Tr1boy

Mrs TB has been eligible for her Brit Cit for over a year now (we are under the 'old' rules) and she's decided she wants to go for it (guess who will have to fill the War and Peace form in!)

Didn't fancy sending in her passport and could do without any hiccups, so we have booked one of those Nat ID checks with the local registry office, which is £70 and they verify the ID, docs and check the application form. It's probably not 100% worthwhile but with training and baby, I'm happier if some has eyes over it first.

Long term we will probably move from where we are in the UK (redundancy looms), so I'm trying to get a handle on how long it will take from application to passport. My thinking is:

Application sent Aug 6th (our ID check is Aug 5th)
Approved by Xmas.
What is the time frame from approval to ceremony?
Passport application 3mths

Do you think Easter next year would be a rough timeline?

JAJ

They say around 6 months for a decision on naturalisation:
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-britis...-youve-applied

Average time for a citizenship ceremony isn't stated, but as far as I know usually is within 3 months.

Passport - should be quicker by then, but isn't essential if time is short. She could always apply for the passport later on. The naturalisation certificate is what's important.

In fact, spouses of British citizens don't have to state an intention to live in the U.K. and it can be possible to move outside the U.K. during processing. But not recommended if it can be avoided - more risk of something going wrong with the application, and there may be no opportunity to correct it.

Tr1boy

Thanks JAJ

Tr1boy

Just thought I'd update this for anyone wondering about Citizenship applications. We ended up submitting the application on Aug 13th as we had a slight hiccup with the dates which meant we had to wait a week.

Just a tip, despite having satisfied more time than in the UK than was required, the applicant must be present in the UK on the day the count back clock begins. In other words because we applied under the 3yr rule, Mrs TB needed to be in the UK on the exact day 3yrs previous to submission date. Mrs TB was seeing family in Korea 3yrs ago so we had to wait a week.

I'll keep you posted of any developments.

Vadio

The average processing time for naturalization seems to be around 65 working days right now. There was a big lull with little/no approvals in late May & June due to the passport backlog, and (apparently) staff were moved to try to deal with that.

The six months is what they say on the website, but unless it's other than straightforward, it doesn't usually take that long based on everything I've read over on immigrationboards.com.

I applied on July 14, and I'm hoping to get the approval sometime late September or early October The ceremony is typically pretty quick from what I understand - mostly depends on the Council and how frequently they do them. There's actually a time limit that we have to meet for the ceremony, but I cannot remember what that is.

Tr1boy

Thanks for the info

Tr1boy

Mrs TB had her ceremony this morning

Next stop, passport application, uggh

WEBlue

So now she is British!

Good luck with the passport application. The worst is behind you both now....

Vadio

My passport application took exactly 2 weeks. I used the post office 'check and send', which is well-worth the small fee.

I submitted on Nov 11, was able to get an interview in Manchester on the 21st, and had the PP and my other documents in hand at 10:30 am on the 25th.

Tr1boy

Thanks. We'll have six passports between three of us, good grief!

Tr1boy

Next update in the journey for Mrs TB.

She became a citizen on Dec 1st. With regards to the passport application, we waited until after the Xmas post madness (also our counter signatory was in Somt so had to wait until our next trip).

We did the online application so 'check and send' was not an option. The online application seems a bit new. Anyway, long story short, we missed putting in one of Mrs TB's parents' details and unfortunately there is no 'you've missed this bit' flag online, I guess because not everyone would need that bit?

I think the original application was done either just before or just after Jan 1st. Two weeks ago we got a letter saying the application can't be processed due to missing info and a complete new new form needed to be sent. they kept all the docs and Mrs TB's Aussie passport and said that if using the same signatory that they had to re-sign but no new photo needed.

Got all that done (mercy dash to Somt ) sent 21/01/15 and this morning we received a letter inviting Mrs TB for her interview, which could have been this week if we wanted but it doesn't suit us. So interview is for next Tues and we are informed it will take 30 mins.

Passport will follow about 7 days after apparently.

Stay tuned

Vadio

I'm surprised you did the on-line application. As recently as November, when I applied, that was not an option for a first-time passport. I just picked up the application packet from the local post office (multiples actually, in case of fill in the blank errors) and sent it off the day after my ceremony.

Things do change rather rapidly though.

Tr1boy

Well had I realised the form was available at the PO I would have done the same. I probably read the site a bit quickly, but I thought it said the options were online or requesting a form be sent to you, so we did online.

It was only when they rang me regarding the missing info that they said I could just get a form from the PO. Like you, I picked up 3 of them

Vadio

all's well that ends well, no matter how you get there! :-)

Tr1boy

Mrs TB had her interview Tues midday and her Brit passport just dropped through the door :thumb up:

Just gotta renew my Aussie driving licence and hopefully that's the end of Gov forms for a while