# Passport witness without Stamp



## iandublin2 (16 May 2014)

Hi,
Have to get a passport for the nipper signed by a witness and my friend is an accountant but doesn't have a stamp. Anyone know if they will send the application form back if I send it in without a stamp.

Thanks in advance...

Ian


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## Sunny (16 May 2014)

iandublin2 said:


> Hi,
> Have to get a passport for the nipper signed by a witness and my friend is an accountant but doesn't have a stamp. Anyone know if they will send the application form back if I send it in without a stamp.
> 
> Thanks in advance...
> ...


 
The Garda will sign it.


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## T McGibney (16 May 2014)

If he has a word processing package and a printer, not hard to create a personalised stamp that will suffice for such purposes.


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## iandublin2 (16 May 2014)

The garda has already stamped her part of the form. The witness part has to be signed by someone who knows you/the children personally. The chap in the post office said they'll probably send it back without the official stamp. I know a priest etc would have a stamp, but an accountant wouldn't necessarily.


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## iandublin2 (16 May 2014)

T McGibney said:


> If he has a word processing package and a printer, not hard to create a personalised stamp that will suffice for such purposes.



And stick the printed stamp on the application form? That sounds a bit too easy. Sure anyone could sign it then and it would be open to abuse.


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## T McGibney (16 May 2014)

Why? Sure anyone can get a stamp created with someone else's name on it. You're probably better off going to the Gardai anyway, the last thing any accountant needs is an inadvertent breach of procedure on a child's passport application.


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## Sunny (16 May 2014)

iandublin2 said:


> The garda has already stamped her part of the form. The witness part has to be signed by someone who knows you/the children personally. The chap in the post office said they'll probably send it back without the official stamp. I know a priest etc would have a stamp, but an accountant wouldn't necessarily.


 
No it doesn't. I got my daughters one done last month. The only people to sign it were myself, my wife and a garda. I think the witnesses such as accountants etc only comes into play for applications outside Ireland. The garda should witness you sign the forms and sign it themselves.


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## iandublin2 (16 May 2014)

Sunny said:


> No it doesn't. I got my daughters one done last month. The only people to sign it were myself, my wife and a garda. I think the witnesses such as accountants etc only comes into play for applications outside Ireland. The garda should witness you sign the forms and sign it themselves.



Do you mean the Garda signed the witness section as well as the section at the back? The Garda we spoke with wouldn't sign the witness section as she didn't know us personally.


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## Sunny (16 May 2014)

iandublin2 said:


> Do you mean the Garda signed the witness section as well as the section at the back? The Garda we spoke with wouldn't sign the witness section as she didn't know us personally.


 
Yep. The Garda was wrong. She has to sign it as you will have to prove who you are with your id's so she will know who you are. (more so than a local priest or accountant). SHe doesn't need to know you personally. I have heard this happen before. There is a serious lack of training or else some members of the Gardai just couldn't be bothered.


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## huskerdu (16 May 2014)

Sunny said:


> Yep. The Garda was wrong. She has to sign it as you will have to prove who you are with your id's so she will know who you are. (more so than a local priest or accountant). SHe doesn't need to know you personally. I have heard this happen before. There is a serious lack of training or else some members of the Gardai just couldn't be bothered.


 
 Sorry, but you are wrong. 


 The relevant section ( section 7, parental consent) of the passport form states clearly that the person witnessing the parents signature must know you personally.  A garda who does not know you personally is within their rights to refuse to witness your signature in Section 7 of the passport form.


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## Sunny (16 May 2014)

huskerdu said:


> Sorry, but you are wrong.
> 
> 
> The relevant section ( section 7, parental consent) of the passport form states clearly that the person witnessing the parents signature must know you personally.  A garda who does not know you personally is within their rights to refuse to witness your signature in Section 7 of the passport form.



Sorry but you are wrong. The Garda does not need to know you personally. They just need to be satisfied about your identity and the child's identity. We showed our passports and birth cert of our daughter and not a problem. It would be ridiculous otherwise. I would never get a password for my child because I don't 'personally' know anyone on that list. 

https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citize...stions/how-to-get-your-application-witnessed/

Some Gardai refuse to do it but they shouldn't. There is no reason for them to refuse unless they have doubts about your identity or the child's and if they do, they should investigate further.


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## Vanilla (17 May 2014)

iandublin2 said:


> And stick the printed stamp on the application form? That sounds a bit too easy. Sure anyone could sign it then and it would be open to abuse.


 
Passport office tend to follow up with a phone call to the witness later, double checking: I get these phone calls all the time.


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## huskerdu (17 May 2014)

Vanilla said:


> Passport office tend to follow up with a phone call to the witness later, double checking: I get these phone calls all the time.



Our accountant at work regularly witnesses signatures and gets a lot of follow on calls from the passport office


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## peteb (20 Mar 2017)

I need to reopen this as opposed to starting a new thread.  Can it be anyone that would witness items for money laundering?  by that i mean i work in a place that has a financial services side and they can verify docs for ML and KYC.  But can they stamp the passport?  it says credit union, bank manager, etc.  Just dont want the forms returned.  Wife would kill me!!


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## Setanta12 (20 Mar 2017)

Quick answer - No.  

You should comply with the requirements as described. A phone-call to your local Garda station before arriving there is highly-recommended if you are relying on them for signatures too.  There has been massive fraud here in relation to these, and a nge number of additional request flooding the system so the Guards have tightened up their procedures.

I know as I looked for a passport for my infant son.  Despite even what the Form was saying was allowed, the local Guards wouldn't comply.

Don't leave this to the last minute to avoid nasty surprises.


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## peteb (20 Mar 2017)

not leaving it until the last minute.  but want to get it sorted.  Have to renew one for my 4 year old and get one for my two month old.  All the gardai have to do is confirm the photos and sign section 9 saying they are happy the identity is correct.  

But section 7 sections is witnessing my and wifes signature.  No way i want to have to drag the whole family down the cop shop in the evening time when the kids should be in bed.


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## Setanta12 (20 Mar 2017)

The Guards will insist on seeing the kids ... ...


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## thedaddyman (20 Mar 2017)

The Gardaí will not sign it unless the child is present. In addition, if there are 2 parents signing the forms, both must be in attendance and must provide ID. Gardaí told me the last time that this is as a result of a parent getting passports and the child subsequently being removed from the country without the 2nd parents consent or knowledge


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## peteb (20 Mar 2017)

there has to be a more efficient way to deal with these bloody things!


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## POC (20 Mar 2017)

The Guard needs to see the kids, and be sure that the photos are a good likeness. He then needs to sign and stamp the back of some of the photos.
I suggest you and your partner go together, with the kids, and bring all your current passports.
You don't need to get the kids out of bed, you can go at the weekend.
I got a renewal of a child passport recently. The Guard witnessed my husband's signature, but I had had mine witnessed in advance, by a school principal (who knows me through work, but doesn't know my child). We went on a Sunday morning, when it was quiet.
It took 4 and a half weeks to get it back, using Passport Express.


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## Jim2007 (20 Mar 2017)

peteb said:


> there has to be a more efficient way to deal with these bloody things!



You need to understand that there is a very good reason why no one will sign such a declaration without full verification - how do we know that you are not getting the passport without the consent of your wife?  Next thing you've taken the kids and it will come back on the person who signed off on the application.

Over the years I've signed many passport applications and I would never ever sign a form involving a child unless I was absolutely certain it was all in order, not even for a friend.


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