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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

passport hell

262 replies

tattyrose567 · 04/11/2017 00:13

Really really desperate and fusturated I have wanted to get a passport for so long my mum did every single other sibliing but mine grrrr and now i really need one but have literally no one to counter sign!! the doctors no longer do it and I've literally exhausted every option what can I do ?? Guessing I will just never ever be able to get one feel like I'm being denied something and will never be able to go abroad I'm 23 with a nearly 2 year old :////

OP posts:
pret · 04/11/2017 10:14

Do you have any friends? What jobs do they do? I can sign passport applications, it’s amazing how many people can.

Or be like my old neighbour. She signed her own with the name of someone she knew at the post office ShockShockShock

MrsPear · 04/11/2017 10:15

This thread proves that many on mn live in an mc bubble. You have to know the person for two years so offering someone you never met on Facebook £100 to countersign is against the law surely?!
Can self employed people sign? If so most construction workers are due to tax reasons. Some also have limited companies.
We got lucky h's friend married up and she is a shrink so we get her to do it. In fact I have asked her in advance the last time I saw her about ds2's passport.

LightastheBreeze · 04/11/2017 10:15

Hopefully I won't upset anyone here as it is not very PC, but could you and your daughter attend the local church and then the minister could sign in 2 years

Engorged · 04/11/2017 10:16

I think a lot of people may not know someone is a civil servant either. We have plumbers and electricians and carpenters working on one of the sites who are employed civil servants, but that's not their career so unless you knew the company they worked for you wouldn't know.

Cheeseontoastie · 04/11/2017 10:18

You've never taken your daughter to the dentist for a check up??

Ellisandra · 04/11/2017 10:19

MrsPear - please tell me you haven't just said "married up". FFS. Are you 80?

expatinscotland · 04/11/2017 10:19

It's an outdated and utterly stupid system.

daisypond · 04/11/2017 10:20

pret I don't see how your neighbour could have countersigned her own in someone else's name, as the countersignatory also has to give their own passport details.

Jasminedes · 04/11/2017 10:21

Our neighbours did ours - they are teachers and had lived next door 2 years. Sorry OP, this must be such a pain. I wouldn't offer anyone money to do it though, as that looks really bad. If there is no one who has known you two years (or knew you growing up) then they can't do it. If GP or HV have known you two years, or any other professional who is refusing, I wonder if it is worth going to your local MP's surgery to explain your plight and see if they can get involved to help fight your corner.

LightastheBreeze · 04/11/2017 10:23

It is absolutely ridiculous that OP is probably going to have to foster a relationship to get her passport countersigned

Chewbecca · 04/11/2017 10:29

OP - can you tell us about your lifestyle at all so we can help spot a suitable person? How do you spend your days?

PoppyPopcorn · 04/11/2017 10:30

You have to know the person for two years so offering someone you never met on Facebook £100 to countersign is against the law surely?!

Course it is. Not sure who'd be breaking the law though, the person asking or the person accepting the money. Or maybe both.

Comparisons with other countries aren't really justified either, except perhaps Ireland. Other European countries require all adults to have ID cards issued by the government and it is these which are used to establish your identity in most official situations. Passports are easier to obtain as lots of the ground work in working out who you are and whether you're actually entitled to be in the country and have a passport has been done already.

The situation in which the OP finds herself is extremely unusual if she genuinely knows nobody who could fall into any of the categories on the very long list. Agree that in this case another call to teh Passport Office would be appropriate.

daisypond · 04/11/2017 10:31

How long have you lived in your current place? Could your landlord sign?

Mummyoflittledragon · 04/11/2017 10:31

You’ve been trying since you were 16. Sorry I don’t think you tried very hard. You’ve had 7 years to foster a very casual 2year relationship with someone. I understand you wouldn’t have thought to do that at 16. But you’re 23 now.

moonamanda · 04/11/2017 10:34

I understand why GPs wont do it but I'm surprised that the HV refused.
Do you have a social worker OP or know the Practice Nurse at the surgery well?

