Vouchsafe supports two different styles of referee. Which one you use depends on your use case and regulatory requirements.
📌 All referees must be over 18.
Personal
A personal referee can be anyone who knows the user well, including a parent or guardian.
They’re similar to a guarantor, but they don’t take on any financial responsibility. They’re simply confirming the person’s identity.
Thanks to background checks on both the user and the referee, a personal referee is suitable for most situations.
Professional
A professional referee must also be linked to a well-known organisation with social standing. For example, a government department, local authority, NHS service, or charity.
To confirm this, Vouchsafe will check the referee’s work email address.
This option is useful in higher-risk cases, where being able to trace the referee through a trusted organisation adds an extra layer of confidence.
The list of eligible professions is based on those who can counter-sign passport applications, but has been updated to reflect modern roles.
Organisation | Example referee | Email ending with |
Government department | Jobcentre Plus work coach, civil servant, probation officer | ...gov.uk ...gov.scot ...gov.wales |
Local council | Social worker | ...gov.uk |
School or university | Teacher, teaching assistant, personal tutor | ...sch.uk ...ac.uk |
NHS | Nurse, GP receptionist | ...nhs.uk |
Charity (eg. Crisis, Shelter) | Support or case worker | ...org ...org.uk |
Represent an organisation that should be on this list? Contact [email protected] to be added.