Citizenship Ceremony cancelled due to Covid-19

[Jeannot88]

[quote=chacha-n-co post_id=1957417 time=1604588486 user_id=215644]
I got approval on 23 September, Yesterday, i was able to book citizenship ceremony for next next week Wednesday. I spoke to the council today, they have received my letter and later today, i got invitation letter fron HO in post as well. thank you to all of you
[/quote]

Hi chacha-n-co, we were both approved 23 Sept. Where's your council? Hopefully they do private and/or virtual ceremonies.

[Frou01]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

[HamiltonNZ]

Approval email 31st July
Croydon Council - Ceremonies suspended (no privte, no virtual avail)
No invitation Letter
Council hasn't received my Cetrificate yet

Even september approvals got their invitations today, i am 27th july approval and nothing. Started to worry that it got lost

The backlog is certainly not fully cleared. My timeline - mid February application and biometrics, decision made some time in March and April when they weren't sending decisions by email yet, have an approval letter dated early July, and no progress since.

You're Westminster, right? I think they may have some issue. I applied early March, approved by email late May. Heard nothing at all.

I spoke with Westminster last week who said to wait or take it up with the HO. They did mention they had processed June / July approvals weeks ago (though perhaps not all, they have no way of telling). I then called the HO (the number that doesn't hang up on you after a long recorded statement) and an apologetic lady said there was nothing she could do and to wait. I prompted her on the chronological order point and she said it's not strictly by time of approval, "other circumstances" play a role. I left it there because she clearly had not been given anything helpful to say to people..

I think our best bet is to keep pestering Westminster council folks. It's pretty poor overall.

[Draak]

Hi!

I have received a decision by email in September. Do invitations come by email as well?

[Szrsrts]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

My approval has been 12 weeks already! Still nothing. Some of us here claimed late August september approvals their certificates are already with the council. I don't think this is fair though.

[CheshireKnight]

Hi

Just a quick update for those whom are in Cheshire East; called the council, been informed that they’re resuming ceremonies and won’t be stopping.

Good luck to all

[Cost Manager]

Approval email 31st July
Croydon Council - Ceremonies suspended (no privte, no virtual avail)
No invitation Letter
Council hasn't received my Cetrificate yet

Even september approvals got their invitations today, i am 27th july approval and nothing. Started to worry that it got lost

The backlog is certainly not fully cleared. My timeline - mid February application and biometrics, decision made some time in March and April when they weren't sending decisions by email yet, have an approval letter dated early July, and no progress since.

You're Westminster, right? I think they may have some issue. I applied early March, approved by email late May. Heard nothing at all.

I spoke with Westminster last week who said to wait or take it up with the HO. They did mention they had processed June / July approvals weeks ago (though perhaps not all, they have no way of telling). I then called the HO (the number that doesn't hang up on you after a long recorded statement) and an apologetic lady said there was nothing she could do and to wait. I prompted her on the chronological order point and she said it's not strictly by time of approval, "other circumstances" play a role. I left it there because she clearly had not been given anything helpful to say to people..

I think our best bet is to keep pestering Westminster council folks. It's pretty poor overall.

I am Westminster. Something really going wrong there. Either they do not work or under staff or HO doesn't send invitations equally to the councils. I got email from them last week saying they are expecting late July on Friday. Radio silence since then. I wrote a big complaint email to them last night.
What is happening is not fair and we have noone to speak to.

[Frou01]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

My approval has been 12 weeks already! Still nothing. Some of us here claimed late August september approvals their certificates are already with the council. I don't think this is fair though.

That was the point for me the whole time through that the lockdown has caused a delay and that it’s understandable that people approved before us need to get sorted first.

But now it’s just chaos. My friend is waiting since 6 months and at the same time late September approvals are sorted.

[nnn15]

Even september approvals got their invitations today, i am 27th july approval and nothing. Started to worry that it got lost

The backlog is certainly not fully cleared. My timeline - mid February application and biometrics, decision made some time in March and April when they weren't sending decisions by email yet, have an approval letter dated early July, and no progress since.

