tuk-tuk

Hi folks,
Re countersigning of passport application. If I ask my (Spanish) bank manager to endorse it will he have to word it in English or Spanish?. I would have thought it a bit insulting to expect him to endorse a legal document in anything but his native language.
Thanks for looking.tuk-tuk.

Veleta

I think it has to be in English. Years ago I had to get someone to endorse a document as I was trying to open a UK bank account. I remember asking this question at the time and being told it must be in English.

It presented me with a real problem as I didn't know any English speakers when I first moved over to Spain, and of course the whole concept of countersigning/endorsing is totally alien to the Spanish so they were very reluctant to do it.

chulo

I guess any legal document has to be signed by a person able to read and understand that document.

Personally I wouldn`t sign anything I couldn`t read.

If he`s very trusting, i guess he will.

If its an English language document only to be read by English speakers/readers then no it isn`t insulting.

He should be endorsing in English, I don`t know if it`ll be accepted in a language you haven`t translated.

Would you expect English on Spanish legal documents ?

Fred James

I doubt that they ever check on the person who signs it unless it is a first application or from someone with more complicated claims to British citizenship.

I'm sure you can find a retired civil servant, teacher or policeman to sign it for you.

pete_l

You could even scrape the bottom of the barrel and get an estate agent to sign it
In Britain, no institution (banks, building soc's etc.) will sign anything that is not one of their own documents - even if you have an account with them. When I was paying off my mortgage, the B.S. sent me a document with an explanatory note saying I must get it countersigned by "... your bank manager, a doctor or other professional in good standing." Well, none of them would touch it with a barge pole.

jjh

Our GP endorsed OH´s passport two years ago. He did it in Spanish as he doesn´t speak English.

Lionda

A passport renewal photo doesn't need endorsing. Our passports expired 3 months after arriving in Spain, in 2007, we applied for renewal passports complete with new passport photos and no endorsement (I read somewhere on the application form that endorsements weren't needed for renewal) there was no problem, no query and the passports didn't take long to arrive. Read the application form and you should see it printed somewhere.

rachelk

On the subject of passports, mine is up for renewal next year.

Will I have to send it to Madrid? Is it worth going to madrid or do they send it to the UK anyway?

Jontee

Lionda - things must have changed since your application.

If you look at the forms and the notes on the UK Passport website, a renewal only needs a counter-signature on the photos if the applicant looks very different from the previous photo. But this is not the form for those no longer resident in UK.

The form for Ex-pats can be downloaded from the Consulate site, and in all cases an application for renewal of a passport needs a counter-signature. Personally, I believe it is wrong to make a difference like this, surely all applications should be treated the same wherever one lives. But unfortunately this is the way it is.

Casa Santo Estevo

I do not believe they will do it there and then whilst you wait. If you have 2 trips then the cost of a courier looks cheap.

rachelk

Thanks, a courier it will be then.

To anyone who has done it this way, how long does it take? How long am I likely to be without it?

Fred James

It takes 2 weeks.

The courier service is now very good and they have to phone you to make an appointment to deliver it.

I have just done mine and, yes, it needed a countersignature on the form and the photo.

willy

I think you are right about the checking, my girl friend has countersigned the last two of my passport renewals, and they haven't sussed that she is not a so called professional person

rachelk

thanks

jdr

It must of changed since July cos then all I needed on mine was one photo signed.