Citizenship referee - GP?

I've been researching who can be used as the 'person of professional standing' referee, and I've seen some conflicting advice about asking your GP to do this.  It seems that doctors are no longer on the list of acceptable professions, and I see that doctors can no longer countersign passports (not sure if that's relevant or not): https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications/accepted-occupations-for-countersignatories

Has anyone asked their GP to do this recently?  I'm slightly at a loss for who else I could ask to do this.

I think most wont do it anymore.

Do you have a friend or colleague that could do it?  You’ll likely find people are very flattered to be asked.   

Ah crap.
Not for myself really. But my mother-in-law was going to use her GP. She has lived a very secluded life since moving here in the 80s from Cyprus and doesn't know anyone else who is professional. She was granted ILR a few years after moving, but has been working towards citizenship just to ensure no issues as she has been visiting poorly relatives back home a lot the last few years. Thanks so much for this info! I will pass it along to her.

Ah crap.
Not for myself really. But my mother-in-law was going to use her GP. She has lived a very secluded life since moving here in the 80s from Cyprus and doesn't know anyone else who is professional. She was granted ILR a few years after moving, but has been working towards citizenship just to ensure no issues as she has been visiting poorly relatives back home a lot the last few years. Thanks so much for this info! I will pass it along to her.

You'll also want to point out the residency requirements to her as she's been spending time out of the country.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-spouse

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-eea

I think most wont do it anymore.

Do you have a friend or colleague that could do it?  You’ll likely find people are very flattered to be asked.   

Unfortunately, none of the British people I know have jobs on the list of approved occupations.  I'm not sure how to find out whether anyone I know is suitable.

I found this information, from here: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/siteimages/Births-marriages-deaths/Citizenship/faqs_regarding_the_british_citizenship_process1.pdf

"The list is not an exhaustive list; therefore an individual’s profession may not be listed as acceptable although they may fall under the category of a person of any nationality who is of professional standing or a member of a professional association. If the caseworker is not satisfied with your referee they may request another."

I'm not sure what counts as a person "of professional standing" apart from the jobs they've cited on the list.  Do you know how they make that decision?

Also, my flatmate is British, but I know you can't have anyone living at the same address as you to countersign your passport, so I wasn't sure if the same would apply here - does anyone know?

You'll also want to point out the residency requirements to her as she's been spending time out of the country.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-spouse

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-eea

Ahhhhh, yeaaa. Cheers! They won't pay attention to things enough to know that. My father in law actually insisted that my mother in law didn't need citizenship in order to get a passport, and wouldn't listen to me when I told him....ah, no, of course she does! They went through a whole passport rejection before starting her on the citizenship path. He still won't admit he was wrong though, grrrrr