You're Westminster, right? I think they may have some issue. I applied early March, approved by email late May. Heard nothing at all.

I spoke with Westminster last week who said to wait or take it up with the HO. They did mention they had processed June / July approvals weeks ago (though perhaps not all, they have no way of telling). I then called the HO (the number that doesn't hang up on you after a long recorded statement) and an apologetic lady said there was nothing she could do and to wait. I prompted her on the chronological order point and she said it's not strictly by time of approval, "other circumstances" play a role. I left it there because she clearly had not been given anything helpful to say to people..

I think our best bet is to keep pestering Westminster council folks. It's pretty poor overall.

I am Westminster. Something really going wrong there. Either they do not work or under staff or HO doesn't send invitations equally to the councils. I got email from them last week saying they are expecting late July on Friday. Radio silence since then. I wrote a big complaint email to them last night.
What is happening is not fair and we have noone to speak to.

I'm in Westminster council too. From what the registrar told me they were getting certificates in approval date order, but somehow it got to late July and mine was not received.
It doesn't seem though that the problem rests with Westminster council as they told me they don't have information when they receive which certificates.

I've been trying to find out with the HO for months now whether or not my paperwork has been dispatched. I think I will submit a formal complaint if I don't receive anything in the next couple of weeks - they said everyone approved before early August would receive their paperwork by the end of October, but failed to deliver.

[Tirinti]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

I assume, for some reason, they stopped dispatching certificates and invitations in early October but they were still printing, and only a few days ago they dispatched a lot. People started getting invitations today but the 2nd class mails have different delivery times. If mine won't arrive by Monday then I will try to get some answers. I hope they actually cleared the backlog on their side and now it is just Royal Mail and councils.

[Cost Manager]

I was just on the phone with a chap from Westminster. He has no clue what certs they got or whether they got or not. He sounded like he just woke up. He said to me that regardless we receive or not, you wont be able to attend the ceremony as long as lockdown measures are on place.
I said to him that other councils either carry on conducting ceremonies or virtual ceremonies. He said ok, we don't.

[Cost Manager]

HO apparently reluctant to give a response even to my MP. I don't know what else I can do.

Thank you for your email correspondence of 18 September 2020 with enclosure on behalf of Mr xxx of xxxxxxxxxxxxx, about his ceremony letter.
Your correspondence is very important to us and we are sorry for the delay meaning that it is not possible to provide you with a response within our 20 day target for MPs’ correspondence.
We are working to ensure you receive a substantive response as soon as possible. If for any reason we need any further information from your office / constituent then we will contact you.
Should your enquiry become exceptionally urgent, or should something extremely important that we may otherwise be unaware of change in the meantime, then you can let us know by contacting us by email at XXXXXXXXXX or by telephoning XXXXXXXX. Please make it clear in the subject heading or from the outset of the call that it is very urgent and relates to correspondence you have already submitted which has fallen out of target response time.

Yours sincerely
xxxxxx
MP Account Management Team
UK Visas and Immigration | Home Office”

[CheshireKnight]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

I assume, for some reason, they stopped dispatching certificates and invitations in early October but they were still printing, and only a few days ago they dispatched a lot. People started getting invitations today but the 2nd class mails have different delivery times. If mine won't arrive by Monday then I will try to get some answers. I hope they actually cleared the backlog on their side and now it is just Royal Mail and councils.

It’s really soo frustrating not finding someone to talk too and explains what’s what’s really happening behind the scenes.

I’ve called the HO yesterday and today to check if there is some level consistency in messages. First of all the line of inquiries has been directed to the Covid-19 team. A lady from yesterday’s call gave some shady information and today a guy said I need to wait couple of months even after the 12 weeks.

[nnn15]

HO apparently reluctant to give a response even to my MP. I don't know what else I can do.

