Stat. declarations - what info is needed?

[Guest pippo]

Hi all,

 

My 309 application is moving forward and I have more or less gathered everything I need.

 

Now we're at the stage to bother all friends and relatives in Oz regarding the statutory declarations. Can you guys help me figure out what makes a "good" stat. dec.?

 

From my research I have gathered that the stat. decs are amongst the most important part of the application and that more is better than less. Also, I recall that hard facts is better than emotional babble.

So I'm looking to get six, hopefully eight, stat. decs. and am wondering:

 

- do family stat. decs. weigh heavier than friends?

- are facts (i.e. since when we've known each other etc.) really more important than testifying that the relationship is genuine?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks guys and girls!

[Guest Nojabold]

Hi Pippo,

 

I also applied for the 309 so going from experience, my wife and I sent 6 declarations in total. We sent one from my mother (British citizen), one from each of my wifes parents (aussies), one from a lab technician at work (aussie living in UK) and two from aussie friends in Australia.

 

In terms of what to write, we told everyone to just be completely upfront an honest. the people making the declarations have to provide contact details, so we took that as immigration may call them to verify the declaration, so make sure they don't gloss over anything! We also were of the opinion that if immigration don't like the declarations we sent, they would ask for new ones but we never heard anything back from them.

 

As far as facts go, they are factual declarations so details such as how long the person has known you, where you met etc should be on there anyway. They shouldn't simply be factual though and should have some kind of 'personal' menaing to them in my opinion.

 

Don't stress too much. It says on the form that you need 2 delcarations, so if you send 6-8 you should be more than covered! And like I said, if immigration aren't satisfied then they will simply ask for new ones

 

Good luck!

[wellieboots]

Hi,

Remember that you have to provide stat decs from yourself and your partner as well - to be honest, I think those are the ones where you need lots of detail.

We put in 5 Form 888s - one was from my father-in-law as that shows family support (which is really important, but I think if all your 888s were from family they may not be too happy) and four from close friends of my husband in Oz - two of whom had come over to the UK for our wedding (one was the best man's wife) and two who had been invited but not made it, but had met me when we had made trips to Oz for holidays.

The important thing is that they know your sponsor well, and they should have met you at least once.

The 888s are fairly factual compared to your own stat decs, because they ask specific questions. But you can still be amusing - one of ours said that our relationship must be genuine because otherwise hubby would never have moved to scotland because it's so much colder than home!