solicitor certifying documents

[weetabix1]

my wife cannot get to a solicitors (due to work) to get a photograph certified can I as her husband do it with her passport and marriage certificate
many thanks
mark

[clawrence251]

No you can not do it. The person must not be a relative. Do you have a friend who holds a position of authority, eg. policeman, doctor, even a nurse. If so, they can do it. Otherwise, could your wife get to her bank perhaps in her lunch hour as normally her bank manager will do it.

[Ethel]

No, you can't take your wife's photo to the solicitor, unless the solicitor knows her very well and will recognise her from the photograph. Otherwise it could be anybody in the photo.

[cassa333]

Her employer could do it!!

[Skyline D]

Question is somewhat ambiguous.

Are you asking if you can certify the photo instead of the solictor because she can't get to the solictors or if you can take her documents and the photo to the solicitor instead of her going herself and he will still sign it?

Answer is probably the same to both though. You don't say why you need a photo certfied (I presume it's not a passport since you say you alreayd have one but maybe it's an old one and she needs a new one?) but if it's any sort of official purpose (and certainly if it's a passport application) then it can't be certified by a relative. I'd be surprised if a solicitor was prepared to certify a photo of anyone without meeting them in person too.

If it is a passport application then any (non-relative) professional person will do. Accountant, policeman, clergyman, doctor or the total "get out", person of standing in the community which could well be her employer as suggested above. You really know no-one else who could do it?

If on the other hand it does specifically have to be a solicitor that does it then I'd guess he will insist on meeting her in person but call him and explain and see what he says. Maybe he can go to her if he has other reason to be in the area?

[jen78]

I'm a solicitor and there is no way I would certify a photo of someone which was brought in by someone else unless I had known them personally for a long (or any requisite) time and the circumstances were fully explainable and it wasn't a photo that had to be certified in their presence.

I'd also be suspicious (we are cynical by nature, have to be in our job) as to why she couldn't attend personally, we are very heavily regulated and used to help police the system for crimes such as fraud, money laundering etc... and have to question anything out of the ordinary.

If it's for a passport then don't they have to know the person for 2 year? I had a colleague needed one for her baby and I checked with the passport office who confirmed that even as a solicitor I had to have known the mother personally for at least two years so I couldn't and didn't do it.

Being honest, I have to say I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable about certifying a photo in any event for anyone I didn't know well with the potential for doctoring documents etc... these days. It just wouldn't be worth me losing the professional qualifications I've worked so hard to get.

[north star]

Assuming this is for a passport application, then what are the qualities that 'allows' a 'professional' person to authenticate a photo rather than, and with due defference to, a shelf stacker from Tescos. Discuss.