sgjonno

Hi All,

I have trawled the site and cannot find any situation comparable to my own.

I am applying for Patner Migration and have my interview next Tuesday.
I changed my name by Deed Poll in 1990 when I was 18, to take my step fathers surname. My passport and everything else (including my current 457, and previous 2 457's) are all in this new name, but I cannot for the life of me find my original Deed Poll.

I ordered a replacement from the UK Deed Poll Service (deedpoll.org.uk) which backdates to 1990, but it is just a new one (although it does state that I have used my new name in all proceedings since 1990). My migration lawyer tells me that I will need my original, and that this 'replacement' will not be accepted by the department of Immigration. All my other paperwork is ready to go, it's just this.

I have no idea which solicitors I used in the UK when I originally changed it, I don't have a copy of the original, and I'm really not sure what to do.

I suppose I could do a stat dec here that states all of the above, giving all the reasons that I can't provide the original, but would that help?

I was also in the Armed Forces, with my new name so it beats me what it is I need to do next.

Can anyone out there help me? It would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Scott.

Bermudashorts

What do you mean by "it is just a new one" in relation to the copy you requested?

If the original is lost it is lost. It could have been lost in a house fire for instance in which case of course you cannot get the original back. My husband's birth certificate is lost so we had to get a copy and I would have thought this is a similar situation. I don't understand what issue your migration lawyer has to be honest.

sgjonno

With a birth certificate, you just apply for a copy, as I have done for this partner migration visa. It even says across the top of the Birth Cert that it is an official copy.
With the Change of name, they haven't 'reissued' a copy of the original. They have issued me a new Deed Poll, but in the wording of it, it backdates itself to include the period back to 1990. So therefore it is not a copy of the original.

I was wondering if anyone else has a change of name by deed poll, lost it, and applied for Partner Migration? How did you get a copy of the original (I don't remember the frim of solicitors that did mine, or even if they are still in business), or if you didn't/couldn't get a copy, what did you have to do?

Many thanks again,
Scott.

Dorothy

What about the court is was submitted to? I know UK is different from where I did mine, but I simply went to the courthouse at the city where I changed my name and asked for a copy. They looked in their records and did me a copy in a couple of days.

sgjonno

In the Uk you can just go into a solicitors office, sign the form et voila, you have a new name. There is no requirement to lodge it with the Central Registry/Courthouse/Civil Office etc, and most people don't, it is quite expensive but also a bit 'too offical'. For example, if a woman was to marry and take on her husbands surname, she could change her name by Deed Poll or Stat Dec, but if she registered it officially and then divorced her husband, she would have to seek her husbands permission to change her name back to her maiden name or any other name. It's pretty weird and the UK is quite unique in that thousands of people change their name every year, but they simply go to a solicitor, change their name, and that's it. Most solicitors do not even keep a copy of it after 5 years.

Can anyone else help?

SillyOldBag

I have no legal knowledge on which to base my opinions, but I'm going to give them anyway

I think that your migration agent is worrying you unnecessarily. As others have said, official documents get lost all the time and copies have to be obtained. You have ordered a replacement document from the deedpoll service which confirms the name you use and for how long you have used it. Furtherymore, you have a passport in your new name and importantly you have an Australian visa in your current name. To me, it all adds up to mountains being made out of the proverbial molehills.

I would be inclined to contact your agent, point out that you have all this documentation in the name you now use including your 457 from DIAC plus the previous ones. Is your interview with DIAC? If it is and your agent will be present, I would also suggest you politely ask your agent not to make an issue of the name unless DIAC choose to make it one i.e. don't highlight an issue which might only exist in the migration agent's mind.

As I said at the outset, I'm just applying commonsense and I may be totally wrong. I'd also like to say that I'm not intending to show any disrespect for your agent or any other agents, I'm sure they are trying to act in your best interests and just wanting to dot the i's and cross the t's.

Good luck with it all

sgjonno

Thanks SillyOldBag.

All your commensense does make sense but when it comes to dealing with governmental departments it never pays to leave anything to chance.
I'm not actually using a migration agaent, instead, I am using the lawyer that has done my previous 457's. She has only been responsible for proof checking all of my documents and forms so that I don't fall foul at the interview stage, which is with DIAC. The application process is pretty simple if you can get your head round all of the paperwork so she offered to just do the checking, instead of charging me the full whack and doing it fall or me.

I too have my fingers crossed but this issue just has a few alarms ringing in the back of the mind.

Dorothy

I would tell the lawyer then that you are unable to get the original. I would also be careful about the advice you get from an un-registered agent. If the information they give you is wrong and your visa application goes pear shaped due to the misinformation you have no recourse.

sgjonno

Hi All,

An update.............. all I did was write out an Stat Dec stating the following. It must have been okay because I was granted my DeFacto Visa at my Interview last Tuesday. Please feel free to use any variation of the below if it helps anyone in a similar situation.

Many thanks for all of the help (sort of) that people took the time out of their day to give me.


xxxx = Original Name
yyyy = New Name

In 1990 I attended a firm of solicitors in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. At these solicitors I drew up and had witnessed a Statutory Declaration to change my name from xxxxto yyyy. I no longer have a copy of this Statutory Declaration nor am I able to acquire and provide a copy of the original. In the UK, it is not a necessity of law to enter this document into the Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature, located within the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London, and as the fee was quite substantial to do this at that time, I did not exercise that option.
I have instead, obtained a Replacement Deed of Change of Name (Deed Poll) from the UK Deed Poll Service. This Deed Poll states that I absolutely and entirely renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name of xxxx and assume, adopt and determine to take and use from the 1st of November 2009 the name of yyyy in substitution for my former name of xxxx.
The Deed of Change of Name (Deed Poll) also includes a provision that I have also used and subscribed the said adopted name of yyyy in all records, deeds, documents and other writings and in all actions and proceedings and on all occasions since the year of 1990 following my change of name by Statutory Declaration.
Since this change of name in 1990, I have applied for and been granted two United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland passports in the name of yyyy which I still have in my possession.
I have also enlisted and served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces between the years of 1996 and 2001 in the name of yyyy.
I have also applied for and been granted three Australian Visa’s, Class UC Temporary Resident, Sub Class 457 in the name of yyyy.
I have attached to this declaration, literature from the UK Deed Poll Service to substantiate my claim that I cannot obtain a copy of the original declaration.