Academic reference instead of academic certificate

[vlad04]

Hi,

I need to show my degree certificate to get points for the English language sufficiency. However, I lost the certificate a few years ago and at the time my university did not issue replacements. The UKBA guidelines say that in such circumstances an academic reference also saying that replacements were not issued by the Uni would suffice.

However when I called my University, it turns out that since this year, they do now issue replacements but the process takes several weeks - while I plan to apply before 05 april since my COS is under existing rules.

The law firm helping me contacted UKBA and a caseworker provided approved wording for a case when the University cannot issue a replacement in time for the application. However, I was wondering if this is sufficient - if the caseworker has provided the wording, does this mean it is acceptable to UKBA or is it just advice on how to improve the chances of it being accepted as an alternative to the degree certificate?

[arsenal49]

well, its highly likely it would be OK BUT IMHO you should go through law firm so that they can stress that point further in your app and save you from the hassle of refusal in the unlikely event of random caseworker's ignorance on this matter!

but ultimately, its upto you how confident you feel about the whole thing, we can only give you second-hand advice

cheers