TidyDancer · 04/11/2017 10:59

OP, I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through and that you’ve found some of the responses harsh. I can understand it’s difficult in the circumstances for you to find somebody to counter sign. The only thing I can think of to suggest is making friends at a toddler group possibly and having one of them sign the passport once they’ve known you long enough.

I agree the system is a bit ridiculous tbh, and certainly not foolproof.

lljkk · 04/11/2017 11:07

Someone I know is a civil servant but I didn't know that about her until we had very long conversations on the train. She might not be permanent, either.

I sympathise with OP. We struggled to think of more than 1 or 2 people.

How can a shopkeeper sign if they only know your face, they have no idea what is your legal name. A lot of relationships are like that, they don't really know you they just know your face and maybe a first name, possibly only a nickname.

At age 16, OP would have known lots of teachers who knew her name for sure... no?

C8H10N4O2 · 04/11/2017 11:15

I'd love to know where are all these shopkeepers , HCPs etc who are happy to provide all their personal information and countersign a passport and vouch for someone with whom they have very intermittent contact.

If you move in circles with large numbers of signatories its difficult to grasp how difficult it can be, mostly for people at the bottom end of the economic heap.

hmmwhatatodo · 04/11/2017 11:17

Out of interest, what are all themany questions that the passport office ask when they ring the person who signed the form?

PoppyPopcorn · 04/11/2017 11:24

Haven't been asked myself but I would imagine they'd want to know details about hte person applying for the passport - full name, how old they are, where they live, whether they've had a passport before, how you know them, how long you've known them for....

The Home Office can be pretty thorough when deciding whether someone qualifies for a passport or not...

daisypond · 04/11/2017 11:27

The countersignatory for one of my DD's passports was contacted. I'd filled in a passport form for her when she was a baby. The passport office wanted to double-check how long the countersignatory had known me for.

C8H10N4O2 · 04/11/2017 11:29

Out of interest, what are all themany questions that the passport office ask when they ring the person who signed the form?

I suspect it varies, but I can sign these forms and have been called. On one occasion I was asked some fairly specific questions about when I met the person, how I met them, the level of interaction etc. They were quite friendly about it but I was surprised at the detail being asked. On another occasion it was more about verifying my own details.

ShoesHaveSouls · 04/11/2017 11:31

I got a random call when renewing my DS's passport - they wanted me to confirm my relationship to him, his age and date of birth. I imagine the questions vary - they often just want to check you are who you say you are, and genuinely countersigned, and genuinely know the child.

When we'd just moved house to a brand new area, I need to apply for DS1's first passport, I had to actually post the application form/photo to an old friend who was a doctor, for her to countersign, and then post back to me - because we literally hadn't known anyone in the area for 2yrs.

JsOtherHalf · 04/11/2017 11:37

Part of the issue might be the counter signatory having to write their own passport number in the application. If you only know someone professionally, they could be very wary of doing that.

One way round it could be completing the application yourself, and giving it to the person to complete their details and then then post it.

If you were ever in care, I think the Local Authority can have a duty of care until the age of 25?

1Mother20152015 · 04/11/2017 11:51

It is nothing like as easy as people are saying. Lots of people don't know these kinds of people. I haven't been to my GP for 12 years for example. Don't have children at school any more. In my own case I am a professional so I know others but lots of people do not. It is also very intrusive to be asked and I don't think I would even do it for £100 actually given the disruption of having a caller, breaking off from busy work or family life etc. I have done it for a few neighbours I genuinely know but I don't like doing it or being asked.

I don't know what system we could put in its place however, not easily as you want someone to swear this person is who they say they are on pain of the person swearing losing their whole career and life (that is the risk I take when I sign these things) and they must have an awful lot to lose, be able to be checked up on as are registered on a professional register etc.