Guest tonightcaptain Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 heya not sure if this is the right place to post but im givin it a try anyways. i applied for a spouse visa(married to an aussie obviously) on nov 21 and got assigned a case worker 9 days later. the thing is that we didnt have our documents certified by a barrister, but by a minister of religion, the same priest that wed us. but ive not heard anything from the case worker regarding they accept this or not. so what do you guys reckon, the only thing it said in the email which i suspect is just a generated one was that she aimed to finalise the processing as soon as possible. i just dont want to read too much into that, but i am going nutso just waiting for it. ive front loaded everything like police checks and medicals so shouldnt the wait be a little less? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandy1970 Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 HI My Husband applied for his spouse visa in April 08. He front loaded it and got our accountant to certify all the documents. They asked for his P60 and employment contract (oil industry) and he was granted a permanent one in 10 weeks. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 There is a list somewhere, of who is an accepted certifier and who is not. I am pretty sure it's on the application website somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bexta Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 heya not sure if this is the right place to post but im givin it a try anyways. i applied for a spouse visa(married to an aussie obviously) on nov 21 and got assigned a case worker 9 days later. the thing is that we didnt have our documents certified by a barrister, but by a minister of religion, the same priest that wed us. but ive not heard anything from the case worker regarding they accept this or not. so what do you guys reckon, the only thing it said in the email which i suspect is just a generated one was that she aimed to finalise the processing as soon as possible. i just dont want to read too much into that, but i am going nutso just waiting for it. ive front loaded everything like police checks and medicals so shouldnt the wait be a little less? thanks Hi TC, Having your docs signed by a Minister of Religion would be fine, I am sure. Are you in Australia? If so, this is definitely OK. Check out the link below as to who can witness a Stat Dec: Statutory declaration signatory list If you're in the UK, whilst a Minister of Religion is not on the list of who can sign UK Stat Decs etc, it does say on the Immi website that they accept witnesses from the equivalant role (of those who can sign in Oz) in the country you are residing. I would say the wait (which isn't all that long TBH!) is probably just because it is the lead up to Christmas and no doubt they are getting a bit busy trying to get all the visa's through! (haha, we wish!) :tonguexmas: Seriously though, I wouldn't worry and I'm sure your Visa will be approved in no time! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tonightcaptain Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 hey thanks alot for your answers!!! i live in the uk normally, just gone home to visit my mom for christmas in norway for a few weeks and was just really worried. the waiting is a pain in the ass. but thanks for the reassuring, i mean i know i will get the visa but ive heard horror stories bout people who have waited for 9 months !!! i feel a tad better now. and yea bexta only hoping that is the reason hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mrs C Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Hi I didn't get any of my documents certified and I got my visa real quick, just sent them all in and that was enough... Good luck with the process. April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tonightcaptain Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 so gutted spoke to the case worker and she was just quite rude, but told me that they do NOT accept a priest to certify documents and i will have to go over to london in jan to fix it up. hopefully this wont slow down the process too much....\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 so guttedspoke to the case worker and she was just quite rude, but told me that they do NOT accept a priest to certify documents and i will have to go over to london in jan to fix it up. hopefully this wont slow down the process too much....\ Why can you not get certified copies where you are and send them over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tonightcaptain Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 cos i am currently staying in norway with my mom for christmas, didnt fancy being in london by myself for christmas. but wasnt planning on going back so soon hehe is this when u say something bout life lemons and lemonade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bexta Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 so guttedspoke to the case worker and she was just quite rude, but told me that they do NOT accept a priest to certify documents and i will have to go over to london in jan to fix it up. hopefully this wont slow down the process too much....\ Hi again, I'm really surprised by this!? (Not her being rude as our CO was very rude too.) But by her saying a Priest cannot certify documents? I'm not sure if you want to challenge this or not? But check out the following extract from form 888 (the Stat Dec form all Australian Citizens are supposed to fill out): In Australia, statutory declarations must be witnessed by a person prescribed by the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 and Regulations. Any attachments to the Declaration must be certified by a prescribed person. Prescribed persons include those who are a: • Justice of the Peace; • Medical practitioner; • Legal practitioner; • Civil marriage celebrant or registered minister of religion; • Dentist; • Nurse; • Optometrist; • Pharmacist; • Physiotherapist; • Full-time teacher; • Bank manager or bank officer with 5 or more continuous years of service; • Postal manager or permanent employee of the Australian Postal Commission with 5 or more continuous years of service; • Police officer; or • Public servant with 5 or more continuous years of service. A full list of prescribed persons can be found in the Statutory Declarations Regulations 1993, which is available through the Attorney-General’s Department website www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/agdhome.nsf/Page/Portfolio A blank statutory declaration form is also available from the same website. If you are outside Australia and are unable to get an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident to complete a statutory declaration in support of your relationship with your partner, you may obtain statements from people who know you and your sponsor. Such statements are not statutory declarations under Australian law. However, in accordance with policy, they should be witnessed or certified according to the legal practices of the relevant country. Failing that, they should be witnessed by a person whose occupation or qualification is comparable to those listed above. This person should sign, date and specify their occupation at the bottom of the statement. It says specifically on this form that you are able to get somebody of "comparable" qualification or occupation to sign your stat dec should you not be able to get someone from the official list of your country. And it says quite clearly that a Registered Minister of Religion is on that list... so if I were you I'd point this out to your CO and perhaps ask why she said she won't accept them as is? If its going to be a pain to get back to the UK in Jan and get someone esle to sign them, it may be worth challeging it (but in a nice way!). Check out form 888 via the link below if you haven't already seen it. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/888.pdf I hope this helps and good luck! :cutexmas: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tonightcaptain Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 thanks bexta ive already booked my flight to london, it was only like 8 pounds from norway return how lucky, and arranged with a barrister to certify the copies of birth certificate and marriage license. the case worker actually said that it was due to people like me who kept calling for status updates she was delayed. she did mention the mountain of evidence didnt even need to be certified and our stat decs are certified by australia house so theyre fine i would hope hehe ive actually just given up wishing for the visa to come every morning, it just gave me a headache, so it will get here when it gets here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 That really was rude!!! God i'm now really nervous about sending my stuff in, I really don't cope well with people like that I hope all is going ell for you now though L x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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