citzenship checking services they are up to a month in front for booking

We went today to the checking services and the lady was very nice but for anyone planning on using this services soon they are up to a month if not more in front with bookings so you need to call at least 4 weeks before you need the appointments.

Indy

i bet they are under  lots pressure cos everyone is panicing about when the new rules will kick in. everyone wants to get their applications through before THE major CHANGE happens.


 thanks for the update.

Have you tried ringing other NCS offices? Because I got mine checked at the NCS here in Southwark less than a month ago and they had appointments for the same week. And at that point the naturalisation turnarounds were getting shorter (8 months down to 3-5 now, apparently) so I'd think that would mean that the backlog had lessened recently.

The nice thing with NCS is that you don't have to go to the council you live in, you can shop around a bit, especially as the fee for it is set by each council (if I remember correctly, Islington's NCS was the cheapest in London!).

Yep, we don't have one close enough in Cumbria so we tried Newcastle (which was 3-4 weeks booked up) but ended up booking an appt at Northumberland which was only 2 weeks booked up.

Both Newcastle and Northumberland are £40 and both require payment either when you book or before you get there (Newcastle takes payment over the phone, Northumberland takes a cheque).

The nice thing with NCS is that you don't have to go to the council you live in, you can shop around a bit, especially as the fee for it is set by each council (if I remember correctly, Islington's NCS was the cheapest in London!).

This seems to be changing, alas.  There's a 4-week lead time in Oxfordshire, and about 7 weeks in Oxford itself, so I called up to Warwickshire where my in-laws live (and where the price for NCS is £40 rather than £50.)  The woman on the phone explained that they're getting swamped with outsiders booking appointments, and this is making it difficult for Warwickshire residents to get an appointment, but she'd let me book anyway just this once.  So I'd expect to see the same thing happening in other councils pretty soon.

You really don't have to use an NCS.

Vicky

not all councils provide the NCS. so that is why i am guessing ppl in teh neighboring areas will come to the nearest NCS.

and like vicky said, you dont need to use them.

So, in my case, the main reason to use an NCS is that my husband is a champion worrier and he'd just spend months fretting that I forgot something if I did this by mail.

That said, the web page says
You must submit either original documents, or a fully certified photocopy of your documents.

After the nightmare of the ILR application, I think none of us would want to send originals.  But what constitutes a "fully certified photocopy" in this case?  I have evidently not lived here long enough to understand what is meant by this term, and whether it's really equivalent at all to "notarized".  (And what fraction of £40 it would cost to get that done.)

There are several threads on this.

You can get a solicitor to do everything for you if you don't want to wait for the NCS.  Solicitors certify, notaries notarise.


Vicky