Is the COVID pandemic affecting the naturalization process (in mid-2021)?
...the Bureau of Legal Affairs is, too TL;DR: yes and no, sometimes in surprising ways. So since I have finished the document-gathering and initial submission phase of my application, I thought I would write about how the current pandemic is affecting the process. Note that I am writing from the perspective of someone doing the process in mid-2021 . As such, my experience will definitely be different from someone doing the same in 2020, when lockdowns were stricter. Part 1: In terms of time and money Making appointments with the Legal Affairs Bureau: Yes First, for scheduling consultations: yes, but not directly. At the time I was having consultations with my local Legal Affairs Bureau, which was April-July 2021, the average waiting time (which I mean to be the earliest future date when an appointment slot is available) was 1 month. When I went for my third consultation , I asked the case worker if the pandemic affected how busy the Legal Affairs Bureau was with naturaliz...