Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[Rocky999]

Hi all

I received my ceremony invite this morning(13-01-2021) via post; letter dated 18-12-2020.

I was approved on 12-10-2020.

Rang Staffordshire council, they said that they will contact me to arrange ceremony.

Many thanks

[dragon098]

Is there anyone who has update from Wandsworth Council regarding ceremony.

I called them around 10:00am and the guy in telephone told me to email them to book virtual ceremony and that there are around 160 people are waiting for their ceremony. I might be 161th.

Anyways, anyone recently did ceremony or did anyone get booked in successfully. I still haven't got letter from Royal Mail and Wandsworth SW18 seems to be having delays

[CULLINAN]

Update: Approved 20th October
Invitation received today 13th January. Hounslow Council.

Good luck to all who are waiting.

This may help:

PROCESS to follow for members under Hounslow Council

Hounslow Council is still carrying out Virtual Ceremonies for £125 in National Lockdown.

You need to wait till you get an invitation from HO (via email or post) first.

Once you receive the HO invitation, you have to email: citizenship@hounslow.gov.uk with details as mentioned in the link below.

The lady is pretty efficient and calls back within 1-2 days to book you in.

Virtual ceremonies availability is running around late Jan for now. Group ceremonies (free) around April. Not sure if they are booking for group ceremonies for now or not.
https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20121/ ... ceremonies

[raij]

GUYS!!( AND LADIES) IT FINALLY HAPPENED! After 7,5 MONTHS WAIT my invite arrived!
Thank you for keeping me sane, listening to me moaning!
It wasn't easy i had an MP , and 2 other organizations (for ex army) involved to try and get home office to answer as to why i was waiting so long for my invitation letter
My timeline
Applied feb 2019
approval 4th june 2019
Invite letter arrived 13 jan 2021 Letter dated 22 December
Ceremony date- unknown as my local council is not doing these atm.
If you like me are waiting such a long time , please keep asking your MP to help , they are able to get more answers than i could

[Omyousif]

Hello all
This from cardiff council when am asked them about situation:
Virtual ceremonies are not something we are currently offering, we will review the situation again following the next welsh government announcement at the end of the month.
Any one from cardiff still waiting.

[raij]

Hello all
This from cardiff council when am asked them about situation:
Virtual ceremonies are not something we are currently offering, we will review the situation again following the next welsh government announcement at the end of the month.
Any one from cardiff still waiting.

i am with cardiff too , thats what they said to me too

[Kratosan]

8th October Approval here
Received invitation letter today from the home office.
Called my council to book a private ceremony (Wakefield Council currently doesn't offer virtual ceremonies) and was given an appointment for Monday 18th January with no charge.

Good luck to everyone else who is still waiting!

[nnn15]

After nearly 10 months my citizenship ceremony invitation finally arrived today!

Timeline: applied in February 2020, approved in March 2020, citizenship ceremony invitation dated 23 December 2020 arrived on 13 January 2021.

I had to submit several complaints to the Home Office and involve my MP as I didn't get any case-specific response via the standard Home Office support channels.

Westminster council has been extremely helpful and responsive. They conduct private virtual ceremonies during the lockdown at the cost of 10 pounds for the certificate postage fee.

[raij]

After nearly 10 months my citizenship ceremony invitation finally arrived today!

Timeline: applied in February 2020, approved in March 2020, citizenship ceremony invitation dated 23 December 2020 arrived on 13 January 2021.

I had to submit several complaints to the Home Office and involve my MP as I didn't get any case-specific response via the standard Home Office support channels.

Westminster council has been extremely helpful and responsive. They conduct private virtual ceremonies during the lockdown at the cost of 10 pounds for the certificate postage fee.

Yayyy well done lovely ! mine turned up today too xx

[Jefymum]

Update: Approved 20th October
Invitation received today 13th January. Hounslow Council.

Good luck to all who are waiting.

