Astrid

Hi! In Denmark our foreign ministry has this (paid) service of providing socalled "legalization" of documents as well as "verification" of docs.

The difference between certification and legalization is, that legalization is an official proof (by stamp) that the document one is sending to an overseas official is a true document, it basically legalizes the signature on the particular doc (and can thus not be used on for example payslips I suppose, since papers like this does not have signatures)

The "verification" is a stamp you get by officials to proof that the copies you are providing are TRUE copies. This would be what the OZ gov calls a certification.

Now, I am confused, cause I do not recall reading anything in DIACS booklet 6 (for GSM 175) about documents having to be legalized? It only states that copies of the documents have to be verified/certified?

Have people in here only sent certified copies but not legalized?

And, what about docs with no apparent signature, did you get someone to sign documents like this?

Thanks in advance

Matrisha

We have a similar thing here in Germany, but as you said, any unsigned document (also bank statements) cannot easily be "legalised".

Certified copies are just fine (certifying it's a copy from the original), and you shouldn't have any problems getting certified copies from unsigned documents.

So have you really decided to go for the paperbased application?
You don't need any certified copies (only when the original is black and white) for the online application ...

Astrid

Yeah, I think we are going for the paperbased application, but we haven't even been assessed yet (or my husband hasn't) we are still preparing, it takes forever!
So did you not get your bancaccounts, payslips etc. signed before getting them certified?
Anyway, thanks for your response - We have to use the australian embassy in Germany as well, since the danish department lies in the german one, a bit annoying but that's how it is to be such a tiny country!

Dorothy

All you have to do is take originals and photocopies of your documents to someone who is able to witness them (usually the same people who can sign passport photos; i.e. lawyer, doctor, etc). You get a declaration saying "I xxx certify this is a true copy of an original sighted by me" and they sign it. Be sure they have either a stamp with all of their contact details, including their position or that they print their full name, designation and contact details.

Matrisha

I'm an online applicant, and both my bank statements and my payslips are in colour, so I just scanned and uploaded them.

Really, I would rather go for the online application, it also saves some money (for certified copies and registered mail or courier) ...

Astrid

Thank you both.
We should really do the online version, I know, but we are just so scared of getting anything wrong, and so to make sure we do not miss anything we provide it all by mail.
Matrisha: About you scanning your coloured payslips, didn't you also get them translated? And if the translation then was in black and white but with a signature in blue, would this then not have to be certified?

Matrisha

No, I didn't get any official translations for payslips or bank statements.
First of all, they are just supporting documents, and you don't necessarily have to provide them with your visa application.
Secondly, it's mainly just about the numbers on these documents, isn't it?
So after I scanned them, I added some notes (for example with Microsoft Paint, available on any Windows computer), pointing out the gross salary (as mentioned in my reference letter) and the net salary, and the equivalent amount on my bank statement.


And about the decision between online and paperbased (last try, promised) :
I would rather be scared of getting anything wrong with the paperbased application: once you have all the necessary documents, you send them off and they are "gone" (of course you're just sending certified copies, and you probably keep a set of copies for yourself, but still ...).

When chosing the online application, you'll have the upload section, where you can see file name, document type, upload date and description of each document you have uploaded so far.

You could already "practice" for the application, you can save your data anytime and continue later: https://www.ecom.immi.gov.au/visas/app/uu?form=GSMA (and of course still decide to not submit it online).
I don't want to convince you by all means, though.

If you feel more confident with the paperbased application, then that's probably the best way for you.