Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[blueskies89]

Hi everyone,
Any updates please from Leeds City Council? Have they cleared March and April approvals?

I am from Leeds City Council got approval about 3 weeks ago.

Have been calling registrar but getting automated response citizenship ceremonies have been suspended.

Called customer services last week and they said they are conducting ceremonies in small groups.

This is so frustrating.

[nnn15]

Does anyone have any updates from Westminster council? I got approved in April and still haven't received a ceremony invitation letter.

[vicky000]

In Wandsworth council too. Got HO approval the end of August and just had ceremony in the town hall this week. I initially sent an email according to the council website guidance but got impatient waiting around since it already took 6 months to approve my citizenship. So I called the council and chased for a slot in the ceremony and they gave me a slot on the phone which was two days away.

So if you don't want to wait around, maybe try calling them, that might speed up the process.

Im Wandsworth too.. approved beginning of August .. so I will have my ceremony in 2021? Please if you could post it once you receive the invitation letter...thanks

Wandsworth council here
Approved in May.
No Ceremony invitation yet
I sent an email. This was their answer :


Dear xxxx,

You are not on our database at present, but you will be added to our system in due course once we receive your certificate from the Home Office.

Please note that we are currently booking ceremonies for people who received their invitation letters before lockdown, so it may be a little while before we can schedule a ceremony for you.

Please contact again us in a few weeks’ time when hopefully we will have your certificate and have cleared the backlog.

Your patience is much appreciated.

[Ram_1900]

Hi everyone,
Any updates please from Leeds City Council? Have they cleared March and April approvals?

I am from Leeds City Council got approval about 3 weeks ago.

Have been calling registrar but getting automated response citizenship ceremonies have been suspended.

Called customer services last week and they said they are conducting ceremonies in small groups.

This is so frustrating.

Many thanks for your reply. I got my approval in early May. I contacted Leeds City Council early September they told me that they are still dealing with March approvals (the HO also sent them few certificates with early April approvals) I hope we all will get through this soon.

[vicky000]

It really depends on the council. My council wandsworth asks to send them an email and they will call you back to arrange the ceremony time. In my case, I didn't receive the invitation at all and I still did the ceremony. So you better check with your council requirement.

Hi, does anyone know if councils commonly sends a letter with the citizenship invitation? or Home Office? Or everything is electronic (emails, etc) ?

I might move soon, and I'm wondering if it's worthy the hassle to let know Home Office about that and/or the council too...Because if all communications are done electronically, then I guess I don't need to communicate the home move.

My council is Tower Hamlets.

Thanks!

[slavipg]

Hi, anyone have got info for West Sussex?

[Learning18]

Brent received June Certificates this week

Hi,

I spoke to them yesterday morning and they said they received a batch on Monday and mine wasn't in it. My approval was the 3rd of June, so I am a little surprised. Is that what they said to you on the phone?

I spoke to them today and they confirmed that they have received some of June this week

Thank you for your response
I have no idea where mine is then. Definitely not in this batch and i guess the certificates are not received in date order, otherwise mine would be in this batch.

Just got to wait longer I guess. All the best

[BoyTed]

Hello All

Congrats to those who got their certificates and for us waiting i think we will get them soon.
H&F got batch this Monday please email them if you still haven't as you need to try your luck.
For those who got it please update us please.

[Wahidwadid]

Hi guys, Is there anyone of the forum from mcr council who's decision was made in April,Coz I got informed that mcr council receive some certificate but they saying they guessing the certificate are for who's decision was made in April, So I m just checking how many of us here got decision in April.

[Gggg123]

Hello ,

Anybody from Bristol City Council. I contacted them yesterday and they confirmed the HO does not sent certificates regularly and they do not have visibility on when they will arrive. Also no plans for virtual ceremonies. Any body managed to get their certificate ? Approved end of July.

Thank you

[axeman85]

Hello ,

Anybody from Bristol City Council. I contacted them yesterday and they confirmed the HO does not sent certificates regularly and they do not have visibility on when they will arrive. Also no plans for virtual ceremonies. Any body managed to get their certificate ? Approved end of July.

Thank you

I got approved 31st July but no letter yet. Mcr Council tho.

[axeman85]

Hi guys, Is there anyone of the forum from mcr council who's decision was made in April,Coz I got informed that mcr council receive some certificate but they saying they guessing the certificate are for who's decision was made in April, So I m just checking how many of us here got decision in April.

Hi I posted the email response from mcr Council yesterday on here tho my approval was in 31st July

[oxana777]

Hello ,

Anybody from Bristol City Council. I contacted them yesterday and they confirmed the HO does not sent certificates regularly and they do not have visibility on when they will arrive. Also no plans for virtual ceremonies. Any body managed to get their certificate ? Approved end of July.

Thank you

Im Bristol! Received my decision today... So expecting a loooooong wait for the ceremony. Shame they dont do online ceremonies

[mr_iyamu]

Hello everyone,
I've just received a letter from mcr council booking me in for a ceremony but it states that I need to bring my home office invitation letter which I am yet to receive. Any suggestions please?

[Runner12345]

I have just emailed a bunch of questions to the person at Southwark Council, asking if they can provide any information on the process, what they are receiving from the Home Office etc. I have also cited the article in the Independent. Let's see how forthcoming they are...

