# My passport pic doesn't look like me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624 "2011-07-11T14:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/1 "2011-07-11T14:11:41Z")
I just renewed my passport a few months ago. In the picture I have long hair, pulled back in a pony tail. I have a small goatee. Since that picture was taken, I’ve shaved my head. I let my facial hair grow out into a full beard. So, on my next trip will I have problems at the airport (other than the ones that always happen, of course:D)?? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/2 "2011-07-11T14:27:53Z")
Nobody looks like their passport photo. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/3 "2011-07-11T14:50:59Z")
FWIW me = passport/ID card photo plus beard plus 8 years minus 47 kg, and have not had any difficulties yet. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/4 "2011-07-11T14:59:31Z")
I have once travelled with a passport where I had short hair, glasses that just weren’t me, white shirt and a tie while having long hair and beard, completely different glasses and generally sloppy clothes. At the border between Denmark and Germany it was confiscated for a couple of minutes while they checked that it wasn’t stolen or something. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/5 "2011-07-13T09:50:51Z")
Are your ears visible in the passport photo ? If they can’t go by anything else, they will look at your ears. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/6 "2011-07-13T10:16:51Z")
> [@T.Slothrop](#): > > Are your ears visible in the passport photo ? If they can’t go by anything else, they will look at your ears. My passport photo was taken about 8 years ago, and makes me look remarkably pretty and demure. It does not look like me, and particularly not like the very rough-around-the edges me that comes out when travelling. In the photo, my hair is hooked back behind one ear. About 70% of the time at Russian and British passport control, I’ll get asked to show my ears. (Russian officials usually want to see both; British officials ask to see one.) I then get my documents stamped, and get waved through with no further questions. Never had a problem at a European or American airport. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/7 "2011-07-13T11:40:23Z")
Many countries want to check your ears for some reason. When I applied for a visa, I had to provide a picture of myself taken at an angle so they could see my right ear. Supposedly this was because some countries mark the ears of criminals, but I don’t know if I believe that. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/8 "2011-07-13T12:07:51Z")
I doubt very much that it’d be a problem. Anyway, if it were, they wouldn’t just turn you around and send you home without double-checking - they wouldn’t send a fraud on their merry way with no repercussions, so they wouldn’t do that to you either - so you’d just have to prove you really are you. Maybe they’d make you shave. 😃 > [@Erdosain](#): > > Many countries want to check your ears for some reason. When I applied for a visa, I had to provide a picture of myself taken at an angle so they could see my right ear. Supposedly this was because some countries mark the ears of criminals, but I don’t know if I believe that. It’s because ears are [pretty good identifiers:](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7672-ear-biometrics-may-beat-face-recognition.html) > [@](#): > > Ears are remarkably consistent, he says. Unlike faces, they do not change shape with different expressions or age, and remain fixed in the middle of the side of the head against a predictable background. A Google search for ‘ear biometrics’ turns up a fair few more recent scholarly articles. UK passports require all photos to have the ears showing. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/9 "2011-07-13T12:46:15Z")
Ears, huh? Well, I’ve got a dozen CBRs in my left ear and a tragus CBR in my right. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/10 "2011-07-13T13:37:55Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I doubt very much that it’d be a problem… I dunno. I used my passport twice yesterday (at a border crossing, not at an airport) and the photo was heavily scrutinized both times. And it \*totally \*looks like me. I suppose it depends on who (whom?) you run into. mmm ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/11 "2011-07-13T14:03:29Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I dunno. I used my passport twice yesterday (at a border crossing, not at an airport) and the photo was heavily scrutinized both times. And it \*totally \*looks like me. > > I suppose it depends on who (whom?) you run into. > mmm Yeah, that probably would happen, but I don’t think having to wait an extra few seconds while they look closer counts as a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/12 "2011-07-13T20:18:24Z")
I’ve lost about 60 lbs since mine was taken - but I don’t think you’d have trouble recognizing me. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/13 "2011-07-13T21:58:39Z")
My passport photo was taken when I was about my heaviest; I’ve since lost a good 40 pounds or so. When I crossed from Russia into Finland, I definitely got some odd looks (It was more like 50 pounds difference then) but nothing worse than that. No comment at all that I can remember leaving Finland or coming back into the States. ---
**Author:** ![Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@Lil\_Ol\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lil_Ol_Lady)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-passport-pic-doesnt-look-like-me/588624/14 "2011-07-13T22:25:49Z")
You can tell my passport photo is me, but it’s unbelievably bad