waiting .......................


I wish you all a good Luck and hope the approval letter knocks all your door soon.

Thanks

[hsmpjr]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 1 Year ILR + 2 years Tier 1 General + 3 years HSMP
Method of application: NCS Swindon
Date of application: 23/02/2015
Date of receipt by UKBA: 24/02/2015
Date of debit of fees:02/03/2015
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 03/03/2015(By E-Mail)
Date of receipt of approval:14/03/2015. letter dated 08/03/2015
Date of Ceremony:25/03/2014

[happyguy82]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 1 Year ILR + 2 years Tier 1 General + 3 years HSMP
Method of application: NCS Swindon
Date of application: 23/02/2015
Date of receipt by UKBA: 24/02/2015
Date of debit of fees:02/03/2015
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 03/03/2015(By E-Mail)
Date of receipt of approval:14/03/2015. letter dated 08/03/2015
Date of Ceremony:waiting

That is quick, all the best guys..

Hi,

Congrats to you. Quick query, I'm guessing they debited the fees on Saturday 28/02 but only showed up on your bank account on Monday 02/03 right?

[hsmpjr]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 1 Year ILR + 2 years Tier 1 General + 3 years HSMP
Method of application: NCS Swindon
Date of application: 23/02/2015
Date of receipt by UKBA: 24/02/2015
Date of debit of fees:02/03/2015
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 03/03/2015(By E-Mail)
Date of receipt of approval:14/03/2015. letter dated 08/03/2015
Date of Ceremony:waiting

That is quick, all the best guys..

[happyguy82]

Friends I'm very down today. I have a potential job offer from Qatar on three time more salary than my current. How could I proceed without knowing the status of my application? I can't go for something and sacrifice the other?

Any idea? I'm into 6 months and one week since they received by the big house.

Any idea how can we raise our voices? Radio? newspaper? Demonstration? Or complaints to UKVI?

Is the salary amount going to affect your decision on which country you reside in? In my opinion that should be one of the last things to consider! Here in Britain we have much richer life than many other countries can offer. We have freedom of religion, speech, good environmental policies, healthcare benefits, health policies, tax policies, democracy.

To Happyguy82
The fact that Aumar is considering move to Qatar (or any other country) for that matter demonstrates that he is happy to accept what sacrifices (if any) he/she will be making. Point about sacrifices, they are something which is individual. the benefits you have mentioned for living in Britian may equally be countered by benefits in Qatar at an individual level. That is my opinion on your opinion.

To aumar
From a bit of experience in this, from the time you accept the offer to be in a position to fly out to Qatar, it could take anything from 3 to 6 months. So, if you are 100 per cent sure that this is your dream job offer which you may regret not accepting in future, consider accepting the offer. You can always delay after by asking for more information/clarification on the contract you receive after accepting the offer, this will buy you more time for citizenship approval.
Regarding Naturalisation application, as your 6 months are up, follow the usual steps, contact HO, get MP involved etc. to ensure that you have a response within 2/3 months maximum.

Fair enough... he doesn't have to answer to me, as long as he knows what he's doing

"For the love of money is the root of all evil"

[o_zee_sa]

What a long long long journey!

Dual application (married)

Citizenship: South African
Eligibility criteria: 6.5 years living in the UK (Ancestry visa & unmarried spouse. Married in SA on holiday, after moving to the UK). 1.5 years ILR
Method of application: NCS Southwark (Register office, Peckham Rd)
Date of receipt by UKBA: 18 Feb 2015
Date of debit of fees: Credit Card - Came off account 23 Feb 2015 (Was reserved for a few days before)
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 27 Feb 2015
Date of receipt of approval: 16 March 2015. Letter dated 7 March.
Date of Ceremony: 31st March 2015

Additional info that might be relevant. We're self-employed, and have been very careful to go nowhere near our days-out-of-the-country limit.

I hope that everyone waiting for so long has things resolved so far. My guess is there's a new system for things going forward, and they are working through the backlog on old applications. Best of luck.

[ryan1512lon]

You can protest as much as you want, write letters, complaint... that won't change this : British citizenship is a privilege NOT a right. you can't argue with that, even if when they refuse an application, you can ask for reconsideration and not an appeal. I think this is very important that people understand these words : PRIVILEGE AND RECONSIDERATION.

When you pay £906 and send off your application, you have to agree with those 'terms'. It clearly says 'A decision about your application will usually be made within 6 months - some applications can take longer' AND 'While we try to deal with cases quickly this cannot be guaranteed'... Again you have to read the sentence properly and see the words 'usually' and 'cannot' it doesn't say they will, may, must, can, have to make a decision within 6 months, but 'usually'. The fact that they are using those words mean they can take as long as they want, even years if they have to. So you can protest but they are pretty much covered with that, the HO haven't misled anyone, are not late or anything, and complaining and protesting about 'delays' is pointless...

Another good example, is the good character requirement. While there is a 'definition' and a guidance for it. This doesn't limit the HO to apply certain rules, change or define the 'good character' in a different way. Like this has changed in December 2014, for anyone who has been in Britain illegally, overstayed etc (and probably causing the 'delays' and affecting a lot of applications as they have to start them over again), and this applies even for applications submitted BEFORE this change, and you cannot complaint about it because there is no accurate definition of the 'good character' requirements and the HO defines it, not the applicants.

