Confused: Original Copies, or Certified Copies?

[jo-macral]

We have just finished our application, and plan on mailing everything out tomorrow. I was just going over the IMM3900 instructions to pass the time, when I ran across a tidbit (that I originally missed) stating that all translations must be accompanied by a certified copy of the original.

This contradicts our country-specific instructions (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3906e.pdf) that only mentions the need for a copy of the originals, which I have been following while preparing our documents.

Now.. We do NOT have certified copies of our documents, only certified translations, and regular photocopies of the originals, signed by us. Is this proper, or do we need to go and get the originals certified now, too? My only problem with this is it costs over $100 CDN per page, and there are about 7 that need to be done in our application.

Any advice is more than welcome.

 

[Sweden]

We have just finished our application, and plan on mailing everything out tomorrow. I was just going over the IMM3900 instructions to pass the time, when I ran across a tidbit (that I originally missed) stating that all translations must be accompanied by a certified copy of the original.

This contradicts our country-specific instructions (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3906e.pdf) that only mentions the need for a copy of the originals, which I have been following while preparing our documents.

Now.. We do NOT have certified copies of our documents, only certified translations, and regular photocopies of the originals, signed by us. Is this proper, or do we need to go and get the originals certified now, too? My only problem with this is it costs over $100 CDN per page, and there are about 7 that need to be done in our application.

Any advice is more than welcome.

It depends which documents... to be clear : some documents have to be originals, no copies ( police certificate for example).
Some documents need to have a translation (if not in english or french), and that HAS to be a certified translation ( unless it is parts of emails that you are translating, and in that case it doesn't need to be an official one).
If you are talking about copies of your passport for example, then you can have normal copies.
Hope it clarifies a bit.
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[jo-macral]

The original meds, and police report are included. My main concern is the translation for my wife's supporting letter (relationship proof), and our marriage certs, IDs, etc.. that are not English.

All the translations have been done, and certified by a lawyer, but the same price applies for certified copies of the originals too, so we opted out of that part since I thought it wasn't needed.

 

[jo-macral]

To be clear, the certified copy is a notarized (signed and stamped) photocopy of the original from a legal firm. Pricey for a photocopy, and hope it is not needed as we would need 7 pages done (at a little more than $100 per page)

 

[Rob_TO]

Your specific country instructions seem pretty clear: Send originals of the immigration forms (items 1 to 5 below) and police certificates. Send photocopies of all other documents, unless instructed otherwise. If your documents are not in English or French, send a notarized (certified) translation with a copy of the originals.

So the only original needed is police certificate. All other documents, even if requiring translation, you only need a regular photocopy since the form doesn't state you need a certified copy (only the translation itself needs to be certified). If they wanted certifed copies, they would have written "with a certified copy of the originals".

Some people choose to get their friends/family letters notarized since it lends more credibility to them. However unless specifically requested by country guide, this is optional to do.

On another note, i would shop around for translators/lawyers! We required 3 docs for certified translations, and total price we paid for all was $100.

 

[jo-macral]

Thank you, that is pretty much what I thought too, but needed some advice from the seasoned vets who already gone through the process.

Looks like we are ready to send our stack of papers tomorrow then.