Hi, I attend my citizenship ceremony on Monday and now have my Registration certificate. We were told to hold on and guard our certificates with our life. Do I need to send the original certificate in for both my passport and for my kid's citizenship request also? Can I send in a notarized color copy instead? I am sending from the US and really nervous to send the certificate away. Thanks.

They are £400 to replace if you lose or damage it but you will still need to send the original for both your passport application and your child’s registration application so make sure you pay for adequate insurance.

Hi all! I'm very happy to share that I've received a positive response on my application for registration as a British citizen, without the assistance of paid legal counsel, which I 100% would not have been capable of without the tremendous guidance on this page. I'm so grateful for the great crowdsourced knowledge shared here, as well members' willingness to step in and answer questions. I figured I would share my own timeline to add to the data we're gathering over time:

Like many others on this page, mine was a claim based on the basis of historical legislative unfairness; my maternal grandmother was born in the UK and emigrated to the US in 1945.

• ~Aug 2024 - started pulling together my and my family's documents
• 13 Nov 2024 - Application mailed
• 22 Nov 2024 - fee charged
• 2 Jan 2025 - biometrics invitation (I sent my availability the same day)
• 16 Jan 2025 - received appointment details/confirmation
• 27 Jan 2025 - biometrics appointment complete
• 28 Mar 2025 - received an email indicating that additional details were needed to complete my application due to issues with my and my moms' birth certificates, was given until 11 April to provide
  • I sent a series of emails including desperate supplemental documentation, with no email response received
• 19 Apr 2025 - lo and behold I received my documents mailed back to me via royal mail, which included an approval letter!!

Now I'm just waiting on details for a ceremony but am so glad this worked out. I have a trip planned to the UK in August, hopeful I will officially be a citizen by then and I figure there's a slim chance I could have a British passport by then as well.

Congratulations! Your timeline is about 2 months behind mine. I sent in September and I received approval in January and went for the ceremony in Chicago on April 14. Maybe you will get a June invite? I sent my passport application and documents on April 18 and it took until April 28th for the passport office to receive my certificate from USPS tracked and insured. I think I will get my passport and certificate sent back within the next 2 weeks. It seems that turnaround for the passport is much quicker.

Just updating my citizenship timeline for anybody interested

Oct 29 2024 - Application mailed
Nov 12 2024 - Application fee charged
Dec 18 2024 - Biometric appointment booked
Jan 3 2025 - Biometric appointment completed
April 4 2025 - Citizenship acceptance letter and original documentation returned
May 20 2025 - Email received for Citizenship Ceremony
June 12th 2025 - Citizenship Ceremony

Just replying here to let everybody know that I attended my citizenship ceremony and it was absolutely lovely. I really enjoyed it. I am now officially a British Citizen and I have mailed in my passport application!

I'm happy to provide any information about any of the process to anybody else that may be applying for an application due to historic gender discrimination. Thank you to everybody on this forum who shared their information and experiences. I wouldn't have had the confidence to do it myself without them.

When you received the email for the citizenship ceremony, were you able to choose between going to the UK or having it at your local consulate? Or was it automatically at your consulate?

I was contacted by somebody at the UK consulate in Boston and given the Time / Date / Location of my ceremony. I was not contacted prior to that in any way. I assume they just picked the closest location to my home address.

A massive thank you for all of the great information in this thread. I applied via 4L a couple months ago (British grandmother born 1922, I am US-born 1981) and completed the biometrics appointment.

I also recently received back my original documents, so I am now considering sending an application for my father. Would this be best done using 4C on Form UKM? He was born in the US in 1952, his British mother born in the UK 1922, left 1940, married in the US 1946.

Thank you.

Yes, that’s the correct route for your father.

Because I used this thread extensively for my 4L application, I wanted to report that I received an email confirming a successful application and citizenship has been approved. Path was Grandmother born in London 1920s, father born in the US in 1950s, I was born in the US in 1981. Below the application timeline:

June 28 - mailed application via USPS
July 13 (roughly) - 130GBP payment charged to credit card
Aug 27 - received back original documents from Royal Mail
Sept 9 - received email to schedule biometrics with VFS, scheduled for following day
Sept 10 - completed biometrics appointment
November 13 - received email of citizenship application approved

The email states the citizenship certificate will be sent to the US Embassy, and the Embassy will email me within 16 weeks to schedule the ceremony.

I wanted to thank the kind people in this thread (particularly BritInParis, whose words I used in my 4L claim description) who provide their time to hopeful applicants. I have been hopeful of doing this for years and stumbling across this site made it possible. Thank you.

Hi Everyone, after a successful journey for myself, I applied for my kids via MN1 May 27. I have had several inquiries for my son asking for the same information to be submitted, which I have done (multiple times).
This morning I received the follow email for my daughter saying the review is complex and will take over 6 months."We aim to process all applications within 6 months from the date submitted. However, in certain circumstances this is not possible. Following our assessment of your case, unfortunately it appears your application will not be processed within 6 months."

This is not because we require any further information, so please do not contact Passports, Citizenship & Civil Registration. We will contact you if we require more information."
This review seems very disorganized this time and I am frustrated that I can't even complain to anyone about it. If they follow precedence, the kids should have been accepted by now. Do you know if there are other things going on? Are they just trying to allow the nearly 3000 pounds to accrue interest before they reject us? Any insight is great!

My brother on here BBianco on this forum applied and was approved last year using 4L. I applied in June of this year and was approved 2 days ago. We used the same Parent/Grandmother documents and arguments. Two weeks ago, I was asked to email Birth Certificates for both of my grandfathers to show they were not born in the UK. This was to prove that I did not have another route to Citizenship. Others who have recently applied under 4L are reporting that they are being approved under other parts of the law such as 4C if they qualify. 4L give British citizenship otherwise than by descent were some of those don't

I wonder if this has anything to do with this possible new interpretation to 4L applications. Or has the Home Office decided to be more thorough on their reviews. I am planning to apply for my children after my citizenship is done. It will be helpful if you share any information, you find out.