I've got my application approved recently and would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this forum!
I think it is the best place on the net to find free HSMP advise and it is really helpful.
I would like to share some details of my application. You can find timelines on trackitt web site under the same username.
Here I'm trying to hightlight some specifics of preparing supporting documents in Ukraine, especially as I dont see anyone shared same experience so far.
I claimed 85 points including 30 for education, 45 for earnings and 10 for age.
I have specialist diploma from one of Ukrainian state universities (5.5 years of study) and NARIC considered it comparable to bachelor degree standard. I obtained NARIC letter several months before making the application.
I submitted an old USSR birth certificate as the proof of age; no additional documents or copies.
EARNINGS
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I had quite complex documentation for previous earnings. I was able to obtain pay slips from employeer. These were simple printouts from 1C (a Russian bookeeping system widely used in many post-USSR countries). I had them stamped and signed although they were not on headed paper or anything like that.
Next, as I understand Ukraine doesnt have standard tax returns for "physical persons", I submitted an application to the local tax agency for a letter. It seems this caused much confusion to them and took me 3 weeks to get. I had to explain my situation to 5 different people and at last to facilitate the process by calling few friends.
In any case this was A4 page looking like it was printed from mainframe, signed and smaped althoug without tax office address and with my very old address (!) on it.
The letter was for 3 first quarters of 2006 as they havent processed records for later periods as yet. Luckily this appeared to be sufficient for HO, probably because numbers matched those on the other documents well.
I requested exceptional consideration and submitted yearly bank statement (obtained on request, stamped and signed) and letter from employeer (with gross salary month-by-month).
My bank was also kind enough to prepare additional letter for me stating my company name and sums of money received on monthly basis, as source of funds was not evident from the statement.
I described all documents in detail in the cover letter, I was very specific and even included a summary table with gross earnings for each month and description of where one can find specific amount on each piece of evidence.
IELTS
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I passed IELTS in Kyiv in Jan without much preparation. I attended 1-day IELTS preparation course in Nov which I think was quite helpful as they actually tell what the exam is about (in the same room with the same equipment etc) and which is even more important for me, I had a whole day to think about IELTs and nothing else :).
I have also bought a standard IELTS booklet and went though maybe half of it a day before the exam, doing the sample tasks.
Translation
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I sent a letter to British Embassy asking to point to a recognized translator and they basically answered they dont maintain any list.
Therefore I translated all the documents in the local agency of my choice. It is ISO 9001, well-marketed name etc, although quality of transation might certainly be better in some cases (e.g. the word "body" ocasionally used instead of "person" and like). I had just a few days though and no time to argue so just accepted most of it. Every translation was on headed paper, signed for correctness and notarized. The whole service cost me about 100 GBP.
Lastly, I received the package back via airmail (ukrposhta) and it took 9 days for it to come. Long anough to wait but still not long anough to start panicking :).
Hope my story will be of help to someone.
Wish applicants all the best!
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