Passport photos - need to countersign?

[caerau]

(I notice that you don't really look like your avatar.

 

You know mattc doesn't look much like his avatar either, right?

I of course,  look *exactly* like mine - it's why I wear the specs dont'cha know - can't have my secret identity known...

[billplumtree]

I was required to take my specs off for the photo.  Absurd seeing as I always wear them.  Presumably I will now need to take them off whenever I go through customs 

Yep, if it's one of those automatic thingummies.  A tip from me:  work out exactly where to put your passport, and put it there, before taking your specs off.  DAMHIK    (to the long and getting longer queue behind me at Manchester Airport last Feb: sorry)

[renard]

I've been through the E-gates at London City airport many times and they work OK with my glasses on.

[contango]

(I notice that you don't really look like your avatar.

You know mattc doesn't look much like his avatar either, right?

I look quite a lot like mine

[contango]

Easily recognisable as the same person (the eyes have it). I don't think there is any risk at all.

2-1 in favour, then. 

I just wish I aged so gracefully (i.e. not at all).

Flattery will get you everywhere. 

I have a big bushy beard and moustache that isn't present on my passport photo and I've never had a problem whether with automatic facial recognition or border staff not being able confirm the match.

That's interesting. Presumably facial recognition stuff is advanced enough to be able to work around beards then.

For what it's worth when I saw the two pictures my first thought was that I wasn't sure they were the same person, but looking more closely I could see that although it looks like your face is slightly elongated in the newer picture (I'd guess the result of losing some weight?), the hair is changed but nothing more than a different hairstyle, and the eyes and nose and ears look sufficiently similar that I'd be willing to accept it's probably the same person. Especially if it's accompanied by the signed statements saying "this really is me, honest guv'nor, and you can throw me in jail for the rest of my life if I'm fibbing" (or whatever the passport application says these days).

[Pickled Onion]

I don't think you have anything to worry about, most people change more than that in 10 years.

Youngest shallot recently had a new passport, he's changed hugely between age 14 to 19, including a huge beard, shape of face different, etc. There was no problem at all.

[MikeFromLFE]

I have a big bushy beard and moustache that isn't present on my passport photo and I've never had a problem whether with automatic facial recognition or border staff not being able confirm the match.

I renewed mine at the start of the year - ten years ago I had hair on my very youthful looking head, now it's on my face instead. Absolutely no problems renewing. Yours will be fine.

[ian]

I've been sent to the Gitmo departure lounge for dodgy passportry, so it can fail (in my case, I was a bit more sturdy when the picture was taken). It had previously caused me to have to do impressions of a fat me by blowing out my cheeks and doing the greedy chipmunk dance for immigration staff (that's high comedy for the French). Anyway, after that incident US immigration insisted that if I wanted to come back I had to get a new passport with an updated picture. If Moby gets fat, he's going to have the same problem in reverse.

I tried the automated thing once and had to take my glasses off. Which meant I couldn't read the instructions. I'd rather deal with the laughter factory at the desks. There's no point encouraging our robot overlords.

I countersign a good few passport photos. Not sure if I'm supposed to, I'm definitely not of good character. If I recall, I got our HR top bod to countersign mine last.

[citoyen]

Anyway, after that incident US immigration insisted that if I wanted to come back I had to get a new passport with an updated picture.

So you almost weren't allowed into America because you weren't fat enough? That's comedy gold, that is.

[ian]

Anyway, after that incident US immigration insisted that if I wanted to come back I had to get a new passport with an updated picture.

So you almost weren't allowed into America because you weren't fat enough? That's comedy gold, that is.

Brilliant, I know. I had this discussion with the chap in immigration (who was actually quite cheerful about the entire thing, but pointed out that next time I ended up in a gitmo lounge I might not get quite cordial a welcome). He did say that it wasn't a problem most Americans would encounter. It was also quite common not to be recognised in person even by people who ought to have known me well, so I must have had a fat head before or something.

