Certified Copies?

[graemeboro]

Hello All,

I am looking at applying for the skilled migrant visa. I have been reading the requirments for documents and they refer to certified copies being stamped by an appropriate legal body in your country of residence. I am in the UK so where could I go to have my supporting documents certified? I need to get this right before I submit my documents.

My second question is about the skills list. My occuputation is on the skills list and I need to apply to the ACS for the assessment. Unfortunatley my wife's occupation is not there. Is this a problem if my wife does not have a job on the skills list and doesnt have an assessment?

Any thoughts would be great.

Regards
Graeme

[kaz101]

Hi Graeme,

I think we got our documents certified by a local solicitor in the UK from what I can remember. I thought they mentioned who should certify the documents but maybe I asked our agent back then.

How is your points situation? If you are the main applicant and your points situation is enough on your own I think it may not matter if your wife's skills are not on the skills list but it may be worth checking with an agent.

Regards,
Karen

[scottishcelts]

Originally Posted by graemeboro

Hello All,

I am looking at applying for the skilled migrant visa. I have been reading the requirments for documents and they refer to certified copies being stamped by an appropriate legal body in your country of residence. I am in the UK so where could I go to have my supporting documents certified? I need to get this right before I submit my documents.

My second question is about the skills list. My occuputation is on the skills list and I need to apply to the ACS for the assessment. Unfortunatley my wife's occupation is not there. Is this a problem if my wife does not have a job on the skills list and doesnt have an assessment?

Any thoughts would be great.

Regards
Graeme

Hi Graeme, we now have our visas and make the big move on September 29th and we were in exactly the same position as you and your wife. My husband is a software engineer and was assessed through the ACS too and he was the main applicant, my skills were not on the skills list but that was fine.

If you need any advice with your ACS assessment give us a shout and hubby will gladly help you out, as he has given very welcomed advice to others in the same position. ALso we didn't use any agents and done the whole process ourselves. The ACS assessment is very hard and you have to write down every single detail about your job, just make sure whatever you decide to jot down is long and profound, that's the kind of thing they want to see.

Feel free to p.m us if you wish.

Good luck

[graemeboro]

Hi thanks for the replies and offer of help with ACS and good luck with the move. I do have some questions on that front.

Firstly I have found roles on on the Skilled Occupation List and the Immigration In demand list. Both are worth 60 points. I am not sure which to put on my application. Also the ACS say I have to decide which to assess. What is the difference between the Skilled Occupation List and Immigration List.

Also based on my calculation I will have exactly 120 points not counting my wife as mentioned. This is the pass mark but I am wondering if I will be pushed down the queue behind people who have more points than 120. I dont want to loose out for just passing!

Thanks again.

Graeme

[scottishcelts]

Originally Posted by graemeboro

Hi thanks for the replies and offer of help with ACS and good luck with the move. I do have some questions on that front.

Firstly I have found roles on on the Skilled Occupation List and the Immigration In demand list. Both are worth 60 points. I am not sure which to put on my application. Also the ACS say I have to decide which to assess. What is the difference between the Skilled Occupation List and Immigration List.

Also based on my calculation I will have exactly 120 points not counting my wife as mentioned. This is the pass mark but I am wondering if I will be pushed down the queue behind people who have more points than 120. I dont want to loose out for just passing!

Thanks again.

Graeme

Hi Graeme,

Godd news for you mate! If you are MODL then you get an extra 15 points on top of the 60 on offer for SOL. In order to meet the MODL requirements you must have been using your MODL skills for at least 12 months. I am a software engineer so i get 60 for that straight off. I applied as an applications programmer. If i had been using C#/Java/C/C++ for twelve months then i could have applied for MODL. I didn't need to as i was sponsored by my wee sister (always knew it would be handy having a wee sister at sometime in my life). So there you go. If you can prove your MODL skills then you are laughing. Iam quite fortunate in that i work on an enterprise level MIS system (have done for the last four years) so i had plenty of project/team lead experience that i could waffle on about. As evidence i had to get employer references : Make a list of what they are looking for from the reference - its listed on the acs website. Hand that list tou your employer/previous employer if necessary and ask them to write a reference citing all of the things on the list. Basically tell your employer what he needs to write, it's the safest way. Then, produce an overview of your job, breifly stating the main business area of your employer, the position you hold and your main resposibilities, throwing in a few technical terms where necessary. Then produce an indepth description of at least two major projects you have been involved in, throw in as many technical terms as you can, state your level of involvement in the decision making process, give explanations of why you chose to implement the project in the manner that you did. Highlight any particlar problem areas and describe, technically, how you overcame the various hurdles. Always emphasise the MODL skills aspect where necessary and make sure you mark your application to the ACS as MODL. If you don't do that then you wont get the extra 15 points (20 if you have a job offer).

As far as points go there is no preference given to anyone with more points. If you meet the min points criteria then you will be processed the same regardless.

Hope this helps you mate. Good luck and maybe see you in OZ

[cmabbo]

Getting copies certified by a local solicitor is expensive, if you have a friend who is a lawyer or accountant they can do it. Also if you are close to the Australian high commission they offer a service of certifiying docs which is roughly £8 per document which was much cheaper than my local solicitor.
I also ready somwhere that you can go to your local magistrates and they will do it for £25 unlimited docs but check that one out.

[anj1976]

incase you are using an agent (immigration lawyer) then the agent too can certify your copies. we got all the copies attested by the notary near my office, and here in India it is cheap, about 4 copies in an australian dollar. and they bargain incase you give them too many to attest. but we had taken the photocopies of a few document that were left and our agent was in India for a visit since he is from India, so we met him with the originals, all he wanted was to make sure the papers are not forged and are actual copies of the original, and bingo he did the certifying bit.

[IndianKrxcute]

Hi Scotishcelts,

I need your advice and help for the ACS assessment doc preparation.i am very happy to hear that u have not used any agents. if you help me i can get all the documets ready and also certified. i plan to apply acs wiyhout any agent.