Thank you for your email correspondence of 18 September 2020 with enclosure on behalf of Mr xxx of xxxxxxxxxxxxx, about his ceremony letter.
Your correspondence is very important to us and we are sorry for the delay meaning that it is not possible to provide you with a response within our 20 day target for MPs’ correspondence.
We are working to ensure you receive a substantive response as soon as possible. If for any reason we need any further information from your office / constituent then we will contact you.
Should your enquiry become exceptionally urgent, or should something extremely important that we may otherwise be unaware of change in the meantime, then you can let us know by contacting us by email at XXXXXXXXXX or by telephoning XXXXXXXX. Please make it clear in the subject heading or from the outset of the call that it is very urgent and relates to correspondence you have already submitted which has fallen out of target response time.

Yours sincerely
xxxxxx
MP Account Management Team
UK Visas and Immigration | Home Office”

Several members of this forum said before that apparently the HO doesn't even respond to MPs. I hope that at least the number of MP enquiries is an indicator that's being tracked and that with time they'll be able to push to get a meaningful response. The HO doesn't respond to the MPs, doesn't provide guidance to their own support on how to respond to people about these delays. I checked with the immigration lawyers with my employer and they said the HO doesn't reply to their enquiries for months either.

If it's so difficult to check the status of the application, I'm really worried because such a system can't be robust.

[Frou01]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

I assume, for some reason, they stopped dispatching certificates and invitations in early October but they were still printing, and only a few days ago they dispatched a lot. People started getting invitations today but the 2nd class mails have different delivery times. If mine won't arrive by Monday then I will try to get some answers. I hope they actually cleared the backlog on their side and now it is just Royal Mail and councils.

I was just told by another person approved in September they received their letter today.

From what I can see there’s a problem with August approvals especially those beginning up to 20 August.

It seems it’s not a royal thing as everyone is whether July, last days of August or September but no one beginning to mid August. Something is weird here and that worries me even more.

[icecube65]

Hi all,

Has anyone from July approval, heard from Newham council or contacted them recently to find out if they have received the certificates?

The only contact email I could find was customer.services@newham.gov.uk. I had sent an email way back in July (my approval is 17/ July) and followed on the same thread few days ago. Radio silence.

Calling them on the number from the website (020 8430 2000) is not helpful as you can't get through to a human. The IVRS journey always ends without any helpful suggestion.

Thanks in advance.!

Hi icecube,

I called them earlier today to ask if they received my certificate (August approval) but they hadn't. I called on that same number you listed and said 'citizenship ceremony' when prompted. Then go through the option of cancelling a ceremony if you want to speak to a human since every other option is automated.

The lady on the phone assured me that ceremonies will continue as normal despite new lockdown rules, she also told me that the next available slots are for January at the moment, although I'm not sure how exact that is. You should also check on the council website to see if you can book your ceremony maybe? You can enter your home office reference number even if you haven't received your letter.

No idea on what batches they are currently sorting through as I didn't really ask. Let me know if you need help finding the link to check if your certificate is on their system

Amazing. You're a star, thank you. Will give this a go for actually speaking to someone.

Since 17/ July I have been checking on the council website using the HO "Our Reference" number which is on the Approval email. I have been doing this at least twice a day like a mad person. The only thing I keep seeing is the "Home Office reference not found".

Will ring them up on Thursday and see if that miraculously changes anything.

Tell me about it I've been checking the site daily too, hopefully we'll be able to book our ceremonies soon! Fingers crossed

Finally, a worthy update.

Received my invitation letter this afternoon.

Timeline:
Applied: End of March 2020
Biometrics: 10 July 2020
Approval: 17 July 2020
Invitation letter received: 05 Nov 2020
Date on Invitation letter: 10 Oct 2020

Council: Newham

I rang up the council. They couldn't find my certificate. They also mentioned there are no Group, Private or Virtual ceremonies happening during lockdown. I am also going to email them so I have an audit trail of communications (since it's already over 21 days since the date on the latter).

Hopefully, they do have some sort of Private/ Virtual ceremony as this would massively help get it out of the way.

[Cost Manager]

Is it possible to change council from Westmister to the ones where virtual ceremonies takes place?

