beckiwoo

Providing the documents are readable and I believe they have to be PDF format

If it was me I would use a scanner

scrubbedexpat075

i scanned mine but sent them as .jpg, just crop the picture so it's only the document and make sure it's clear (take picture in a light room no shadows and try keep the documents flat if they have folds).

.jpg is a safer option unless PDFs are specifically required.

DevNinja

Lucky you.. I submitted a month ago and first contact since then was yesterday when asked for additional documents

BNH43

I'm literally in exactly the same position as you! I lived in QLD for 5 months a couple of years ago but never had a driver's license there but will have to get this sorted if I get an invitation to apply.

I'm going to call the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads on Monday about this to see what they reckon.

I'll let you know how I go.

LDN_Kiwi

Thanks! Let me know how you get on, good luck!

beckiwoo

Why would you use a JPEG for something with lots of text?

DigitalGhost

Why wouldn't you? The compression principles of JPEG remain the same. PDF is only a preferred format for text documents because it allows for more advanced features that are particularly designed around text.

BNH43

So I spoke to them today and they were actually really helpful. It turns out they must deal with this a lot as the lady knew it was related to a Canadian work visa even though I didn't mention Canada in particular.

So unfortunately it is a bit of a faff to do this. You'll need to follow the "By mail" instructions on this page: https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/lic...story/traffic/ and include a cover letter in the envelope explaining the purpose of the request. They apparently have to create a special form such that IRCC is satisfied that you don't have a Queensland license.

Now regretting ever being in QLD even more

beckiwoo

Exactly my point then with anything with text - jpeg is only really good for the photos.

DigitalGhost

No I'm afraid that's not the case. JPEG compression works extremely well with text. Incredibly well in fact. The only reason to use PDF instead of JPEG for images is because it is better suited to a book-type of format and allows OCR editing/highlighting/redaction etc. For this purpose, JPEG should be fine.

beckiwoo

Well PDFs worked fine for my PR application!

DigitalGhost

There's no reason why it shouldn't. PDF is the defacto format for scanned text documents. My point is that JPEG is also a perfectly acceptable format for document scans and if your letters/certificates etc are in JPEG then there isn't really need to convert them unless the CIC insist that you do.

scrubbedexpat075

Because once you've scanned the document it is essentially a picture, if you were uploading a text document you created then use a PDF because the text is embedded into the document and can be read by a computer, if you're scanning a document then the result is a flat picture, there's no embedded text layer therefore no need to be PDF.

Basically either will work lol

beckiwoo

Fair enough

LDN_Kiwi

Thanks for the info - it is so annoying but what can we do!? I am posting off all of the paperwork to Australia today and will submit the scanned copies with my IEC application and an explanation letter as I only have 14 days left to submit - I don't think the post will be that quick so hopefully that is enough!