Passport renewal witness in edinburgh

kelledy

Hey does anybody know anywhere that they have had success getting a witness for Irish passport renewal .
So far the bank , local solicitor and GP have all refused .
Does anybody have experience with this as it's becoming an unnessary hassle
Thanks

exiledelbows

Have you any friends who are teachers? It's incredibly frustrating, the people you've asked are wrongly refusing you as the 'knowing a person two years' requirement is a UK passport thing but they're too officious/thick to know the difference. Best of luck with it.

itac

I had major trouble with mine originally, then was told to ring the Irish embassy! Got an apt. with the Ambassador, brought a few forms of older id (ie old bank statements, bills etc). He barely took a look at them, chatted to me a bit about where I was from and then signed the pics and that was it-I wasn't even offered a Ferrero Rocher for my trouble

Maybe give them a buzz? Not sure where you are in Edinburgh, but it was about a 15/20 min walk from Waverley Station

Consulate General of Ireland
16 Randolph Crescent
Edinburgh
EH3 7TT

+44 131 226 7711

kelledy

itac wrote: »

I had major trouble with mine originally, then was told to ring the Irish embassy! Got an apt. with the Ambassador, brought a few forms of older id (ie old bank statements, bills etc). He barely took a look at them, chatted to me a bit about where I was from and then signed the pics and that was it-I wasn't even offered a Ferrero Rocher for my trouble

Maybe give them a buzz? Not sure where you are in Edinburgh, but it was about a 15/20 min walk from Waverley Station

Consulate General of Ireland
16 Randolph Crescent
Edinburgh
EH3 7TT

+44 131 226 7711

This is a great help
Thank you

kelledy

exiledelbows wrote: »

Have you any friends who are teachers? It's incredibly frustrating, the people you've asked are wrongly refusing you as the 'knowing a person two years' requirement is a UK passport thing but they're too officious/thick to know the difference. Best of luck with it.

Couldn't agree more , once it's not British they just look at you with glazed eyes

itac

kelledy wrote: »

This is a great help
Thank you

No worries, hope it all works out for you!

ladiee24

do you have a finance director/accountant in work? that's who signed mine for me & I got my passport back super quick 3 weeks in total.

razorblunt

i remember trying to replace my passport, what an absolute nightmare.
As ladiee said above I used the Finance Dept in work, plenty of accredited solicitors there.

I remember having to pop through to Glasgow to get it sorted, I stupidly advised my witness to sign all 4 photos, they wouldn't take 2 unless they were'nt signed. Another round trip ensued after that.

kelledy

I got a secondary school teacher to sign it in the end . I work out of a depot here with all HR etc down in England so work wasn't an option.
Typical Ireland tho , even the easy things in life , they erect unnessary hurdles in your way . Surely they would realise that an alternative way for irish abroad is required.
Also clearly stated on the form was a section for a stamp. Now the list of ppl allowed included teacher , social worker etc . Please tell me on teacher who carrys a stamp in 2015 .
Of course when I got onto the embassy about the stamp they said " no we don't require a stamp "
So to sum it up they send out a form which clearly states a stamp is required , BUT ... It's not actually required .

You can only laugh

ladiee24

the hardest part of it is that it's not the same list as in Ireland is has to be the same as the UK which throws up the teachers, social workers etc

hope you get your passport back nice & quick so you can forget about it for the next 10 years!! ðŸ˜Â႒

razorblunt

FYI on the "stamp" they can just sign that box instead, that's what the accountant lad in work did, had no hassle with it.

As an aside, had a bigger hassle with a temporary passport. I was due to do a professional exam and lost my passport in a house move about 6 weeks beforehand and you needed this on exam day. Went through all the form filling and the lady in the office in Randolph Crescent told me they couldn't acknowledge the application without proof of a flight. Had a back and forth with her on it, took the forms away to fill them in and went back the next day. This time there was an irish lad on the desk, asked him about the policy and your one trying to make me get an International flight, I told him the best I can do was an Easyjet flight to London where they need the passport.

He just looked at me, laughed, shook his head and said "you're grand just give me the papers".

sinead88

I had a bit of trouble with it when i lost my passport in Edinburgh. First of all, I just walked into my local police station like you would in Ireland and asked them to sign it. They looked at me like I was insane and basically said I could be anyone and there was no way they'd sign it. Then I went to my GP, who initially said he hadn't known me for 2 years so couldn't sign it. In the end, he called me back and stamped it for me, but I had to pay £50 for it. I was beginning to think I'd be stranded here without a passport.

kelledy

If it's not British then they just look at you with glazed eyes .
A bit off topic but when I first came to UK and was telling employers that I was awaiting my NI number but can still work until it arrives , they just couldn't comprehend why I didn't have one . Calling for managers managers managers to try understand haha

Dr_Bill

Funnily enough as an Irish Citizen I was able to sign the renewal form for a UK passport for a guy that works with me.

NoCrackHaving

Hi guys,

Think my passport has been lost which is a pain but anyway that's life. I'm looking into the above issue and it's turning into a disaster with witnessses and birth certs etc. required which is going to be a major hoo ha. Could anyone advise me as to what I should do? Just ring the consulate? I know a few doctor's would that be alright? Birth cert is impossible though, I don't have a copy and I can't get one because a copy is in Ireland etc. etc.

kelledy

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

Hi guys,

Think my passport has been lost which is a pain but anyway that's life. I'm looking into the above issue and it's turning into a disaster with witnessses and birth certs etc. required which is going to be a major hoo ha. Could anyone advise me as to what I should do? Just ring the consulate? I know a few doctor's would that be alright? Birth cert is impossible though, I don't have a copy and I can't get one because a copy is in Ireland etc. etc.

Hey , when I eventually got a witness I got. Friend who was a teacher to sign it and everything was fine . I don't think they really look too much into it .
Unfortunately with birth very they won't budge . I remember years ago I lost mine and the ONLY place that can replace it , is the parish you were christened in .
It cost €5

So I'm afraid u will need to get somebody to do this for you . My dad done it for me

NoCrackHaving

kelledy wrote: »

Hey , when I eventually got a witness I got. Friend who was a teacher to sign it and everything was fine . I don't think they really look too much into it .
Unfortunately with birth very they won't budge . I remember years ago I lost mine and the ONLY place that can replace it , is the parish you were christened in .
It cost €5

So I'm afraid u will need to get somebody to do this for you . My dad done it for me

It's been found, panic averted!