Page 1 of 1

Can I plan a visit to my home country before Ceremony

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:25 pm
by rebeirostephen
Hi everyone,

I have a small concern, I applied for my Citizenship and the invitation arrived in 2 months instead of 6 months (which is the usual time).

Based on the 6 months time, I arranged a visit to India for my marriage for 2 months and thought I would be back to UK and get the news of a successful application.

I am thinking of cancelling my marriage now, since my Indian passport will not be valid now. But can I delay the ceremony by going to India anyway,

Basically since I have been approved for British Citizenship, can I attend the ceremony after I come back from India after 2 months?

I tired calling and emailing UKBA, but they haven't replied for 10 days now.

I understand what's priority here, but just wondering if anyone had visited another country while their ceremony was pending in UK.

Regards

Re: Can I plan a visit to my home country before Ceremony

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:07 pm
by bobobo
What you do is book your ceremony within 21 days for after 2.5 months, as long as you have the ceremony within 3 months you should be fine, that way you can get married and come back and get the ceremony done and you will not have to risk travelling on an Indian passport after taking the naturalisation ceremony.
so it should all fit in beautifully.

By the way for this advice I would be expecting some sweets from india
;-)

All the best and have a good one!!

rebeirostephen wrote:Hi everyone,

I have a small concern, I applied for my Citizenship and the invitation arrived in 2 months instead of 6 months (which is the usual time).

Based on the 6 months time, I arranged a visit to India for my marriage for 2 months and thought I would be back to UK and get the news of a successful application.

I am thinking of cancelling my marriage now, since my Indian passport will not be valid now. But can I delay the ceremony by going to India anyway,

Basically since I have been approved for British Citizenship, can I attend the ceremony after I come back from India after 2 months?

I tired calling and emailing UKBA, but they haven't replied for 10 days now.

I understand what's priority here, but just wondering if anyone had visited another country while their ceremony was pending in UK.

Regards

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:17 pm
by rebeirostephen
Thanks bobobo

your advice is very helpful, I wont forget the sweets , I added to my calender to report to this post after I return :)

cheers

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:21 am
by rebeirostephen
Also another solution I was mentioned,

After talking the oath, a person can use his Indian passport for 3 months initially. Is that possible?

Called home office to confirm this, after a lengthy process of selecting options, just a automated voice telling me to visit the home office website.
BUT WHERE ??? :P

anyway glad if anybody could replay.

cheers

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:54 am
by Jambo
rebeirostephen wrote:Called home office to confirm this, after a lengthy process of selecting options, just a automated voice telling me to visit the home office website.
BUT WHERE ???
Why would a British agency be able to advise you on matters related to India's policies?

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 12:01 pm
by bobobo
I wouldnt risk it, why are you in a hurry to get the ceremony done, you can book this for anytime within the next 3 months. I would avoid uneccesary complications wherever I can.

rebeirostephen wrote:Also another solution I was mentioned,

After talking the oath, a person can use his Indian passport for 3 months initially. Is that possible?

Called home office to confirm this, after a lengthy process of selecting options, just a automated voice telling me to visit the home office website.
BUT WHERE ??? :P

anyway glad if anybody could replay.

cheers

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:51 pm
by rebeirostephen
@bobobo: Well I just enquired with the Home office and they said that the last day to attend the ceremony would be 14th January 2013, and I was planning to return by the end of January, which now means I need to cut short my trip to India.

So basically I have two options, return back to UK before the 14th of January which is earlier than expected, I hope everyone in my family will understand the reason for my quick departure just after the wedding date :)

or re schedule the wedding to a later date, because I need to attend the ceremony, apply for British passport, surrender my Indian passport , and then apply for the Indian Visa, all in all it would take 7 to 8 weeks. And all the process would surpass my wedding date javascript:emoticon(':roll:')

So I need to make a decision in the next week, so was looking for an alternate option really. If I can travel to India with my Indian passport after the citizenship ceremony and return back to UK, and if that means paying a fine when I surrender my Indian passport, just wondering if its worth it.

but anyway thanks for your suggestions :)

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:35 am
by geriatrix
You may travel using an Indian passport for 3 months from the date of naturalisation without being liable for any penalty.

For any further queries regarding travelling using Indian passport, pleas post in this forum.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:29 am
by bobobo
If thats the case then take your chances and attend the ceremony, but i would have thought after you attend the ceremony you are british, then how can you transfer on an Indian Passport, wont the ILR be invalid after naturalisation. If you had the ceremony and had the britishh passport then you would be fine i guess.

Would be good if you can check this before you leave, if this is fine then you are good to go after the ceremony dude

P.S I am sure the IO cannot refuse you entry into the UK but they surely can give you a haard time (believe me they are good at that)
rebeirostephen wrote:@bobobo: Well I just enquired with the Home office and they said that the last day to attend the ceremony would be 14th January 2013, and I was planning to return by the end of January, which now means I need to cut short my trip to India.

So basically I have two options, return back to UK before the 14th of January which is earlier than expected, I hope everyone in my family will understand the reason for my quick departure just after the wedding date :)

or re schedule the wedding to a later date, because I need to attend the ceremony, apply for British passport, surrender my Indian passport , and then apply for the Indian Visa, all in all it would take 7 to 8 weeks. And all the process would surpass my wedding date javascript:emoticon(':roll:')

So I need to make a decision in the next week, so was looking for an alternate option really. If I can travel to India with my Indian passport after the citizenship ceremony and return back to UK, and if that means paying a fine when I surrender my Indian passport, just wondering if its worth it.

but anyway thanks for your suggestions :)