British Citizenship - Waiting Time

Got my approval letter! Almost seven weeks from submission to receiving approval letter in the post.

Now I need to book my ceremony in the next 21 days, though I have up to 3 months to actually attend it.

NCS or Postal: NCS
Date of submission: 30 Sep, 2013 (Appointment was 28 Sep, a Saturday)
Basis: 3+ years residence w/ILR, married to a British citizen
Date of Acknowledgement Letter: 10 Oct, 2013
Date of Receipt of Acknowledgement: 15 Oct, 2013
Date of Debit: 10 Oct, 2013
Date of Decision: 11 November, 2013
Date of Receipt of Invitations Letter:15 November, 2013

Good luck to the others who are waiting!

Received my approval letter today! Given the date on the letter, I have 14 days remaining to book my ceremony - I plan to ring the council on Monday.

NCS or Postal: NCS Kingston Upon Thames
Date of submission: 8 October with next day secure delivery
Basis: 3+ years residence w/ILR, married to a British citizen
Date of Acknowledgement Letter: 30 October
Date of Receipt of Acknowledgement: 1 November
Date of Debit: none - used bankers draft
Date of Decision: 9 November
Date of Receipt of Invitations Letter: 16 November
Date of Ceremony:

NCS 24/09/2013
Fee Taken 03/10/2013
Acknowledge Letter 03/10/2013
Approval Letter 06/11/2013
Private Ceremony 18/11/2013
Passport applied online 18/11/2013
Passport Interview
Passport received
         

My husband submitted his application through the NCS two weeks ago, but they haven't taken the fee.  The council's NCS pages said they would take the fee at the appointment, but they actually didn't so presumably the Home Office will do it themselves.  At what point should he start chasing this up, and who should he talk to? - he has a limited amount of time to phone during the working day and I don't want him to end up in an endless loop.

It took nearly a month for my money to be taken at a time when appointment to approval letter was taking about 3 months. The NCS takes the NCS fees at the appointment, but the Home Office takes the actual naturalisation fee. I've heard things are slowing down a bit just now because of the new language requirement coming in, so it may be taking a bit longer. Unlike every other visa application, it seems they don't take the naturalisation fee before doing anything else!

Thanks, DrSuperL99!  I will try to stop worrying. 

Thanks, DrSuperL99!  I will try to stop worrying. 

Thanks for posting this query. I have been lurking in this thread to see how other applications are going.

I submitted my app on 28 October to the Checking Service in Richmond.  The fee still has not bee processed and I was starting to worry, even though I knew the language qualifications had changed and might impact processing times.   

I too, will try to stop worrying! 

Finally got my ceremony booked! The council had some people out of the office this past week, so it took 4 working days instead of the 2 they initially said it would take before they could book me in.

NCS or Postal: NCS Kingston Upon Thames
Date of submission: 8 October with next day secure delivery
Basis: 3+ years residence w/ILR, married to a British citizen
Date of Acknowledgement Letter: 30 October
Date of Receipt of Acknowledgement: 1 November
Date of Debit: none - used bankers draft
Date of Decision: 9 November
Date of Receipt of Invitations Letter: 16 November
Date of Ceremony: 12 December

Congrats to the recent aprovees. 

I got my passport yesterday! Four months from citizenship application to passport in hand.

Thanks to everyone in this forum for all your help...I really couldn't have done it without you.

Best of luck to everyone still on the path!

Has anyone just filed a postal application lately, or is everyone using the NCS?  Any idea how the processing time for postal applications compares?

I'll be applying in March, and I have to have it back before September, so I can vote.  But it also takes a three-day trip to get to any NCS location.

NCS 24/09/2013
Fee Taken 03/10/2013
Acknowledge Letter 03/10/2013
Approval Letter 06/11/2013
Private Ceremony 18/11/2013
Passport applied online 18/11/2013
Passport Interview 3/12/2013
Passport received
         

My husband phoned his Nationality Checking Office earlier today just to check up on his application, since he applied over five weeks ago but the money has not been debited.

He was told that there are severe delays - according to the information the NCS has received from the Home Office, as of 8 December, the Home Office had only reached applications as of 18 October.  (I don't know whether that's just for NCS applications or all of them.)

This isn't surprising, given the flood of applications prior to the rule change on 28 October, but at least this provides some hint of the revised timeframe.  So those of us with late October and onwards applications are going to have to wait a bit longer.  Hope this is helpful to others in the same (slow) boat!

The NCS did give him the tracking number for the Royal Mail special delivery they used, and we were able to verify that this did arrive, so at least that's one worry gone.

Has anyone just filed a postal application lately, or is everyone using the NCS?  Any idea how the processing time for postal applications compares?

I'll be applying in March, and I have to have it back before September, so I can vote.  But it also takes a three-day trip to get to any NCS location.

My husband did his by post in September, and it was approved in 3-4 weeks.

I don't think going through an NCS makes any difference to be honest - we live on mainland Scotland and if I lived on Uist I certainly wouldn't bother making the trip to Glasgow (I assume).

Good luck!

I submitted a Form UKM application via the Reading NCS in early October.  I haven't seen any other Form UKM applicants in this thread, so for those not familiar, I am seeking dual U.S./U.K citizenship based on my mother being a U.K. citizen.  I received an e-mail acknowledgement of my application on October 18th.  I've noted, with interest, that many people reference the date they received acknowledgement of the application via regular mail.  Is this still the case, or is e-mail acknowledgement the norm now?  I'm surprised that I'm still waiting, since my application is about as simple as citizenship based on marriage (and those seem to be dealt with in days).  It was a basic form with birth certificate and passport of my mother, and myself.  My general concern is that since I didn't receive mail acknowledgement of the application, I've not received acknowledgement of citizenship.  I live in Germany, so thought there could be some mail issues. Thanks.