This is not normally necessary for any person over 16 renewing a passport. Applications for children under 16 must be countersigned. If you are replacing a passport that has been lost/stolen/damaged or extending a passport with restricted validity, the form must be countersigned. We reserve the right to ask for a countersignature.

If your application requires a countersignature

Both the form and photographs should be countersigned and endorsed by a professional person (e.g. teacher (primary or secondary), lawyer, bank official, an established civil servant, police officer, doctor or other person of similar standing) who is either a British citizen, BN(O) or Commonwealth citizen and has known you for at least two years.

For a child's application, the countersignatory should be someone who has known the parent or guardian for at least two years. Please note that relatives are not permitted to countersign.

If you don't know a suitable countersignatory

If you have been normally resident in Hong Kong for at least two years we would expect you to know at least one suitable person who can countersign your form.

If you are visiting Hong Kong and have lost your passport, we understand that you may have difficulty finding a countersignatory. If you are unable to provide satisfactory evidence of your identity before you need to leave Hong Kong, we will consider issuing an emergency or restricted validity passport.