goodpikey

i'm trying to piece together what documents i have to get together for when i get my update letter. i think know what documents to send, (according to cic website) but unsure of a few things (alot of things actually)....

1:birth and marriage certificetes: originals or certified copies?

2:copy of passport pages: notarized copy or just photocopy?

3:education certificates: original, photocopy or notarized copy?

4:work experience: notarized employment contracts from your present and past employers? the full contracts? (my current contract is about 30 pages!!)

5:work experience: original and up-to-date letters of reference from your past and current employers. How up to date must these be?

6: PROOF OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: i'm looking to claim points for english and french. Is my French degree certificate enough to claim maximum points for this?

7: SETTLEMENT FUNDS: as i have AEO and do not need the settlement funds do i still need to provide a bank statement? should i have a minimum amount in this account?

many thanks to anyone for taking the time to answer any of these quesions.

MarkSurrey

The rules are different for each category of Visa. Which are you applying under?

Assuming you've applied under the new FSW rules:

1. Originals or notarised copy, but remember you won't get the original back.

2. Notarised copy.

3. Notarised copy of certificate, plus original transcript from any Universities in a Uni sealed envelope.

4. Notarised copy of full contract including signature pages. I would only get the front page notarised though, not every page.

5. For past employers, so long as these were issued since you left the company and so nothing has changed, these would still be considered up to date. From your current employer I wouldn't send anything older than a couple of months. Send notarised copies of these as, if they are lost, you don't want to have to go back for more originals.

6. No. You must take the TEF language test within the last 12 months.

7. Not sure on this one. Sorry!

goodpikey

thanks for all that marksurrey,
very helpful.

with regards to the language proficiency question, surely the fact i have a degree in french should stand enough to get me some points without the language proficiency test....any ideas?

MarkSurrey

I don't think it does, though people on here may know otherwise. They do allow French native speakers to submit a letter demonstrating their language ability in all four skill areas (the same letter that you will need to submit to prove your ability in English). You could do this but it's taking a big risk. Given eight points ride on it and your French is so good, why don't you just take the TEF?

ga1lf

For birth certificates etc you have to get a legal copy. These can be obtained from the local registry office, if its the one within the town/borough where you were born or married in, its quicker to get and you can usually wait for it.

goodpikey

i'm not sure mark, i suppose i could take the test but the problem is that i haven't used my french in more than 3 years so i wouldn't be too comfortable being tested on it.
i had just banked on the fact that i had studied it at uni so i could claim the points. maybe a bit stupid on my part.

i'll maybe post a new thread to see what someone else with degree level french has done.

plus i think i would have to go to england to do the test. i'm in n.ireland and it just adds to cost and inconvenience. i think we have to go there for the medicals!

cheers for your input!

goodpikey

hi ga1lf,
thanks for the reply.
i was married in st.luica so the chance of getting another certified copy of my marriage certificate a pretty slim. should i just get a notorised copy?

MarkSurrey

To be honest, if you don't want to be tested because you're not sure how good your French is nowadays, should you really be in a position to claim the points anyway? It isn't really fair to the people on here who are busting a gut attending French classes to reach the standard.

goodpikey

i understand what you're saying mark.
if i had no credentials in french then yes i would have expected to take the test, but the fact i have my degree certificate to say i 'busted my gut' for four years at uni i felt this could do as sufficient evidence as at least an intermediate level in all aspects.

i'm sorry that i ruffled your feathers by saying i was hoping not to have to do the test, this was just the opinion i had two years ago when i applied for PR and i was only one year out of university.

lucycrow

Hi

Me and my husband both have French degrees (Graduated 2001) but have had to do the TEF (it really is the only way to prove your French). Did it 6th march so waiting for result.

It is not an easy test and def need to practise using the book (I have just sold ours on to someone else so no longer have it)

The problem with the TEF is the timing as they only do them a few times a year in certain centres in UK (we did ours in manchester)

Let me know if you need any more info

Lucy

goodpikey

thanks very much for that.
where did you get the book from. luckily i kept my dictionary and some french texts. ho wmuch did the test cost? what did the test comprise of? how long did it last?

thanks again

MarkSurrey

No feathers were ruffled and I'm sorry if it sounded like they were. I think the thing is language points are given for ability, not education. You're already getting points for having studied to degree level, so you only get points for French if your standard is high enough. You're worried that yours isn't.

That said, I'm sure that you could brush up pretty quickly and will stand a much better chance than people who didn't spend four years studying French, eating croissants and watching French arthouse movies of ladies with no clothes on.

lucycrow

Hi

I actually put a post on this forum to find the book as couldn't get it on Amazon. There is a set way to answer questions etc so the book is a must!

I would advise putting a thread on the forum to ask if anyone has a book to sell.

The test costs £120 per person as you need to do the compulsory (reading, listening and grammar) and the optional units (writing and speaking) for Canadian visas. The test took from 10am - 4pm!!

For more info, see the following link:
http://www.fda.ccip.fr/tef/epreuves

We did ours at Alliance Francaise in Manchester- think there next one is May/June

Hope this helps

Lucy

PS Like Mark's comment- I agree with the croissant eating but def not one for the films!!!

goodpikey

i can safely say i enjoyed the croissants more than the french cinema!!

many thanks for the link. i had a quick look at it and see there's a testing centre in glasgow so that's not too bad to get to from belfast.

do you contact the testing centre directly to book the test?

lucycrow

Yeah I did everything directly with the testing centre. Not sure what you time scale is but we did ours 6th March- hopefully get results over phone on Friday and then will be another 1-2 weeks for certificate which you need to send to High Commission.

Let me know if you need any more info. Bonne chance!!

Lucy