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

Perhaps they aren't aware who can sign.

Do you know anyone who works in security like
door staff / security guards
they can sign as long as they have a passport

my son works for the NHS security department and he often signs his friends passport

I'm one of those who always tries! Having signed for loads of people and being in a job that isn't on the list (a niche profession), I always think I'll be able to give really helpful advice.

Not once has an op come back and thanked anyone for the suggestions or said it helped and they got a signature from a neighbour/hairdresser/friend's wife who owns her own company...

It's by the by on this one though, they don't even need a passport 😂

your old manager from wherever you last worked?

friend who runs their own business?

could a hairdresser do it?

Have a think OP bound to be some one.

Just about anyone can sign them.

It's a bit of a joke really.

Who determines whether a person "is of good standing in the community" ?

Personally I think it is something that should be done via a doctor and they should be made to offer that service. Then it would actually be a worthwhile check and would ensure everyone had someone to sign.

From the list it is also a bit of a joke how warrant officers and petty officers can sign, but an army seargent who has spent 20 years busting a gut in protecting and serving the country can't.

The home office really needs to sort out the way they describe this because so many people get so worked up about it because they don't know anyone well enough on the prescribed list of professions - which are really just a list of possible examples.

You need someone who has a passport and is broadly in "good standing". So this isn't the time to ask Uncle Jimmy who has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years. A friend or neighbour with a passport is fine. And it's all done online these days so it doesn't even need to be someone you're physically close to which makes it even easier. Here's a more normal list of possible examples as long as they have a UK passport of their own:

A neighbour who has been working and paying tax in this country.
A friend who has been working and paying tax in this country.
A distant relative who has been working and paying tax in this country.
A parent of one of your children's friends who has been working/paying tax in this country.

@GasPanic Doctors have got more pressing things to do.

Everyone has a friend or colleague or acquaintance. The criteria is huge.

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, as you have helpfully included a list. But it is extremely difficult to find a countersignatory for a passport. I don't know anyone who is employed in any of the jobs on the list, which is the first hurdle. If you do happen to know someone "of good standing" (which is rather outdated and class-based in my opinion), they have to have known you for at least two years, and they must be a friend/neighbour/colleague, not just someone who has known you in their professional capacity. Then the next hurdle, they must have a UK passport themselves. I can understand how the OP is struggling.

Essentially, people have to lie. I had an old manager randomly ask me to sign her adult daughter's passport application (as I'd never met the daughter, I declined; but I imagine she would have simply asked someone else).

There used to be something online advising that if you didn't know anyone who could countersign, you must write a letter with your application, explaining why you couldn't find a countersignatory and enclosing other photographic ID like a license. But I think you should just call the Passport Adviceline for current advice OP.

I asked my child’s teacher to sign mine.

A PP has provided a list of suitable professionals but most of us don’t actually know anyone who has a profession on that list.
So unless your doctor or dentist can do it (which many won’t now) then you’re pretty screwed and it’s time that list included other roles too.

I don't know anyone who is employed in any of the jobs on the list, which is the first hurdle
But the list is only suggestions. Every time these threads happen the OP will list their friends' jobs and say they are "only" X, Y and Z so can't sign. Multiple people will reply and say "Y and Z are fine. Have you even tried with them?"

OP will then disappear. Every time. It's weird.

But that list is just examples. I think pretty much anyone with a passport and who knows you can sign now, unless you are a known criminal!

It wouldn't be the Doctors that do it though. It would be the admin staff. It would be up to them to check the address correlates with the NHS number and details and that the person matches the photo.

For this check or any check to be worthwhile it has to be standardised, and the only standardised contact people have is probably with their doctor.

Otherwise it isn't really worth the paper it is written on and they should just do away with it completely.

These threads keep popping up and every single time people suggest their child's teacher.
Please don't.
Many school Heads forbid their staff to do it. I would not for a start, although I do it in my professional capacity for personal friends and their children.

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, as you have helpfully included a list. But it is extremely difficult to find a countersignatory for a passport. I don't know anyone who is employed in any of the jobs on the list, which is the first hurdle.

