Potential Problems Verifying Identity for New Passport Application

smudge56

A doctor’s receptionist should be ok, or does you practice have a nurse that you see?  

They don’t necessarily have to have known you for two years.  If they have known you for at least a year it will be accepted.  

jasonwatkins

smudge56 said:

A doctor’s receptionist should be ok, or does you practice have a nurse that you see?  

They don’t necessarily have to have known you for two years.  If they have known you for at least a year it will be accepted.  

Funny thing is, I did know the practice nurse who retired about 18 months ago very well.   I'd often make her late for her appointments after me because we gossiped so much

No contact details for her though but then I suppose I wouldn't presume to want to try and track her down now she's retired.

As it is, I'm actually passing my GP's tomorrow so I might take the forms in to see if anyone would be willing to sign them for me.

Just my luck that it'll be a day when nobody is there who I know ..

maman

It could be that being known to the surgery (as they have your records going back ) will be enough as they're really only countersigning to verify it's you in the photo. Hope it works out for you. 😊

jasonwatkins

maman said:

It could be that being known to the surgery (as they have your records going back ) will be enough as they're really only countersigning to verify it's you in the photo. Hope it works out for you. 😊

Thanks.   It's unfortunately not just a case of signing off on knowing me in that sense.  The form requires their name, address, passport number, occupation e.t.c. and the signature states that you are signing off on the fact that you know me personally, which none of them really do, aside from me as a patient.

But I'm passing there anyway so it won't hurt to pop in and ask.  If I don't get any luck then I really will just give up on it.

eDicky

jasonwatkins said:

maman said:

It could be that being known to the surgery (as they have your records going back ) will be enough as they're really only countersigning to verify it's you in the photo. Hope it works out for you. 😊

  the signature states that you are signing off on the fact that you know me personally, which none of them really do, aside from me as a patient.

But they do know you personally, in the sense that they are sure of who you are, your identity, and that's still you in the photo. That's what counts for this purpose.

A chin or two extra notwithstanding, as Stevie Winwood sings to Valerie, "I'm the same boy I used to be".

MysteryMe

They just need to know that you are Mr X and that the photo is of you.  

jasonwatkins

I completely forgot to come back and update.   Unfortunately the GP's route is now closed.

I went in and spoke to two of the women that know me relatively well and explained what I had come in for and I said "Would it be something you'd maybe consider helping me out with?" while making the point that if they didn't feel comfortable doing it then it would be fine and I wouldn't hold it against them.

Both of them apologised and said they'd rather not, so that was it.

I'm going to ring the passport office before the end of the week and 'officially' cancel the application now because there's no point in carrying on.  I'm not particularly bothered about missing out on going abroad because that's something that I've never really done anyway, but I would have liked the opportunity to at least apply for one of the app-based bank accounts like Revolut or Monese.

Even that's not the end of the world in a sense because I do already have two full current accounts, but I did fancy Revolut because of some of the things you could do with it and I just like the idea of an app-based account as well.

But no worries, life goes on and all that 😀

martindow

What about your GP?  If you are known by the staff at the surgery presumably you are registered with one of the doctors.  They may well charge a fee to verify your identity and photo.  Apologies if this has been already ruled out for some reason earlier in the thread.

jasonwatkins

martindow said:

What about your GP?  If you are known by the staff at the surgery presumably you are registered with one of the doctors.  They may well charge a fee to verify your identity and photo.  Apologies if this has been already ruled out for some reason earlier in the thread.

The gov.uk website actually explicitly states that a GP can't do it unless they "know you well" and can recognise you easily from your photo.   For starters, I haven't seen my GP in over 2 years, and I certainly don't know her to any extent that would cover this clause.

Professions that are not accepted

Your countersignatory cannot:

• be a doctor, unless they state that they know you well (for example they’re a good friend) and that they recognise you easily from your photo

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

smudge56

I would ask them to look at the photos again and decide if someone else can have a look at the photos. If the facial matching software has recognised you from the old passport it should be ok. Some people are good at recognising faces and some aren’t. You may have been unlucky and got a new examiner looking at your application.  You could try asking the Twitter team also