[qulain1]

Hi everyone,
Please see below for an update from Hertfordshire council (responses are highlighted in yellow):
---------------------
"Could you kindly address the following questions:
1) Some councils have initiated virtual citizenship ceremonies, Hertfordshire Council is yet to do so. Will we implement virtual ceremonies in our council and push for the complete digitization of the process to avoid further delays? Currently we are not offering virtual Citizenship ceremonies as we have been able to resume our ceremonies in person; the facility for local authorities to offer virtual ceremonies was put in place to allow the local authorities who were unable to resume the usual service to still provide a service while they were getting ready to revert to the usual procedure.
2) Has the backlog been cleared? If not, what’s the latest month of approval received? I hope that you are now receiving certificates for those who were granted citizenship in July 2020? Unfortunately, the backlog at the Home Office has not yet been cleared. As far as I'm aware, the most recent certificates we received were granted Citizenship in April or May 2020.
3) In the light of recent covid restrictions, are you receiving certificates on a weekly or monthly basis? We are still receiving certificates weekly, as is the usual process.
4) Could you please check if my certificate is present in the latest batch received, HO reference xyz? We have unfortunately not yet received your certificate from the Home Office, and therefore are not able to book in your ceremony just yet."
----------------------
The backlog is huge so it is hard to understand why all councils are not implementing virtual ceremonies to resolve this topic!

[Wahidwadid]

Hello everyone,
I've just received a letter from mcr council booking me in for a ceremony but it states that I need to bring my home office invitation letter which I am yet to receive. Any suggestions please?

Hi there,When your decision was?

[Wahidwadid]

Hi guys, Is there anyone of the forum from mcr council who's decision was made in April,Coz I got informed that mcr council receive some certificate but they saying they guessing the certificate are for who's decision was made in April, So I m just checking how many of us here got decision in April.

Hi I posted the email response from mcr Council yesterday on here tho my approval was in 31st July

Tnx

[madihaali_304]

Brent received June Certificates this week

Hi,

I spoke to them yesterday morning and they said they received a batch on Monday and mine wasn't in it. My approval was the 3rd of June, so I am a little surprised. Is that what they said to you on the phone?

I spoke to them today and they confirmed that they have received some of June this week

I got my approval on May 14th and I'm still waiting for my invitation letter from Home Office or any communication from Brent council.

[Angmlee]

I got my approval through email on the 3rd of July and dated the 3rd aswell. I called the council and emailed couple times since and no update. Last contact I made was on the 20th of august. since everyone been saying 7-12 weeks. This week is my 12th week. Fingers cross I hear something this week or next week. My council is Nottingham city council. anyone from heard from Nottingham council as to if they have been receiving certificate and if they have cleared their back log

Just sent another email, I sent a list of questions and I got a reply, this is only specific to Nottingham council.

Will there be virtual ceremony like other council are doing? No, we are still holding group ceremonies with restricted numbers.

Has the backlog been cleared? If not, what’s the latest month of approval received? Not yet, we are currently receiving certificates for those who were granted citizenship in May.

Have you been receiving a weekly certificates from home office or has that stopped due to current restrictions? Varies from week to week. Usually a batch arrives every 4 weeks

Could you also check if my certificate is in the batch received this week? Good news…..Your certificate has just arrived…..we will be in touch in due course to book you in. Please provide a telephone number and home address.

I look forward to hearing from you. I appreciate your help and thank you advance.

I am really excited just small step closer, I still haven't received invitation letter so I don't know how that will affect me booking the ceremony. brief timeline is for those who don't have account, application sent on 23 dec 2019 and approved 3rd July 2020 by email.

Congrats! I am also Notts City. Just got my approval email 18 Sept so it could be a while still. Please let me know how it goes. Thank you

[mr_iyamu]

Hello everyone,
I've just received a letter from mcr council booking me in for a ceremony but it states that I need to bring my home office invitation letter which I am yet to receive. Any suggestions please?

Hi there,When your decision was?

Decision was sent 15th may

[axeman85]

Hello everyone,
I've just received a letter from mcr council booking me in for a ceremony but it states that I need to bring my home office invitation letter which I am yet to receive. Any suggestions please?

Thats great and congratulations. When was your approval date on letter?

If they noisy you bring invite then you have to wait or you can email them and say you dint have letter but can they book you.

Letter from HO should be on its way to you already

[madalina91]

I was approved on 27th May and today I received my invitation letter from Essex Council. The long wait is finally coming to an end

[Cocobana]

Below is an update from Maidstone council. I got approved early September and I haven’t been waiting that long but wanted to see if there was any new update but it is just the same.
I have put on my patience coat. We will see what happens when it happens

Thank you for your email.

The citizenship ceremonies have been amended to comply with the latest government restrictions - they will now be in groups of 10 new citizens and maintaining social distancing. Unfortunately we are unable to offer virtual ceremonies.

The Home Office are experiencing delays therefore the certificates aren't coming to us on a regular schedule and we are unable to predict when your certificate will arrive.

Once we have received your certificate we will allocate you to the next available ceremony and send you an invitation letter as soon as we can.

I hope this helps.

Kind Regards

[mdiqbal]

Hi all,
Hope this text finds you well. Anyone got info for Harringey council?