PogiAko

I rang DIBP 2 wks ago, the Officer told me I was booked on 9th March 2017 and the invitation letter will be sent accordingly 6 weeks before the ceremony. Yesterday I phoned Hurstville Council and asked if my name was included in the list. The nice lady said she hasn't received the list yet. If I hadn't phoned DIBP on the first week of January I probably wouldn't have gotten the slot of 9th March. Even the case officer was surprised when after going through the system I don't have the schedule yet. He asked me to phone again in a week as he will relay my case to the officer in-charge. After 2 follow ups I finally got the 9th March schedule. I found out recently that there's a long queue in NSW particularly at George River Council. When the two councils merged into one, waiting lists have doubled and the council seems to have overlooked this scenario as they stick to their original plan of having 6 ceremonies per year only. I suggest to keep on calling DIBP after six months of waiting.

I received my citizenship approval on May 2016 and after calling DIBP every now and then, I finally got a confirmed Citizenship Ceremony this coming 9 March 2017. Reason for the delay: 1) average waiting period in NSW is 6 to 9 months, there's a looooooong queue. Guys you better move to South Australia that takes only 3 months of waiting if you want to expedite your citizenship ceremony. 2) my council HURSTVILLE has recently merged to KOGARAH. The two populated councils now named: GEORGE RIVER holds only 6 ceremonies per year with 70 candidates per event.

Date applied: 10 April 2016 City/Council areA: Hurstville NSW Online / Paper: Online Date received the acknowledgement email: 10 April 2016 Date of the Citizenship Test: 30 May 2016 (passed 100%) Date of ceremony : Tentative: AUGUST 2016 (as per the Case Officer after the interview) Received Approval Letter: 2 June 2016 (Date of Letter: 30 May 2016) Type of ceremony (Urgent/Normal