My wife is applying for a new passport, and any combination of the directgov website, passport advice line and the little book you get with the form has not provided any solution to this problem so far.
Her last passport was issued when she was 15 in 2004, and as such was a five year passport that expired in 2009. She now wants to apply for a new one, which will be her first 10 year passport.
Is it her first adult passport, or just a renewal of her previous passport? Does she need a counter signature on her photo or the form itself?
Having spoken to three different people on the advice line, who have given three slightly different bits of advice, I am losing the will to live a little bit. 😥
My gf is just going through the same thing. I think that because her last passport photo was when she was 15 or so, and she's now 22, the 4th bulletpoint on this page: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/Applicationinformation/DG_174151
must come in, as she looks quite different now as to 7 years ago. Ultimately getting it signed shouldn't do any harm to the application, and you must know somebody who can sign it for free, so what's there to lose?
We've only just moved to the area where we live now, and we both have new jobs, which means that anyone within a reasonable distance has only known us for a few months, not the required two years. We can get around it by going back to see someone who has known her for years, but we are a bit short on time before we actually go away as it is, and I don't want to unnecessarily delay the application getting sent off.