General discussion after BC and Passport application

blacksta · Post by **blacksta** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:34 am

juliajules1979 wrote:Hiya

I just wondered when applying for a Britis Passport, is it necessary that the counter signatory needs to provide a written refrence on headed paper?

I have heard a few people mention this and I'm confused.

Many thanks

Not necessary - unless they contact the counter signatory and request for letter using a letter head.

Mow12345 · Post by **Mow12345** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:26 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iam waiting my naturalisation letter but wondering what is the passport interview.
The people tell me normaly I look older than my real age, some people are like that.
Some people say to me you look 10 yrs older than your real age.
I have my Travel document with my photo on any way.
What do you think can that affect the interview.
Need answer please.

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:06 pm

I applied on 16 Feb and still waiting. I have to go abroad for 2 months. If I am correct, I have 90 days to attend a ceremony when the invitation letter arrives. Does that mean if the invitation letter arrives whilst I am away, it should still be OK?

Post by **Jambo** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:27 pm

joh118 wrote:I applied on 16 Feb and still waiting. I have to go abroad for 2 months. If I am correct, I have 90 days to attend a ceremony when the invitation letter arrives. Does that mean if the invitation letter arrives whilst I am away, it should still be OK?

See similar question - here.

joh118 · Post by **joh118** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:34 pm

Jambo wrote:
joh118 wrote:I applied on 16 Feb and still waiting. I have to go abroad for 2 months. If I am correct, I have 90 days to attend a ceremony when the invitation letter arrives. Does that mean if the invitation letter arrives whilst I am away, it should still be OK?
See similar question - here.

Thanks! All good then.

manoj123 · Post by **manoj123** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:24 am

Mow12345 wrote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iam waiting my naturalisation letter but wondering what is the passport interview.
The people tell me normaly I look older than my real age, some people are like that.
Some people say to me you look 10 yrs older than your real age.
I have my Travel document with my photo on any way.
What do you think can that affect the interview.
Need answer please.

I don't think looking older would be a problem. Have noticed some of my friends from a particular ethnic background look much younger and were asked ID for buying alcohol when they are in their 30s. So IPS officials should be aware of these.

Make sure you answer confidently and don't look nervous/worried.

ARPHskp · Post by **ARPHskp** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:49 am

does anyone know about ceremony in liverpool, how many times in the month they do, how much does it cost

cricinfo · Post by **cricinfo** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:54 am

ARPHskp wrote:how much does it cost

Ceremony cost is included in application fee for naturalization so ceremony is free unless you opt for private ceremony for which you have to pay.

ARPHskp · Post by **ARPHskp** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:57 am

Thank God ceremony is free (well its included not free lol). Wish passport fee was included as well (but then they will increase fees lol). Does it normally happen twice a month

manoj123 · Post by **manoj123** » Tue May 01, 2012 12:56 pm

ARPHskp wrote:Thank God ceremony is free (well its included not free lol). Wish passport fee was included as well (but then they will increase fees lol). Does it normally happen twice a month

It depends on the Council. Was reading Brighton does once a month. Cambridgeshire does weekly. So you might need to ring them.

ARPHskp · Post by **ARPHskp** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:03 pm

Thanks.

I will wait for approval first as its too early for me. Only 5 weeks since I applied

jms_uk · Post by **jms_uk** » Tue May 01, 2012 1:51 pm

manoj123 wrote:It depends on the Council. Was reading Brighton does once a month. Cambridgeshire does weekly. So you might need to ring them.

Hereford[shire] is once a month as well...

grantring · Post by **grantring** » Tue May 01, 2012 2:17 pm

jms_uk wrote:
manoj123 wrote:It depends on the Council. Was reading Brighton does once a month. Cambridgeshire does weekly. So you might need to ring them.
Hereford[shire] is once a month as well...

Chichester is every 2 weeks for west sussex addresses

bebe2011 · Post by **bebe2011** » Wed May 02, 2012 4:35 pm

I applied on the 17th February and have heard nothing so far.....not a problem as i am waiting patiently. However, on the 29th Feb thereabouts, i received a letter stating i had not paid enough and to pay within 2 weeks or my application will be refused.....i was surprised considering there was more than enough money in there. anyway, i promptly filled in the payment form they included in the letter and posted it by special delivery which they received 2 days later.

on reading the forums, i came across a post which said that the reference NFEE1234567 isn't my reference and to call and find out what my reference number is......so i decided to call today around 4.....it took over 10 minutes and 2 tries before a guy picked it up (i was smiling cos i heard guys are nicer than the ladies)

HOW WRONG WAS I? this guy was virtually shouting down the phone at me! my goodness.....he was so abrupt.....whilst i had a very calm voice and asked him what my reference number is.....he replied asking if i never received a letter from them. i said i did but then i understand that is not my reference number. he then said ok give me your details and i will chk but it depends on whether you are on the main system.....so i did and in less than 5 seconds after asking me to repeat my name just clicked and then he shouted....your name isn't on the system yet! OK!

