(In continuation of Becoming British…)

From the 1st of April 2005, the fee for Naturalisation is £268. One can only apply by post as there is no public counter to receive the applications. This means that one should either use recorded delivery or a courier service to ensure that the forms and other supporting documents, including the passport, are received by the Home Office.

Current processing times (as of end of October 2006) is 4.32 months. However, I know people who had theirs completed in 9 months and others who are still waiting for more than 10 months. For someone like me who travels on short notice, that is quite a long time. Although in such cases, the Home Office does make provisions. One only needs to send a photocopy of the passport and have it certified by a solicitor. But, as I am generally impatient, this still does not work for me. Hence, hiring an authorised agent/solicitor is the answer.

Asking around, I was informed that this would set me back around £1K. Ouchie! With this amount of money, there is still no guarantee that I could be doing my ceremonies early in the new year. Maybe 2 months, tops. Then, I remembered the agency hired by my employer to process my permanent residency, which they super fast tracked. Sorry I cannot tell you how quick they got it for me but I can tell you that it was really quick! Anyway, if they are able to do that for me once, they will be able to do it for me again this time. But, I still feel unsettled with the costs. Well, who wouldn’t? For that amount, I could fly myself and P for a visit to Manila! OK, I digress. So, I gathered the courage to ask my employer if they could help out.

Whilst it is more of a favour, my main reason is justifiable. I travel a lot for work and my base area is Europe. But among the countries of my territory, I am only able to fly to Switzerland without having to worry about visas. The company would have to apply for a visa on my behalf then and as such would cost money and time. If they add all the times they would apply a visa for me, it would probably amount to more than the cost of paying for my citizenship application.

So the email trail kicked off and as expected, I really, was not in on it. Today, however, I got a confirmation. The company will assist me in my application but will only pay for 50% of the costs AND that I sign an extension to my contract for a “24-month claw-back.” So, what does that mean? Not sure really so I hit the Reply button and asked:

Is the 24-month claw-back on my contract enforced only when I voluntarily leave the company? What happens if the company dismisses me?

I am hoping that tomorrow, I’ll get a response.

But to be honest, I will sign this contract extension. Although, I’m signing 2 years of my life to the company, at least that’s job assurance — an income! — for that period. And so far, I’m happy with my job, anyway.

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