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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Countersignatory on passport renewal.

149 replies

phoenix1973 · 23/01/2017 15:16

I've posted here as it's busier.

I'm renewing my child's passport (U.K.).

I don't know who to ask to countersign her application.

Doctor and dentist don't have uk passports. So they can't sign. I'm a temp so I don't know anyone who can sign.

Do you have any suggestions on who I can ask?

OP posts:
Nabootique · 23/01/2017 15:44

And if you're a bin man how many professionals do you know who would vouch for you? Or an office cleaner or a shop worker... it is definitely discrimatory.

Really? No, I mean REALLY? Aren't they allowed to be friends with lawyers/doctors/teachers then? Or even have a doctor?

Nabootique · 23/01/2017 15:45

FWIW when I was an office cleaner I had a passport and I didn't find it difficult to get signed. Nor when I worked in a shop.

Lovewineandchocs · 23/01/2017 15:46

Do you know any solicitors you might have used for conveyancing etc?

Motherfuckers · 23/01/2017 15:48

You don't usually need a signature to renew a child's passport.

BertrandRussell · 23/01/2017 15:48

Have a think about your friends. What do they do?

BarbaraofSeville · 23/01/2017 15:50

I am a professional. My DPs brother is a bin man (well he is a HGV driver and his current HGV of choice is a bin wagon). Because DP and I are not married, I signed DPs brother's passport.

I don't think it is particularly unusual for bin men to mix outside their circles if they don't want to pay their doctor, dentist or whoever a small sum that is dwarfed considerably by the passport renewal fee, or indeed the costs of travelling abroad.

It seems a bit mean for teachers not to do it. Not every child in the class will have a passport and even if they do, they won't all need renewing at the same time, so they must have to do one every couple of months on average at most.

MrsJayy · 23/01/2017 15:51

Dh drives vans and stuff he can sign because he is a supervisor. A neighbour signed my last one she is a senior care assistant it is mainly how long you have known person really but a lot of people can sign it you just need to think outside the box.

Wolpertinger · 23/01/2017 15:51

If you were a bin man, your boss would be able to do it. Ditto shop worker. The list is long and it also adds 'person of good standing in their community'.

Doctors are not on the list on purpose to avoid appointments being taking up by people asking them to do it. You can only use a doctor who is a friend, not your registered GP.

WyfOfBathe · 23/01/2017 15:52

Your boss or a manager at the temp agency?
Owner of a local shop?
Practice nurse or health visitor?
Owner of a different business you use regularly, e.g. car mechanic?

talksensetome · 23/01/2017 15:53

I am an assistant accountant and I have signed, you don't have to be top level professional, just a member of a regulatory body usually.

WyfOfBathe · 23/01/2017 15:55

Doctors are not on the list on purpose to avoid appointments being taking up by people asking them to do it. You can only use a doctor who is a friend, not your registered GP.
Really? This government doc on counter-signatories has doctor as the first one on the list. My doctor's surgery does have a notice in reception saying that they won't sign passport applications, but that's just the policy of that surgery.

PunjanaTea · 23/01/2017 15:55

Well a lot of bin men or women will know people who work at the council who can sign for them.

Anyway OP as someone mentioned above I'm not sure we needed a signature for DS's passport renewal so it could be a none issue.

MrsJayy · 23/01/2017 15:55

Mum worked in a spar her manager signed hers

Wtfdoipick · 23/01/2017 15:56

And if you're a bin man how many professionals do you know who would vouch for you

Considering that bin men work on behalf of the local authority even if not directly employed by them finding someone to counter sign a passport would not be difficult.

MrsJayy · 23/01/2017 15:57

I think signature is needed for the photo if a child is unrecogniseable (sp) in the renewal so kid might have been 1 first passport renewal at 6

user1484603141 · 23/01/2017 15:59

The lady who owns our fish and chip shop signed for my children.

C8H10N4O2 · 23/01/2017 16:00

It seems a bit mean for teachers not to do it

When my kids were under age teachers would oftenineligible because they need to know and identify the parents of the child for two years.
Also they have to supply passport numbers - I can understand reticence on handing that out to all and sundry.

Pretty much any member of a professional body can sign as can trade union officials and most public servants. List of examples here:

www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications/accepted-occupations-for-countersignatories

Anyone in IT can countersign if they also have BCS membership - don't even have to be chartered any more.

Motherfuckers · 23/01/2017 16:01

I didn't even get another signature when my 5 year old renewed from her newborn passport. That is ridiculous though, so I guess it has all changed.

Petronius16 · 23/01/2017 16:01

I sign for neighbours - academic letters after my name.

The key issue, I think, is the question about how long you have known the person whose passport it is.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 23/01/2017 16:02

It's much better than it used to be,I'm sure it used to be so done with a degree in a professional role- now at least it's manager of some description.

I think it's mean to stop teachers doing it,it takes all of 2 mins to fill in the form.

tabulahrasa · 23/01/2017 16:03

My DP drives a van, he can sign them twice over because he's an engineer and it's his business.

I can because I'm a trustee for a local charity and so listed at companies house as a director.

My friend can because she works in a call centre...for HMRC, civil serving.

None of us are actually 'professionals'

pinkmagic1 · 23/01/2017 16:03

Countersignature is required for child renewals age under 12 I believe.

BarbarianMum · 23/01/2017 16:03

My colleague signed for me last time. She's an ecologist so professional but not on the "prescribed" list. No one objected.

NewPantsforaNewYear · 23/01/2017 16:05

I don't think you need a counter signatory to renew a passport. Read the guidance on being unrecognisable. You really have to look very different to need it. I was advised that my son renewing his from age 7 when he was 13 didn't need to be countersigned.

kaitlinktm · 23/01/2017 16:05

It seems a bit mean for teachers not to do it. Not every child in the class will have a passport and even if they do, they won't all need renewing at the same time, so they must have to do one every couple of months on average at most.

Not in secondary where I could have up to 9 classes plus my tutor group - I got sick of being asked.

Also, as a PP said, you are signing to say you have known their parents for the statutory number of years - how can you even say that if they are in Year 7, or if you didn't teach them until Year 10? Then there is the problem of giving your passport number.

There were some years I honestly felt that in the summer term some parents and pupils thought I had nothing else to do.

I was glad when my passport expired so I couldn't do it.

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