Unable to get a passport because I don't know anyone

Hello,

I have autism and can't tolerate having friends/socialising. I'm housebound and only go out very rarely, such as to get vaccinated. This has resulted in me having nobody to confirm my identity. I don't even have a social worker. I've never been to church as an adult, due to sensory overload and anxiety.

I have not been employed since my 20s, due to other severe disabilities. I don't know my current neighbours. I knew a neighbour who lives near my mother, but I haven't seen her for over a decade. I would not be able to ask her. My mother still knows her, but refuses to ask her or help me. I did know fellow home education parents, but none of them worked. Passport rules disqualified them from vouching for me.

I was born in UK and have lived here for 41 years. But I've never had a passport. I'm unable to open the bank account of my choice (with best interest rate) because I have no photo ID. And I feel trapped here. I've never been on holiday. I've never been able to take my 15 year old on any foreign day trip, to France etc.

Does anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks

Claire

  • I messaged the surgery a week ago. They have not responded. The rules don't specifically state that the person needs to have known you face-to-face for 2 years. And technically I have been trying to communicate with them for many years, via email & their messaging system. It's not my fault that they get away with rarely responding. It's my chosen form of communication due to my autism & I had made them well aware of that many times over the past decade. It feels like disability discrimination. Cry

  • Rules can be bent.  NTs know that.  

    Autistics take rules literally.

  • The rules do specifically say the person who confirms your identity can't be a doctor, unless they state that they know you well (for example they're a good friend) and that they recognise you easily from your photo.

  • Neither of my brothers has been married or had a partner.

    I had a 'floating support worker' for a few years, a decade ago. To help with relocating. And he helped me to get diagnosed with autism. I didn't know what it was prior. But I've had no other support worker. Several years ago I briefly had an advocate to help with a ESA benefit assessment home visit. But I never saw her again.

    Before my daughter was even born children's social workers wouldn't stop harassing me and my daughter. It got so bad they were causing PTSD. They didn't stop the frequent visits and libel, until she was nearly 11 years old. But for the past 5 years they have been completely absent. Which is ironic. Not only did they exit when my daughter was of an age that she could demand they stop lying. They also left when we could've used the workers (who claimed to know us personally; even though we had never met most of them) to obtain a passport.

  • Do you have any siblings who would have a friend or parent in law (so not directly related to you) who would sign the form and give their passport details.  Can you find the courage to ask your neighbour or approach your GP receptionist to ask if they could sign it. Is their any agency worker or health visitor who could do this for you.

    i had to ask a work colleague to sign my son’s passport as I moved area and didn’t know anybody. But if all else failed I was going to get the mother of my brothers wife to do it for me. Don’t over think this, there is no way of checking how many years someone has known you. 

  • I would email them, I don't like going out to meet strangers too :P, makes my skin goosebump to think about it.

    Explain as well why only such a method of contact is possible. Like, my social anxiety wouldn't let me get here in person, and phone conversations have inherent speech recognition difficulty, meaning I would catch one word out of five you say.

  • Thank you.

    I'm unable to go out to the local citizens advice bureau and speak with a stranger. I'm also unable to speak to strangers via phone. Unfortunately these are the only communication methods mine offers. Even though they claim to offer email advice. The link just goes to a form requesting phone number. And it specifically states their only method of communication is that they will phone. It says they will try to call a few times and then close the case, if no answer. Since I can't answer, there's no point me filling in the form.

  • Thank you.

    The rules do specifically say it can't just be a GP. They must know you well. I can't get to the GP surgery. So I've only ever seen who I think is my named GP once in nearly 10 years. He did a home visit several years ago. And from what I remember he asked my daughter a lot of questions about her. But didn't speak to me. A few months ago a different GP came around to take blood. She was very helpful. And although she's probably the only person I've spoken to in several years apart from family, she wouldn't be able to say she knows me well.

  • Ask Citizen Bureau Advice, it could be something they could help you with

  • I think you can ask your GP. If you've been at that practice for a while, seen you a number of time and know it's you. You might have to pay a  admin fee though.

  • im in same position have no one to sign for me

  • I don't know where your replies went? Sorry if I accidently deleted them. My sight is not that great. Something came up on screen, I clicked to get rid of it & your replies went.

  • I know it must be hard to imagine. But I genuinely don't want friends. I'm very happy with just seeing my daughter. She goes out regularly and sees others. And I'm happy she enjoys that. But that is definitely not for me.

    The problem is that not having a passport is affecting both our lives. Even having an at home blood test, photo ID required. Opening a chase bank account, not possible without photo ID. Taking my daughter on a day trip abroad, not possible without a passport. We have been to UK beaches, but she's bored of that now.

  • Thank you

    Unfortunately I don't have any of those. 

  • Thank you for your reply.

    Those rules seem very much the same as for a passport. If I had anyone who fit that criteria, then Id have someone who could help me get a passport. But I don't.

  • Thank you for your reply.

    Making a fake friendship, just to obtain a passport, is unfair to any person I would ask. Because it's using them purely to obtain something for myself. I'd stop talking to them immediately after. And it also feels cruel to me. Mixing with those other than family, forces me to put on a mask, that kills me inside. This is not something that therapy can change. I've had talking therapy and meds etc. It doesn't help at all. And just makes me feel worse.

    I'm unsure what an autism assessment for 1-1 support is. I have a feeling it's something not offered to adults in my Borough. And even if it was- I don't have a problem with confidence, self-esteem & worth. I know I'm worthy of friends if I want them etc. I know how to make friends- I spent my childhood being forced to speak to others. To 'look normal'. Any refusal to act normal, was met with taunts from my mother of 'that's what problem children do'.

    My mother is 75 and visits me daily, to see my daughter. I should've premised this relationship with the fact that she has been very abusive to me as an adult and was neglectful when I was a child. I was only diagnosed at age 31. My mother was poor and kept me quiet as a child because my father was a violent alcoholic who hit me (she wanted to be able to keep child-minding). I also kept to myself. 

    My mother refuses to understand autism doesn't have a cure. Claiming she had no idea what it was. But she made no effort to find out when I was diagnosed. She's very much of the view that if others with the condition can do something, then so could I. She feels it's comparable to the slight anxiety she fees, when doing something that she doesn't like. It doesn't help that I'm unable to express pain or even mild distress. No matter how I try, I'm forced to put on a mask when not around very close family. I could be at deaths door and I'd still appear as I always do. 

    I don't go to my mothers home, it's too far for me to get to. I have no opportunity to see my neighbour. Not that I did much when I lived with my mother until I was 24. Only seeing the neighbour, when she came around to get her spare house key, very occasionally. She's in her 70s.

  • Hi, have you thought of applying for a provisional driving license. The photo can be signed by the list I’ve attached. It will at least get you into the system and give you a  photo I.D. I think you can then use it to open a bank account. 

    e person signing the form and photo must:

    • hold a valid GB photocard driving licence
    • be resident in the UK
    • know you personally
    • not be a relative
    • not be living at the same address as you

    Suitable people include a current or retired:

    • local business person or shopkeeper
    • librarian
    • professionally qualified person, for example a lawyer, teacher or engineer
    • police officer
    • bank or building society staff member
    • civil servant
    • minister of religion
    • magistrate
    • local councillor
    • Member of Parliament, Assembly Member, or Member of the Scottish Parliament