This is why I think the home office needs to get smarter about this and realise that too many people think this list is definitive and then they get all twitchy about it so they need to be smarter. Here are 10 other professions that I 100% guarantee would be totally fine that I've just come up with off the top of my head by thinking through the people I know locally.

PR or marketing professional who is employed or works regularly as a freelancer.
Gym instructor or personal trainer
Committee member for a PTA
Volunteer at any registered charity
Hygienist
NHS employee of any type from janitor to radiologist to heart surgeon
Electrician
Plumber
Personal Assistant
Educational consultant

I can come up with another 10, I'm sure, if you need me to.

In fact, I can't help myself, here are some more:

Driving instructor
Contractor/builder (assuming it's not cash in hand only)
Chiropractor
Beauty therapist/hair dresser (again, assuming not cash in hand although I suspect it doesn't really matter)
Vet
Graphic designer
Musician (professional)
Car salesperson
Retail worker

Do you know anyone who works in the public sector at all? Nurse? anyone who works for the nhs, police, council, school....? Anyone who owns a business, that pays VAT - shop, hairdresser, nail technician?

@GerbilsForever24 totally agree. And I'll add in admin worker for many companies. I'm HE admin. Not on the list, successfully signed 3 times.

Childminder?

Your last employer?

Are you sure absolutely no-one you went to school with is on the list? Not one single nurse or teacher or similar on your social media?

I find that hard to believe.

A neighbour or a school mum?

Does she see a nurse or podiatrist? Visit a local library? Live in sheltered housing with a warden? Have neighbours who fit the bill?

To the person who thought travel insurance would be prohibitive, I'm sure I've taken travel insurance out when booking short trips with both Eurotunnel and P & O ferries for someone in their 80s for a very reasonable price. I also booked it with Easyjet (Mondial insurance at the time) when booking tickets and a hotel. I know the name of the insurer as we actually had to claim on that policy. They were amazing.

I do use mine in day to day life, but passport approvals is a definite second use. I did 3 last week alone!

People do get confused with the list that mentions things like Doctors and MPs, etc. Not any doctor or MP could sign it. The first condition to signing the passport is that you must be known to them. The second condition is that you have to be from the list.

Are you still in touch with any ex-colleagues/bosses that might be able to help? I agree a shoutout on facebook might work if you're on there and have old school friends, etc, on there. If I saw a post like that I'd definitely help.

No they don't. They need to have known you for at least 2 years.

My old schoolfriends I don't see often, but I'd still recognise them, despite not having seen some of them for many, many years.

There should be a paid service that can look at your birth certificate, driving license, bank account statement, letters etc and tick a box that says you are who you say you are.

It's weird that you can get all kinds of products and services like mortgages and loans and cars etc but not a passport unless you have some one to sign a photo of you.

unless you're a complete recluse i find it hard to believe that you don't know a single person that fits one of those categories

The people posting these threads most probably are. If you have barely any friends and rarely go out, you're probably also not the chatty kind, the person who has lots of acquaintance who'd be willing to help you (or even remember you! If you're kind of forgettable and barely speak to anyone).

If you're pretty much a hermit you're also likely going to struggle with the necessary confidence and ability to go asking random neighbors, friends of friends, (old teachers!?), people you used to know years ago but have had no contact with since etc for this favour of signing your passport. I'd feel like a total CF asking a favour of someone I basically don't know and I couldn't do it. Especially when a lot of them are going to ignore the request if it's online or knock you back if it's in person, because they barely know you, don't really remember you or CBA to give out all their contact details on a form for someone who isn't part of their life any more (if you ever were!).

It's also a big assumption that everyone has family they can ask. I've got no DC and I'm estranged from my toxic family. I also don't know who my family are friends with (if they have any) because I've never met their friends even when we were in touch.

Though over the years I've heard of a few passports getting countersigned by people who have never even met the applicant, doing a favour for a friend of a friend or for their work colleagues adult DC. I guess those people aren't so bothered about the rules saying you have to know the person you're signing for.