To wonder how I'll get my DC's passport legally?!

[justwanttolookgood]

I don't know anyone who can counter sign!

And on top of that, I don't know anyone professionally who has known me for over 6/12 months really. GP included. The person needs to have known the parent for over 2 years.

What am I going to do?

A renewal doesn't need a countersignature unless your appearance has changed drastically

An old friend of mine has a patent who was a magistrate, he has signed our family passports. I’ve not seen him for about 20 years but just pop things in the post to him. I’d never have known he was a magistrate as he had a fairly regular job until one day friend mentioned it casually!
I bet there are plenty of magistrates anout that people aren’t aware of.

My DH has had issues though in the past-he lived abroad for ages and lost touch with lots of people but he eventually tracked someone down (fellow business owner).

I do think the list needs updating, luckily I know loads of people as work in HE but appreciate thats unusual!

I'm not sure what personal details have stopped some people countersigning. A friend at work has just countersigned my kids' photos (I'm a civil servant) and she just needed to put her name, passport number and work address (plus info about in what capacity she knew me and for how long) - none of this strikes me as too personal.

Are any of your Mum and Dad's friends (who know you) eligible to sign? It's not a big favour to ask, is it?

Lady I think putting your passport number down seems quite personal, out of all the details you've listed she had to give

The passport Number is because only someone with a British passport can countersign.
Otherwise there is nothing to prevent you just signing it in a fake name yourself?

I usually get the counter signature as the last thing, so its just about to go in the envelop and sent off. So it is quite obvious I'm not going to copy someones passport number (not that I'd ever thought anyone could think I would until now).

And I would never countersign a form unless every single part was fully completed first and the person in front of me and I had known them for 2 years and the photo looks like them etc etc etc. No one should ever sign any form or document ever of any kind with bits left blank/ unless it is fully completed.

The person signing must either be a professional (in the list of jobs provided.

OR

A person of good standing in the community.

THIS COULD BE ANYONE. Providing they haven’t been to prison/in trouble with the police.

Have you got a neighbour? Have they known you for more than two years? Another mum from DC school? A friend?

What is it people think will be done with their passport number? Surely if the you know the person you’re countersigninf well, you trust them, when you suddenly realise it asks for your name and address and passport number you’re going to say no!? Why?!

Passport numbers can be used in ID theft. The full number - much longer than what most people think is the passport number - a number right at the bottom of the passport page is used in ID checks and that kind of thing.

"Good standing" seems to mean someone with qualifications which can be checked and who might lose their career if they mis-sign. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118585/countersignatories.pdf

If I could countersign passport photos and no I can't even though I am not a criminal or have in trouble with the police, I would only sign people's I knew, not anyone who just rocked up to my corner shop, hairdressers, or whatever, who I barely recognised which is what a lot of posters are telling OP to do.

The people I would ask to sign mine are some people at work who maybe qualify, a Guide leader (this probably counts??,) that I'm friendly with or my dentist who's surgery I seem to practically live at and hope that one of those will not mind signing it

When i needed my daughters passport done the only person i could think of was my GP but she was on holiday. Was a couple months before she started school so didnt know any teachers and wasnt working at the time so didnt have any professional colleagues. Asked my local pharmacist as i used to see her all the time and she did it for me. They do random checks though and wrote to her asking to confirm my daughers photos and to double check she knew us, this delayed application a few days as they put it in hold until she responded

Because they haven't known you for 2 years. So while they can verify the pivot looks like you, you could be anyone. They need to know you are who you say you are

it's a system that works fine in other countries, go to town hall with photo and documents, get passport. I don't think the town hall employees know everyone who comes to them unless it's a tiny village. So we could keep the system we have but if you don't know anyone who can countersign you just go to passport office and get it done.

it's a system that works fine in other countries, go to town hall with photo and documents, get passport.

Those are mostly countries where you will have had an ID card of some sort in an unbroken chain back to your teenage years, or earlier. The concern is preventing people who are in the country illegally from obtaining passports which are, in the UK, proof of right to work. Since we don't have any photo ID, it's tricky to deal with that. The loophole identified in the Day of the Jackal (applying with the birth certificate of a child who died young) was closed recently, although not recently enough to have not been used by the police for undercover officers, but there are other pretty obvious loopholes if you think about it for a few minutes.

Hence the recent requirement for a face-to-face interview if you are applying for a first adult passport having not previously had a passport as a child. Cynics might say that this is a last desperate attempt to make use of the ludicrously complex infrastructure that was put in place for the ID Card debacle under the Labour governments of the noughties, but it is claimed by credible people to have substantially reduced the level of fraudulent applications. That said, it's one thing for people in London to go to an interview in London, quite another for people in the highlands to go to Glasgow.