# How many statutory declarations (888) to provide ?



## sina1308 (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi guys, 
As I am planning to apply for an onshore partner visa (820) in Australia i will need to provide some statutory declarations (Form 888) by friends who state that the relationship to my partner is genuine and continuing. 
I was once told that the more statutory declarations from different people i provide, the better it will be for my visa application. 
But while reading through the partner visa checklist i discovered that the statutory declarations should only be completed by TWO Australian citizens. 
So am I only allowed to provide two ?Should those be written by family members or close friends ? 
Another thing is that my partner and I spent one year in Germany ( my home country) . Would my parents and friends there be allowed to write a statutory declaration ? Or are really only australian citizens allowed to write one ? 

Any help would be very appreciated !


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## GadoGadoGal (Nov 20, 2014)

sina1308 said:


> So am I only allowed to provide two ?


You can provide more than two. Senior members have previously posted that it is best to provide more than two statutory declarations if they provide witness to your committed relationship from different perspectives (e.g. friends, family members, neighbors, employer, teacher, etc) (however, 10 would be too many).


sina1308 said:


> Should those be written by family members or close friends ?


Per previous threads on this subject, it would be good to have statements from friends and family members at minimum.


sina1308 said:


> Another thing is that my partner and I spent one year in Germany ( my home country). Would my parents and friends there be allowed to write a statutory declaration ? Or are really only australian citizens allowed to write one ?


For the minimum two certified form 888 statutory declarations, they must be from an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident. 
Some senior members have previously posted that it is useful to have statements from family members of both the sponsor and applicant, in which case the non-Australian family member(s) can write or type out a statement and sign it and add the date, but it does not have to be certified.

I hope this helps, in addition to other member responses.


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## Becky26 (Jun 18, 2013)

GadoGadoGal explained it perfectly 
Just wanted to mention that you can get affidavits done (from your non-Australian family) which are a legally binding document and get it notarized in Germany and submit it along with the witness's notarized photo ID.
That's what my parents did, signed an affidavit and attached colored notarized copies of their passports with it.

We submitted 6 witness statements- 2 from India including my parent's and 4 form 888s from our Australian family and friends 
As mentioned in the partner migration booklet, you need a MINIMUM of 2 form 888s but there is no maximum limit to how many you can provide 
Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Kind Regards,
Becky


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

As the others have said the minimum is 2 x 888's, after that you can add more 888's or additional statements from non Australian's.

We submitted about 11 in total which was about half and half. 

What DIBP want for non Australian statements depends on where you lodge, since they are lodging onshore I would give them a call just to check with them. I did that for lodging in Cairo and they said just write a statement sign it (doesn't need to be witnessed) and provide a copy of their ID. I did exactly the same for PMV to 820 application and nothing was said.

It is up to your who writes the statements I believe it should be whoever knows your relationship best. For us I chose close friends because they have spent more time with my husband and I than my family has.


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## sina1308 (Jul 31, 2013)

Becky26 said:


> GadoGadoGal explained it perfectly
> Just wanted to mention that you can get affidavits done (from your non-Australian family) which are a legally binding document and get it notarized in Germany and submit it along with the witness's notarized photo ID.
> That's what my parents did, signed an affidavit and attached colored notarized copies of their passports with it.


Thanks for your help Becky and thanks to everyone else, too ! 
Where can I get those Affidavits ? I had a look online and couldn't really find the right thing. 
So does this mean that my parents and friends in Germany are not allowed to use form 888 ? 
Do they have to use this Affidavit or could they just write a statement on a piece of paper, sign it and add the date without getting it certified ? 
( like GadoGadoGal was saying)


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## Becky26 (Jun 18, 2013)

sina1308 said:


> Thanks for your help Becky and thanks to everyone else, too !
> Where can I get those Affidavits ? I had a look online and couldn't really find the right thing.
> So does this mean that my parents and friends in Germany are not allowed to use form 888 ?
> Do they have to use this Affidavit or could they just write a statement on a piece of paper, sign it and add the date without getting it certified ?
> ( like GadoGadoGal was saying)


No worries, happy to help 
From what I've read, non-Australians can also fill and sign the form 888s but you still will be needing minimum of 2 form 888s signed by Australian family and/or friends.

A plain A4 sheet of paper can also be used to get a statement done along with the witness's full name and signature and the date when it was signed.
My parents did up their own affidavit (in English) and got it notarized at the court house in India.
Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

Kind Regards,
Becky


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## GadoGadoGal (Nov 20, 2014)

I assume by affidavit you are referring to what can be completed by non-Australian declarations. In that case, as Becky mentioned, statements are accepted on plain paper, or on one of the two statutory declarations forms (DIBP's form 888 or the Commonwealth Statutory Declaration form). The Commonwealth Statutory Declaration form can be found here:
Statutory declarations | Attorney-General's Department

The main advantage of the commonwealth form is that they provide both PDF and Word doc formats so that you can hand write onto the printed PDF form, or if you need more space can type directly into the Word doc form.


