On 25/08/2013 18:48, Jenny M Benson wrote: > On 25/08/2013 18:18, Charles Ellson wrote: >> if a person's medical records >> are complete from birth to the present day then that (in conjunction >> with your GP endorsing your photograph) is possibly the least likely >> chain of information to be defeated by impersonation > > Don't know how widespread it is, but certainly my local (Welsh) > surgery's GPs won't endorse photographs for passports now. I thought my last British passport was acquired through the British Embassy in Athens, but it wasn't. My son's was, but I can't remember who endorsed his photo. Possibly our Greek doctor. By the time we needed to renew our passports, the British Embassy in Athens had closed and the nearest Embassy we could apply to was in Madrid! So, at great expense, we went the fast-track route and made an appointment to apply for and pick up our new passports on a particular day in London. For the previous passport, our doctor had signed, for a fee. But for this one, one of our sons' friends signed it, because he was a police officer and we had known him for years. I have looked on our surgery's web site, and they now charge £20 to endorse a passport photo.