This may help:

PROCESS to follow for members under Hounslow Council

Hounslow Council is still carrying out Virtual Ceremonies for £125 in National Lockdown.

You need to wait till you get an invitation from HO (via email or post) first.

Once you receive the HO invitation, you have to email: citizenship@hounslow.gov.uk with details as mentioned in the link below.

The lady is pretty efficient and calls back within 1-2 days to book you in.

Virtual ceremonies availability is running around late Jan for now. Group ceremonies (free) around April. Not sure if they are booking for group ceremonies for now or not.
https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20121/ ... ceremonies

Thanks so much Cullinan. I've emailed them. Thanks for being so helpful and polite

[Dreams101]

After nearly 10 months my citizenship ceremony invitation finally arrived today!

Timeline: applied in February 2020, approved in March 2020, citizenship ceremony invitation dated 23 December 2020 arrived on 13 January 2021.

I had to submit several complaints to the Home Office and involve my MP as I didn't get any case-specific response via the standard Home Office support channels.

Westminster council has been extremely helpful and responsive. They conduct private virtual ceremonies during the lockdown at the cost of 10 pounds for the certificate postage fee.

Yayyy well done lovely ! mine turned up today too xx

Congratulations to you both, @raij and nnn15. It must be such a relief after the long wait. Very happy for you. Please keep us posted on your ceremonies.
I on the other hand haven't received anything yet. Last time I heard from the HO was 30 Nov when they said the following:

I am upholding your complaint. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, the relevant paperwork was not generated and despatched.
I am pleased to confirm that this error has now been rectified and your caseworker has contacted you today to advise that we will write to you when we have despatched your certificate to your Local Authority. In that letter we will also provide details for you to then contact your Local Authority to book a ceremony. I regret that I am unable to provide an exact timescale for completion.

I haven't heard anything since then. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

[CULLINAN]

Welcome. Please let us know the earliest dates offered. This will help others also. Thank you.

[MLep]

Today was a great day, I finally received my HO invitation letter for my citizenship ceremony in the mail. I tried to book it online at RBKC for a private ceremony (virtual) but it said they did not have any appointments available and to reach out to them by phone. I called and a very nice lady booked me for a public ceremony (free) on 19/1/2021. This saved me £200 (cost for virtual). Here is my timeline:
Applied online 14/09/2020
Biometrics 05/10/2020
HO approval email 30/10/2020
HO Ceremony Invitation letter 13/01/2021 dated 19/12/2020
Ceremony booked for 19/01/2021

Good luck to everyone! I will update again after my ceremony next week.

[aswadi]

After nearly 10 months my citizenship ceremony invitation finally arrived today!

Timeline: applied in February 2020, approved in March 2020, citizenship ceremony invitation dated 23 December 2020 arrived on 13 January 2021.

I had to submit several complaints to the Home Office and involve my MP as I didn't get any case-specific response via the standard Home Office support channels.

Westminster council has been extremely helpful and responsive. They conduct private virtual ceremonies during the lockdown at the cost of 10 pounds for the certificate postage fee.

Yayyy well done lovely ! mine turned up today too xx

Congratulations to you both, @raij and nnn15. It must be such a relief after the long wait. Very happy for you. Please keep us posted on your ceremonies.
I on the other hand haven't received anything yet. Last time I heard from the HO was 30 Nov when they said the following:

I am upholding your complaint. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, the relevant paperwork was not generated and despatched.
I am pleased to confirm that this error has now been rectified and your caseworker has contacted you today to advise that we will write to you when we have despatched your certificate to your Local Authority. In that letter we will also provide details for you to then contact your Local Authority to book a ceremony. I regret that I am unable to provide an exact timescale for completion.

I haven't heard anything since then. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

I would just advise you to complain again as per their website: "...if you believe your complaint has not been dealt with properly. You should start by contacting us again and asking for your complaint to be passed on to a more senior member of staff."

[aswadi]

After nearly 10 months my citizenship ceremony invitation finally arrived today!

