[Phil & Ali Smith]

Hello all

Phil & I are trying to get together all our 'stuff' for the ITA submission. We're still unsure about what original and what certified copy means.

We have our original (totally authentic) marriage certificate. Do we have to photo copy the original and take it to a solicitor to certify the photocopy ??

We recently sent for our 'certified copies' of birth certificates, because the ones that we held didn't have parents names etc on them. These state on them that they are certified copies. If we photocopy them do we have to get a solicitor to certify the photocopy ??

It's all so confusing:confused:

Does anybody out there understand:wah

Please help:)

[pinkpiggy]

Originals are just that - the original documents. A certified copy is when you take it to a solicitor/notary public who certifies that this is a true and exact copy of the original.

I think birth certificates say that they are a certified copy of an entry in the register - the register being the original. I hope this makes sense.

If you decide to send certified copies of your passport - you usually only need the bit at the back with your photos etc.

Good luck with your application.

[CjChris]

Hello.

When I was gathering info for my NZQA assessment, I recall reading that you cannot send a copy of a certified copy. I would assume this applies to ITA, too, but I don't recall seeing the wording.

So, for the ITA, you will either need to send an original or a certified copy. They are Ok with either. I am currently gathering all my ITA docs (just about finished!) and I am sending them all the originals I still have, but there are a few things I had to send original to NZQA, so I'll be sending a certified copy (that I had made previously at my local bank) for those items with ITA.

Of course your police checks and medicals will all be original.

Christine

[Hannah]

All copies of birth certificates are 'certified copies' - this is not the same as a certified copy that a solicitor etc. certifies. The original copy of a birth certificate is in fact the entry in the births register - even my very original birht certificate that i had from birth says 'certified copy of office entry' (or something similar). It is ok to get a solicitor to copy this. I applied for my full birth certificate with my parents names and got this copied and certified
hope this helps
hannah

[UK Neil]

We sent certified copies of everything instead of originals, that is colour photocopies which are signed by a magistrate with their contact details on them.

It says in the instructions that certified copies have to be certified by a magistrate. That sounded unlikely so we checked with the agent we are using and he confirmed that it had to be a magistrate rather than a solicitor which seems a bit odd but there you go. The passports where just the photo-section with all the info and then certified on the back.

Hope that helps.

[Croft]

We had a small problem with my wifes UK birth certificate. We only had the short version, without the parents name, which quite correctly NZIS said didn't meet the requirements. She'd never had the full version as her Mother had said it had been lost, so we applied to the district where she's been born for a copy. It was then we found out she'd been adopted - which of course means under UK law she wasn't permitted to have the full birth certificate, only a subsequent certificate of adoption.

Quite a shock to find that one out in your mid-30s.

[wiki]

We had a small problem with my wifes UK birth certificate. We only had the short version, without the parents name, which quite correctly NZIS said didn't meet the requirements. She'd never had the full version as her Mother had said it had been lost, so we applied to the district where she's been born for a copy. It was then we found out she'd been adopted - which of course means under UK law she wasn't permitted to have the full birth certificate, only a subsequent certificate of adoption.

Quite a shock to find that one out in your mid-30s.

Oh my goodness! I really feel for you wife. That's such a terrible shock.

I'm also shocked by the fact that you can't have a full UK birth cert if you're adopted.

I'm adopted (and luckily, IMHO, always knew) and my NZ birth certificate is full will the names of my adoptive parents on it. I'm not sure if it mentions I'm adopted or not, but I suspect it doesnt since a lot of familes didn't use to reveal a child was adopted.

I was worried when I applied for my English passport through descent (my Dad is English-born) because I expected them to turn around and tell me it didn't count because I was adopted, but Dad pointed out they couldn't do that because they'd run the risk of causing me mental anguish etc if I hadn't previously known about my parentage.

Please tell your wife I'm really feeling for her.

[Phil & Ali Smith]

Thanks for all your help !

We've taken the documents to a solicitor, they photocopied them, stamped them & signed them. Hope all is going to be OK.

On another note, I still find it amazing that all we needed to get a copy of our birth certificates was:- to know our name, when & where we were born and at the click of a button (& credit card details), we had our copies in the post within a week.
Anyone could do this !!!!! Does anybody else find this disturbing ?

Ali

[speckythecky]

Croft - what a nightmare, does the certificate of adoption cover what you need?

What a time to find out and what a way to find out.

Ali - I find it very disturbing how easy it is to get a copy of birth certificate, but also useful - I got one yesterday having lost mine years ago when I went for a job and they copied it but didn't return the original.

Its great to know I have now been born.

[Croft]

Oh my goodness! I really feel for you wife. That's such a terrible shock.

I'm also shocked by the fact that you can't have a full UK birth cert if you're adopted.

I'm adopted (and luckily, IMHO, always knew) and my NZ birth certificate is full will the names of my adoptive parents on it. I'm not sure if it mentions I'm adopted or not, but I suspect it doesnt since a lot of familes didn't use to reveal a child was adopted.

I was worried when I applied for my English passport through descent (my Dad is English-born) because I expected them to turn around and tell me it didn't count because I was adopted, but Dad pointed out they couldn't do that because they'd run the risk of causing me mental anguish etc if I hadn't previously known about my parentage.

Please tell your wife I'm really feeling for her.

Glad it didn't cause you any problems. The full original birth cerificate is withheld I guess to protect the identities of the orginal parents. this may be the case with yours too as you have the names of your adoptive parents on there?

Croft - what a nightmare, does the certificate of adoption cover what you need?

What a time to find out and what a way to find out.

Ali - I find it very disturbing how easy it is to get a copy of birth certificate, but also useful - I got one yesterday having lost mine years ago when I went for a job and they copied it but didn't return the original.

Its great to know I have now been born.

Yes, the ceritficate if adoption did cover the NZIS requirements. In fact, NZIS told us that if we couldn't get the required documentation then a solicitors letter detailing the measures we'd taken to get hold of it would suffice.

I too found it surprising how easy it was to apply for a certificate. In fact I did it all on behalf of my wife as she was away at the time, even took the call from the registrar's office telling me they were unable to supply it as she'd been adopted! We then had to go to a central register for adopted children if I recall.

Thank you both for your kind thoughts!

[Trigirl]

when i applied for my birth cert and got an adoption cert through instead i did wonder about what that would be like if you didn't already know (i did already know and always have). actually my husband had applied for both his and mine so he got a nice letter with my adoption cert telling him who to call if i wanted counselling!

I'm also shocked by the fact that you can't have a full UK birth cert if you're adopted. I'm adopted (and luckily, IMHO, always knew) and my NZ birth certificate is full will the names of my adoptive parents on it.
this is a bit of a technicality. the adoption certificate in the UK is basically a birth cert but with your adoptive parents name on. its just called an adoption cert. by law in the uk it can be used (and must be accepted by any authority) for anything a birth cert is used for. so effectively its the same as what you have from NZ?

[wiki]

this is a bit of a technicality. the adoption certificate in the UK is basically a birth cert but with your adoptive parents name on. its just called an adoption cert. by law in the uk it can be used (and must be accepted by any authority) for anything a birth cert is used for. so effectively its the same as what you have from NZ?

Effectively the same, yes, but mine doesn't mention adoption at all. If I didn't know I was adopted, I wouldn't be any the wiser from my birth cert.

The only thing that might give it away is that the register entry is dated 10 months after I was born ... (just in case the birth parents changed their mind within the first few months)