British Passport palava - HELP!!!

stephanie87

My doctor signed mine for a 15 pound fee so you can definately ask your doctor. Or even your dentist ...

hoxtonbabe

This can be such a pain, my baby who is now 1 got the documents signed by the mother of my school friend who is a teacher whom I just happened to keep bumping into after about 5 years of not seeing her, so for me i was really lucky, otherwise I would have been stuck.

The teachers at my eldest sons school wont do it, my doctors stopped doing it years ago, my priest was new and hadnt known me for 2 years at that stage, so if I didnt meet up with my friend i dont think he would have had his passport by now.

The problem nowadays is that nobody wants to put down their presonal details, and even if you know the accepted people in the list, theres nowt you can do if they dont want to help. According to hubby, in italy, you get the documents signed by your local police so very easy for everyone, he cant quite get his head around the way we do it over here.

hope you can find someone to help :-)

pollypenny

I've signed loads of passport forms for pupils and occasionally their parents. I always put the school phone number, for security and in case of queries, as that is the place I would be available in the day.

Never charged though! Wasn't an MSEr then; missed a chance!

hollydays

I read this as "british passport pavlova"...

slig

It took me ages to think of someone to sign mine. I have a new doctor who hasn't known me long enough, none of my teachers still work at my old school, and whilst I work at a university, no-one there has known me long enough.

In then end I was wondering if I should ask my vet as he was the only person I could think of that fitted the bill! Eventually though I got an old school friend who was back in town to do it, who is a qualified accountant. It's hard though, and I bet there's plenty of people who don't haven anyone to sign it, especially people who have moved area. What happens if you literally have no-one to sign it?

I'm pretty sure the counter signatory puts down their work address/phone number, so I'm not sure why you've all found people reluctant to sign because they don't want to write down their personal details.

Also, surely if you pay a random lawyer to do it, technically they're lying as they haven't know the person 2 years?

OP, take a look at the list of counter signatories, and see if you know anyone who fits the bill, and has known your daughter for 2 years or more. If you want someone who'll do it for free, you're probably more likely to find this with someone who rarely gets asked. Eg your doctor or lawyer is much more likely to charge than your optician or chiropodist!

hoxtonbabe

slig wrote: »

In then end I was wondering if I should ask my vet as he was the only person I could think of that fitted the bill! Eventually though I got an old school friend who was back in town to do it, who is a qualified accountant. It's hard though, and I bet there's plenty of people who don't haven anyone to sign it, especially people who have moved area. What happens if you literally have no-one to sign it?

I'm pretty sure the counter signatory puts down their work address/phone number, so I'm not sure why you've all found people reluctant to sign because they don't want to write down their personal details.

Also, surely if you pay a random lawyer to do it, technically they're lying as they haven't know the person 2 years?

They also have to put their passport number, which isnt a problem if you know the person quite well like a friend, but if you don't then I suppose if you know the right dodgy contacts they can get info from that and do all sorts.

I really think the passport agency should come up with a better way to do this, everyone I know more or less has this problem, they usually manage to get sorted, but only after a week or two of searching high and low, or paying out, dont mind so much if its £10 or £20 but most of the time its around £50 or more