PJ8025

Hi,

Does anybody know whether the statutory declarations from friends and family have to be signed and certified infront of a solicitor, and would this mean they would all have to go to see a solicitor individually, as this could be inconvenient as a lot of our family and friends work full time and could also be quite expensive!

Aldebaran

I can't say for sure but I would expect that they would need to be certified (otherwise you could write one yourself and pass it off as being a real one).

And I expect that the person that wrote the declaration would need to go to the solicitor and get it certified. Because they would need proof that it was really written by that person

suzimc

My agent has asked me to have them witnessed by a solicitor, but we have been fortunate enough to find family members who work with solicitors/can use the company solicitor to save money and time!

Fionast

Our agent asked for ours to be certified as well. It doesn't have to be a lawyer/solicitor though it can be any other notary of the public. Unfortunately I don't know what other professions fall into this.

C&R

I have a similiar question, this looks the rght place to ask - sorry PJ8025, hope you don't mind - We have had stat decs done by a solicitor in the UK, who has signed the stat decs etc, but failed to write he is a solicitor, or put a stamp or anything on it to make it seem more legit - because of this in my eyes it looks as though it could have been witnessed by anyone, but do the immigration department pick up on this?

wsbtroyno21

I got my defacto spouse visa a couple of months ago. I got all my Stat Decs and certified copies (passport, birth certificate, etc) done by a Notary Public. He stamped them all with his embossing stamp, wrote "I certifiy this to be a true and genuine copy of the original" then signed and dated them, and also he wrote his name and address on each form.

I would imagine that it is not a certifed copy unless it is signed and has some sort of official stamp on it to prove that the peron is who they say they are.

Perhaps you could add on the name, address and telephone number of the solicitor who did the documents or even better take them back to him and ask him to do it properly (I am assuming he charged you money for doing this).

I found this on an emigration website:-

"To have documentation certified you need to take your original transcripts / documents and a copy of each transcript to an authorised person in your community.

Authorised persons include Juctices of the Peace, Notary Publics, lawyers / solicitors, Magistrates offices and (in some countries only - Police Officers and School Teachers or University professors.)

They need to sign on your copies that they are true and correct, print their name and position and if possible affix an official stamp"

Hope this helps.

Wendy

suzimc

This happened with the certified copies for my skills assessment, and vetassess asked me to have them done again. Could you ask the solicitor to send you a business card, that's what I did with my second pile of documents when I realised I'd forgotten, and they just sent one in the post to me.