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## Simply (Aug 21, 2014)

Do the 888's need to be certified with ID of the writers? I am submitting online. So far nothing I have has been certified including passport/ birth certs- they are colored copies/scans.


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## GadoGadoGal (Nov 20, 2014)

The form 888 statutory declarations must be certified and accompanied by a certified copy of the witness's ID. I'm going to search for a thread that mentioned this before and see if high quality color scans of the witness's ID are accepted, but since the witness *must* certify the form 888 it isn't extra work for the witness to get the ID copy certified at the same time.


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## Simply (Aug 21, 2014)

GadoGadoGal said:


> The form 888 statutory declarations must be certified and accompanied by a certified copy of the witness's ID. I'm going to search for a thread that mentioned this before and see if high quality color scans of the witness's ID are accepted, but since the witness *must* certify the form 888 it isn't extra work for the witness to get the ID copy certified at the same time.


Okay shouldnt be a problem, I have a family friend/ public servant who can certify the 888 and scans/photos of the ID.


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Simply said:


> Okay shouldnt be a problem, I have a family friend/ public servant who can certify the 888 and scans/photos of the ID.


Just make sure they aren't writing a statement and aren't close family as can be seen as conflict of interest.

I was advised not to certify anyone documents for our application even though I can.


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## Simply (Aug 21, 2014)

Mish said:


> Just make sure they aren't writing a statement and aren't close family as can be seen as conflict of interest.
> 
> I was advised not to certify anyone documents for our application even though I can.


The person certifying is a family friend but is not writing a statement. She will be certifying my partners mom, dad and another family friend.

Another question is on the non 888 statements. I wanted to ask my bff and cousin from USA to write one, is there a format/guideline I can give them? I am asking them to get it notarized along with their passports and send them to me via PDF.


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## GadoGadoGal (Nov 20, 2014)

Simply said:


> The person certifying is a family friend but is not writing a statement. She will be certifying my partners mom, dad and another family friend.
> 
> Another question is on the non 888 statements. I wanted to ask my bff and cousin from USA to write one, is there a format/guideline I can give them? I am asking them to get it notarized along with their passports and send them to me via PDF.


There isn't a format guideline per previous threads on this forum - additional supporting statements beyond the two form 888s from Australian citizens or permanent residents can be written on a sheet of paper with signature and certification at the bottom, or written into the Commonwealth Statutory Declaration form with signature and certification. Becky also said earlier in this thread that some people have had additional non-Australian statements submitted on the form 888. It is up to you. In our case, we are making it easy to distinguish Australian from non-Australian by getting three form 888s from Australians, and Commonwealth Stat Decs from those outside Australia. For all our witnesses we've asked them to write statements that follow the instructions on form 888 and include information related to social context as described in the Partner Migration booklet: State how you know the applicant and the applicant's partner or fiancé(e), and indicate how often you have been in contact with them; State whether you believe the relationship of the applicant and his/her partner or fiancé(e) to be genuine and continuing, and give your reasons for your belief; evidence of joint participation in sporting, cultural or social activities, or joint travel.


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Simply said:


> The person certifying is a family friend but is not writing a statement. She will be certifying my partners mom, dad and another family friend.
> 
> Another question is on the non 888 statements. I wanted to ask my bff and cousin from USA to write one, is there a format/guideline I can give them? I am asking them to get it notarized along with their passports and send them to me via PDF.


There is no form or guide. Just remember that a statutory declaration is not legally binding if the people from the USA are not in Australia because it quotes Australian law.

We rang the embassy and asked what they wanted as was told writing a statement on a blank piece of paper and signing it and providing a copy of their ID was enough.

Just remember that the statements are just one form of evidence and really do you want to go to that form of expense (is different in Australia where JP's are free).


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## Simply (Aug 21, 2014)

Notarizing is about 10-15$ so each statement with an ID attached would cost an extra 10-15$ for a total of 20-30$. I think that would be worth the time and effort on my application.


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## Engaus (Nov 7, 2013)

No problems. It's just not legally binding so doesn't technically hold any more weight than if it weren't notarized.


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## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

In partner cases where sponsors and/or visa applicants have resided outside Australia and nobody in Australia knows enough about the relationship to complete an 888, is accepted for a person elsewhere to do so.


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