Bronyaur Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Has anyone had issues in getting there photocopies of birth, marriage, divorce documents certified by a notary or lawyer. Had a conversation with one the other day and they stated crown copyright law 1990, and basically said it was not allowed even though they are sighting the originals at the same time. i did check the law and this is correct, however how have thousands of Brits got round this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BizLarker Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I don't know if same in England but in Australia but justice of the peace can certify etc and they can't charge for this! So wish I had known before I applied. I had a teacher friend do all mine but would have been easier to use a more local source. Worth investigating if you are having trouble getting stuff signed/certified/witnessed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rheia Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 No problem at all with getting my document copies certified. I went to see a local solicitor (in London) with my original documents (passport, birth certificate, university degree etc.) and they took copies then & there and stamped and signed them to confirm they were genuine copies. They also witnessed our statutory declarations. Don't know about notaries/lawyers... But none of the many solicitors I contacted to compare prices had any issues with certifying copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlornax Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I didnt have any problems...I went to the court and got them to do it for free..cant be illegal or the court wouldn't have done it surely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherBen Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 It doesn't have to be a lawyer! I'm a teacher and I asked the head teacher to certify all copies - he obviously did it for free! All sailed through no problems...the Oz info says anyone who can legally certify in your country. From Gov.uk: "Who can certify a documentTo certify documents, ask a professional person or someone well-respected in your community (‘of good standing’) like a: bank or building society official councillor dentist police officer solicitor teacher or lecturer The person you ask shouldn’t be: related to you living at the same address in a relationship with you" The whole link can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksarah Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 We went via a notary and while she did certify my Aussie birth cert, she said she couldn't do the British birth certificates for the rest of my family but pointed out that they were very easy to order copies of via http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ (& cheaper than her rates, too!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovingtoTasmania Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Would just like to say that when we applied for my hubby's spouse visa, I was concerned about the notarising/certifying of the documents, and when I called the High Commission, it turns out that this isn't needed any more. I just sent photocopies of everything and nothing was certified. The forms online haven't been updated but do phone them and re-check, although it was all fine. The only things I needed certifying was my UK marriage certificate for my Aus passport as a UK marriage certificate is a foreign one (to Australia!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abz123 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 We went via a notary and while she did certify my Aussie birth cert, she said she couldn't do the British birth certificates for the rest of my family but pointed out that they were very easy to order copies of via http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ (& cheaper than her rates, too!). It's a bit scary but anyone can request a copy of a birth certificate if they know the person's name and date of birth. apparently it is because they are public records but you'd think it would be harder than that with identity fraud and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abz123 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Would just like to say that when we applied for my hubby's spouse visa, I was concerned about the notarising/certifying of the documents, and when I called the High Commission, it turns out that this isn't needed any more. I just sent photocopies of everything and nothing was certified. The forms online haven't been updated but do phone them and re-check, although it was all fine. The only things I needed certifying was my UK marriage certificate for my Aus passport as a UK marriage certificate is a foreign one (to Australia!). Also depends on the visa / purpose. Colour scans of originals was all we had to upload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlornax Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 For skills assesment and some proffessional registrations..ppl have had their documents returned for not being certified correctly..I thought it was important..thats good if their getting rid of that. And I got my husbands birth cert just by filling in a couple of questions on line. .only needed his name and dob..two clicks and it arrived in couple of days...anyone could have your birth cert if they wanted..I thought that was weird too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovingtoTasmania Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Sorry I don't want to mislead people. This information is for Spouse/Partner visas, not other visas. I'm not sure if the certificates need certifying for other visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronyaur Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Conflicting stories all round it seems. If immigration have changed policy then they should at least update it on the website. It would save time effort and money for all concerned.Having said that, better to be safe than sorry and have everything certified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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