[Itssamahmed]

15th July approval
3rd Nov coucil got welcome letter
5th Nov i recieved welcome letter
5th Nov ceremony completed

[Szrsrts]

I quite don't get it. Late August and September approvals got their invitations but June July early August still waiting. It doesn't make any sense at all.

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

I assume, for some reason, they stopped dispatching certificates and invitations in early October but they were still printing, and only a few days ago they dispatched a lot. People started getting invitations today but the 2nd class mails have different delivery times. If mine won't arrive by Monday then I will try to get some answers. I hope they actually cleared the backlog on their side and now it is just Royal Mail and councils.

I was just told by another person approved in September they received their letter today.

From what I can see there’s a problem with August approvals especially those beginning up to 20 August.

It seems it’s not a royal thing as everyone is whether July, last days of August or September but no one beginning to mid August. Something is weird here and that worries me even more.

My approval was on the 15th August. What about yours?

[Frou01]

No, it doesn’t. And I find it upsetting and will include this into my formal complaint I’m doing the next days with or without invitation anyway.

That recent approvals now have a preference to people waiting a long time shows we waiting for no reason that long.

The wait was always justified with the fact they’re working off the backlog in STRICT order - what they clearly don’t.

And these September approvals are genuine September approvals as their biometrics were shortly before.

I’m happy for everyone to get their journey to an end - but what happens here is not right!

I assume, for some reason, they stopped dispatching certificates and invitations in early October but they were still printing, and only a few days ago they dispatched a lot. People started getting invitations today but the 2nd class mails have different delivery times. If mine won't arrive by Monday then I will try to get some answers. I hope they actually cleared the backlog on their side and now it is just Royal Mail and councils.

I was just told by another person approved in September they received their letter today.

From what I can see there’s a problem with August approvals especially those beginning up to 20 August.

It seems it’s not a royal thing as everyone is whether July, last days of August or September but no one beginning to mid August. Something is weird here and that worries me even more.

My approval was on the 15th August. What about yours?

10 August.

I’m one of those who didn’t get an invitation and certificate send to my council different to some September approvals.

[dogcat]

Mine was on the 24th of August and still nothing.

[baybars1]

Just looking at the data again and the most recent approval whereby the invite has been received is that communicate on 23 October 2020.

Therefore, there is a possibility, albeit we can only be far from certain based on just one observation, that there might have been a printout of invites covering August, September and possibly even October approvals.

Also, one may notice that a member who was approved on 14 September, having applied in July (which would therefore count as a "true" September approval) had their letter printed on 24 October 2020 while other two members, both approved on 1 September, had their letters printed on 26 and 27 October.

Whilst none of this is conclusive in a scientific sense of the word, it is possible that the CCST had split the backlog amongst their different sub-teams, maybe according to approval dates, and some sub-teams might have been quicker at it than others, which might explain why some people approved in October have already received their invites while some of those approved in July and August are still awaiting theirs.

Obviously, there is the issue of some councils' not conducting ceremonies during this lockdown.

