Hi all, Is it possible to send original documents, passports, marriage cert etc in order not to pay out HUGE mounts of money to get everything certified? I realise the risk involved....but is it acceptable, could we get away with not having anything certified?...many thanks

for assessment or for visa application?
usually colour copies need not to be certified but black n white do need.

Well I wouldn't. As has been said, if doing an online application, colour originals don't need certifying. Depending on where you are, depends on how much you have to pay for certification. In the UK some Magistrates Courts have the magistrates sign and don't charge the earth.

Depends on how lucky you feel, so, do you feel lucky? Do you?

POW!! You betcha I feel lucky! it will be an online application, so no certification fees...My doctors charge £23.50 per copy!! as there are 4 of us, paying that much would HURT!!!

Hi, visa application, we are trying the Regional Migration route, as hubby does not have a degree, and his work certs, according to vetassess, are not equivalent to oz diploma's...

Phone a local solicitor and see what they charge.

6 or so is usually £20.

I just got the approval for regional sponsorship in NSW. They didn't accept original scans, not even coloured ones. They wanted to have (for sponsorship application) certified copies, no originals, no scanned copies of the original, just scans of certified copies.

Hi

I recently had a document certified at my local solicitors and they only charged me £5

For your Sponsorship application State Governments do not accept Coloured Scans...but when it comes to the actual online visa lodgement you should should be ok... Without stating the obvious there are different certifications are no certifcations required as the case may be by the various agencies, departments you interact with. Do not assume one dept accept it one way the other departs will...

I had my docs certified 2 weeks ago...78 of them by the nice policeman at the local station and it cost me nothing!!!! I have done this twice, for my 457 and for my 856 visas and it cost me nothing last time either.

But you're here. They're not allowed to charge here. Overseas applicants get charged a packet.

Yes, I am here...Perth. I didn't know that you couldn't get them done free of charge overseas. OMG, it must cost overseas applicants hundreds to get them done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate to tell you all this & please, please DON'T try this yourselves unless you are feeling really, really lucky....

I was in a rush when I went to lodge an offshore child application. This is a paper-based app so I went to Australia House. As I said, I was panicking to catch a train & I just ran into the Post Office & had all my originals certified there, knowing they probably wouldn't be acceptable but hoped to wing it.

Anyway, Australia House as predicted said the photocopies I had brought weren't acceptable, but took photocopies themselves of the passports so they could give those back immediately & then they kept all the other original documents including Birth Certs, which they returned to me safely by Recorded Delivery a week later.

Possibly this was because it was a paper-based app, maybe because I went in personally, maybe we've just got a really, really nice case officer...but it obviously can happen, although how reliably is open to debate.

p.s. I'm going in again next week with some extra documents the CO has requested & she has said she will certify those ones herself!

Some thieves, sorry, solicitors, in the UK have been known to charge 20 GBP per certification. It's a con. Our solicitor was a friend who'd 'given' us our wills as a present for the birth of our first child. We bought him a bottle of whisky

Maybe I should set up in business. As a registered nurse I am able to certify documents, please send all your bundles of stuff to me & I'll do them for you for £20 per batch! I still have my little rubber stamp that I had made up for when I certified all of my OH's when we did his skills assessment, so they'll look all official