Chandnihorvath

Hello everyone, Just to let you know that I became a citizen yesterday afternoon and it all went well. The ceremony was lovely, out doors, under a nice shade. There were about 57 recipients and most of them had taken their test in July around the same time as I did. Such a special day; we received some Australian souvenirs such as vegemite, a native plant, a caramel Freddo. I went home with my certificate, all the goodies, a sweet memory, and a bottle of Bollinger :-) I'll be applying for my passport on Monday and then fingers crossed all done. Good luck to everyone here! xx

Hi all, Received my letter for the ceremony this morning. woohoo! My updated timeline is: Applied: 27/04/16 Council: Townsville Test date: 13/07/16 Approval date: 15/07/16 Ceremony: 24/11/16 (letter received today on the 9/11 dated 4/11) everyone else who's still waiting hang in there. it's a long and a frustrating road that tests your patience lol but you'all get there in the end. I'll post once my ceremony is over and also once I receive my passport. :-)

Hey Simran, Congrats :-) Must feel amazing to have it all done and dusted. Did you apply as a priority processing? (Only asking because I will have to go mail the application as well and receive it back in mail).

Ok so finally some decent answer from the Passport office, they are closed from 24-27 Dec and 31-3 Dec/Jan. Anybody travelling around that time should have no problems with their passports and the last day they can issue a passport before Xmas is 23 Dec. Otherwise we'll have to wait until the 28th. Hope this helps everyone thinking of travelling in Dec.

I'll probably be asking fellow recipients when they were approved, at my ceremony. I'll look like a creepo but at least it will give out a fair idea for any body else in the future who's applying from Townsville. I'll post it here once my ceremony is over.

Has anybody received the invitation letter for their citizenship ceremony this month?

When I rang DIBP yesterday they said as long as the council can confirm you are on the list you don't need an invite. Just ask them of the time and be there at least 30 mins before. She did say that it happens more than often that the invitation gets misplaced in the mail.

So I rang DIBP today because I am moving houses (same council, Defence just decided to sell this and move us to another street) to update my address and the lady on the phone was super helpful. Now she said that since there are 2 dates for November if my letter gets misplaced to basically just call the council in Oct and check with them. I prodded further about tentative dates and she said the customer service reps are usually hesitant to give out tentative dates especially for busier councils because they can change and they don't want people upset. Basically there could be a date but they won't give it out. She also mentioned that for my council there's only 60 people per ceremony so they can fore plan who's going where (aha!). Apparently they try desperately to stick with the 6 month mark because they undergo PA's every 6 months and they do not want bad KPI's. Hope this info helps. Not sure if I would rely 100% on it but its the most I have gotten out of a rep. She has been working there for 7 years though. Goodness! I'd lose my sanity. Oh and with the passport, you can apply the same day. They can check with DIBP but usually the VEVO thing is updated the same day. Apparently its an automated system now. No need to wait 7 days et tout.

I doubt that really. I remember when my PR was due, I rang them 2 days before I received my approval and they said that it might take a couple more months and then I received the approval in 2 days. lol Yeah its going to be tight Nov/Dec. You're lucky to be near Melbourne. I am in Townsville, I cannot even personally collect the passport to save time unless I fly down to Brisbane for the day.

woohoo!!!!!! Congrats Simran! Fantastic news!!!!! Good luck with everything now

What the... Axing more jobs, when things are already bad with the existent staff? I am glad we all applied this year before the mid-Oct mark. I shudder at the thought of the waiting times next year. Regarding your date and their standard response, its a bit stupid. I wonder if its actually to do with who you get on the phone and if they are willing to let it out.

Haha yeah its so close now I need to not worry too much about it. Yes the council still has 24th as their date but they said that DIBP sets the date and they send out the letters, not the council. I should receive the letter about 2-3 weeks before the ceremony. So maybe end of October. Long wait till end of Oct. haha Maybe you should ring DIBP they would have one allocated already I guess.

Hey Simran, thanks for that. I was approved on the 15th of July. So 4 months after approval. A bit longer than other's timeline in Towno but I am not complaining.

Oh my goodness, I wonder what's actually taking so long. I was surprised with Townsville waiting times as well. I was expecting October to be honest but I was surprised with Nov; not that I am complaining. Glad to be all over if that is the actual date. Yeah should be good with the passport, I will apply the same day and even though I fly out on 25/12 I will still apply as a priority processing. Just to be on the safe side. I am going to get everything ready by end of Sept. and then just get it over and done with it all. I have a feeling you'd be in the Nov. one especially if you mentioned travelling in Dec. on your application. I think that's what happened to me even though I just updated my travel dates today from 10/12 to 25/12. Now as I mentioned I hope they don't change the ceremony date to Dec. That would definitely be throwing a spanner in the works.

Thank you! Its been 10 years in making. Finally can see an end to it all and can visit family stress free in Dec. I hope you get yours soon too, you've been waiting long enough as well.