Don’t have anyone to sign passport

[BlueBurys]

I really want to take my children abroad but don’t have anyone to do their passports. Has anyone been in this situation and what did you do? (Don’t need any suggestions of who can sign it I’m aware and have looked through the list but don’t have anyone that can do it) is there anything else that can be done if you’ve been in this situation?

Normally there is someone though. Over the years I’ve had various people sign for dc’s passports I have four and never need doing at same time. Often just another parent but one I chat to as kids hang out.

OP you could always play the long game and start attending church. My kids got Irish passports and we don’t really know anyone unrelated over there. They are catholic though ( and attend mass) so the priest was happy to sign for them.

Dentists absolutely can sign; google it.
It's not solely about 'socialising'; someone who runs the local newsagent or offie can sign, being a business person and therefore 'of good standing'.

But that's your normal. You think that because you can normally find someone. Others can.

I have been doing school run for 18 years. But I litterly don't talk to anyone to be fair a few months back I didn't think I had anyone that could sign . But that's a recent change. But people are talking like everyone must know someone that's not always the case

@Katrinawaves @IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle well in this case they did countersign without knowing me. I found them on Google offering this service with zero proviso for knowing me, made an appointment, turned up, got the pics signed, paid and sent it off.
They are a long established practice in a busy part of London and still there.

@Maviaz as I said I am not British and MY embassy had that stipulation.

In 18 years of school run drudgery someone will be able to verify that you are who you say you are. You don’t have to talk to them or know them prior to asking if they can countersign a child’s passport application.

This is a very strange post. What do you mean about opening the floodgates? There is not an infinite number of kids in the country, and adult passports last for 10 years before they need renewing. If you do agree to do it, you aren't suddenly going to have a million others to sign.

All they could have been signing was that the photographs were a true representation of the person they had seen. That has absoultely nothing to do with the issue here. UK applicants for UK passports don't need to go anywhere near an embassy.

That is not correct. The countersignatory needs to have known you for at least 2 years. The countersignatory needs to be in the position where if they were shown your photo and asked who it was they can say "that's Jane Bloggs"

You can travel to the Republic of Ireland without a passport - a birth cert is good enough for the kids.
That's abroad and could do for the next year or two until you find someone you can ask to sign.

I think that must be pretty rare tbf. If someone put a post up in class WhatsApp ( it has happened as original person had expired passport and they were in a pinch time wise ) then I’d be willing to countersign most of them as have known the parents/ dc for many years. Not necessarily friends but enough to verify who they are.

This is what I’ve heard of others doing - and what I did when applying for my first passport at 20 as a student as I didn’t know anyone of standing to do it. The solicitor will want to see paperwork (birthcerts etc) and will talk you through the evidence they would need to see to be sure you were who you say you are and who the children are (red books, school reports, etc).

You may also be able to ask your MP to do it if you contact their office and book an appointment at one of their surgeries.

@BlueBurys I was in your situation. I ended up going to the passport office in person, with my child. It cost more but then was stress free.

All the posters saying this can't be possible... Have a bit of imagination, and empathy. I'm not British by birth, and I had fled domestic violence. To have no connections around you is a really lonely position to be in, to be told by hundreds of people you must be making it up because 'it never happens' must make it 1000 times worse.

You haven’t answered whether this was for a British passport though?

If it was, you have found a rare example of someone willing to advertise that they will commit a criminal offence for money 😂

Solicitors are only allowed to do this if they have known you for 2 years, they can't do it otherwise.

A solicitor/commissioner for oaths, DID this for me. Cost me £30 at the time.

They are not allowed to do this anymore. They may have done it for you but it is no longer the case that they can do this.

Correct. A solictor can certify documents as true copies if they have seen the original documents. A solicitor cannot countersign a passport application if they have not known the applicant for at least 2 years.

@Stravaig but some just coming across as bullies.

@BlueBurys was asking what people in this situation had done before, not ‘what can she do now’ (she has stated this several times in this thread).

It is what I did.

If that happened it must have been a very long time ago.

OP I hope the helpline was understanding of whatever exact situation you are in?

She did, she said she doesn’t know them. I guess maybe her children are old enough to make their own arrangements to see friends.

Very odd, don’t you think, not to know a single parent of any of her children’s friends or classmates though. Or a hairdresser (surely they get their haircut), or their landlord or any of the other eleventy million already suggested. There have been countless suggestions and every single one has been knocked back as impossible. Either this person lives under a rock, never leaves the house and has children with no social circle, or it’s all nonsense.

They need to have known you for 2 years. They don't have to be your friends but they do need to know you. You might have got away with it but the Passport Office do check.