JacoViljoen82

Good morning BritInParis,
I hope you are doing well?

I applied for retention of citizenship, I didn't need the letter from the UK in the end.

I am still waiting on my application for UK citizenship, still haven't received an invitation for Biometrics yet.
It is almost 3 months since my application was submitted.

But I am hoping it will come through soon.

BritInParis

Thanks for the update. Please let us know how you get on.

JacoViljoen82

Hi BritInParis,
It will be 15 weeks tomorrow since my application and still no Biometric invitation.
Have you heard of it taking this long before?

There are a few guys on some of the groups I'm on that have done biometrics within a week of application.

I am getting stressed out.

BritInParis

That’s not a long time for a citizenship application. Doing your biometrics within a week of application seems extremely unlikely for this type of application.

JacoViljoen82

I understand the average is 6 months, but I am looking at timelines of past and current applications that are being posted on a forum and on a facebook group.

Most applicants are invited around 4 weeks after applying, but recently the guys are reporting enrolment within a week of application.

as mentioned I am talking about being invited for Biometric enrolment, I have submitted my application and heard nothing since.

BritInParis

I would treat such reports with scepticism. Even if they are correct it doesn’t necessarily follow that your application ‘should’ go as quickly or that taking longer carries negative connotations. Everyone’s circumstances are different and comparing one individual to another is a mug’s game. If the average is six months (which sounds correct) then use that as your benchmark. If it happens sooner then great; if not then so be it.

JacoViljoen82

So someone gave me an email address for I suppose Biometrics dept, I sent an email and got my invite the next day.
I am now on 19 weeks since submitting my application.
and almost 5 Calendar Months.

Really hoping it will be done in the next 6 weeks, but I am doubtful based on my experience so far.

With regards to application of ILE for my children:
I have applied for my UKM and expect this to be concluded in the next month or 2 hopefully.
My wife was born to a British Father so will apply for a British Passport as soon as we receive her parents marriage certificate.

We have applied for Unabridged and Vault copies for our children but we are still waiting for my sons Vault Copy.

1)At what stage can we submit ILR/E for our children aged 12 and 14?
2)Is a Vault copy required for the ILE application or will the Unabridged suffice?
3)How long should we expect to wait for approval of ILE?


I have now been advised that my children might not qualify for ILE and might get a 2.5 year visa instead...

BritInParis

1) Wait until both you and your wife receive your British passports.
2) Either should be acceptable.
3) It’s a relatively obscure application and processing times will depend heavily on what checks are deemed necessary. I would be hesitant to put forward a timeline but it could be months rather than weeks.

Who has advised you that?

JacoViljoen82

Hi BritInParis,
an admin on immigration boards, seems to have sort of adjusted on her comment now, she says there are a small amount of applicants that don't receive ILE in similar situations.

BritInParis

If you’re both British citizens by descent and the whole family is moving to the UK together then your children will be granted ILE.

JacoViljoen82

OK,
this is what I understood initially, How do we satisfy the proof of a place to stay prior to moving over? so in other words when we apply for ILE?

BritInParis

You’ll need to meet the adequate maintenance and accommodation requirement. Take a read of the following document and come back with any questions.

https://assets.publishing.service.go..._8_Annex_F.pdf

JacoViljoen82

Hi BritInParis,
It looks like I might have a problem here.
I am self employed and have been drawing minimum amounts from the business to improve cashflow and accelerate our productive output to finish all the work I have by December 2019, I have a substantial loan account in my favour and once I have concluded all my work will cashout and close the business, but then my cashout(Savings) would not have been in my account for 6 months, but it will also be way more than the required amount.

What would you suggest in this case?

JacoViljoen82

Hi BritInParis,
My suspicions were right with regards to my UKM application.
I did Biometrics on 23 July, keep in mind I applied in March, most of the applicants get invites within a month maybe the second month.

I Still haven't heard anything since I had submitted my Biometrics.
So Wednesday I decided to see what is going on with my application, I sent an email to a department that deals with returning of documents and the person I got hold of said they would have a look for me.

I got a reply saying my application is still not showing Biometrics are enrolled, and the person was going to escalate, Yesterday I was issued with a new reference number as if I had just applied, and today I received another Biometric Invite with an apology for the inconvenience.
So I went to Enrol my Biometrics again.

Hopefully this will go smoothly this time around.

BritInParis

Glad you got it sorted. Let us know how it goes.