Irish Passport Witness help

[LetsGoGiants]

Hi

Posting this in sheer desperation.
i live in Belfast and im applying for my first Irish passport, but im struggling to find someone on the list of approved witnesses to complete my form.

i didn’t go to school locally, and dont have children so school principal/teacher aren’t options.

i don’t belong to a church so dont know a member of the clergy

Bank manager said no
Pharmacist said no
GP said no (well I couldn’t get past the receptionist but she said the doctor won’t do it)
Nurse said no
And I’d seen on a few forums people were saying their local PSNI did theirs, but I contacted 2 local stations and they also said no.

i don’t know any of the others on the approved list, I contacted a notary public in the town to see how much it would be but it’s been 3 weeks,

Is my only option to pay a solicitor to do it?

Any advice would be grateful received

A solicitor you have used in the past, when you bought a house, probate for a relative or any other matters. There may be a fee involved but worth a telephone call to see if they would.

Dentist?

Not sure on Irish list but in UK a Company Director can sign is that a possibility

Do you have any friends in those roles?

they don’t have to know you via their role, it can be a friend of a friend who happens to be a teacher- which is what I did.

if you have to pay a solicitor then that may be your only option.

Similar situation! Can I take forms into a Garda station when I’m in Dublin?

It is different down here there is a list of ppl you can get as witness. Usually we go to the local Garda station and whether they know you or not they will sign but as she is up in NI looking for an Irish passport maybe they are not aware of the differences in witness type as its not the same as applying for a british passport.

That is the place we all go to for it ha yep you can for sure.

Or apparently Sinn Fein offices will cheerfully do them. I don’t think you have to know them personally is the key difference from UK passport, but they could def make it easier.

Do witnesses still need to have a landline?

The landline thing was removed decades ago.

SF office is a good idea. I think there is one across from Rock bar on the Falls road?

Yay, I’ll do that then, can anyone recommend a Garda station in Dublin City centre (or north side) for this momentous occasion?

NO WAY, I’m sure it still says it in the guidance as that’s what’s been stumping me! Thanks!

Do you have a vet? Or try your local councillor? Local solicitor or notary will do it for a charge.
Its hard to get someone in the UK to get their head round the differences in countersigning. The UK is testifying they know you, unlike the Irish one which is just to say your photo is accurate. But people don't always understand that.

I have thankfully been to very few of these establishments over my years here but if you are in the city the Store street station seems.... popular shall we say. Honestly pop in to any and explain the bloody brits up north wont help and Irish colleen out and you would be surprised.

meh make one up. NOBODY uses landlines.

We ended up getting a notary public to countersign DD’s Irish passport last year. It was around £50 if I remember correctly? Worth the money to minimise fuss - who on earth sits beside a landline all day in this day and age?! I’m a physio so know plenty of doctors/nurses etc who could’ve signed but being unable to use a mobile number was the main barrier we encountered. He’s in south Belfast - I can PM you his number if you want? I rang him and he was able to sort us out the next day.

It was most definitely still a thing when we were going through the application process this time last year. Bloody nightmare!

Nope don’t do this, the passport office definitely do use them, and if they can’t get hold of your witness they will send your application back.

having said that, I did give the school landline for our witness. I then kept an eye on my application and when it got to the final step I contacted their webchat, said look it’s the school holidays soon and no one will be there, can I give you a mobile? They agreed and phoned the next day- although not sure which number they used, they may have used landline, my witness just said they’d phoned.

so I’d probably use both if you can.

Thanks for all the replies

@Cappuccino5 that would be amazing, I don’t know anyone who still has a landline these days!

Sent you a PM!

I think solicitors charge is nominal. 10 or 20 euros. If there is one near you I think it might be easier to just pay it and get it sorted asap

DD is a junior doctor in Belfast and says she has witnessed a whole load of forms, mainly members of her sports club. The list is odd but we reckoned it was professions with a national registration number, ie are checkable. Sinn Fein offices being the outlier. Which led to a discussion of who would and who wouldn’t be comfortable about going into SF offices.

Good luck.

Hello. I wondered if anyone might be able to help me. I am looking in to applying for passports for myself and kids. For the witness it seems to say that the witness should use their professional stamp to sign. Or failing that should supply their business card? Is this really a thing? I was going to get my friend who is a teacher to do it but I don’t think she has either these things.

also trying to clarify if a landline is still required

Surely the school will have an official stamp? Landline definitely still a requirement - you can chance it with a mobile, works for some but not for others so it’s really just at the discretion of each individual officer.

So ifind a school teacher who will witness? And get them to stamp it? Also, it says the application form is to be witnessed with a stamp. But the form is online? Or is there a step at the end where you print out a sign it then send it off?

You print it off. Calling it an online service is quite misleading in my opinion - you have to send off a mountain of paperwork and supporting documents