Can an Electrician Sign a Passport?
When applying for a new passport or renewing your old one, a professional individual must countersign your passport photo to verify your identity. Unfortunately, electricians are not included on the list of accepted professionals for countersignatures. It is acceptable if the individual you wish to countersign your identification is an electrical engineer, as engineers are in fact on the list. The following professions are eligible to countersign documents:
- Accountant
- Airline pilot
- Articled clerk of a limited company
- Assurance agent of a recognised company
- Bank/building society official
- Barrister
- Chairman/director of a limited company
- Chiropodist
- Commissioner for oaths
- Councillor, i.e. local or county
- Civil Servant (permanent)
- Dentist
- Director/Manager/Personnel Officer of a VAT-registered company
- Engineer (with professional qualifications)
- Financial services intermediary (i.e. a stockbroker or insurance broker)
- Fire Service Official
- Funeral Director
- Insurance Agent (full time) of a recognised company
- Journalist
- Justice of the Peace
- Legal Secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PA’s)
- Licensee of a public house
- Local Government Officer
- Manager/Personnel Officer of a limited company
- Member, associate or fellow of a professional body
- Member of Parliament
- Merchant Navy Officer
- Minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science)
- Nurse (RGN or RMN)
- Officer of the Armed Services
- Optician
- Person with honours (i.e. an OBE or MBE)
- Pharmacist
- Photographer (professional)
- Police Officer
- Post Office official
- President/Secretary of a recognised organisation
- Salvation Army officer
- Social Worker
- Solicitor
- Surveyor
- Teacher or lecturer
- Trade Union Officer
- Travel agent (qualified)
- Valuer or auctioneer (fellows and associate members of the Incorporated Society)
- Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers
Electricians can countersign documents if they have another profession amongst those listed. For example, if the electrician is also a President or Secretary of a recognised organisation, they can countersign via this position. However, they cannot sign on your behalf using electrician has their profession. Electrical engineers – like all others in the engineering profession – must have degrees from institutions that are accredited by the relevant professional bodies; they should also possess professional qualifications, such as Incorporated Engineer (Ian) or Chartered Engineer (CEng).
Although electricians and electrical engineers generally operate in different phases of electricity related work, they overlap quite often. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that the ‘electrician’ might actually possess an engineering degree.
If the individual who you’d like to countersign your documents is an electrician, you should find out if they are also members of any of the professions listed above. If they are, they can duly sign for you, but not as an electrician. If they’re not, then your only option is to find an individual from the approved list who is willing to vouch for your identity.
Ensure your counter signatory fulfils all the necessary criteria before you submit your documents. Furthermore, all your information and that of your counter signatory must be correct, as it is a criminal offence to make a false declaration on such applications.
