Canadian passports require submittal of two photographs as well. Originally, one must have been physically attached to the passport, and I always assumed that the other one was kept on file as a reference.
I don’t know how it is with US passports, but I just got my Canadian passport renewed, and there were explicit instructions on how to pose for the photographs. I had to assume a neutral expression, neither frowning nor smiling.
They said that it was to make it wasier for the image-analysis computers to recognise us (!), but my theory is that we will be under suspicion, so we might as well look like criminals…
On current Canadian passports, the photograph and all the accompanying info (name, signature, etc) are printed in one go on page two and overlaid with jingly semi-transparent diffraction patterns. No word on RFID chips.
So in at least some instances, it is against the law to smile. I’m going to have to change my line now for when people ask me why I’m smiling for no apparent reason. Damn.
While in the Navy, I had to take photos for both ID cards and passports. When taking a friend’s photo, he said to me, “That’s a terrible picture!” My response: “Don’t blame me! I didn’t provide the face.”
As an amature photographer this seams like a no brainer to me…
Take a standerd “Head and shoulders” shot with a medium quality digital camera (one Meg or better) , against a a white/light colored wall…take the edit the photo only to resize it … and DO NOT CHANGE THE ASPECT RATIO
Just in case anyone wanted to save time by taking the pics at home with a digital camera, maybe it would be smart to check the rules first! Maybe it’s ok for the US passport, but definitely not accepted for Canada.
When my wife renewed her U.S. passport a few years ago, I took a picture of her in our backyard, against our white garage. Looked fine. We sent in two identical prints to the State Department, which sent back the finished passport with nary a quibble.
I always assumed the second photo was for the State Department to add to its files.
They won’t accept the photos unless the photographer has stamped the back of the photo with his or her name (or business name) and address. Then it is a relatively simple matter for the passport office to check that the photographer really is a commercial photographer: look in the Yellow Pages.
When you take your application into the office, there is usually a quick vetting procedure of your forms and photos to make sure they are in order before you spend an hour in line waiting to be told the same thing. No verifiable commercial photographer, as indicated by a rubber stamp on the back of both photos? Go away and don’t come back until you have proper photos from a commercial photographer.
That’s interesting. For Australian passports, you can send in any old photo (including amateur ones) providing they meet the requirements. The requirements are quite strict, but having a professional photographer isn’t one of them. On the back, you need to get a witness to write something along the lines of “This is a true and correct photograph of Joe Citizen. Signed, “X” X/X/2006”. I forget if you need a Justice of the Peace, a person in certain professions, or just a person who has known you for a certain period.
Having just renewed my passport, it seems to me that the passport photo requirements are now a lot stricter than they used to be. I had my photos taken by one of the camera stores here in town. I went to the GPO to do all the paperwork and the photos were rejected as “not within the guidelines”. Apparently my face was not looking perfectly straight towards the camera. While I was there three other applicants had their photos rejected for a variety of other reasons. In the end the bloke at the GPO took another set of photos and I went back to the camera shop and got a refund for the duds that they had taken.
