Continued delays with Passport (JCAP) - Please help

[ango_26]

Hi Forum members,

I was trying to look for info here but couldn't find.

I applied joint application back in June and now I have my Citizenship ceremony on Dec 04. I have to travel outside UK on Dec 22. As per UKBA, it takes nearly 20 working days for passport to arrive after the ceremony.

I am getting nervous if my passport will arrive in time for me to travel abroad.

What is your experience with this and how long it really takes for passport to arrive?

If my passport doesn't arrive, can I still use my Residency card to travel in/out of UK? UKBA says to send it right after ceremony, else face £1000 penalty.

Any help will be really useful.

Thanks!

[CR001]

It depends how long the council take to inform HO that you have attended ypur ceremony. HMPO will then be notified and passport usually arrives within 1 to 2 weeks.

[rdee007]

Hi,

I had my Private Ceremony on the 20th of November and I haven't yet received my Passport. I called the Passport Office and learnt that they haven't yet heard from the Home Office (but Council indicated that they sent the notification right after the Ceremony) which is concerning as I am not sure how long they take to process after the notification. Reading the forums, it looks like a few others had experienced similar challenges in the past although most people seem to have received their Passports within days after the ceremony.

In short, just additional data points for you while you make travel plans

Cheers!

[ango_26]

Thanks for your valuable inputs. I called Passport office and Visa & Immigrations office too and decided to postpone. Better safe than sorry

[rdee007]

Hi,

I attended a private citizenship ceremony on the 20th of November (been over 16 days now, 13 working days) but no sight of Passport. I called the Passport Office umpteen times but I am told that they are waiting to hear from HO on confirmation of ceremony attendance. I spoke to the council earlier this week (Monday) and they called UKVI to check and they were told that UKVI didn't receive the original message sent after the ceremony, so they re-sent the message as of this Monday PM. I called the council again on Tuesday AM asking them to make sure that it will be processed quickly. They spoke to UKVI and were advised that the process for Passport Issuance is handled by the Home Office (different team to them) however they will flag it to be dealt with soon.

As of this evening, the Passport Office still hasn't received any notification. I have emailed Citizenship.Support four times since last Tuesday but there has simply been no response. My recent message clearly indicated that council re-sent the notification earlier this week.

I don't know what I should do next. Please advise:

(a) Should I write to complaints@homeoffice on account of no response and continued uncertainty or should I wait until 20 working days have passed? I have trip planned for 16/12 (15/12 will be the 19th working day), so unfortunately, that will be too late.

(b) Is there any other email address that I can write to besides Citizenship.Support? Every time I call the HO @ 03001232253, all I am told is that they cannot check anything for me and I will need to email Citizenship.Support

(c) Is the lack of response from Citizenship.Support for over 8 days now expected / something others have faced?

Your inputs / guidance would be much appreciated. I am quite stressed out now as I don't know what to expect and when, and there is simply no response / transparency.

Thanks,
DR

[plabo]

Try emailing NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

[rdee007]

Try emailing NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Thanks, will try the above email then.

[rdee007]

Finally, have Passports, many thanks to this forum for all the inputs. Basically, the delay in my case was that UKVI had not received the initial notification of ceremony attendance (for some reason) and hence the council had to re-notify UKVI and once that happened, I had to give it a couple of days before following up with HMPO to make sure that they received it (per my note below - they had not received on 06/12, so was quite worried and when I called again on 07/12 afternoon, they said it has been issued and was being printed). I am impressed with how quickly HMPO processed it once they received the notification. Also, worth mentioning that I did not receive any text messages at all.