Experiences using new UKVCAS for naturalisation/citizenship applications

[klamer4o7]

I had my UKVCAS appointment on 8 December at the Croydon office.

As a general note, it was quite apparent that Sopra Steria had not furnished the details yet. After passing the security check, I was sent to sit in a waiting room. A lady was calling people by numbers to go forward for their biometrics and the docs, but she did not give me or the people who came after me a number. After a 15 min wait, I managed to catch her (she wasn't situated with all of us waiting, she would only appear to call the next number) and asked her if I should grab a number. The numbers are standard pub raffle no's (literally) - no sign of an automated system such as the ones in high street retail shops.

My number was called in a bit to provide the biometrics, it was a do-it-yourself process, nothing major to report.

Then I was asked to sit in the waiting area again and stayed there for another 45 minutes. Then i was asked to go and provide the documents.

The second process is the one that, in my view, needs furnishing:
1. You are standing in front of a desk with the SS employee sitting on the other side of the desk. The view from the outside is pretty intimidating and borderline ridiculous, but hey ho, we are all after that passport.
2. The only compulsory document which SS requested was my passport. They scan it in its ENTIRETY - all 32 bloody pages. The system which the lady was using crashed 3 times and she had to re-scan from the beginning every. single. time.
3. I had uploaded my docs in advance and she said she can see "that there are uploads". I asked if she can confirm if all of them are correctly uploaded and visible, to which she replied "I don't know what docs you need, but if you say you've uploaded them, I presume they're all good". To which I responded by asking if she can go over the 14 attachments and confirm if they all have uploaded ok, as i have no means of knowing what's on their system. She seemed shocked at my request and said "everything looks fine, you know best". At this point i have lost the will to argue and just assumed that if there is anything missing or unclear, i'd rather have the HO contact me directly rather than extend this pain.
4. The appointment ended by the lady asking me "Are you happy for me to send all the documents and can you confirm that this is everything you wanted to send". To which i said "I don't know, because you haven't checked if there are 14 documents there". After being faced with a blank look i just said "yes" and ended the agony.

I'm sure they'll be able to take care of these details as they build on this portfolio, but I wish they had invested a bit more time in staff training.

Still awaiting to hear on the outcome of my application.

[citizenearth]

I applied on 19/12 and enrolled biometrics on 22/12. Today I received the following email from Home Office. I am very disappointed from the centre as I insisted on them to scan all passport pages but the lady insisted that only the first page is required and ignored my request. They were blaming the delay (4hours waiting on the day) on people bringing a lot of irrelevant documents to scan and now they will cause a delay in my application due to their un professional behaviour:

Email from Home Office:

“I refer to your application for British citizenship. Before we can proceed further please send all of the following original documents to this office by 06/02/19. You may scan documents and attach in a direct reply to this email. If scanning passports/travel docs, all pages must be copied.

§ Passport(s) or travel document(s) to cover the period from xx/xx/xx to xx/xx/xx.
Also xx/xx/xx-xx/xx/dx“

Does anyone know where shall I post the original travel document to?

Thanks

To update you on this issue: I replied to the email with a scanned travel document (old and new) showing all pages and asked if I should post the original to them. A very nice lady replied saying that the scan was received and uploaded to the system and she doesn't need anything further from me. She said that I should hear form them in the next 3 weeks so fingers crossed. This shows that currently HO started processing applications submitted on 19th Dec.

[citizenearth]

Also wanted to share my experience with UKVCAS. Another negative experience I'm afraid. After I booked an appointment and paid £200 (for a centre that is 1 hour drive for me since it was the only one available within 5 days) they phoned one day before the appointment saying that the centre has technical issues and that I should cancel and book another one. I asked what about the payment and they said that they will process a refund of the previous appointment and I should book a new one and pay £200 again. the only one I found available this time was 3 hours drive. I still haven't received the refund of the first cancelled appointment.

I went there and the process took 4 hours. the self service camera is very picky and didn't work and they ended up using the manual camera at their desk. The staff are polite and friendly but obviously they don't know what you should scan although they're taking £100 per person (I didn't find the free service available for me). So my advise is scan everything in advance and don't rely on them scanning or checking it for you as they don't necessarily know about your application.

[dilse4srk]

Hi guys,

I had an appointment at the Croydon office today at 4 pm for naturalisation application. The process was real quick. I had to give the biometric using a self service machine first. Then a lady checked my documents. At the end of the checks she asked for my consent to submit the application.

When she confirmed all done, I asked for a proof but she said that I will only get an email confirmation.

But I haven’t received any email yet (over 4 hours passed). Not sure whether the delay is unusual. Any idea?

