IWTsai

11 minutes ago, Melb User said:

@IWTsai, In general, after an in-person ceremony is cancelled, you don't have to do anything. It's the responsibility of Home Affairs to work with the local council to schedule another in person or Virtual ceremony. 

Current Ceremony processing time from Date of Approval is 6-8 months as mentioned in the Home Affairs site. So, if you contact Home Affairs before that, most likely they will ask you to wait. But, if you have any urgent reason for an early ceremony, they will factor that in.

After my in-person ceremony was cancelled for the 2nd time, I checked with my council(Melbourne City Council) on Virtual Ceremony. They mentioned they are in the process of doing it, but did not give any dates. After some weeks, I then contacted Home Affairs when I was nearing the 8 month timeline (after approval). I got the Virtual Ceremony soon after. 

Good luck!

Thanks - this is very helpful to know! Also congrats on getting your citizenship! 

On 28/09/2021 at 11:16, Melb User said:

I had my Virtual Ceremony today and am now Australian Citizen:), it's been a long 21 month wait.
I'm part of Melbourne City Council.

Timeline:
Citizenship Application: 07 Jan 2020
Test Date & Approval: 05 Feb 2021 (Original test date was in March  2021 & I preponed it)
InPerson Ceremony Invite 1: 18 Aug 2021, Cancelled due to lockdown
InPerson Ceremony Invite 2: 15 Sep 2021, Cancelled due to lockdown
Virtual Ceremony: 28 Sep 2021

On my Virtual ceremony, it was not a group event, just the presiding officer and myself.

My Citizenship processing times coincided with 75% of applicants processing times mentioned in Immigration Website.  This can keep changing and you can check immigration website for latest. Further your council can influence the ceremony date as well. 

Good luck everyone!

Hi, could I please ask whether you requested Home Affairs to allocate you to a virtual ceremony after your in-person ceremony was cancelled or whether you were automatically allocated to a virtual ceremony? I am in the ACT, and was originally invited to an in-person ceremony on 7 Sep 2021, which was cancelled due to the lockdown; I was told that the ACT Government does not hold virtual ceremonies due to capacity constraints, and there does not appear to be a date yet when in-person ceremonies will be resumed in the ACT. So I am just wondering whether people whose in-person ceremonies were cancelled will be automatically allocated to a virtual ceremony. Thanks!