Timeline: applied in February 2020, approved in March 2020, citizenship ceremony invitation dated 23 December 2020 arrived on 13 January 2021.

I had to submit several complaints to the Home Office and involve my MP as I didn't get any case-specific response via the standard Home Office support channels.

Westminster council has been extremely helpful and responsive. They conduct private virtual ceremonies during the lockdown at the cost of 10 pounds for the certificate postage fee.

Yayyy well done lovely ! mine turned up today too xx

Congratulations to you both, @raij and nnn15. It must be such a relief after the long wait. Very happy for you. Please keep us posted on your ceremonies.
I on the other hand haven't received anything yet. Last time I heard from the HO was 30 Nov when they said the following:

I am upholding your complaint. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, the relevant paperwork was not generated and despatched.
I am pleased to confirm that this error has now been rectified and your caseworker has contacted you today to advise that we will write to you when we have despatched your certificate to your Local Authority. In that letter we will also provide details for you to then contact your Local Authority to book a ceremony. I regret that I am unable to provide an exact timescale for completion.

I haven't heard anything since then. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

I would just advise you to complain again as per their website: "...if you believe your complaint has not been dealt with properly. You should start by contacting us again and asking for your complaint to be passed on to a more senior member of staff."

[aswadi]

Hi,

Which link are you checking if the council has your certificate?

Thanks

i meant for westminster council

Hey, Westminster City Council used to have the option to book ceremony online using the reference number but it is now removed from their website. Since they moved to virtual ceremonies only they want you to get in touch via email once you have received the letter and book a ceremony. I have emailed them today to check if they have received my certificate on registeroffice@westminster.gov.uk. I was approved on the 19th of October. Also good to know is that according to their website, you will need to be physically present within the UK in order to take part in a virtual citizenship ceremony. Now, I find this very frustrating because unfortunately I am stuck abroad and unable to return to the UK at the moment because of lockdown 3.0. I am not sure how and If they check, but don't think it's worth the risk.

Here is the link: https://registrars.westminster.gov.uk/A ... ignup.aspx

Could be that they are currently not "updating" that though and checking there is pointless.

I just tried to use the online booking tool for the 3rd time today and my records were now located meaning Westminster has my certificate. Original approval date was 9 October.

Invitation is still outstanding (I recently changed address which I notified the home office of, have royal mail redirect on the old address in place, and have spoken to the new tenants). Hopefully I will get my hands on it.

[westminster1213]

i meant for westminster council

Hey, Westminster City Council used to have the option to book ceremony online using the reference number but it is now removed from their website. Since they moved to virtual ceremonies only they want you to get in touch via email once you have received the letter and book a ceremony. I have emailed them today to check if they have received my certificate on registeroffice@westminster.gov.uk. I was approved on the 19th of October. Also good to know is that according to their website, you will need to be physically present within the UK in order to take part in a virtual citizenship ceremony. Now, I find this very frustrating because unfortunately I am stuck abroad and unable to return to the UK at the moment because of lockdown 3.0. I am not sure how and If they check, but don't think it's worth the risk.

Here is the link: https://registrars.westminster.gov.uk/A ... ignup.aspx

Could be that they are currently not "updating" that though and checking there is pointless.

I just tried to use the online booking tool for the 3rd time today and my records were now located meaning Westminster has my certificate. Original approval date was 9 October.

Invitation is still outstanding (I recently changed address which I notified the home office of, have royal mail redirect on the old address in place, and have spoken to the new tenants). Hopefully I will get my hands on it.

Did you use the home office approval letter reference number?

[aswadi]

Hey, Westminster City Council used to have the option to book ceremony online using the reference number but it is now removed from their website. Since they moved to virtual ceremonies only they want you to get in touch via email once you have received the letter and book a ceremony. I have emailed them today to check if they have received my certificate on registeroffice@westminster.gov.uk. I was approved on the 19th of October. Also good to know is that according to their website, you will need to be physically present within the UK in order to take part in a virtual citizenship ceremony. Now, I find this very frustrating because unfortunately I am stuck abroad and unable to return to the UK at the moment because of lockdown 3.0. I am not sure how and If they check, but don't think it's worth the risk.

