Advice regarding travel while application is processed

[ubiquitous]

Hi,

I'm eligible to apply for naturalisation and I intend to apply quite soon, but I have a complicated situation and I'd appreciate some advice about it.

The situation is that I want to apply for Naturalisation but I need to travel back to Australia (my home country) for at least a year at the end of this year. I want to apply for naturalisation BEFORE travelling to Australia because I don't want my time spent outside of the UK to exceed the maximum allowed for UK naturalisation. However, what happens if my naturalisation application is approved while I am not in the UK? I am assuming they would not mind, but maybe they would require me to attend a citizenship ceremony in the UK? I saw on the Gov.uk website that it says "You must attend a citizenship ceremony if you’re living in the UK at the time." but what if you're NOT living in the UK at the time?

I would be happy to fly back to the UK to attend a ceremony if this was absolutely necessary, but I'd prefer not to obviously as flights areexpensive. But if I did have to do this, is there a maximum time limit between when I'm approved and when I must attend the ceremony, and what happens if you don't attend a ceremony in time? Is the naturalisation void? Are there any alternatives for people living in other countries such as Australia?

Thanks,
David

[ubiquitous]

Bump. Sorry, I know it can be annoying, but surely there are some answers to this question? I tried searching before asking but couldn't find specific answers to this.

[vivdubes]

I guess it is more about prioritising what you really want? As per rules you have to be present for the citizenship ceremony if you are applying from within the UK, that is why you got a field to fill in about which council you wish to attend the citizenship ceremony in the application form ? I know few cases where people have moved places but they came back to attend the ceremony within 3 months after their AN application got approved so you have time limit of 3 months to apply to attend for the citizenship ceremony after your citizenship approval else your application would become null and void and you have to reapply again. If you want to save the travel cost I guess I would say leave the country after you have attended the ceremony.

[ubiquitous]

Thanks, I wasn't after advice so much as some facts on what is and isn't allowed. I didn't know what the time limit was between approval and attending the citizenship ceremony. So you're confirming that it's 3 months?

Do you know what the Home Office mean when they say "You must attend a citizenship ceremony if you’re living in the UK at the time."? Because this implies there is an alternative or an exception if you're not living in the UK.