Hi, I need my photographs for an alcohol licence application endorsed by someone in a profession like a policeman, doctor etc. Can I just walk into a Police Station or Doctors surgery where they don’t know me and get this done? I would make an appointment for the doctor obviously but can it just be any doctor and show him my passport and birth certificate to prove who I am? Thanks
I ran into this for my passport. You need someone who’s known you for a while. I forget the exact length of time required, but the form did require the signer to say how long he’d known me.
Quartz is right, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have to be a doctor or a policeman. Just someone of some standing who would have something to lose from lying. Do you have any friends who are lawyers or established businessmen? What about friends of your parents? They don’t have to know you well, just enough to say that you are who you say you are. If you’re still fairly young a teacher from your old school might be a good bet as well.
Wow, what a bizarre process. In the US I’ve encountered cases where I needed to get someone to officially vouch for me (applying for a passport without ID, etc.) but their occupation was never important.
Any “Professional” will do, including teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers and a number of others.
Beware if you approach your GP as I have a feeling that they charge for the privilege these days. Also they usually need to have known you for two years.
They have the option to charge - as do schools.
Check the requirements carefully, because there’s room for confusion here. Some ‘official’ stuff requires the counter-signature of a responsible person who has actually known you personally for x years, so you would need to go to your doctor, your accountant, employer or someone like that. Other times, it doesn’t have to be someone who actually knows you. It just has to be someone that society reckons is unlikely to lie or subvert the system for any reason.
Sometimes for this sort of thing you just need an affidavit. You can literally walk into a solicitors’ office and ask for one. Someone who has five minutes to spare will come and chat to you, see what it is you want, sign whatever they have to sign and stamp it, and then charge you some cash, usually amounting to tens of pounds.
Last time I did this (for a passport), I got my local landlord to do it. You would think an existing licensee would work for your purpose too.
The Home Office Identity & Passport Service (IPS) gives a list of acceptable countersignatures here, and it states like so:
Administratively, it might be simpler if the IPS produced a list of unacceptable countersignatures. (From a public relations standpoint, of course, that proposition definitely wouldn’t fly.)
I wonder which ‘classes’ of people are unacceptable to the IPS.
Probably a countersignature from your “dealer” wouldn’t get you very far.