I'm very happy I ended up going this route (I reserve the right to change my mind if my app is denied of course.
) My appointment was with a lovely lady named Debbie who seemed very thorough. She went over the requirements for the citizenship with me thrice and stressed the need to be in-country in the beginning and end of the qualification period over and over. Everything she told me, I already knew, but considering what's at stake, it was nice to have it reviewed again to make sure I didn't overlook anything.
Altogether, the entire thing took no more than 35-40 minutes and that includes her delightful wrap-up rant about the blood suckers at the Home Office. She seemed really angry about the last set of price increases and she called the ones being rolled out in April indefensible. She didn't know how much it was going to be, but she did say that she wished that especially now the government maybe take a break from picking immigrants' pockets for a bit.
Anyway, she made tons of copies, filled out a bunch of forms and check lists, gave us a few handouts regarding what to expect now and the proposed citizenship changes in 2010 and told us that she hoped to see us in about 4 months for the ceremony. Wish me luck.
