DS needs to apply for his first adult passport, it’s not classed as a renewal from his child’s passport, so he’ll need someone to countersign his photo.
He can do this online and provide an email address for the person countersigning. We have friend in mind who is a fire fighter so hopefully this should be ok.
My bugbear is, DS has a valid UK driving license, he’s previously had a child’s passport, so why, in this digital age, does it still warrant a bloody counter signature! It’s a faff and delays the whole process, especially if you have to rely on that person looking out for an email. Yes, he could go down the old fashioned route, paper copy and the back of the photo signed, then he knows it’s been done, but why, when he has previously held a passport and has other official proof of identity does he need his image verified by someone who’s known him for at least 2 years!
I could understand the need if he’d never held a passport before, didn’t have a UK driving license, bank account, etc but why the need if he has all of these supporting documents? You can use your online passport photo when you apply for your driving license so why not vice versa?
AIBU and just grumpy?