To sum up, protesting, complaining, taking them court, won't affect or speed up your applications. Just take it easy, honestly, this is not worth stressing as most of you have ILR and have the same right as British citizen and can travel too. But you are free to do otherwise, not going to achieve anything though...

Good luck!

[John28058980]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years Tier(1) + 1 year ILR
Language criteria met: Life in the UK + have already met requirement with settlement application on or after 28/10/2013 (non-UK Bachelors degree with points based calculator print out and university confirmation of English medium)
Method of application: NCS (Southwark)
Date of application: 16 March 2015
Date of receipt by HO: should be 17 March 2015 according to NCS
Payment method: credit card
Date of fees taken: TBC
Date of acknowledgment: TBC
Date approval received: TBC
Date of ceremony: TBC

Will update as my application progresses.

[waiz89k]

Friends I'm very down today. I have a potential job offer from Qatar on three time more salary than my current. How could I proceed without knowing the status of my application? I can't go for something and sacrifice the other?

Any idea? I'm into 6 months and one week since they received by the big house.

Any idea how can we raise our voices? Radio? newspaper? Demonstration? Or complaints to UKVI?

We have to write a proper compaint letter first and then we can raise it to any platform and it will be noticed as long as it is worthy of being noticed. So important thing is FACTUAL & IMPRESSIVE COMPLAINT LETTER.

[waiz89k]

Friends I'm very down today. I have a potential job offer from Qatar on three time more salary than my current. How could I proceed without knowing the status of my application? I can't go for something and sacrifice the other?

Any idea? I'm into 6 months and one week since they received by the big house.

Any idea how can we raise our voices? Radio? newspaper? Demonstration? Or complaints to UKVI?

Is the salary amount going to affect your decision on which country you reside in? In my opinion that should be one of the last things to consider! Here in Britain we have much richer life than many other countries can offer. We have freedom of religion, speech, good environmental policies, healthcare benefits, health policies, tax policies, democracy.

another benefit is we r getting treated unfair even after paying £906 fee. Kudos to HO.

[roc_wab]

I just been on the phone with HO...didn't received my acknowlegement letter and the guy said I'm on the system but my application is not yet allocated to a case worker and when it will be they will sent me one. They are slowwwww !!!!!

When did you apply?

23/02/15

Hi Res,
I am in the same situation. HO received the application on 04-Mar and money deducted on 08-Mar but no ack.. can you tell me which number you called.. Thanks and good luck,..

[mavdi]

I just been on the phone with HO...didn't received my acknowlegement letter and the guy said I'm on the system but my application is not yet allocated to a case worker and when it will be they will sent me one. They are slowwwww !!!!!

When did you apply?

23/02/15

That's very strange. Such a random hit and miss. A few people applying around that time have got their approvals already! It's very frustrating but we can't do much expect wait.

[Res]

I just been on the phone with HO...didn't received my acknowlegement letter and the guy said I'm on the system but my application is not yet allocated to a case worker and when it will be they will sent me one. They are slowwwww !!!!!

When did you apply?

23/02/15

[mavdi]

I just been on the phone with HO...didn't received my acknowlegement letter and the guy said I'm on the system but my application is not yet allocated to a case worker and when it will be they will sent me one. They are slowwwww !!!!!

When did you apply?

[Res]

I just been on the phone with HO...didn't received my acknowlegement letter and the guy said I'm on the system but my application is not yet allocated to a case worker and when it will be they will sent me one. They are slowwwww !!!!!

[huqqapani]

Friends I'm very down today. I have a potential job offer from Qatar on three time more salary than my current. How could I proceed without knowing the status of my application? I can't go for something and sacrifice the other?

Any idea? I'm into 6 months and one week since they received by the big house.

Any idea how can we raise our voices? Radio? newspaper? Demonstration? Or complaints to UKVI?

Is the salary amount going to affect your decision on which country you reside in? In my opinion that should be one of the last things to consider! Here in Britain we have much richer life than many other countries can offer. We have freedom of religion, speech, good environmental policies, healthcare benefits, health policies, tax policies, democracy.

To Happyguy82
The fact that Aumar is considering move to Qatar (or any other country) for that matter demonstrates that he is happy to accept what sacrifices (if any) he/she will be making. Point about sacrifices, they are something which is individual. the benefits you have mentioned for living in Britian may equally be countered by benefits in Qatar at an individual level. That is my opinion on your opinion.

To aumar
From a bit of experience in this, from the time you accept the offer to be in a position to fly out to Qatar, it could take anything from 3 to 6 months. So, if you are 100 per cent sure that this is your dream job offer which you may regret not accepting in future, consider accepting the offer. You can always delay after by asking for more information/clarification on the contract you receive after accepting the offer, this will buy you more time for citizenship approval.
Regarding Naturalisation application, as your 6 months are up, follow the usual steps, contact HO, get MP involved etc. to ensure that you have a response within 2/3 months maximum.