Professional Registration

samwich1979

I am returning to work on Monday after Maternity Leave and have just found out that my Professional Registration has just lapsed on 8th October and i need to re-register now.

I will have to fill in all the forms and send I.D signed by someone of standing in the community.
Now my sister in law is a Civil Servant and could do it but they wont allow relatives to sign it, could i get away with her saying she is a friend as she is married and has a different name?
Or could i get my sister in laws husband to do it as he works for the police but not as police officer?

The reason i say this is because if work find out, i wont be able to do my usual job and they will drop my pay for the 2 weeks while it goes through. Plus the fact they will go mad as i only just rang them half an hour ago to get my rota and i didnt know about all this.

I know i should of checked earlier but with everything i've had to deal with since being on maternity leave it just slipped my mind.

Im so stressed out about this and really dont need this.

Hope someone can help me ASAP.

cr1mson

I wouldn't risk it as could screw up this job plus any future ones. Also could be a problem for your SIL.

If it hadn't have lapsed would you still need the countersignature to re-register? If not I would plead your case with body for being allowed to do it as if it hadn't lapsed. See if they will allow a period of grace?

Good luck.

C

persa

samwich1979 wrote: »

I am returning to work on Monday after Maternity Leave and have just found out that my Professional Registration has just lapsed on 8th October and i need to re-register now.

I will have to fill in all the forms and send I.D signed by someone of standing in the community.
Now my sister in law is a Civil Servant and could do it but they wont allow relatives to sign it, could i get away with her saying she is a friend as she is married and has a different name?
Or could i get my sister in laws husband to do it as he works for the police but not as police officer?

Hope someone can help me ASAP.

Are there any examples given on the form for "of standing in the community"? If it's truly as vague as that, pretty much anyone could sign for you!

Could you get a colleague to sign? Presumably other people at your workplace have the same professional registration and thus are "of standing" or are colleagues not allowed to sign either?

Does the person have to know you personally, or just agree that you're the same person in the ID? If the latter, that widens your options considerably, e.g. your SIL could ask one of her colleagues to sign!

SarEl

samwich1979 wrote: »

The reason i say this is because if work find out, i wont be able to do my usual job and they will drop my pay for the 2 weeks while it goes through. Plus the fact they will go mad as i only just rang them half an hour ago to get my rota and i didnt know about all this.
.

And if they find out at any time - not just now, but ever - that you worked without your professional registration, putting yourself and them at risk, you will probably be dismissed!

samwich1979

persa wrote: »

Are there any examples given on the form for "of standing in the community"? If it's truly as vague as that, pretty much anyone could sign for you!

Could you get a colleague to sign? Presumably other people at your workplace have the same professional registration and thus are "of standing" or are colleagues not allowed to sign either?

Does the person have to know you personally, or just agree that you're the same person in the ID? If the latter, that widens your options considerably, e.g. your SIL could ask one of her colleagues to sign!

If i ask someone at work they will know im having to re-register and will know im not registered to work so that will land me in trouble.

Uncertain

SarEl wrote: »

And if they find out at any time - not just now, but ever - that you worked without your professional registration, putting yourself and them at risk, you will probably be dismissed!

Is a sister-in-law a relative for these purposes? I don't know.

Presumably there must be a definition somewhere?

cr1mson

Uncertain wrote: »

Is a sister-in-law a relative for these purposes? I don't know.

Presumably there must be a definition somewhere?

Guessing would be same as for passport countersignature so can't be related by birth or marriage

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/Applicationinformation/DG_174151

samwich1979

Uncertain wrote: »

Is a sister-in-law a relative for these purposes? I don't know.

Presumably there must be a definition somewhere?

Yes, if they are related to my husband then yes they are counted as a relative to me.

Just realised that our neighbour works for the council and my husband has just asked him if he will do it for me and he said yes, which is great but they wont get my papers til monday and it will take up to 2 weeks to go through still.

I rang again just then and asked the advisor if there was anything they could do to help me and they said unfortunately not but if i send it FAO him he will see what he can do for me.

So worried about work though but if they do find out i will say i sent my papers off last month and hope they wont go mad.

This is REALLY stressing me out big time

Oldernotwiser

Losing a few pounds for a couple of weeks is really not worth risking your future career for.

ETA

Just read that you're now planning to lie about it! What profession is this?

samwich1979

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Losing a few pounds for a couple of weeks is really not worth risking your future career for.

When you have bills to pay and your husband doesnt work its a BIG deal!

jfh7gwa

Yes cr1mson that's the list I was going to post. Just an extract for reference:

Your countersignatory should:

* have known you for at least two years
* live in the UK

Your countersignatory should not:

* be related to you by birth or marriage
* be in a personal relationship with you
* live at the same address as you
* work for the Identity and Passport Service

Your countersignatory should be a professional person or a person of good standing in the community. If you are not sure who to ask, call the IPS Passport Adviceline on 0300 222 0000.

These are examples of the type of person that would be suitable:

* accountant
* airline pilot
* articled clerk of a limited company
* assurance agent of recognised company
* bank/building society official
* barrister
* chairman/director of limited company
* chiropodist
* commissioner of oaths
* councillor (local or county)
* civil servant (permanent), but not someone who works for IPS
* dentist
* director/manager of a VAT-registered charity
* director/manager/personnel officer of a VAT-registered company
* engineer (with professional qualifications)
* financial services intermediary (eg a stockbroker or insurance broker)
* fire service official
* funeral director
* insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company
* journalist
* Justice of the Peace
* legal secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs)
* licensee of public house
* local government officer
* manager/personnel officer (of a limited company)
* member, associate or fellow of a professional body
* Member of Parliament
* Merchant Navy officer
* minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science)
* nurse (RGN and RMN)
* officer of the armed services (active or retired)
* optician
* paralegal (certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals)
* person with honours (an OBE or MBE, for example)
* pharmacist
* photographer (professional)
* police officer
* Post Office official
* president/secretary of a recognised organisation
* Salvation Army officer
* social worker
* solicitor
* surveyor
* teacher, lecturer
* trade union officer
* travel agent (qualified)
* valuer or auctioneer (fellows and associate members of the incorporated society)
* Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

That covers a LOT of people. I'd definitely try and get someone else to do it for you than take a risk with this.

Surely you have a neighbour, friend, friend of a friend who knows you that meets the criteria? My husband often does it for people as a member of the British Computer Society, and I know for a fact that my sister has been asked before (she's a qualified social worker). I also asked my neighbour to do this before when I was applying for a passport in a hurry, he was a photographer with proper qualifications (degree) which I hadn't realised would count - phew!

Please have a think about someone you could use.. I'd rather argue that the signee is a person of good standing... and they not agree.. because that's just a difference in opinion.

BUT getting your relative to do it is much harder to prove as an accident/mistake on your part - it shows you've sort of set out to deceive.