Actual Approval Date ----- Actual Letter Date --------- Username
14/05/2020 ------------------ 07/09/2020 ------------------ 38j
14/05/2020 ------------------ 07/09/2020 ------------------ madihaali_304
20/05/2020 ------------------ 08/09/2020 ------------------ Anatol
20/05/2020 ------------------ 08/09/2020 ------------------ atam91
20/05/2020 ------------------ 14/09/2020 ------------------ hassanwaheed87
21/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ apostrophe 
21/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ Ade1111
22/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ dapto10
26/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ ummalido
26/05/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ bppartnerclub
27/05/2020 ------------------ 09/09/2020 ------------------ user5877
28/05/2020 ------------------ 08/09/2020 ------------------ Akskin
29/05/2020 ------------------ 01/09/2020 ------------------ Humble123
29/05/2020 ------------------ 14/09/2020 ------------------ Lopand 
01/06/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ AlexGo 
01/06/2020 ------------------ 10/09/2020 ------------------ Pinkoojee17
01/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ Luciantod
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ I'mInMyPJ's 
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ slavipg
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ serg_ko
02/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ b41
03/06/2020 ------------------ 17/09/2020 ------------------ mamin1982 
03/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ Learning18 
03/06/2020 ------------------ 19/09/2020 ------------------ abra
04/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ beaujam90
05/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ jovaknokovich
05/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ zcranso
08/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ Xmz12x 
08/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ Doc2020
09/06/2020 ------------------ 01/09/2020 ------------------ ASegs
09/06/2020 ------------------ 20/09/2020 ------------------ adubeys2020 
10/06/2020 ------------------ 21/09/2020 ------------------ mrduplicity
11/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Haider
11/06/2020 ------------------ 23/09/2020 ------------------ sevka
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Sochi08
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ uuee6543
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Runner12345
12/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Vilandra
15/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Greatness1
16/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Raihanul
16/06/2020 ------------------ 22/09/2020 ------------------ Jojo19
16/06/2020 ------------------ 23/09/2020 ------------------ FreshFromTheGrave
18/06/2020 ------------------ 23/09/2020 ------------------ Ghenso
20/06/2020 ------------------ 02/09/2020 ------------------ BoyTed's friend
25/06/2020 ------------------ 26/09/2020 ------------------ Roxen
26/06/2020 ------------------ 26/09/2020 ------------------ poqlpiusefdousngdn
29/06/2020 ------------------ 28/09/2020 ------------------ BoyTed
29/06/2020 ------------------ 28/09/2020 ------------------ AsPa
29/06/2020 ------------------ 28/09/2020 ------------------ IrobotZ
02/07/2020 ------------------ 29/09/2020 ------------------ Ailed
07/07/2020 ------------------ 05/10/2020 ------------------ Acidifiant2020
07/07/2020 ------------------ 06/10/2020 ------------------ Jil20
10/07/2020 ------------------ 05/10/2020 ------------------ Acidifiant2020
10/07/2020 ------------------ 06/10/2020 ------------------ Finddd
10/07/2020 ------------------ 06/10/2020 ------------------ fbaig76
14/07/2020 ------------------ 08/10/2020 ------------------ moh12
15/07/2020 ------------------ 05/10/2020 ------------------ whatevs2020 
16/07/2020 ------------------ 18/10/2020 ------------------ daisy1122
17/07/2020 ------------------ 10/10/2020 ------------------ icecube65
23/07/2020 ------------------ 18/10/2020 ------------------ rayyfar 
04/08/2020 ------------------ 01/10/2020 ------------------ Soo123
27/08/2020 ------------------ 26/10/2020 ------------------ Waitingagain
28/08/2020 ------------------ 28/10/2020 ------------------ matteot4
01/09/2020 ------------------ 26/10/2020 ------------------ Cocobana
01/09/2020 ------------------ 27/10/2020 ------------------ amazingneo
14/09/2020 ------------------ 24/10/2020 ------------------ offgreg
23/10/2020 ------------------ 24/10/2020 ------------------ Vidit32

[axeman85]

@baybars

Please brother can you give me the ccst email address.. so I can inquire about my letter.

Thanks

[otuel]

Today me and my wife received an invitation letter, dated 18th of October (approval 22nd of July).

We have to wait as our council suspended the ceremonies and they have a limited number of employees - phone lines have been disconnected and sending an e-mail with query generates generic reply.

[matteot4]

Hi,
I have just registered to the website to post my timeline if it helps for future models.

Applied online on 25 Jun 2020
Biometrics 19 Aug 2020
Approval email 28 August 2020
Invitation letter received 5 nov 2020
Date on the letter 28 October 2020

Ceremony pending - Council Coventry has not yet update the webpage for the new lockdown

First of all congratulations for some development on your application. I am also in Coventry and got the approval on 9 Sept, so I am expecting my letter soon. Did you contact the Coventry council if they will do Online ceremony and if they have your certificate? Thank you!!

Hi tauqeer8,
I have sent an email this morning to ceremonyco-ordinator@coventry.gov.uk asking when it would be possible to book a ceremony but I do not have a reply at the moment.