I was so shocked at his RUDE attitude that i just said ok....

i am very shocked at the way these people behave....it seems they have been told to treat us harshly......it is just a downright pity cos this attitude will not improve their services in any way....its a pity......just wanted to share and get this sad incident off my chest......

good luck to all........and to me too.......

elliass · Post by **elliass** » Wed May 02, 2012 4:53 pm

bebe2011 wrote:I applied on the 17th February and have heard nothing so far.....not a problem as i am waiting patiently. However, on the 29th Feb thereabouts, i received a letter stating i had not paid enough and to pay within 2 weeks or my application will be refused.....i was surprised considering there was more than enough money in there. anyway, i promptly filled in the payment form they included in the letter and posted it by special delivery which they received 2 days later.

on reading the forums, i came across a post which said that the reference NFEE1234567 isn't my reference and to call and find out what my reference number is......so i decided to call today around 4.....it took over 10 minutes and 2 tries before a guy picked it up (i was smiling cos i heard guys are nicer than the ladies)

HOW WRONG WAS I? this guy was virtually shouting down the phone at me! my goodness.....he was so abrupt.....whilst i had a very calm voice and asked him what my reference number is.....he replied asking if i never received a letter from them. i said i did but then i understand that is not my reference number. he then said ok give me your details and i will chk but it depends on whether you are on the main system.....so i did and in less than 5 seconds after asking me to repeat my name just clicked and then he shouted....your name isn't on the system yet! OK!

I was so shocked at his RUDE attitude that i just said ok....

i am very shocked at the way these people behave....it seems they have been told to treat us harshly......it is just a downright pity cos this attitude will not improve their services in any way....its a pity......just wanted to share and get this sad incident off my chest......

good luck to all........and to me too.......

I am really sorry to hear that

Despite I don't get any status; but from my own experience honestly I haven't faced any problems when I call them whether males or females!

Please do not misunderstand me, I dont mean that you are not honest But I share only my experience.

yes most of the time they don't give you any status about yours because it is their policy.

I applied in mid of Jan/2012 but till now no letter, but the good news that my file in the system which means in the process!

fingers crossed and goodluck for all of us!

blacksta · Post by **blacksta** » Wed May 02, 2012 5:23 pm

cricinfo wrote:
blacksta wrote:
cricinfo wrote:
blacksta wrote:
Interview was on 25/04 - I did contact them- they said it required further examination which i guess it means interview wasnt ok

Getting fed up off the whole thing.
Sorry to hear that. Looks like they need to do some further checks on your application which could take some time. You have to wait patiently as you will get your passport in the end.
Thanks

considering the large fees one paid - it is just so hard to get information out of them. It is baffling what a further checks could they be doing that was not done before an interview letter was sent out.
Only 8 fraudulent applicants have been caught by this system since 2007 which has costed millions of pounds. Read this report :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... sters.html

After Many hours of Praying and Confessing then God moved on my behalf - My Passport was sent for Printing on the 30/4 - Thanks

But havent received it yet.

blacksta · Post by **blacksta** » Thu May 03, 2012 6:32 pm

blacksta wrote:
cricinfo wrote:
blacksta wrote:
cricinfo wrote:
Sorry to hear that. Looks like they need to do some further checks on your application which could take some time. You have to wait patiently as you will get your passport in the end.
Thanks

considering the large fees one paid - it is just so hard to get information out of them. It is baffling what a further checks could they be doing that was not done before an interview letter was sent out.
Only 8 fraudulent applicants have been caught by this system since 2007 which has costed millions of pounds. Read this report :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... sters.html
After Many hours of Praying and Confessing then God moved on my behalf - My Passport was sent for Printing on the 30/4 - Thanks

But havent received it yet.

Yep it arrived today

- Journey Over. Moving on to the next project

Wishing everyone waiting - all the best

God is still King.

workingmama · Post by **workingmama** » Fri May 04, 2012 6:27 am

Well I just sent off a long email to the Minister of Immigration regarding issues I see with the application process.

