Travel abroad while Citizenship application processing

As the title suggests... just looking for a consensus/definitive answer if you can travel abroad (i.e. outside the Common Travel Area of UK, ROI, and Channel Islands) while your citizenship application is being processed?

I have Indefinite Leave to Remain if that helps any.

Yes, you can.

You are officially free from immigration control with ILR.  The only pickle you'll have is AFTER your citizenship ceremony before you receive your British passport.  Even then, you can travel with your naturalisation certificate if need be (may be held to the side for a few minutes while they verify your citizenship). 

Wait, don't you have to send off your American passport when you apply for  citizenship?  How would somebody travel without their passport? 

Wait, don't you have to send off your American passport when you apply for  citizenship?  How would somebody travel without their passport? 

You do.  But you have to hand the BRP back in straight after naturalisation.  So if one hasn't applied for their passport yet, they'll still be holding their USA passport.  Not everyone applies for their British passport straight away (I would recommend applying straight away).

So my wife got her email from the Home Office on 12th Dec, but she has either the choice of booking a private ceremony for 250 quid on 21st Jan (or later), OR group ceremonies on 14th or 21st March.

The letter said that she had to attend a ceremony within 3 months so is she even allowed to attend these March ones?

Also, the above '3 months' language seems to conflict with the '6 month' language on the .gov citizenship ceremony website. This was the timeline we were working towards, because we've got travel booked for March so hoped she could just book an April ceremony soon and attend when we get back.

What would you suggest, KF? (and any other knowledgeable types of course...) -

- Should she attend on the 14th or 21st March, not apply for the UK passport until she gets back and talk her way through re-entry to the UK as you describe above?
- Or should she ignore that 3 months mentioned in the email and stick with the 6 month timelines?
- Or do we need to book the one private ceremony slot in 10 days time and hope the UK passport comes through in 8 rather than 10 weeks?

Any sane advice highly appreciated!...: )

Craig

I’d call the council back and confirm that it’s still 6 months due to Covid (everything online says it’s still 6 months). If they agree, have the ceremony after you return from holiday.

If they say it needs to be within 3 months, they need to offer a day within 3 months, so I’d put it back on them.

Thanks KF, as always - we did just that and got a response back that it's still extended to 6 months, and she has until a certain date in June.

Hi @KFdancer ,

So I now find myself in a situation where I might *not* want to apply for my UK passport straight away...

My family and I have planned to go abroad (to Spain) for w/c 18th March. We have not booked anything yet, only I have booked the time off work. I also have a lot of days of annual leave built up and need to use them before 31st March, hence driving the trip to Spain.

I had my Citizenship ceremony today, and didn't quite understand (as another post indicated above) that it sounds like I would indeed need to send in my passport to apply for my UK passport.

Given it's 6 weeks until our proposed holiday, and that's just about how long it takes to receive your UK passport, it feels extremely tight.

In this situation, if I don't apply straight away, is it ok to travel abroad in March with my current US Passport and BRP Card, with certificate of naturalisation, but then start applying for my UK passport straight after getting back?