Nobody to countersign passport?

[DenimDuck]

I really need a passport. Mainly for jobs but also travel

I've been applying for jobs for a while and 99% want a passport before offering anything
I don't have one

What do I do?

I ask my doctor and they can't sign for it. same as my dentist.

I don't know anyone that can sign for me

What am I supposed to do?

Never have another job or passport?
I've looked into every option and I can't get a passport. Feeling totally helpless

Just give up? Life on benefits? Nobody seems to have options

Have you asked around your neighbours?
A dentist can sign but of course he/she can say no.

Call Passport Adviceline - they can help you sort it.

Have you had a valid passport before?
If not you'll need to read up on the requirements.
When I was applying for my DD, a close friend who worked as a manager in Sainsbury's helped approve it. When DD's needed to be renewed my mum's boyfriend (a captain on the Mersey ferries) got it approved.

Have you got kids? One of their teachers?

Friends/ neighbours can sign as long as they know it’s you. I think it helps if they have a passport too as they are verifiable.

It doesn't just help for the counter signer to have a passport, it is absolutely mandatory.

Won't ur doctor do it for a fee?

No they are specifically prohibited unless you know them as a friend

GPs don't do it, it's a time issue, the rules were changed years ago to broaden who can sign. I've done a few and I'm just a public sector manager.

My neighbour is a nurse and signed ours in the past. Ask local shop owner, neighbours, friends, people you went to school with. If they have a job/retired from a profession and a passport they are likely yo be accepted.

The list is quite wide especially when you add in the person of good standing in the community.

Do you have friends/neighbours with passports who have known you for more than 2 years? What are/were their jobs?

Sibling's partner?
Anyone your parents knew?
Kid's teacher?

Who do you know?

Pub landlord?
Post office?
Church?

Why do you think you have no one to sign it, OP?

What jobs do your friends do? And their spouses? Any kids with parents with suitable jobs?
Remember, it doesn't need to be exactly a job on the list, just a role similar. Anyone you know who volunteers to run stuff? Works for the council? NHS? Runs a business (plasterer, hairdresser, musician - it doesn't have to be blokes in suits).

Good luck!

I’ve just found this really tricky too. It has to be someone who you have a personal relationship with and who is on a specific list of jobs.

I have a friend who fit the bill and she verified both of my children’s applications - her verification was accepted for one of my kids but not the other!!!

My neighbour asked her work colleague who done ours in March this year. Very quick now we all have mobile phones. Good luck OP.

Post office might still offer a counter signing service (for a fee). Local MP, police station?

My neighbour is a special needs teacher so we have been very lucky.

The list is really wide/vague. You must know someone who has a job that could count.

• accountant
• airline pilot
• articled clerk of a limited company
• assurance agent of recognised company
• bank or building society official
• barrister
• chairman or director of a limited company
• chiropodist
• commissioner for oaths
• councillor, for example local or county
• civil servant (permanent)
• dentist
• director, manager or personnel officer of a VAT-registered company
• engineer with professional qualifications
• financial services intermediary, for example a stockbroker or insurance broker
• fire service official
• funeral director
• insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company
• journalist
• Justice of the Peace
• legal secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs)
• licensee of a public house
• local government officer
• manager or personnel officer of a limited company
• member, associate or fellow of a professional body
• Member of Parliament
• Merchant Navy officer
• minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science)
• nurse (RGN or RMN)
• officer of the armed services
• optician
• paralegal (certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals)
• person with honours, for example an OBE or MBE
• pharmacist
• photographer (professional)
• police officer
• Post Office official
• president or secretary of a recognised organisation
• Salvation Army officer
• social worker
• solicitor
• surveyor
• teacher or lecturer
• trade union officer
• travel agent (qualified)
• valuer or auctioneer (fellow or associate members of the incorporated society)
• Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

…any of them?

Postman can do it you know - if they've known you long enough.

Are you on Facebook or similar? Would you be willing to put a plea on there? A school mum acquaintance did this and I would happily have signed the passport applications, as known her over 2 years, although someone else offered first.

Someone at the job centre you attend?

Don’t worry about the list of jobs.

It needs to be someone who does one of those jobs, or a similar job or has good standing in the local community.

Most people fall into that latter group.

The days of the person signing needing to be a Dr or a magistrate or similar have long gone, it clearly states on the government website that they have to be able to identify you, a close friend, neighbour, work colleague and they have a passport , also can’t have criminal background, have to be a person of good standing

We're having the same problem for my mum. She's 84 and registered disabled, only going out when I take her out. She has a few friends living nearby but none of them fit the criteria. Otherwise it's just family. We want to take her to France for the day to see her grandfather's war grave but not sure if we're going to be able to because of this. 😢