kunash Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hi My wife and children applied for UK Citizenship on 1st May 2015. We are still waiting. So it has been around 4 and a half months. I hope to hear very soon. Is anyone else waiting, or have just been granted citizenship? Would like to know please. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 The Wife had her Citizenship Ceremony only a couple of months ago and I am pretty sure from memory that we waited 6 weeks before hearing the good news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just checked my posts we applied 25th March 2015 received the good news on the 7th May 2015 and citizenship was on the 2nd June 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Sister in law and niece applied via the Nationality Checking Service on 7th July 2015. Money taken for her daughter but not hers! No written confirmation of receipt. Two emails and a written copy requesting confirmation have not been answered! Referees have not been contacted yet. It seems they do things when they want to and in a way they wish. Probably delays this time of year because of student applications. Delays are not necessarily logical nor reflect on the eventual outcome. Someone posted here that it took a year and for no obvious reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7by7 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) Visa and LTR applications should not have any effect on citizenship ones; different people processing them. Especially visa applications which are done in post at embassies! The official advice is to allow 6 months for a citizenship application to be processed. Some take longer, some are done quicker. One of the reasons for this is the time it takes referees, if contacted, to respond and for other checks, if any, to be done. Kunash have you checked with your wife's referees to see if they have been contacted and if so have they responded? Edited September 14, 2015 by 7by7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I'm curious as to how often Referee's are actually contacted, non of ours were throughout the whole process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Student visa renewals can be done within the UK but may well be done by different staff within the Home Office. Last year, at least, people were moved from visa processing to passports. If none of this is occurring there is not much excuse for straight forward applications being processed quickly. So far no referees for friends have ever been contacted, let alone delayed applications. I have acted as referee for a number of passport applications and visa renewals and have yet to be contacted once! I would like to think references would be routinely checked especially after the dodgy reports in the media a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 anecdotally it is my belief Referees are rarely contacted, non of the Wife's referees were ever contacted from when she first entered the country on a student visa till the end of the process when she became a citizen. During that time there were 2 student visa's, 2 Flr's 1 ILR 1 Citizenship on top of which I have also acted as a referee on a number of passport applications and have never heard a pep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7by7 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 My wife's referees were contacted; that was in 2004. When I was an ADI I acted as referee for a number of my pupils; most of them Thai but also for an American. As I recall, I was not contacted about any of the Thais; but was for the American! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunash Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thank you for all the replies so far. 7, My wife's referees have not been contacted yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunash Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just checked my posts we applied 25th March 2015 received the good news on the 7th May 2015 and citizenship was on the 2nd June 2015 That was very quick. They seemed to have slowed down a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Checking elsewhere it seems in general that April 15 applications are being decided this month (September). This may not be a representative sample but there are a number of them. I assume my sister in laws case file is sitting on a desk, in a pile and not even given enough attention to work out they have only taken part of the fee due. Sister in law thinks she might get hers free! I have made it clear to her that this is as likely as Jeremy Corbin becoming leader of the Labour party! Edit: Whoops needed to correct that to 'anyone else but Jeremy Corbin becoming leader of the Labour party'!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 There was a not very flattering inspection of the naturalisation process - http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nationality-Report-web.pdf • referees were never contacted to verify that they had agreed to act as a referee, to determine their suitability, or to check that they had sufficient knowledge of the applicant; and • checks were not conducted to determine if referees had been convicted of an imprisonable offence in the last ten years, despite the guidance to applicants indicating that such an individual would not be accepted as a referee. This was 2014 so it would be nice to think something has happened since to change things. Becoming British is a big event and care should be taken to make sure the right people are approved and the wrong ones refused. It was also suggested that: We recommend that the Home Office: Performs random police checks for referees and takes appropriate action where the random 5% referee check on British citizens identifies inconsistencies with the information held by Her Majesty’s Passport Office. It was also stated that meeting the six month target: 4.89 While this was a good performance, we noted that the six-month target did not appear to be very challenging. Straying off topic somewhat but asking referees if they have been contacted is unlikely to be much of an indicator of the stage of processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooloomooloo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 They seemed to have slowed down a bit It's that time of year lumped in with a load of other stuff that does or doesn't go on at the Home Office. My wife's friend is currently awaiting a decision on her and her daughter's naturalisation and it's been well over four months now. You're not alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 There was a not very flattering inspection of the naturalisation process - http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nationality-Report-web.pdf • referees were never contacted to verify that they had agreed to act as a referee, to determine their suitability, or to check that they had sufficient knowledge of the applicant; and • checks were not conducted to determine if referees had been convicted of an imprisonable offence in the last ten years, despite the guidance to applicants indicating that such an individual would not be accepted as a referee. This was 2014 so it would be nice to think something has happened since to change things. Becoming British is a big event and care should be taken to make sure the right people are approved and the wrong ones refused. It was also suggested that: We recommend that the Home Office: Performs random police checks for referees and takes appropriate action where the random 5% referee check on British citizens identifies inconsistencies with the information held by Her Majesty’s Passport Office. It was also stated that meeting the six month target: 4.89 While this was a good performance, we noted that the six-month target did not appear to be very challenging. Straying off topic somewhat but asking referees if they have been contacted is unlikely to be much of an indicator of the stage of processing. Cheers Bob Just read the section on Referees, pretty well confirms my suspicions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Just checked my posts we applied 25th March 2015 received the good news on the 7th May 2015 and citizenship was on the 2nd June 2015 That was very quick. They seemed to have slowed down a bit Good Luck it's a stressful time Just to say we really enjoyed the Wife's citizenship ceremony, Newbury council made a real effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Could just be that Home Office staff take their holidays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunash Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 My wife and children have just been given citizenship. Just got the good news through, on 24th September. Ceremony planned for next Tuesday. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterloo Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 My wife and children have just been given citizenship. Just got the good news through, on 24th September. Ceremony planned for next Tuesday. Congratulations, hope you enjoy the day as much as we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrussell Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Congratulations! Sister in law has just received a letter from the Home Office stating they cannot process her visa without the fee being paid! It was all done though the Nationality Checking Service so she has had to fill in the same details that were given on the original application! They took the payment for my niece but not hers! Seems they have just got to her file in the pile!! It was a shame that my wife was not able to attend a group ceremony as there were none within the required timescale. Still feel she missed out a bit with the individual ceremony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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