What is a countersignatory?

For all Enhanced and Standard DBS checks, a countersignature is required before the application can be submitted to the DBS for vetting. 

You may be familiar with the concept of a countersignature from financial or legal documents such as Power of Attorneys, whereby the countersignature serves to provide confirmation of the document's authenticity.  

In the case of DBS applications, a countersignatory must be someone who is registered with the DBS to countersign applications, making a declaration that the position is eligible for the DBS check requested. 

It is only upon receiving the countersignature that the application can be sent to the DBS to commence the vetting process, which is why you may sometimes be asked questions regarding the eligibility of an application before it can be countersigned. 

All uCheck employees are registered with the DBS as counter signatories, and it will therefore be a member of our team who will countersign the applications. 

As soon as an application is approved by our client, the application enters our countersigning queue. It is from here that we will potentially raise questions regarding the eligibility of an application or go ahead with countersigning if we are happy with the application as it is. 

Once an application has been countersigned, no further changes can be made to the information declared. The DBS sweep applications from our system every 15 minutes, ensuring there is minimal delay between an application being countersigned and it entering the vetting process.