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New British Passport in Married Name

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Does anyone know how to overcome Countersignatory Issues in applying for a new British Passport in America?

I've downloaded the form and instructions to send to the British Embassy in Washington DC. The final part of the form is where you get it signed by a Countersignatory verifying your identity. The instructions state that:

"When you have completed the form, someone who has known you personally for at least two years should complete & sign Section 10. That person should be a British citizen....etc, who is a Member of Parliament, Justice of the Peace, Minister of Religion, Bank Officer, Civil Servant, or professionally qualified person eg. lawyer, teacher, doctor etc."

Well, there aren't any British Citizens around here, so on to the next part of the instructions:

"If you do not know a British National or other Commonwealth citizen locally, a citizen of the country in which you are residing may complete and sign the form, provided he/she has a similar standing in that country, has known you for two years and the Consul considers the signature to be acceptable. A member of your family should NOT countersign."

Whilst I do know a priest and a doctor here in the States that would qualify, there is no-one here apart from my husband who has known me for 2 years!

Any ideas? I hope to avoid calling the British Consulate in Washington for instructions as it costs $2.10 per minute!!!

Thank you

Kate

AOS TIMELINE

16th December 2005 - Sent I-130, AOS, EAD & AP USPS overnight to Chicago Lockbox

18th December 2005 - Received at Chicago 9.18pm.

23rd December 2005 - NOAs for I-130, AOS, EAD, AP!! Didn't expect them that quickly

13th January 2006 - RFE for Medical and additional I-864 info

17th January 2006 - INFOPASS Apt about RFE.

23rd January 2006 - Appointment notice for Biometrics on 10th Feb.

10th February 2006 - Biometrics Appointment

21st February 2006 - Medical. Cost $250 including all blood tests, Td Shot, TB test and Titers for MMR and Varicella.

27th February 2006 - Appointment with immigration lawyer re. RFE for I-864.

1st March 2006 - Final results Medical. Papers in hand to send.

10th March 2006 - RFE responses to Lees Summit

13th March 2006 - RFE responses signed for at Lees Summit

24th March 2006 - Emergency AP approved in Omaha

28th March 2006- Collected AP

31st March 2006 - EAD Approval online

7th April 2006 - EAD arrived in mailbox.

21st April 2006- Received Interview Date for 22nd June

9th May 2006- Received SSN

22nd June 2006- AOS INTERVIEW APPROVED

REMOVING CONDITIONS

June 20 2008 - Package mailed to CSC under new rules. Would have been an NSC transfer

June 23 2008 - Package recieved at CSC

June 27 2008 - Recieve NOA1

July 16 2008 - Biometrics

July 17 2008 - Touched

September 9 2008 - Card production ordered

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline

I did in fact call the consulate in Washington, and they said that it can be countersigned by someone who knows you well here even if they haven't known you for two years :D

I had the same panic and thought I was going to have to send everything back to the UK to get it countersigned, but apparently not!

:star:

Make sure you're wearing clean knickers. You never know when you'll be run over by a bus.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Australia
Timeline

When I read that on my Australian passport application I figured I had to shelve it for 12 months until I'd been here long enough for our minister to fit the two-year-rule...

Karen - Melbourne, Australia/John - Florida, USA

- Proposal (20 August 2000) to marriage (19 December 2004) - 4 years, 3 months, 25 days (1,578 days)

STAGE 1 - Applying for K1 (15 September 2003) to K1 Approval (13 July 2004) - 9 months, 29 days (303 days)

STAGE 2A - Arriving in US (4 Nov 2004) to AOS Application (16 April 2005) - 5 months, 13 days (164 days)

STAGE 2B - Applying for AOS to GC Approval - 9 months, 4 days (279 days)

STAGE 3 - Lifting Conditions. Filing (19 Dec 2007) to Approval (December 11 2008)

STAGE 4 - CITIZENSHIP (filing under 5-year rule - residency start date on green card Jan 11th, 2006)

*N400 filed December 15, 2011

*Interview March 12, 2012

*Oath Ceremony March 23, 2012.

ALL DONE!!!!!!!!

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline
When I read that on my Australian passport application I figured I had to shelve it for 12 months until I'd been here long enough for our minister to fit the two-year-rule...

May be different for an Aussie - we're all Brits! :star:

Make sure you're wearing clean knickers. You never know when you'll be run over by a bus.

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Thank you all for the info and for saving me $12 on phone calls!! I guess I will get the doctor to sign it then, he's seen me every month pretty much for the past year when my husband has his check-ups.

AOS TIMELINE

16th December 2005 - Sent I-130, AOS, EAD & AP USPS overnight to Chicago Lockbox

18th December 2005 - Received at Chicago 9.18pm.

23rd December 2005 - NOAs for I-130, AOS, EAD, AP!! Didn't expect them that quickly

13th January 2006 - RFE for Medical and additional I-864 info

17th January 2006 - INFOPASS Apt about RFE.

23rd January 2006 - Appointment notice for Biometrics on 10th Feb.

10th February 2006 - Biometrics Appointment

21st February 2006 - Medical. Cost $250 including all blood tests, Td Shot, TB test and Titers for MMR and Varicella.

27th February 2006 - Appointment with immigration lawyer re. RFE for I-864.

1st March 2006 - Final results Medical. Papers in hand to send.

