Received Ceremony Invitation but no approval letter?

[USAtoUK2018]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone out there can advise. I applied for citizenship at the start of August. Today, I received an invitation for a citizenship ceremony from Worcestershire County Council: "You should have received a letter from the Home Office asking you to contact us to book your Citizenship Ceremony. If you are happy to attend the ceremony detailed below, there is no need for you to contact us."

I have not, however, received any letters from the Home Office showing official approval. The letter from the council goes on to say that I need to bring that letter along with their letter to the ceremony. The problem is that the ceremony they have booked me into is this Friday! AND it's absolutely nowhere near where I live (East Sussex).

Is there a phone number I can ring or an emergency email address I can contact the Home Office regarding this?

Thank you very much in advance!

[nidaulhaque]

You need to send email to home office

[USAtoUK2018]

I've emailed a few email addresses that have been posted to the forums, but everyone seems to indicate that responses can take a long time. Does anyone know of a direct phone number for a situation like this? I plan on contacting the council who issues my invitation tomorrow, as well as the generic Home Office 03 number.

[CR001]

Did you mentioned East Sussex in any way in your application???

It is clearly an error if you live in Worcestershire.

[USAtoUK2018]

It's the opposite actually. I live in East Sussex. I applied online and did NDRS+JCAP. I know my address details are correct as the letter from Worcestershire is correctly addressed to me in East Sussex.

[CR001]

What did the council say when you queried this?? They have a direct line to HO and would be the quickest way to get clarity.

[USAtoUK2018]

I only got the letter this evening after I got home from work. The council offices were closed by then, but I'll be phoning them first thing in the morning.

[CR001]

Do that and contact the offices of your local council too and see if they can help (the NCS/NDRS department).

[USAtoUK2018]

Will do. I'll let you know what they say. Cheers!

[USAtoUK2018]

Hi, just a quick update.

I spoke to the council this morning. They double-checked and confirmed that I am 'on their books' and am definitely approved and booked into the ceremony on Friday morning. They were as mystified as I am as to why I've been sent to them and not to my own council.

Regardless, I noted that I still have not received the letter from the Home Office. They said that their letters frequently arrive before the HO ones. As of today's post, I still haven't received the HO letter. The council indicated that it would present an issue if I didn't have the letter (not sure why as they have confirmation from the HO about my approval), and that I should phone again in the morning. I guess the worst case scenario is that I can't do this very conveniently timed if inconveniently placed ceremony on Friday and have to either wait for my local council's next date (November) or book a private ceremony once my letter arrives.

[UK_Tier1]

Contact the Home Office BC team via the e-mails below and explain to them your situation and ask they send you a copy of the letter to enable you attend your ceremony at the council. Include your ref number and your e-mail address -(same one you used for your application)

citizenship.support@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

By the way, my ceremony invitation letter from my council arrived several days before I got my home office single BC approver and invitation letter.

[USAtoUK2018]

Another update:

The Home Office letter still has not arrived by today's post delivery. I also still haven't received any responses to the multiple emails I sent out. When I phoned the HO 03 line, I was given the runaround as they said they have no access to things like this and my only option was to email the support address that I had previously emailed.

As such, I was advised by the council that I wouldn't be able to attend the appointment without the letter (which I find very Kafkaesque due to the council confirming they have received approval from the Home Office), so I've had to cancel the appointment. At least now I won't have to drive to Worcester, but I'll probably end up paying for a private ceremony in my local council instead.

[USAtoUK2018]

One more follow up. I finally received the Home Office letter on Friday, after the ceremony would have been. The HO letter also indicated the random council on the other side of the country, but I've contacted my local council instead and now waiting to hear back.

[UK_Tier1]

Not sure why HO assigned your ceremony to a random council unless you have mistakenly/unknowingly checked the box to the affirmative that you are okay to have your ceremony in a different council.

If you want to have your ceremony in your local council,(which is different to the one HO assigned your file to) you will need to contact the HO as your file was sent by HO to the council in Worcester who already have you down on their system and this would need to be updated to avoid delay in HO notification after your ceremony.

When you contact the HO,make sure you let them know you have had to cancel your original appointment due letter receipt of the HO approval letter and you will like to rearrange your ceremony in your local council.

[USAtoUK2018]

I am now a British citizen! The Home Office did not get back to me in any of the various emails that I sent until over a week later. My approval letter ended up arriving in the day of my scheduled appointment, so that was of no use. The letter was dated the 12th and arrived on the 21st.

I ended up having to drive 4 hours each way to have a private ceremony after the weekend. The council said they would need to get permission from the HO to transfer my certificate to my local council... All my previous experience with the HO told me this could take a long time so I ended up just driving there instead.

[Ffmuni]

Your experience is enough to make one weep or laugh.

The Home Office would appear to have heaped incompetence on incompetence.

Not to have responded quickly to the emails and phone calls is unforgivable, particularly when they must realise they are playing with peoples lives.

What you did in the end however seems to have been the pragmatic best answer, remembering you had only niniety days from the date of the letter, the 12th.

Congratulations on a successful outcome.