The passport process isn\u2019t anywhere near as simple as snapping a photo and sending it off to be authorised. Instead, there are important forms to fill in before you can even think about leaving the country. One of the biggest obstacles you may face is finding a countersignatory. If you\u2019re unsure if you require a countersignatory and who can be one for you, here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n
A countersignatory is someone who will sign one of your passport photos<\/strong><\/a> and your supporting application to vouch that it is actually you on the picture.<\/p>\n You won\u2019t always need a supporting signature when completing your application. For instance, if you\u2019re simply renewing your passport and your appearance hasn\u2019t changed, you should be fine without a countersignatory. However, you will need one if you\u2019re applying for your first passport, if you\u2019ve lost or damaged your old one, or if your appearance has changed significantly since you last submitted a passport photo.<\/p>\n You must make sure that the person you ask you to sign your passport photo<\/strong> fits all the necessary criterion. Firstly, they must live in the UK and be in possession of a British or Irish passport. They must also have known you for more than two years and be able to identify you. You can\u2019t be related to the countersignatory by birth, be in a relationship with them or live at the same address. Perhaps the biggest hurdle for many is that their countersignatory must work in a recognised profession and must be \u2018a person of good standing in their community\u2019.<\/p>\n The official passport guidelines offer a list of recognised professions. This includes \u2013 but is not limited to \u2013 journalists, dentists, accountants, barristers, police officers and teachers.<\/p>\n Your passport application will be rejected if your countersignatory is unsuitable. If this happens, this could result in you having to take alternative passport photos if you don\u2019t have spare copies. Follow the guidelines carefully and you should be able to avoid any delay.<\/p>\n The passport process isn\u2019t anywhere near as simple as snapping a photo and sending it off to be authorised. Instead, there are important forms to fill in before you can even think about leaving the country. One of the biggest obstacles you may face is finding a countersignatory. If you\u2019re unsure if you require a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paspic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Do you need one?<\/h2>\n
Who can act as a countersignatory?<\/h2>\n
What is classed as a \u2018recognised profession\u2019?<\/h2>\n
Follow the guidelines carefully<\/h2>\n