Notary service in London, England

[gseekl]

Hi

I am just putting together my documents for CHC London. I need to have some documents notarised so got some quotes from some notaries. They either charge by documents or by the hour, and cost 55 pounds/document or 260 pounds/hour.

I have a few year's payslips to be notarised, as well as other documents (employment contracts, passport, degrees etc). It would cost me an arm and leg (maybe over 1,000 pounds)!

I would be grateful if anyone who has done it in London could share their experiences:

- Do I need to notarise everything? For example, Employer Reference/bank statements/IELTS results/professional qualification letter, if they are already originals, do they still need to be notarised?

- I have asked my university to put a stamp on the degree certficate to certify that it is a true copy. Will the CHC accept this? It is not a notarised copy, but is certified by the university.

- Do you know of any notaries in/near London which charge a reasonable price? 55 pounds per document is simply unaffordable for me, even 260 pounds per hour is quite expensive, and you have no control over how long they spend on the job.

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Joe

[Walsh clan]

Joe,

See my reply on other post.

[gseekl]

Thanks Walsh. I have seen your posts.

I am just wondering if we are actually following different procedures.

I only applied in 2008, but because my occupation was in the list of 38, so I was able to submit the additional documentation only a few months after applying.

The letter I received from CHC in London actually mentioned nothing about notarization. The letter contains a list of documents I need to submit, which is much smaller than Appendix A. It simply says "submit photocopies unless otherwise specified". The only document they need to see original for is the Police Certificate.

Also, I only got 90 days, and not 120 days to submit.

That makes me think, am I following a different, quicker procedure, simply because I am on the list of 38 occupations?

Has anyone else had similar experience as mine, i.e., applied fairly recently, but is on the list of 38, and then was contacted by CHC for additional documents?

[Walsh clan]

Thanks Walsh. I have seen your posts.

I am just wondering if we are actually following different procedures.

I only applied in 2008, but because my occupation was in the list of 38, so I was able to submit the additional documentation only a few months after applying.

The letter I received from CHC in London actually mentioned nothing about notarization. The letter contains a list of documents I need to submit, which is much smaller than Appendix A. It simply says "submit photocopies unless otherwise specified". The only document they need to see original for is the Police Certificate.

Also, I only got 90 days, and not 120 days to submit.

That makes me think, am I following a different, quicker procedure, simply because I am on the list of 38 occupations?

Has anyone else had similar experience as mine, i.e., applied fairly recently, but is on the list of 38, and then was contacted by CHC for additional documents?

Hi Gseekl,

We are also on the list of 38 and it was referenced in the letter received that we were passed to CIC London because of the new November ruling. It also mentioned photocopies, but did state that the link/site/guide to follow was the one that mentions the notarised documents - so your letter sounds similar to ours, except we have 120 days to return all documentation required.

[T_mahmood]

Hi

I dont know why there is too mush fuss when CHC is not asking for Notrised documents. If they have needed notrised documents, they must have mentioned in the letter they sent. Yes, they need IELTS results, police certificates, Bankstatments in original. I have submitted all other documents just in copies about a month back and so far have not been asked to re-submitt the documents with attested notrised.

The CHC recives hundered of applications and not all of these are notrised. If they had thought it necessary, they would have mentioned in the letter.

Thanks Walsh. I have seen your posts.

I am just wondering if we are actually following different procedures.

I only applied in 2008, but because my occupation was in the list of 38, so I was able to submit the additional documentation only a few months after applying.

The letter I received from CHC in London actually mentioned nothing about notarization. The letter contains a list of documents I need to submit, which is much smaller than Appendix A. It simply says "submit photocopies unless otherwise specified". The only document they need to see original for is the Police Certificate.

Also, I only got 90 days, and not 120 days to submit.

That makes me think, am I following a different, quicker procedure, simply because I am on the list of 38 occupations?

Has anyone else had similar experience as mine, i.e., applied fairly recently, but is on the list of 38, and then was contacted by CHC for additional documents?

[nina.roy]

For all those who have submitted the requested documents to CIC within 90 or 120 days, have you had any feedback from CIC yet.

Please share your experience... thanks.

[Richter]

Hi

I dont know why there is too mush fuss when CHC is not asking for Notrised documents. If they have needed notrised documents, they must have mentioned in the letter they sent.

The letter should be read in conjunction with the much more detailed 'Visa Office Specific Instructions' for the office to which you have applied.

In the visa office instructions for London applicants, page one, checklist, it says:

'Do not send originals unless otherwise stated. Send notarized photocoies of all documents except the police certificates, which must be originals.'

It seems some people get them notarized, some don't bother, some go to solicitors and get them certified to save money.

[nina.roy]

I found a solicitor who said that they can certify all my documents for £50 - the whole lot. But as I understand, notrizing documents a different and more expensive than Certifying documents.

The London 'Visa Office Specific Instructions' says: Send notarized photocopies of all documents except the police certificates, which must be originals.

So there is an obvious ambiguity of what CIC really expects of us. I am pretty certain just merely taking photocopies would not be enough. Unless there is someone else who has done so and succeeded?

[tuhadda_fuffar]

I found a solicitor who said that they can certify all my documents for £50 - the whole lot. But as I understand, notrizing documents a different and more expensive than Certifying documents.

The London 'Visa Office Specific Instructions' says: Send notarized photocopies of all documents except the police certificates, which must be originals.

So there is an obvious ambiguity of what CIC really expects of us. I am pretty certain just merely taking photocopies would not be enough. Unless there is someone else who has done so and succeeded?

I never submitted any notarized documents, however I applied through a representative. I don’t know how he has sent my bundle, but he never asked me for any additional fees for notarization as one might think.

I applied in Jan 2007 and got my file number in May 2007. They asked me for additional docs in April 2009 and I sent them in July 2009.

The processing office is CHC London, UK.
Hope that helps anyone!

[maxthewonderdog]

Hi Joe,

I too had a query about the notarized documents so wrote to the London office and asked them to clarify. I quote their response "Photocopies are acceptable. Notarized copies are not mandatory unless specified otherwise. The immigration officer may need to see the original copy of a document during the review process in which case you will be asked to send the original copy to our office. However, you MUST submit your original police certificate(s) and language test results (if applicable). Also, translations must be notarized".

My advice is go through your documents and checklist in detail and highlight those that specifically say they need notarized and get them done only. You could contact any local universities and ask if they provide the service or your registrar (in your local council) may have a list of Justice of the Peace that will charge less than a notary public or a lawyer.

Hope this helps!!!

Max