To think that it is unnecessarily difficult to successfully complete a passport form.

[Elvisina]

I've recently finally had to admit that I have completely lost my passport somewhere in our house and as there's an important family event abroad in mid Feb I need to get a new one quickly. I also need to get my one year old Ds's first passport sorted. So...

Determined to do everything correctly, I got photos of me and my son done professionally, at a place recommended to me by the Post office, and then last night I turned off the telly, sat down with my black ballpoint pens (which I had to get from the supermarket on the way home) and slowly and carefully filled out the forms. Seriously, I could not have given this task any more concentration. My DH helped and checked through them too.

This morning I drove to my teacher friend's house and she countersigned the forms and the photos. However, when we got to the PO (quite a long trip into town) the applications were rejected because my friend had not put our middle names on the back of the photos. Ok, so desperate to get them sent today I called another teacher friend who I knew was near, filled the forms all out again and got her to countersign the forms and the photos using out FULL names. She made a slight mistake with the date on the back of a photo of my DS so she started again on a new photo (my last one left out of 4). We drove back to town and the application was rejected AGAIN because I needed one photo of my DS that is NOT signed on the back. WHY??!!!! I can understand if none of the photos were signed - I get the point of that - but why on earth does it matter that the back of one of the photos is left blank?!

So we had to go back to the professional photo place and get more photos of my DS done and I now have to find the time around work to go back into town to the post office. I know it's a massive overreaction but I was so frustrated with the 'Sorry, we don't make the rules' attitude that I actually welled up a little bit (how embarrassing). I did find the tone a bit interrogative too as I had to keep explaining that no I hadn't got a police incident number for my lost passport as I had just LOST IT AT HOME!!!! AHHHH!

Sorry - just needed to rant really! I know there are much bigger problems to have.

It sounds like a right pain in the arse but I am actually glad that they are so vigilant re applications.

They scan one photo onto the passport itself as a digital picture so perhaps black ink on the back of it would show through? So it may need to be blank at the back because of it.

Calming breaths. It'll be sorted soo

Well it's not actually the forms that's the problem is it? Your problems seem to all be with photo countersignatute which to be fair they do give full instruction (including the required wording) in their guidance. PITA it may be but it aint their fault about your photos.

I thought you only had to have ONE photo signed. The PO people are known to get things wrong they are not foolproof

Yeh, you're right - it was the photos and actually the digital scanning point does make sense. I guess I am being unreasonable really but I just honestly don't know how the average person manages to get these applications right first time! It's shameful really as I'm a teacher with a Year 11 form and I've spent the last month moaning at them for not fillinf out their college application forms correctly.

After several glasses of wine I feel a lot calmer.