Here is the link: https://registrars.westminster.gov.uk/A ... ignup.aspx

Could be that they are currently not "updating" that though and checking there is pointless.

I just tried to use the online booking tool for the 3rd time today and my records were now located meaning Westminster has my certificate. Original approval date was 9 October.

Invitation is still outstanding (I recently changed address which I notified the home office of, have royal mail redirect on the old address in place, and have spoken to the new tenants). Hopefully I will get my hands on it.

Did you use the home office approval letter reference number?

Yes the case ID. Mine started with 02 and then 7 further digits.

[aswadi]

Can anyone who has received the invitation via mail confirm whether the letter/envelope says something like "Do not redirect"?

[CULLINAN]

Can anyone who has received the invitation via mail confirm whether the letter/envelope says something like "Do not redirect"?

Official mail is usually not redirected.

[aswadi]

Can anyone who has received the invitation via mail confirm whether the letter/envelope says something like "Do not redirect"?

Official mail is usually not redirected.

I understand this but how can they tell it is official? If just a brown unmarked envelope with name and address I would think it gets redirected.

[LNDwaiting]

Is it only me or HO stopped responding to emails, I've used those and did not here anything back form them:

• FurtherNationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk,

• NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk,

• NationalityCaseworkDecisionService@homeoffice.gov.uk,

• CT3CaseworkEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk,

• Citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk

Not even ack, it's almost like I've been added to a spam list

I sent a round of emails to these addresses when 2021 started. I was approved in March 2020 and there are still no signs of my certificate. I haven't got any replies from any of these addresses.
The complaint I submitted at the HO website was upheld and they said they would "endeavour to print and despatch the paperwork as soon as possible", but also said they cannot tell when they can do so. So I guess the only thing I can do is to remind them about my still unprinted paperwork.

Hi nnn15,

My case is similar to yours. Approved in March 2020. Since August I have been writing and complaining, MP is involved. I also wrote to Kevin Foster, minister of immigration. His office replied on Dec saying 'I will receive it very soon'. Its been more than a month now.

I received a reply to my complaint saying ''I am upholding your complaint and I apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delay that has affected your application. It may be helpful if I explain that due to a technical error, your ceremony invitation letter has not yet been issued to you.
It is not possible to confirm when your certificate will be despatched to you. However, we will expedite issuing your certificate and ceremony invite letter''

Honestly, I don't trust them and I don't bother anymore. Have stopped thinking about my ceremony, It is very stressful.

[Jefymum]

Welcome. Please let us know the earliest dates offered. This will help others also. Thank you.

I sure will many thanks again

[tier1212]

Hello all
This from cardiff council when am asked them about situation:
Virtual ceremonies are not something we are currently offering, we will review the situation again following the next welsh government announcement at the end of the month.
Any one from cardiff still waiting.

Hi guy's
I m with Cardiff council as well
I got same answer
We are so unlucky as all other councils are doing virtuall ceremonies but Cardiff council is just stop everything
Plz update guys if you have any news for Cardiff council
Thanks

i am with cardiff too , thats what they said to me too

[tier1212]

Hello all
This from cardiff council when am asked them about situation:
Virtual ceremonies are not something we are currently offering, we will review the situation again following the next welsh government announcement at the end of the month.
Any one from cardiff still waiting.

Hi guy's
I m with Cardiff council as well
I got same answer
We are so unlucky as all other councils are doing virtuall ceremonies but Cardiff council is just stop everything
Plz update guys if you have any news for Cardiff council
Thanks

i am with cardiff too , thats what they said to me too

Hi guy's
I m with Cardiff council as well
I got same answer
We are so unlucky as all other councils are doing virtuall ceremonies but Cardiff council is just stop everything
Plz update guys if you have any news for Cardiff council
Thanks