Immigrationboards.com

Hi All

My wife and child received their approval for British citizenship on 19th of Feb. Today we received letter from council that the ceremony has been booked for 29th of March which is 40 days after the approval. Its even longer time than the time it took for the naturalization application which was just 20 days. I was hoping it would be 8-10 days and don't really want to pay for the private ceremony. Has anyone come across such a delay by the council ? if anyone got any suggestions would really appreciate

No other option apart from private ceremony
Either you wait till ending of March or pay for private ceremony

Have you called the council to ask if there is an earlier date for the general ceremony they can fit you in for?

Councils tend to have such ceremonies once a month or so. If the previous one is full, they will book you on the next available one.

Either way, if you are in a rush, go for a private ceremony. Is there a particular reason for the hurry?

By the way is there a max days or time frame in which you need to attend Ceremony ? Also can we delay attending one ? say for 1 month ?
regards

Sounds pretty much standard to me. Your expectaion of 8-10 days is unrealistic. The only other option would be to have a private ceremony which you can have the very next day provided a slot is available.

It has to be booked within 21 days but can be anytime. You can delay, if you want

MSaxp wrote:It has to be booked within 21 days but can be anytime. You can delay, if you want

Sorry , so Ceremony date has to be in next 21 days OR booking has to be done in 21 days for any date for ceremony ?(even date falling outside of 21 days) ?

Rajuk09 wrote:

MSaxp wrote:It has to be booked within 21 days but can be anytime. You can delay, if you want

Sorry , so Ceremony date has to be in next 21 days OR booking has to be done in 21 days for any date for ceremony ?(even date falling outside of 21 days) ?

I don't think that's entirely accurate. The ceremony has to take place within 3 months of approval.

You are correct that it must be booked within 21 days.

You must book a date within 21 days but it does not mean the ceremony will be in 3 weeks.
I have booked my ceremony on 15 December by 26 February

zeusmagnanimous is right, ceremony has to be booked within 21 days, and done and dusted within 3 months...

thank you all for the suggestions, did call council and they cant fit anything before that unless we for private, so will have to wait till 29th march

cheer up mate you are nearly there ..... like I said before the waiting time is quite normal, think about so many other applicants who applied months before you and are still waiting for a decision - consider yourself lucky and be happy.

zeusmagnanimous wrote:cheer up mate you are nearly there ..... like I said before the waiting time is quite normal, think about so many other applicants who applied months before you and are still waiting for a decision - consider yourself lucky and be happy.

Exactly, no need to rush if there is no need to rush my case however was different, the company I worked for lost its clients and I was really concerned after getting a 'letter' from Company that they might close it down, I needed to look for a job ASAP. So as soon as I got approval, lets say on 16th of month I called and booked private ceremony on 18th of the same month and was done with it.

But if there is no emergency then go for free one. Mine cost £160 since it was myself and my daughter's certificates.