PASSPORT COUNTERSIGNING

I have countersigned lots of passports for friends. Am a registered nurse.

And where will they get the biometric info in the first place

You would get your biometrics the first time (when it makes sense to require countersignatories) but after that, it shouldn't be required.

Remember people only need their first passport signed

Last time I checked, I think if you lose it or it gets stolen, you need to go through the countersigning process again

And where will they get the biometric info in the first place?

Just because you are born in the UK doesn't entitle you to a UK passport and likewise some people born outside the UK may be entitled to a passport.

A lot of the advice given on this thread is out of date. You need someone who knows you PERSONALLY and is willing to give their passport and (I think) NI numbers.

You can't take it to the police station, your GP shouldn't sign it unless they are a friend of yours, a notary shouldn't sign it unless they have known you personally for 2 years, and many professions (including teachers) have been in instructed not to sign for clients and service users.

The list of people who can sign has been expanded, but you basically need a friend/colleague/neighbour who will sign for you. Which is fine unless you are unemployed, your friends are either unemployed (or employed in "unsuitable" jobs), or you don't have friends etc.

I would suggest changing it to biometrics, which genuinely confirm your identity.

Depending on where you work, the company boss, HR normally hold professional registration, surveyors are another one to try.

Remember people only need their first passport signed, and kids passports.

It specifically excludes doctors unless they know you personally.

Director of a ltd co might open it up for you, that could be anyone from a builder to someone who's a director of the residents management company of the apartment block they live in or the owner of your hairdressing salon. A member of a professional body could be a fitness instructor (CIMSPA). I'd ask on your facebook timeline, I bet there's someone who you know but might not have thought of.

The list for Irish passport signatories is a lot more limited. I can countersign a UK passport but not an Irish one.

Who signed yours? As they as they need to sign to say they know you, not the child.

The system is very class-based and a bit unfair. I'm working-class, I've had problems before. I don't have friends who are doctors, civil servants, teachers etc.

The last time I had to get any countersigned, my friend who is a cub leader did it. As others have said, the list is a guide it doesn't have to be someone on the list.

If you're Dutch living in the Netherlands it's even easier and again, you don't need someone to vouch for you. This is a bit of law that really needs changing to be relevant to the age we are now living in.

In the U.K. you don't need anyone to countersign for a renewal if you are still recognisable from your previous passport.

www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications

Try your local MP. That's what we did for DH's. I think i used my GP (they charged £5 or something but it was a long time ago) and my local bank manager.

The UK system is mad and archaic. I'm Dutch, and to get my DDs their Dutch passports at the Embassy I did need to bring a lot of ID stuff: birth certs, marriage certificate, permission from my husband, much of it needing an apostille - but I didn't need some random publican to prove who my kids were!

If you're Dutch living in the Netherlands it's even easier and again, you don't need someone to vouch for you. This is a bit of law that really needs changing to be relevant to the age we are now living in.

Sorry, I havnt read the whole thread but i asked a friend who was an 'engineer with professional qualifications'. Otherwise I know a nurse who could have done it. Does your lo go to nursery? I've signed one as a nursery manager before. Just an idea

and in a classist 'well, if you don't have friends like these, can we trust you're a person' sort of way.

I totally agree. It is based more on where people sit in the social hierarchy than establishing that they are who they claim to be.

You have no idea what they would do with your information (maybe nothing, maybe something) and no idea how genuine the passport application which you would be endorsing is.

You can go to a local notary but it will cost you

Can a notary countersign if they don't know you personally?

if you don't have friends like these, can we trust you're a person' sort of way

But isn't just to verify identity?

I've never understood this process.

I can see how it may be in away required for somebody coming from abroad (as an extra check, as most people would have their own foreign passports to validate identity against, anyway)

But why is it necessary to have coutersignatories if you lose your passport, for instance? Isn't there a database with your iris scan and fingerprints that would enable to confirm who you are? Isn't this much more robust and less open to abuse than having Joe Bloggs saying they've 'known' you for 2 years?

In other countries, babies are registered at birth at the hospital, biometrics taken, and that's it. There is a register for life to check against.

Why isn't this implemented in this day and age with all the technology we have at our disposal?

I've had to do this repeatedly while immigrating and it's such a pain in the ass. I'm lucky my spouse chose to work in a hotel with a bar, as his co-workers - the "licensee of a public house" - have been the only people I've known long enough, who could pass the photo test (they're meant to be able to recognize and speak about you as a friend just from a photo), who fit within that acceptable professions list. I had to do that and agree to backgrounds check so it felt a little... forced, both in a 'we've always done this so we're going to keep doing this' and in a classist 'well, if you don't have friends like these, can we trust you're a person' sort of way.