What Affects Processing Timeline; Can Timeline Be Accelerated?
Is the process - I mean processing time - faster for someone over 54 and doesn't need language proof or knowledge test? Anyone (in that age bracket) know the answer?
Concur with others. There is NO hint at all that being test exempt (as I was) will accelerate the processing time. Test-exempt applicants are almost always (if not always) scheduled for the INTERVIEW concurrent with test-interview events routinely scheduled for those who are not test-exempt. (Thus, after arrival for the scheduled event, most applicants take the test, and those who are test-exempt are interviewed while the others are taking the test.)
Other than qualifying for, requesting, and being given "urgent" processing, in general there is virtually nothing an applicant can do to accelerate the timeline.
Note, however, the faster routine processing timelines are often quite fast compared to the timeline for most routinely processed applications. Long term historical information suggests that most routinely processed citizenship applications take
twice as long, or longer, than the fastest applications. A significant percentage take
three times as long EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE
ROUTINELY PROCESSED with
NO delays.
Which leads to the other side of the equation: there are many factors, and many things an applicant might do, which can lead to a
LONGER TIMELINE.
In other words, an applicant has very little if any control over how fast the process will take. BUT the applicant has a lot of control over things which can result in how SLOW the process might be.
Ranging from making mistakes in the application to applying when there might be questions about meeting the presence requirement, and including a broad range of particular issues or circumstances, such as living abroad while the application is in process or having had an arrest even though dismissed, there are way too many things which can slow the process to attempt enumerating them, many of which can trigger non-routine processing which tends to result in at least short delays and sometimes lengthy delays (significant mistakes in presence-calculation plus a small margin, for example, increases risk of RQ and a very lengthy delay in processing).
For the test-exempt applicant compared to an applicant taking the test, for example, if the latter fails to adequately prepare for the test and fails the first attempt, obviously that will result in a delay in processing for which the test-exempt applicant has NO risk.
Edit to clarify: Above observations are about adult applicants.