Some of the issues I raised were lack of transparency in the processing of applications. Those who applied much earlier are still waiting while those that applied months after are being dealt with within 4 weeks or so.
It could be argued maybe those waiting have complex cases, however I do not buy that with the majority of cases I have seen on different forums including my own husbands. Ie same criteria and nationality, no excess stays outside UK, no criminal record etc.
Many who waited months and months did not even have their refs contacted this leads me to believe many caseworkers are working on stuff as it comes in so earlier applications are getting pushed further back in the line which is basically a very bad service for the money you pay.

The 6 month no info rule. This concerns me as its not a free service. Things do go wrong, letters sent out that are not recieved, things do get stuck in the system etc (It happens where I work and unless the member of public calls we dont know about it and cant get it rectified) and we give info out despite processing timelines. All government departments use computer systems that log info on cases be it Comino, OHMS or something else. They are all similar in the sense you tap in the person details and it brings up what stage something is at. Maybe if they gave updates even just to tell you its waiting a caseworker, it would reduce call ratio because then they would not constantly be answering endless calls just to tell someone "No were not telling you anything" only for the person to try again the next day hoping to get someone else on the line who might divuldge info.

Hit and miss when applicants call the enquiry line. Some staff are helpful and give updates, some totally refuse quoting the 6 month timeline rule. This again is disorganised and unprofessional and causes high call ratio as applicants are just going to keep calling hoping they get that generous member of staff on the phone.

Without complaints a service stays the same. I imagine many applicants would not complain about the service they recieve worrying their application might be affected but as I am a born and bred Brit, it does not bother me to voice my opinion. Afterall without the publics input services stay the same. In my own department we are currently undergoing a massive restructure based on publics complaints and issues about the way the service is currently run.

Good luck to those who have been waiting a longtime

manoj123 · Post by **manoj123** » Fri May 04, 2012 11:06 am

workingmama wrote:Well I just sent off a long email to the Minister of Immigration regarding issues I see with the application process.

Many thanks for your efforts workingmama. Hope they will set a process in place and future applicants will get benefited.

ana ali · Post by **ana ali** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:01 pm

thanks workingmama
you wrote letter to immigration minister. my brother is still waiting for approval letter for last one year what do you think ? will they take into consideration that important issue or they will realize the applicants are facing problem? will they sort out these issues by improving their services as soon as possible

cricinfo · Post by **cricinfo** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:45 pm

ana ali wrote:thanks workingmama
you wrote letter to immigration minister. my brother is still waiting for approval letter for last one year what do you think ? will they take into consideration that important issue or they will realize the applicants are facing problem? will they sort out these issues by improving their services as soon as possible

Has your brother called HO and got any update ? It may be the case that your brother's application has been lost or something. He needs to contact HO and then to MP of his constituency to write to HO to process his case asap.

ana ali · Post by **ana ali** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:44 pm

my brother applied through lawyer and his lawyer wrote letter to HO office they said that it would get in the end of march but still no reply yet.......

workingmama · Post by **workingmama** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:58 pm

To be honest I doubt my letter will make much difference. It needs for many people to complain for the powers that be to look at the service. However my letter is a start.

Those that have waited a year should be contacting their MP and asking them to get involved. If your refs were never contacted then I would seriously start thinking you have got stuck in the processing pile, because if they have issues with your application one of the things they would have done first is contact the refs.

I have never seen such a disorganised system and it should not be like this because you ARE paying a large fee and deserve to be treated much better and given proper updates.

grantring · Post by **grantring** » Fri May 04, 2012 4:06 pm

I really dont think they contact the refs in every application as they can see them from there passport number if provided

workingmama · Post by **workingmama** » Fri May 04, 2012 4:22 pm

I really dont think they contact the refs in every application as they can see them from there passport number if provided

The refs are supposed to know something about the applicant and if there was an issue with the case then one of the first things they should do while investigating would be to ask information from the refs .

I sign passport photos and forms for people and have acted as a ref on naturalisation forms, but I would only do that if I knew something about the person if they ever called me. I have known some of the people who ask in a professional capacity for 5 or 6 years but I would only sign something if I knew personal info about them and could answer the passport or naturalisation questions. Some people I deal with I actually know nothing about except their name, address despite seeing them on a regular basis in my office and I would refuse to act as a ref for them basically because if I was asked to confirm something I would not be able to answer.

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