Ives

I need to renew my daughter's UK passport, but it needs to be countersigned by someone who has known me 2 years and is the right profession. We've only been in the US a year, but I'm from NY originally so if I could find someone there with the right profession AND a passport I could mail it to them, or else mail it to a friend in the UK who I did it for us when we lived there. Americans don't usually have passports, do they?

I read somewhere people have been known to cross out the '2 years' and write in how long they have known the person.

What do you do???

CaliforniaWaiting

Hi - we were in a similar situation (have only been in the US a year) and have just renewed my son's UK passport. Having read advice on this forum, my husband asked a work colleague (who is an accountant) to be our countersignatory and he signed the form for us and put 1 year as the time known. I enclosed a hand written letter to the passport office with the application explaining our situation and sent it to Durham with UPS. The new passport was dispatched 2 days after they received it. I could not believe how quick and easy the whole process was

johnwoo

I got my next door neighbour to sign. They obviously don't check. Not that I'm recommending it, but.........

Wintersong

I didn't have anyone local to ask so I sent it to a doctor friend who lives on the other side of the country, who then signed the photos and sent it on to the UK. It was a pain in the arse for all concerned. In your position, I'd probably send it to the friend in the UK

durham_lad

+1

I sort of did this for our son. I got him to do the photographs before I left for the UK, got a friend (retired headmaster) who's known him since he was born to sign the back, then mailed the photo back to him in the USA.

Giantaxe

It's really amazing that the UK government persists with the belief that only certain professions contain people responsible enough to countersign.

durham_lad

When our daughter renewed hers from California 18 months ago she got her manager at work to sign it. I had to get my photo signed in 2006 when applying from Texas, and again I just got my US manager of a US company to sign.

johnwoo

Do they even check on the on the authenticity of the signature. I don't believe so. I got a neighbour to sign mine, got my passport. They don't know who the hell signed it, think how much it would cost to check all the signatures.

Giantaxe

They presumably check a small subset. But check or no check how can they justify what the state as to who is eligible to countersign?

johnwoo

That's been there since I got my first passport in1959, I took it seriously then and had my Doctor sign it, he charged me 2s-6d (half a crown). My last passport was signed my neighbour the "Reverend Jim"

Pulaski

I signed one recently for someone I know, and the form asked for my passport number. So on recept it should take as long as it takes to type my passport number into the computer to pull up my passport record and confirm my signature. That must be all of a 15-30 second task. .... Most passports, the vast majority can be checked that quickly. Leaving resources to verify by more laborious means, the other "non-standard" passport countersignatories. I agree that not all applications may be fully verified.

BritInParis

Correct. Which is why a British passport holder is preferable as it's quicker to check.

On the 'responsible' professions point, someone in such a position has something to lose by making a false declaration compared to some barfly you bought a pint for at your local. Not a great system but it could be worst - anyone renewing an Australian passport overseas has to attend an Australian diplomatic mission in person for an interview.

kins

Mine was signed by a local American friend who works as an admin assistant.

Shirtback

"They" do, sometimes: my (former) boss (not a UK citizen) was quite surprised, but really rather quite chuffed when he received a phone call to verify his countersigning of my daughter's passport a few years back.

johnwoo

I've never had it checked, but I think they have tightened things uo since my last passport. There was no form to fill out, to the best of my recollection no personal details requested, other than profession. The neighbour that signed mine was a preacher in an African American church in Oakland, CA. Rev. Jim. Probably not the kind of cleric the CofE would recognize.
To be honest I haven't renewed my UK passport in in over 20 years. I use my US passport, I couldn't leave and reenter the US on a UK passport anyway, so what's the point. I'll renew my UK as and when I need to.