Thanks

Hi
is there any extra fee for using ukvcas, For example when i applied for ILR i paid super priority fee which was altogether 3018. PLease let me when when we fill online application does the system asks us if we want to use postal service or ukvcas and if we do select ukvcas is there any extra charges apart from 1330 for nationality?

[dilse4srk]

Hi guys,

I had an appointment at the Croydon office today at 4 pm for naturalisation application. The process was real quick. I had to give the biometric using a self service machine first. Then a lady checked my documents. At the end of the checks she asked for my consent to submit the application.

When she confirmed all done, I asked for a proof but she said that I will only get an email confirmation.

But I haven’t received any email yet (over 4 hours passed). Not sure whether the delay is unusual. Any idea?

Thanks

Hi
is there any extra fee for using ukvcas, For example when i applied for ILR i paid super priority fee which was altogether 3018. PLease let me when when we fill online application does the system asks us if we want to use postal service or ukvcas and if we do select ukvcas is there any extra charges apart from 1330 for nationality?

[iamrezaul]

Hi guys,

I had an appointment at the Croydon office today at 4 pm for naturalisation application. The process was real quick. I had to give the biometric using a self service machine first. Then a lady checked my documents. At the end of the checks she asked for my consent to submit the application.

When she confirmed all done, I asked for a proof but she said that I will only get an email confirmation.

But I haven’t received any email yet (over 4 hours passed). Not sure whether the delay is unusual. Any idea?

Thanks

Hi
is there any extra fee for using ukvcas, For example when i applied for ILR i paid super priority fee which was altogether 3018. PLease let me when when we fill online application does the system asks us if we want to use postal service or ukvcas and if we do select ukvcas is there any extra charges apart from 1330 for nationality?

I had to pay £19.50 extra for the UKVCAS appointment. So, total came to £1349.50
While booking the appointment with UKVCAS, I paid extra £35 for document checking service which is optional.
When I filled the online application, on 20-Nov-2018, there was an option to choose between postal service and UKVCAS. Not sure whether the option still there. Suggest that you check on the website as things can change in sort intervals.

[celio]

Good morning everyone. As I have been reading this thread since it started I just want bring some hope and excitement to this thread as this morning I received my approval letter. Details below.


Application submitted: Naturalisation
Eligibility criteria: living in UK since 2005, ILR
Language Criteria: LIUK + Trinity B1
Nationality : Italian
Method of aplication: Online
Date of application: 16/12/2018
Payment method: credit card
Date of acknowledgement: 17/12/2018 (email)
Date of debit of fees: taken 16/12/2018
Date of Biometric letter issued: N/A
Date of biometric letter received: N/A
Date Biometrics enrolled: 18/12/2018 at UKVCAS in Peterborough £60.
Date on Approval letter: 18/01/2019
Date of receipt of approval: 26/01/2019
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 26/01/2019
Date of Ceremony: TBC
Date of Passport Application: TBC
Date of debit of fees: TBC
Date Passport to be received: TBC

[cryvate]

Good morning everyone. As I have been reading this thread since it started I just want bring some hope and excitement to this thread as this morning I received my approval letter. Details below.


Application submitted: Naturalisation
Eligibility criteria: living in UK since 2005, ILR
Language Criteria: LIUK + Trinity B1
Nationality : Italian
Method of aplication: Online
Date of application: 16/12/2018
Payment method: credit card
Date of acknowledgement: 17/12/2018 (email)
Date of debit of fees: taken 16/12/2018
Date of Biometric letter issued: N/A
Date of biometric letter received: N/A
Date Biometrics enrolled: 18/12/2018 at UKVCAS in Peterborough £60.
Date on Approval letter: 18/01/2019
Date of receipt of approval: 26/01/2019
Date of receipt of ceremony letter: 26/01/2019
Date of Ceremony: TBC
Date of Passport Application: TBC
Date of debit of fees: TBC
Date Passport to be received: TBC

So... The trolls were wrong!? Colour me surprised.

[mtsgill]

Congratulations @cryvate, definitely a good news for you and everyone else who have been eagerly waiting for the outcomes using new application system. It appears you got it within 4 weeks after submitting your biometrics at Peterborough UKVCAS. Thanks for sharing and Congrats once again

[cryvate]

Congratulations @cryvate, definitely a good news for you and everyone else who have been eagerly waiting for the outcomes using new application system. It appears you got it within 4 weeks after submitting your biometrics at Peterborough UKVCAS. Thanks for sharing and Congrats once again

I think you mean @celio

[mtsgill]

Congratulations @cryvate, definitely a good news for you and everyone else who have been eagerly waiting for the outcomes using new application system. It appears you got it within 4 weeks after submitting your biometrics at Peterborough UKVCAS. Thanks for sharing and Congrats once again

I think you mean @celio

Haha you got me there! Need my morning coffee

[Nerazzuri]

Does anyone know if UKVI start processing an application (i.e. requesting security checks and reviewing the application form and supporting documents) only after the biometrics are completed or right after the application is submitted online?

