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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jul/13/applying-for-passport-wrong-photograph
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| Applying for a passport? It's nothing to smile about | Applying for a passport? It's nothing to smile about |
| (2 months later) | |
| Forget trying to look cheerful in the photo that will be staring out from your passport for the next 10 years. Hair over your face? Forget it. Glasses? Get rid of them. Smile? You're having a laugh. | Forget trying to look cheerful in the photo that will be staring out from your passport for the next 10 years. Hair over your face? Forget it. Glasses? Get rid of them. Smile? You're having a laugh. |
| As I queued at the Passport Office for a "fast track" renewal, I saw six other people despatched to get replacement pics after failing to meet the strictly-enforced rules on how you can look. | As I queued at the Passport Office for a "fast track" renewal, I saw six other people despatched to get replacement pics after failing to meet the strictly-enforced rules on how you can look. |
| I am married to a rather well-known photographer, not that it helped. Down at the photo booth at the Co-op, I spent an undignified half an hour twirling the stool up and down in a hot and sweaty cabin. Four tries later, I emerged with a cross between a post-arrest police mugshot and one of those dodgy "before" makeover shots. "Mum, you could have put some make-up on," sighed my daughter when she saw the appalling result. Fortunately, though, it got past the passport photo police. | I am married to a rather well-known photographer, not that it helped. Down at the photo booth at the Co-op, I spent an undignified half an hour twirling the stool up and down in a hot and sweaty cabin. Four tries later, I emerged with a cross between a post-arrest police mugshot and one of those dodgy "before" makeover shots. "Mum, you could have put some make-up on," sighed my daughter when she saw the appalling result. Fortunately, though, it got past the passport photo police. |
| Your facial expression must be neutral (no smiling, grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows), mouth firmly closed with no glimpse of teeth, glasses removed (even if you wear them all the time) and hair (if you have any) tucked severely behind your ears. Poker-faced is about it. | Your facial expression must be neutral (no smiling, grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows), mouth firmly closed with no glimpse of teeth, glasses removed (even if you wear them all the time) and hair (if you have any) tucked severely behind your ears. Poker-faced is about it. |
| Yet, rather oddly, a Barbara Cartland-style trowel-load of make-up is allowed as long as the photo represents "natural skin tone". | Yet, rather oddly, a Barbara Cartland-style trowel-load of make-up is allowed as long as the photo represents "natural skin tone". |
| The rules aren't new, but inevitably it is only when people come to renew passports that the challenges become apparent. And it's clear that it's causing a few headaches. | The rules aren't new, but inevitably it is only when people come to renew passports that the challenges become apparent. And it's clear that it's causing a few headaches. |
| Pictures have to be taken against an off-white, cream or light grey background. Subjects must look straight ahead with mouths shut and have "neutral" expressions (much harder than it sounds). Eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no "red eye". The face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; you must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting your head to one side or backwards or forwards, and the photo must show both edges of the face clearly. | Pictures have to be taken against an off-white, cream or light grey background. Subjects must look straight ahead with mouths shut and have "neutral" expressions (much harder than it sounds). Eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no "red eye". The face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; you must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting your head to one side or backwards or forwards, and the photo must show both edges of the face clearly. |
| The UK Passport Office says that incorrect photos are one of the most common reasons for applications being rejected, along with signatures outside the box and using the wrong colour ink (it must be black). | The UK Passport Office says that incorrect photos are one of the most common reasons for applications being rejected, along with signatures outside the box and using the wrong colour ink (it must be black). |
| The good news is that since September 2012 it has actually become cheaper to apply for a passport with the price for a standard adult passport dropping by £5 to £72.50. All other application types also reduced in price. Just don't leave it to the last minute. | The good news is that since September 2012 it has actually become cheaper to apply for a passport with the price for a standard adult passport dropping by £5 to £72.50. All other application types also reduced in price. Just don't leave it to the last minute. |
| The UK Passport Office says that last year more than a million people left it until the eleventh hour to apply for a passport last summer and risked missing out on their holidays. | The UK Passport Office says that last year more than a million people left it until the eleventh hour to apply for a passport last summer and risked missing out on their holidays. |
| Parents applying for their children, and young people aged 16 to 20, were the two biggest groups to submit a last-minute passport application. As the holiday season approaches, the agency always sees demand surge. Last December there were 175,174 applications, for example, but this July there are expected to be more than 560,000. | Parents applying for their children, and young people aged 16 to 20, were the two biggest groups to submit a last-minute passport application. As the holiday season approaches, the agency always sees demand surge. Last December there were 175,174 applications, for example, but this July there are expected to be more than 560,000. |
| If it's not bad enough worrying about your own application as an adult, think about those with families. There are different rules for babies and children (when we have spent years telling children not to smile at the camera, how can we tell them not to?). A friend who had to apply for passports for all three children (including the youngest, just one-year old) ended up placing him strapped into his car seat on the stool with a white sheet draped over him, and had to grope across the floor underneath him to operate the machine. | If it's not bad enough worrying about your own application as an adult, think about those with families. There are different rules for babies and children (when we have spent years telling children not to smile at the camera, how can we tell them not to?). A friend who had to apply for passports for all three children (including the youngest, just one-year old) ended up placing him strapped into his car seat on the stool with a white sheet draped over him, and had to grope across the floor underneath him to operate the machine. |
| Finally, I can understand that a cloud of hair and dark glasses may make it difficult to capture an accurate image. But couldn't we at least be allowed a little smile? Apparently not, for the sake of consistency with other countries. Bon voyage. | Finally, I can understand that a cloud of hair and dark glasses may make it difficult to capture an accurate image. But couldn't we at least be allowed a little smile? Apparently not, for the sake of consistency with other countries. Bon voyage. |
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