Mistake by countersignatory on passport form - will it be rejected?

[MGMidget]

I have a fast track appointment in just under a week’s time. The countersignatory has returned the form to me with a mistake in their section which they have crossed out. Unfortunately they have not initialled it although it is obvious what has happened -they wrote the surname in the wrong place so had to cross it out and rewrite in section below. I am wondering how strict the Passport office are and if the form will be rejected. Has anyone had a similar experience to this and what happened please?

They supposedly contact the countersignatory anyway so could presumably check with them regarding the mistake. My DH and the countersignatory think I am making a fuss about nothing and should just take the form to the appointment and it will be fine. However, it took me days and days of trying online to get a fast track appointment so I dont want the form to be rejected when I get there and to have to start again! Also, have searched for info on this on websites and there are unofficial sites saying that only three character mistakes are allowed so does this mean only three individual letters can be wrong, not a whole word??

Could anyone shed some light please?

Thank you!

Can't you redo the form or put the initials on?

Countersignatory is very busy and my DH refuses to meet up with him to do it again! I am stuck at the moment to find another countersignatory in time. My usual ones are not available! I may be able to persuade countersignatory to redo the form if I meet him at a suitable time (it means travelling a two hour round tripto his workplace.). DH works just down the road from him. I am trying the passport office enquiries number but I have heard of people being on hold for hours to get through so may have to hang up as have my daughter with me!

Does your daughter go to school or nursery? Teachers can be counter signatories.

I’ve had rejected by the port office before when the countersignatory had made a mistake and not corrected it properly. I think you may need a new one, sorry.

Thank you for you answers. My DD and DS are at school. Passport is for DS who changed school last September so unfortunately none of the teachers have known him for long enough and its been nearly a year since he saw teachers at his old school (and he is changing quickly in physical appearance as he is a teenager). So sadly I am caught in situation where I dont have many options at the moment. My friends who know him are either not working at the moment (some are mums who have given up ‘professional jobs’ or dont have a British or Irish passport. So Iam struggling!

Worth checking if some of your former professional friends can sign - eg used to be a nurse
The list of who can is very broad.
But agree with pp that you do need it redone. Might be ok, but might not. Worth a two hour drive to be sure if that's what it takes...

GP / Nurse at the practice known you all for a while ?
GP may charge , I (nurse ) never do

I assume if you're applying for Fast Track you want the passport to use over the summer rather than because you're doing house admin...... in which case I wouldn't risk it. The passport office is probably less picky than the Post Office check and send but it's not worth the risk.

After two years of pandemic and most appointments telephone based there is no chance of anyone at the practice being able to identify my son! Even at his old school the headmaster has been replaced and teachers come and go. Good suggestion on friends past qualifications. A teacher friend cant do it though as she has give up teaching to do a phd. Of the others I am thinking. Again, after two years of pandemic I have seen many people as often as I would normally have done so will have to try ringing round!

That's fine. It says in the booklet to cross the mistake.

To be honest I'm utterly disgusted by HMPO. My sons first passport is still waiting to be processed and it's been in over 10 weeks. You can't talk to anyone and they are so unhelpful via email. Your application won't be rejected. They'll email and say you need supply a new form if there's a problem.

I've had a scout leader do them for DSs before. He knew both me and them.

Retired teachers are allowed to sign
Get your friend to do it.

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

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I am updating in case this benefits others. I had a call back from the passport office (took about 4-5 hours after I left my number on their automated system when asked to do so). I was told I need a new form as although only one word is crossed out it counts as six mistakes since each individual character inside one of those small boxes is one mistake. You are only allowed 3 mistakes. Also the initials of the countersignatory have to be inside the boxes not above as that would invalidate the form. Also, I am not entirely sure if this would be necessary as the adviser got a bit confused by my questions but I think each individual letter/character that is crossed out must have initials next to it (in a text box) so if a whole word is crossed out the initials have to be squeezed into the white part of each individual box, not just one set of initials for a word crossed out. In practice maybe they would be more lenient perhaps but the adviser suggested that if a mistake is made it is safer to start a new form!

As we have a fast track appointment I cant risk it being rejected and even if we weren’t in a hurry I wouldnt want to risk it at the moment because of the horror stories about the very slow processing times.

I have now arranged for a friend on maternity leave from a professional job to countersign the next form.

Needing a countersignature can be fraught with risk as it is the part of the form that you have to rely on someone else to fill out carefully! I shall be so glad when my children are old enough that a countersignatory isnt necessary and they can be recognised from their previous passport photos!

My son's application was correct in every respect and it still didn't stop HMPO kicking the application into the long grass and doing nothing with it for 10 weeks. They are so overwhelmed at the moment, if there's a reason to reject something, they will. I think you need to re-do the application, OP

I'd have more sympathy for HMPO if their helplines enabled you to speak to someone. They've got an utterly appalling system. And under no circumstances should a passport take over 10 weeks.

Crimsonripple, there are Facebook groups devoted to the struggles people are having with getting their passport at the moment. Some people are waiting a lot longer than 10 weeks and having to turn up in person 48 or 24 hours before their flight and queue to try and get it processed (and probably pay an upgrade fee). It must be very stressful if you are in that position. And yes, passports shouldn't take over ten weeks!

Regarding your comment on the helplines, I did get to speak to someone on their helpline by leaving a phone number when invited to do so and they called back several hours later. Not ideal for everyone but if you are able to answer the phone at any time in a day you can leave a message first thing in the morning to hopefully get a call back later that day.

I had one returned once, when the mistake wasn't initialled.

If you go to a passport photo approved photo shop you can apply online with the code from them, then the counter signatory can do their part via email and not have to meet up. It was so quick and painless to get my two boys' passports done a few weeks ago (I got them back in under 3 weeks).

Was just going to say this - countersigning online is very easy, I did it for a friend's child recently. Though sounds like you're all sorted OP, hope your application goes smoothly now.