I have lived abroad all my adult life and know almost nobody in the UK. I am going to the UK to renew my passport and will need a countersignatory, as the passport is damaged. It has to be a UK professional citizen living there who's known me for two years, but I don't know anybody like that. Any ideas as to what I can do? I'd of course prefer it to be perfectly legal but when you get desperate...

My ideas so far:'
1. I know someone who's known me for two years but she's doesn't have any qualifications. Ask her and hope they won't check?
2. Offer a lawyer some money in return for signing and pretending they've known me for two years?
3. Chat to complete strangers, and when I've found one who's a professional, ask them to sign and pretend they know me?

Any better ideas?

Some years ago I was in a similar position in Barcelona.
Rang the consulate and they told me to get the hotel manager to sign even though I had only signed in 10 minutes earlier.

If you don't live in the UK, why are you going there to renew your passport? Why don't you just do it at your local British Consulate?

Because as far as I can see, this takes four weeks, and you can only do it by post. Whereas in Britain you can do it much faster, and you can do it in person. I'm not completely sure that they will consider my passport as damaged, and if they don't, I can do it in one day (and will be over the moon). But if they say it's damaged, I'll be stuck there with nobody to countersign (unless somebody makes a false statement). Even though the passport office may not check, it could be difficult finding someone to sign a form which says that false information is a criminal offence, you can go to prison, etc.

It usually takes just over a week. You post it and they return it via DHL.

It's fast but expensive.

How will you be able to get to the UK without a passport?

Isn't there a way you can download the forms and get them signed here to take with you? That's assuming you know any Brits here of course.


Edited to add:

Ah, Ok, the problem is that if you're going to the UK you need someoe with Uk address?

It won't take 4 weeks to do it here in Spain. I did it last year, and it was back with me before a week was out.

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish branch of the forum.

Have you been to the consulate to ask their advice? I feel sure that there must be a straight forward answer for your problem.

Rosemary

If, as you imply, the passport is still usable (or else how will you get to UK), then you should not need it to be countersigned simply to renew it!

Thanks for all the replies so far. I posted this on the Spain forum as I didn't find a forum specifically for passport issues, and the Spain forum has a lot of readers. But in fact I'm in Kenya, and I'd have to post my passport to South Africa, and who knows if I'd get it back before my Kenyan visa expires?

The passport is old and tatty, but I have never been stopped from travelling with it. However, when I tried to renew it in the UK through an agency in January, it was returned as the passport office judged it to be damaged. The agency didn't think so, and I suspect the real reason was that the passport office would have preferred me to go in person to confirm my identity. So I want to go in person, but still I'm by no means sure...

If they say it's damaged at one regional passport office, maybe I can try my luck at another one...

yes you do!!

we all renewed ours recently & someone had to sign the forms & the photos to say that we are indeed who we say we are & that they have known us for at least 2 years!


note 7 http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/res...m-c1-notes.pdf

Please try reading all the notes again.

Try reading section 10 of Passport notes it clearly states that adults only need to have a countersignature if they are not recognizable from the photo!

The rules are, of course, different if you apply to any where other than the UK (for example consulate in Madrid).

Do you know anyone in Kenya who has family in the UK? (Lord knows there are enough ex pats still there). Perhaps someone there has known you for long enough? It's the summer holidays soon and maybe there will be some UK professionals visiting family in Kenya who could do this for you.

ah yes, of course - I'm thinking of renewing in Spain

Obviously. Where else would you be thinking of on the Spanish BE.

Rosemary