helcat12

Please someone, help!
I have the Appendix A checklist in front of me, I am surrounded by a load of paperwork and am searching this site and I am getting more and more confused.
At the top it says;

'Do not send originals unless otherwise stated. Send notarized copies of all documents except police certificates, which must be originals.'

But later on in this document it says;
'original and up-to-date letters of reference from your present employers'
I assume these must be as sent to me, so I have not had these notarised. OK?

Also some of the documents for my OH and me are no longer available or the information is incomplete, (such as from employment over 20 years ago, as the companies have not kept records that far back) and I have read elsewhere on this site that people have included National insurance confirmation documents. I have ordered these and I also have payslips for some of these employments that would be proof of the employment, but the CIO Document Checklist section 12 (regarding the visa specific documents) says;
'Submit only the documents requested on this checklist'
I don't want to swamp them with 20 years worth of payslips, but I also do not want a delay while they ask me for further proof that I could have put in the envelope in the first place.
If anyone has any guidance to offer, I would be grateful.

princess caribou

I notarised all documents like birth, marriage, education certs but the employer refs I didn't get notarised as I was sending the signed originals.
I provided 10 years job history as that's what was asked for on the main instructions when filling in the Schedule 3 Economic Classes form

Your work experience

Starting with your current occupation, list all of the occupations that you have had in the 10 years preceding the date of your application. For each occupation;

* include the appropriate National Occupation Classification (NOC) code,
* check the box that corresponds to the number of years of continuous full-time or equivalent part-time experience, and
* write a description of your main duties.

Note: List only occupations that fall in Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A or B of the NOC.

it's a bit confusing because in the earlier Schedule 1 Background Declaration they want details for personal history back until the age of 18.
Where I couldn't get refs I sent P45's P60's and NI records with a covering letter explaining just to offer of evidence of employment for those periods. I just think, make sure all bases are covered - but it's a personal choice and I don't think there is a right or wrong answer for how much is too much to send to prove employment.

If it's any consolation, all the stress is worth it for the relief of getting the final app submitted. Believe me - I was so stressed with all the form gathering I don't think I've ever eaten so much cake!

Good luck!

misskatpaw

Hiya,
The actual process of notarisation....does the notary have to write their bit, on each separate photocopied document (say, on the back of the document) or write the passage once, saying that it covers, say 10 documents?
i'm using a friend who is a commissioner for oaths, just not sure where to tell him to write
hope that makes sense

helcat...i'm in the same boat as you - have had to take day off work today as didn't sleep last night with everything going round in my head

helcat12

The notary had a stamp that had the "I certify this document....." bit on it and a wax seal. He signed and dated each document as I gave him the copy and the original to compare it to, stamped it and put this seal on it. He put all this on the front if there was room, otherwise on the back.
If the document had multiple pages he only did this once on the first or last page, not every page.
Look at the Visa Office instructions - it tells you everything that needs to be done. I printed out the exact wording and instructions to take to the notary just in case. He checked the details before he looked at my documents.
It cost me £70 and was done in half an hour.
OH goes in 18 days - scary!