British Citizenship

[PerthLondonGirl89]

Hey All!

Just wondering for those of you who are not originally from Britain and where you or your partner obtained British citizenship, how long did it take? I am talking pre-COVID  times as well as anyone who has applied during COVID. It says it usually takes up to 6 months plus then you have to book in for your ceremony. Obviously with COVID there is a high chance the timeline could be longer, but I am just trying to get an idea of it all. I have my Life in the UK test booked for early August and we plan to head back to Aus in January 2021 (my partner needs to be there by Feb 2021). Ideally I want to get my British citizenship before then (I am eligible, just need to pass the Life in the UK test). I know we are cutting things reeeaaallly fine but I was only eligible to apply in May 2020 but didn't make the moves to do so as the original plan was to head to Aus in June 2020... for obvious reasons that has been delayed! I stumbled across the priority service for visas / citizenship only recently but that is currently suspended. I don't know whether to take my chances and wait for this to be up and running again, or apply as soon as I have passed my test (hopefully first go!!!). If anyone has any insight I would be grateful!

[Quoll]

My DH was slightly different in that he was a citizen by descent but because he was born well before the cut off date he had to go through the citizenship ceremony process and he applied in the December and had his ceremony in April.  Well before the covid thing though and I would imagine there will be a significant backlog

[PerthLondonGirl89]

Thanks for your response @Quoll  Although the situations are not exactly the same it is good to get an idea of how long others have taken. I am just really hoping that things start picking up and covid hasn't extended the timelines toooo long!