With all respect to Biscuits but can anybody clarify for definite when references should be signed? I'm uploading all docs tomorrow morning
I'm going through the citizenship application process too, and have wondered about this myself. I submitted my application online yesterday.
Based on my experience of the work flow, it seems highly impractical to have the referee forms signed
before submitting the application. The forms can be downloaded, either after you complete all the sections and just before hitting the submit button; or after you submit and pay the fee, where the download becomes one of the listed "Mandatory Actions". In the former case, getting them signed will hold up the application; in the latter, it's actually impossible to get the forms signed before you make the application.
It is mainly the latter, as well as that I cannot find any explicit instruction to the contrary, that makes me think it's perfectly fine to have the referee forms signed after submission of the application. I downloaded the forms before submission but then went ahead and made the application anyway. I have sent the forms to my referees by post.
I'm just wondering why there is nothing clearcut.
When have others got their reference forms signed?
It seems that online application for citizenship is quite a new thing, and there aren't many people who have the experience of actually going through it yet. I can believe that people applying for citizenship are fewer in number than people applying for a visa (one may choose to be a permanent resident without becoming a citizen). It will be good, then, for those of us who are going through the process or have gone through, to share our experiences for the benefit of others. Once I have gone through the whole thing and become a citizen, I will write up about the process I went through. Or, should my application run into problems, I would share that too!