5+ Months in waiting for the British Citizenship Application / EU citizen

[Fernsby]

Hi all,

Just a bit of context on my situation.

Application submitted 30th June 2024

appointment and biometrics submitted on 6th July 2024 in Croydon. On 8th October I was asked to confirm my name change, which I had done immediately in the same day.

I have lived in the UK for 10 years as EU citizen, after Brexit with EU settled status. I work a white collar job and so thought this will be a straight forward case, I see people getting approved within 5 weeks mark. It has been 5 months waiting for me and I have emailed citizenship support many times to check on the progress of my application, all with a standard response (please see below). In few weeks I will reach 6 months mark so I will be able to submit my complaint, after which I will also request a review of the complaint process. I have emailed my MP on 3 separate occassions with no response (he's lib dem so does not care). I am about to submit SAR request today. I am getting really frustrated with this process.

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your email regarding the progress on your application for naturalisation as a British citizen.

Your application is currently under review and a number of enquiries need to be made before we can reach a decision on whether to grant citizenship.

The enquiries are still ongoing in regards to your application. As soon as the enquiries are completed, we will ensure that a decision is taken, and that you will be notified accordingly.

We thank you for your patience at this time

Kind regards

Passports, Citizenship & Civil Registration

[contorted_svy]

Your application is still within the standard processing times. There is no such thing as a "straightforward" application, it depends on how long the external checks take, each timeline is unique. If your application is still being processed by the end of the year you will be able to chase using the information in this thread https://www.immigrationboards.com/month ... 43483.html

[Fernsby]

Thank you. This is super helpful. I will wait until 6 months and will start the complaint process

[kievlenka]

Hey there
Mine took nearly a year to process and it was straight forward too , no convictions, 20 years ILR, no gaps , all documents etc
My delay was due to “IT error” where my biometrics didn’t integrate with HO systems
They acknowledged it around 6 months mark it was fixed but still took 5 months after that to get a decision
I chased and complained at no awhile , you’ve just got to let it run it’s course I’m afraid

[tanha_rixby]

Thank you. This is super helpful. I will wait until 6 months and will start the complaint process

I came across your post while searching about the response I got from the Home Office. The email they sent me is the same as the one you shared, and I haven’t seen any others mention getting this exact wording. So I guess it could be the same person or the same issue, and I’m curious if you managed to figure out what the issue was.

A couple of questions, if you don’t mind sharing:

1. Since you passed the six-month mark a while ago, have you been able to chase them for an update? Have you got a final response or approval yet?
2. I can see from your timeline that they asked you for confirmation of further information a few months ago. What kind of information did they ask for? Since I’ve recently received a similar response, I’m wondering if they’ll ask me for the same thing.

Would appreciate any insight!

[contorted_svy]

Thank you. This is super helpful. I will wait until 6 months and will start the complaint process

I came across your post while searching about the response I got from the Home Office. The email they sent me is the same as the one you shared, and I haven’t seen any others mention getting this exact wording. So I guess it could be the same person or the same issue, and I’m curious if you managed to figure out what the issue was.

A couple of questions, if you don’t mind sharing:

1. Since you passed the six-month mark a while ago, have you been able to chase them for an update? Have you got a final response or approval yet?
2. I can see from your timeline that they asked you for confirmation of further information a few months ago. What kind of information did they ask for? Since I’ve recently received a similar response, I’m wondering if they’ll ask me for the same thing.

Would appreciate any insight!

You can chase the answer yourself - these answers are boilerplate and your applications could be encountering entirely different situations.

[tanha_rixby]

You can chase the answer yourself - these answers are boilerplate and your applications could be encountering entirely different situations.

Got it, thanks! Since I’m still two months away from the six-month mark, is there any way to "chase the answer" now? Would it make sense to reply back to their email and ask about the nature of the remaining enquiries to see if I can provide anything to speed things up, or is it better to just wait? (Also, is there any downside/risk to sending such an email?)

[contorted_svy]

No donwside to chasing now, but you would not get anywhere if you chase before the 6 months mark. The enquiries they are making are with different government departments, so there is nothing you can do to speed up the process at this stage - if they need information from you they will request it specifically.

[tanha_rixby]

No donwside to chasing now, but you would not get anywhere if you chase before the 6 months mark. The enquiries they are making are with different government departments, so there is nothing you can do to speed up the process at this stage - if they need information from you they will request it specifically.

Thanks for clarifying. I won't send an email then.

I'm considering requesting a Subject Access Request (SAR) primarily to ease my anxiety about the process, but also figuring out what the enquiries are (so that maybe i could proactively help them out). Nonetheless, I have two concerns:

1. Could this annoy them and negatively affect the outcome? Is sending a SAR around 3.5 months after submission too early?

2. Will I be able to submit another SAR later? I anticipate needing another SAR in 2.5 months to have an up-to-date understanding of my case once the 6-month point passes. I'm worried the second SAR could be refused since it would be only 2 months after the first.

What do you think?

[contorted_svy]

No donwside to chasing now, but you would not get anywhere if you chase before the 6 months mark. The enquiries they are making are with different government departments, so there is nothing you can do to speed up the process at this stage - if they need information from you they will request it specifically.

Thanks for clarifying. I won't send an email then.

I'm considering requesting a Subject Access Request (SAR) primarily to ease my anxiety about the process, but also figuring out what the enquiries are (so that maybe i could proactively help them out). Nonetheless, I have two concerns: they wouldn't disclose what the enquiries are and you wouldn't be able to help them from what you may found out. If they need anything from you they would expplicitly ask you, as I said above.

1. Could this annoy them and negatively affect the outcome? Is sending a SAR around 3.5 months after submission too early?
No.

2. Will I be able to submit another SAR later? I anticipate needing another SAR in 2.5 months to have an up-to-date understanding of my case once the 6-month point passes. I'm worried the second SAR could be refused since it would be only 2 months after the first. Yes.

What do you think?

Keep in mind that over 90% of these applications are accepted. It is difficult to put your mind at ease and be patient but for now it is the best course of action. The guide I linked above has proved to be successful in some very stretched cases - most applications are processed in the standard 6 months though.