Statutory Declaration confusion

[RivieraKid]

I'm trying to get a skills assessment from the ACS, and five out of the eight years of my relevant System Administrator experience was for a company that no longer exists.

 

I received an email saying that I need to provide a stat dec for the three references I got from ex-colleagues for that time. This is confusing as my wife and I read the ACS guidelines and provided stat decs for all references for that company.

 

It turns out that the ACS are actually asking for stat decs from the people giving me the references, and not from me. Does this sound right? The guidelines make no statements about it needing to come from the person giving the reference, and they have provided full contact information so it is easy enough to confirm.

 

Given that the only practical difference is that the company no longer exists and I therefore cannot get headed notepaper, what's the big deal? It doesn't make the references any more or less valid. I'm the one trying to get the visa, not my ex-colleagues.

 

I can't even find anywhere on the DIAC or Immigration websites that require anybody but me to provide a stat dec, so it seems a little silly that the ACS are so lenient in some respects (they look at your entire experience, not just the last ten years), but so extremely stringent in others, such as requiring my referees to go out of their way to find a solicitor willing to witness, book an appointment, and get it done, along with the associated financial burden of paying for it, taking time off work, etc.

 

I'm going to try speaking to the ACS when they re-open after Christmas, but it would be great if anybody has information I can use to bolster my case that they should take my stat dec at face value.

 

Thanks for reading.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Welcome to the forum, unfortunately it's many years since we did ours but we didn't need to provide stat decs from the individual's things may have changed though since then so hopefully someone else can advise

[Mr Fabricator]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm , i did stat decs in a personal capacity as im self employed so slightly different to you ,

 

If the company u used to work for are no longer trading , and you have no contact details for your ex boss etc then your stat dec is as good as theyre going to get ,

 

It sounds like you provided information on ex works indeviduals so it looks like ACS want to hear the reference direct from the horses mouth as it were ,

 

this may prove difficult as your aware that a stat dec is sworn infront of a official , your ex boss or whoever, may be quite un willing to take time out , to go to a solocitor to sware and sign the document ??

 

lee

[RivieraKid]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm , i did stat decs in a personal capacity as im self employed so slightly different to you ,

 

If the company u used to work for are no longer trading , and you have no contact details for your ex boss etc then your stat dec is as good as theyre going to get ,

 

It sounds like you provided information on ex works indeviduals so it looks like ACS want to hear the reference direct from the horses mouth as it were ,

 

this may prove difficult as your aware that a stat dec is sworn infront of a official , your ex boss or whoever, may be quite un willing to take time out , to go to a solocitor to sware and sign the document ??

 

lee

 

Hi Lee, yeah - that's the problem. It's been over seven years since I left the company, and coming up to five since they ceased trading. I even gave the ACS the Companies House WebCheck details showing that they are no longer trading.

 

I am also currently self employed, but I got references from the recruitment agents (I'm on good terms with them) for the relevant parts of my self-employed experience so that actually went very smoothly. The big issue, as you say, is getting a stat dec is actually quite a burden, especially when you've got a full time job to go to, and you're only doing a favour to some guy you worked with almost a decade ago and have hardly spoken to since.

[Mr Fabricator]

Have you personally spoken to this person or not approched them yet !!

 

the wort is they say No , obviously , however if you explain your situation im sure they will help .

 

If an ex college called me and said my reference was the difference between them chasing a dream or being stuck in the uk id do all i could to help them ,

 

Its a pain , and a chew but these are the proverbial hoops we havto jump through .

 

All the very best of luck .

 

lee

[Guest ThistleandThorns]

Hm, just got a positive assessment back. Did not have to do that despite one of my employers gone bust (Lehman Brothers).

[melbournegirlinny]

I'm trying to get a skills assessment from the ACS, and five out of the eight years of my relevant System Administrator experience was for a company that no longer exists.

 

I received an email saying that I need to provide a stat dec for the three references I got from ex-colleagues for that time. This is confusing as my wife and I read the ACS guidelines and provided stat decs for all references for that company.

 

It turns out that the ACS are actually asking for stat decs from the people giving me the references, and not from me. Does this sound right? The guidelines make no statements about it needing to come from the person giving the reference, and they have provided full contact information so it is easy enough to confirm.

 

Given that the only practical difference is that the company no longer exists and I therefore cannot get headed notepaper, what's the big deal? It doesn't make the references any more or less valid. I'm the one trying to get the visa, not my ex-colleagues.

 

I can't even find anywhere on the DIAC or Immigration websites that require anybody but me to provide a stat dec, so it seems a little silly that the ACS are so lenient in some respects (they look at your entire experience, not just the last ten years), but so extremely stringent in others, such as requiring my referees to go out of their way to find a solicitor willing to witness, book an appointment, and get it done, along with the associated financial burden of paying for it, taking time off work, etc.

 

I'm going to try speaking to the ACS when they re-open after Christmas, but it would be great if anybody has information I can use to bolster my case that they should take my stat dec at face value.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Rivierakid,

 

the 'big deal' is in the nature of the evidence you have provided. And the ACS guidelines do mention that references from colleagues, where you do not have a reference from your employer, should be in the form of statutory declarations. See pages 7 and 22 of the ACS guidelines.

 

Think of it like this. A document sworn in front of an officially recognised person, such as a lawyer, has a higher standard to satisfy. The ID of the person making the statement is checked by the party witnessing the signing of the statutory declaration, and there is a belief that people are less likely to give fake evidence if they are signing it in front of an official person.

Furthermore, as you say in your post, it takes more effort to make a statutory declaration and this is the very point of requiring them as evidence rather than a letter that is not on letterhead and could have been fraudulently typed up and signed by you, the applicant. These skill assessing authorities get fraudulent applications and so they require the best evidence possible. Signing a document in front of a lawyer, or whoever your country's laws say can witness such documents, is meant to be similar to giving evidence in court.

 

So, you need to get your former colleagues to sign what they wrote in their reference letters in the form of a personal statement, and witnessed in front of, and signed by, the kind of person in your country that is authorised to witness such statements.

 

Hope this helps.