Anyone managed to get a child passport renewed without the required countersignature?

[ToodelooMarylou]

I need to renew my child's passport (dc will be 5 in a few months) and we don't know anyone from the list of acceptable professions to countersign. My dcs first passport was countersigned by our dentist but we have changed dentist since. Has anyone been in similar circumstances? Has anyone managed to get a child's passport renewed without being countersigned?

The person of good standing in the community could literally be anyone though, it's not defined.
Anyway if you're really stuck, call the advice line and see what they say: 0300 222 0000

You seem to have got your knickers in a twist about it being elitist, and are creating obstacles.

As others have pointed out there are dozens of jobs that can countersign passports, and these days it’s all done by email so you don’t need to see physically them to get it signed. A countersignatory is required for age 11 and under.

Just saw your DP changed job more recently, so avenues through work are more limited. Could he approach an old boss?

[quote ToodelooMarylou]@godmum56 yes, but I am not, and I am sure there are others in my shoes.[/quote]
but that doesn't make the requirement racist.

Can you use an ex-employer of yours or DPs?
For a child's passport they are signing to say they've known the parent for at least 2 years.

[quote ToodelooMarylou]@weaselish of course it is and possibly systematically racist too as not many ethnic minorities who come to this country will know people from that list.[/quote]
Stop right there, and take the massive, ignorant, chip off your shoulder while you're it.

Do you rent your property, your landlord or agent could do it. Or a mortgage adviser. Do you know anyone who works for the local authority? Ultimately you can contact the passport office and they would be able to advise if other evidence would suffice.

I just checked the post office and it states the counter signature must be someone who has known the parents for two years, not be a relative or live with you, must be over 18 and be a uk passport holder. That's it. Nothing about being in 'good standing' or holding a certain job.

Any old school friends of yours/your partner who're teachers/nurses/doctors etc.

The mum of an old school friend of mine signed DDs for me (she's known me since I was 9)

[quote ToodelooMarylou]@WhatILoved thank you so much for replying. My neighbour is very old so she used to be a childminder several decades ago. She's in her 80s now. Even then I don't know how formal an arrangement her childminding was. It is just something I gathered when she spoke about how she looked after some children several decades ago. I hardly ever see her now as she can hardly walk and her husband has dementia.[/quote]
She'd also need a current passport

My son is a security guard
He’s signed our neighbours 2 kids passports recently with no problems

@ukborn

I just checked the post office and it states the counter signature must be someone who has known the parents for two years, not be a relative or live with you, must be over 18 and be a uk passport holder. That's it. Nothing about being in 'good standing' or holding a certain job.

An old friend did ours via email/passport portal. It was very simple. They were sent an email and had to log into the system, answer a couple of questions and they were done. They are employed in IT - I think even HMPO have moved on from the "good standing" shit. Someone traceable - job, mortgage, council tax payer will do

@godmum56 no, is just systematic. It puts some ethnic minorities at an disadvantage compared to the rest. If language is a barrier you need to find someone who is not only speaks your language but also from the list. You don't tend to make friends with people who you can't communucate with. Obviously if you've lived your whole life here then it's easier to have friends from that list.

@ukborn the gov.uk www has a link to a whole list of people who can sign.

@Mookie81 Right back at you

They don't have to be on that list!! They can be someone from the community. Ethnic minorities can find someone from their own community with a British passport, just like my parents in law did when they moved here from India, if they are finding it hard to find someone.
If you are finding it hard to find someone, call the advice line and take it from there.

I haven't had to do a counter signature for either of DS's renewals. His first was aged 2 which was counter signed, then 7 and 12.

[quote ToodelooMarylou]@godmum56 no, is just systematic. It puts some ethnic minorities at an disadvantage compared to the rest. If language is a barrier you need to find someone who is not only speaks your language but also from the list. You don't tend to make friends with people who you can't communucate with. Obviously if you've lived your whole life here then it's easier to have friends from that list.[/quote]
with respect I would suggest that many/most people in those circumstances won't be applying for a UK passport.

It is a bit elitist yes, and it's definitely easier for university educated middle class people,. However, your problem seems to be that you don't know anyone who has known you for 2 years to ask, so that's not an 'elitist' problem. If there are people you've known for 2 years, just use them under the 'good standing' clause. It's better than nothing.

Why on earth would a teller at Tesco not be someone in good standing? The key point is that the passport office needs to be able to check up on the person - someone employed at a large organization like Tesco, with HR records, tax records etc, would absolutely 100% count as being "in good standing".

Basically, surely you just think about any friends you know well enough - even if you haven't seen them recently - and then, assuming that they have actual jobs, are tax payers (and aren't massively in arrears on their taxes or whatever), you ask them?

The home office needs to check that the person you're asking is real and is motivated not to lie - ie no criminal record, ideally employed and/or registered with some kind of formal body etc. It doesn't have to be someone you've spent time with in the last 2 years and it doesn't have to be someone who earns over a certain threshold.

It can be really difficult to find someone to counter sign, especially if you don't know many people personally. I'd start with asking the school, gp, if you go to church then the priest. If you have a friend who runs their own business that also works.

@MMAMPWGHAP

I really sympathise OP. I find it very elitist and I’m squarely middle class. It’s particularly bad if you’ve had to move around the country. I actually think the tables should be turned and doctors and teachers should have an obligation to sign.

An obligation to sign, as a teacher?

Do I get any recompense or allowance for this task which falls outside of my professional role?

@Im2022

What is a “person of good standing in the community”? Can their profession be anything?

Asking because I need to renew dd’s passport and I don’t know anyone from the listed professions. I work in a professional environment in a university, so could I ask a colleague?

Doctors signatures aren’t allowed anymore; they all must have bandied together and told the HM to take them off the list as they were probably getting too many requests 😂

It can be anyone in a professional org as well so HELOA counts, if you’ve got colleagues in outreach or recruitment they can do it

@Fabtasticfanatic

I think it is a bit elitist, but then so is international travel.

How about proving your identity in order to make a benefit claim, to rent a property, to collect a recorded delivery letter from the post office or to pass checks in order to get a job? Are they elitist as well?

It's really, really difficult to jump the hoops these days without a passport. I actually perform DBS checks at work and I simply wouldn't have been able to pass any of the checks I have to insist upon doing for others when DD was little - DP was in a similar situation about 7 years ago where he didn't have the right documents, either.

“If language is a barrier you need to find someone who is not only speaks your language but also from the list.”

There can’t be that many people unable to speak English applying for a U.K. passport though.

The list is just examples though, it’s not exhaustive - lots of people with trades run ltd companies because it’s better for tax, so plumbers, gas fitters, plasterers, decorators, etc.

People who volunteer on the board of charities (including small local ones) are listed as company directors as well.

Office staff in the court system and call centre workers for HMRC count as civil servants.

That’s just the ones I know of because I know people who count, it’s really nowhere near as elitist as you’re making it out to be.