10th March 2006 - RFE responses to Lees Summit

13th March 2006 - RFE responses signed for at Lees Summit

24th March 2006 - Emergency AP approved in Omaha

28th March 2006- Collected AP

31st March 2006 - EAD Approval online

7th April 2006 - EAD arrived in mailbox.

21st April 2006- Received Interview Date for 22nd June

9th May 2006- Received SSN

22nd June 2006- AOS INTERVIEW APPROVED

REMOVING CONDITIONS

June 20 2008 - Package mailed to CSC under new rules. Would have been an NSC transfer

June 23 2008 - Package recieved at CSC

June 27 2008 - Recieve NOA1

July 16 2008 - Biometrics

July 17 2008 - Touched

September 9 2008 - Card production ordered

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Are you now expected to get a new passport? Once upon a time they used to make amendments in the same passport. I plan to add Higgins to my existing surname... would I need a new pasport?

Paul and I met on the Bazaar on the 14th January (he joined my progressive rock forum that day)

July 3rd he flew to England to meet me

We fell in love while he drove all over the place coz I cannot read maps (we were supposed to go to Ingleton - but touched Darlington 4 times, Pierce Bridge 6 times, Scotch Corner twice and Bernard Castle twice and we never did make it to Ingleton)

It has been so long and so much has happened in between...

Arrived in Houston on October 29th 2006

Married 17th November 2006

Lost my father 8th January 2007 (all dates are a blur after this)

Conditional Green Card dated 24th October 2007

I-751 posted on 6th August 2009

Received on 7th August 2009 in VT

Melo's Prog Bazaar

CTTE

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Filed: Timeline

Because the photo page holds all your info they can no longer just change a name they have to issue a new passport... this is what I was told by Passoprt section in washington...

If your passport has less than 3 years to run it is better to get a full renewal than just an updated as the diffrence in cost is not much..

When I did mine (last june) it was $92 for update and $112 for new 10 year passport... as mine only had 2 years 3 months left I went for the full renewal...

Kezzie

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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Turkey
Timeline
Does anyone know how to overcome Countersignatory Issues in applying for a new British Passport in America?

I've downloaded the form and instructions to send to the British Embassy in Washington DC. The final part of the form is where you get it signed by a Countersignatory verifying your identity. The instructions state that:

"When you have completed the form, someone who has known you personally for at least two years should complete & sign Section 10. That person should be a British citizen....etc, who is a Member of Parliament, Justice of the Peace, Minister of Religion, Bank Officer, Civil Servant, or professionally qualified person eg. lawyer, teacher, doctor etc."

Well, there aren't any British Citizens around here, so on to the next part of the instructions:

"If you do not know a British National or other Commonwealth citizen locally, a citizen of the country in which you are residing may complete and sign the form, provided he/she has a similar standing in that country, has known you for two years and the Consul considers the signature to be acceptable. A member of your family should NOT countersign."

Whilst I do know a priest and a doctor here in the States that would qualify, there is no-one here apart from my husband who has known me for 2 years!

Any ideas? I hope to avoid calling the British Consulate in Washington for instructions as it costs $2.10 per minute!!!

Thank you

Kate

Kate,

I am using http://mezuncallingcard.com services. They charge 4.9 cents a minute for calls from US to UK.

I am sure you can find other companies that charge similarly.

I am now a US citizen.

t1283610_made-in-china-american-flag.jpg

pride_logo_275px.jpg

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A couple of things from the British Embassy site FAQs:

14. Do I need to have my application countersigned if it is a straightforward renewal?

If your passport was issued in the last 10 years, this is not normally necessary unless your appearance has noticeably changed.

15. Who should I ask to countersign my application if I have been in the USA for less than 2 years?

A professional person of good standing (doctor, dentist, teacher etc) who is known to you. Or you can obtain a countersignature from your previous location.

Thank you, that is really helpful info :yes:

Kate

AOS TIMELINE

16th December 2005 - Sent I-130, AOS, EAD & AP USPS overnight to Chicago Lockbox

18th December 2005 - Received at Chicago 9.18pm.

23rd December 2005 - NOAs for I-130, AOS, EAD, AP!! Didn't expect them that quickly

13th January 2006 - RFE for Medical and additional I-864 info

17th January 2006 - INFOPASS Apt about RFE.

23rd January 2006 - Appointment notice for Biometrics on 10th Feb.

10th February 2006 - Biometrics Appointment

21st February 2006 - Medical. Cost $250 including all blood tests, Td Shot, TB test and Titers for MMR and Varicella.

27th February 2006 - Appointment with immigration lawyer re. RFE for I-864.

1st March 2006 - Final results Medical. Papers in hand to send.

10th March 2006 - RFE responses to Lees Summit

13th March 2006 - RFE responses signed for at Lees Summit

24th March 2006 - Emergency AP approved in Omaha

28th March 2006- Collected AP

31st March 2006 - EAD Approval online

7th April 2006 - EAD arrived in mailbox.

21st April 2006- Received Interview Date for 22nd June

9th May 2006- Received SSN

22nd June 2006- AOS INTERVIEW APPROVED

REMOVING CONDITIONS

June 20 2008 - Package mailed to CSC under new rules. Would have been an NSC transfer

June 23 2008 - Package recieved at CSC

June 27 2008 - Recieve NOA1

July 16 2008 - Biometrics

July 17 2008 - Touched

September 9 2008 - Card production ordered

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