[celio]

Congratulations @cryvate, definitely a good news for you and everyone else who have been eagerly waiting for the outcomes using new application system. It appears you got it within 4 weeks after submitting your biometrics at Peterborough UKVCAS. Thanks for sharing and Congrats once again

Thanks anyway.

[Hioru]

And I was thinking here @celio is beating records, check what Dannyboy just posted in the timelines!

Eligibility criteria: Set LR -ILR + 1.5yr
Method of application: ONLINE (UKVCAS)
Date of receipt by UKBA: 27 DEC 2018
Date of debit of fees: 27 DEC 2018
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 28 DEC 2018
Date of biometric: 29 DEC 2019
Date of letter of approval: 18 Jan 2019
Date approval letter received: 26 Jan 2019
Date of Ceremony: 30 Jan 2019
Application processed in exactly 3 weeks.
Good luck to all. Thanks to admin and moderators of this forum.

Still congrats to @celio of course.

[cryvate]

And I was thinking here @celio is beating records, check what Dannyboy just posted in the timelines!

Still congrats to @celio of course.

But remember, the UKVCAS applications are going to take at least 6 months!

[bluebird12]

Congrats Dannyboy19

[wonderer98]

Here is my experience in a form of PRO-tips

1. When you arrive GET THE NUMBER for que asap - when I was there the que was messed up and I had to wait an extra hour for being not pushy - 3.5 hours in total for my appointment, despite paying for it
2. Upload all documents BEFORE the appointment - scan them, name them well, make sure they are high quality. If you do not do this, a stressed worker will scan them for you past his work hours.
An additional bonus is you will get an email in the morning saying "We have now completed the following checks of the files" - so your actual appointment will last 10 minutes.

[dilse4srk]

Hi All. I wi really appreciate your reply on few questions

I have started filling online form for naturalisation and now stuck at one point.

Referees.

Online form has text base field in which we need to enter referees detail but my question is what to take to referee for them to fill out as reference form. I mean should i print out referee form from paper based and take them to the referee and ask them to fill out and upload those as part of the documents on ukvcas site. Please let me know.

Thanks

[shankar981]

Hi All. I wi really appreciate your reply on few questions

I have started filling online form for naturalisation and now stuck at one point.

Referees.

Online form has text base field in which we need to enter referees detail but my question is what to take to referee for them to fill out as reference form. I mean should i print out referee form from paper based and take them to the referee and ask them to fill out and upload those as part of the documents on ukvcas site. Please let me know.

Thanks

The referee form will be available for download when the application and payment is completed.

[Hioru]

Hi All. I wi really appreciate your reply on few questions

I have started filling online form for naturalisation and now stuck at one point.

Referees.

Online form has text base field in which we need to enter referees detail but my question is what to take to referee for them to fill out as reference form. I mean should i print out referee form from paper based and take them to the referee and ask them to fill out and upload those as part of the documents on ukvcas site. Please let me know.

Thanks

The referee form will be available for download when the application and payment is completed.

It should also allow to download the 2 forms just before the payment.

Essentially, in the case of the online application, you fill their details in the website and the physical forms just asks for your name, their name and signature and date when signed (you will also be need to attach your picture onto it too).

[Dannyboy19]

In my case, I had 5he referee form already filled dated and signed using the previous paper form AN Jun 2018 version.
I simply submitted that along with other supporting documents. I didn't download the new form after payment online. It worked for me. And the supervisor at the sopra in Croydon said it was fine at the time I submitted my application.

[Dannyboy19]

Congrats Dannyboy19

Thanks buddy.

[johnhkg]

In my case, I had 5he referee form already filled dated and signed using the previous paper form AN Jun 2018 version.
I simply submitted that along with other supporting documents. I didn't download the new form after payment online. It worked for me. And the supervisor at the sopra in Croydon said it was fine at the time I submitted my application.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I had considered doing the same but decided that, as I was going to be one of the early customers of UKVCAS, I'd stick to the online process.

[dilse4srk]

Problem here is the online form asks for referee details and GP would want to see a paper based form which i can give it to him so he can sign and stamp. Until i fill in the online form i cannot go forward in the application. I am thinking to take my phone with me and ask GP to fill his details and at the end print the form. I doubt he will fill in the online details. Any ideas?

[jgreen6123]

Problem here is the online form asks for referee details and GP would want to see a paper based form which i can give it to him so he can sign and stamp. Until i fill in the online form i cannot go forward in the application. I am thinking to take my phone with me and ask GP to fill his details and at the end print the form. I doubt he will fill in the online details. Any ideas?

Your GP cannot be your referee.