[citoyen]

In case anyone is wondering, the chap on the desk at the passport office barely even looked at my pictures, old or new. 

[red marley]

His loss. 

[citoyen]

 

[Wowbagger]

Thread resurrection time.

I have just sent off an application for a new passport. I wasted £10 in the bloody photo booths at Waitrose. It's a convoluted process.

1. Pay £5 (the first machine wouldn't accept payment)

2. Adjust the gubbins so that your eyes are between the lines

3. Tell it to take the photo

4. Press the "Accept" button when you don't mean to - the machine removed my beard.

5. Curse volubly and take the useless photos home.

6. Some days later, go back to photo booth and decide to sit as far back as possible so that my head fits into the frame.

7. Pay another £5.

8. Reject first photo, having put glasses back on to read instructions.

9. Take second photo with glasses on.

10. Machine, after taking the photo, tells you that that photo will be unacceptable because of glasses.

11. Wonder why the holy fuck that the machine has decided, when you are wearing glasses, to include your entire head and not cut your beard off.

12. Take another photo.

13. Machine again cuts beard off.

14. Realise that you only get 3 attempts with this machine and there is no "refund" button when none of the photos it has taken is acceptable.

15. Go home in high dudgeon.

16. Get Dez to take photo on DSLR.

17. Take SD card to Tesco's.

18. Stick SD card in Tesco's photo machine and get 6 perfectly good photos for £0.38.

19. Send a snotty email to Photo-me showing the useless photos they produced asking for a £10 refund.

[Kim]

Thread resurrection time.

That's timely.  Barakta will be along with a rant in due course...

[Canardly]

The hardest part of the process from my point of view is signing between the bloody lines on the form. We have a couple of places in town that take studio passport photos for a fiver or less.

[Mrs Pingu]

Snappy Snaps does passport photos.  Much better than the booths.

[Wowbagger]

The hardest part of the process from my point of view is signing the between the bloody lines on the form. We have a couple of places in town that take studio passport photos for a fiver or less.

I had to print mine a second time and do that.

[hellymedic]

Snappy Snaps does passport photos.  Much better than the booths.

I also went to Snappy Snaps.

Horrid photos at 4 for just under £10 but accepted by Passport Office so all is well.

[Jaded]

For the last 10 years I've taken photos for family and friends and laser printed them. Works a treat.

[HeltorChasca]

I got stopped on my touring bike on the way back from the NL a couple of summers ago.

Passport photo: Me when I looked like a Gallagher brother.

Me in the flesh: Handsome, Lowland warrior lookalike. Hair down back. Salt and pepper beard. If I knew her, mama would be proud of the improvement. I was born in Africa, which always gets me extra time with border staff.

Immigration Officer: 'Whatever you say sir, but we just need you to wait in that room over there.

Updated my passport last summer. Delightful and problem free tour in Europe ensued. Friend who is a director for an import company signed my photos. She is Dutch.

I'll see what this summer's tour across the channel throws up.

[Wowbagger]

New passport arrived this morning. I look as lovely as ever.

[barakta]

I too struggled with the machine couldn't read instructions or SEE things on the screen without specs but aren't allowed specs in pic. I couldn't understand the computerised voice either, it was peculiarly mushy despite being pseudofeminine. I don't have a beard so didn't have fitting that in problem but my eyes don't move properly and you're supposed to look straight ahead but I couldn't see if my eyes/head were right without spex...

I then had to do this twice as my renewal required NEW pics cos "recent" means in the last month which I managed to miss.  Hoping the damned thing comes back to me before next week's job interview as I've also lost my sodding birth cert and have no way of proving I've got rights to work in the UK.

[hellymedic]

Nice thing about Snappy Snaps is interacting with Real Human^TM, which makes life without specs possible but I'm a hearie.

Photographer was not a Native Brit, but patient and helpful.

Not cheap though.

[barakta]

I wasn't sure where the nearest human photographer was that could do passport pics or I'd have gone to them regardless of cost.  I did manage the machines in the end, but very much with teeth gritted and the pics are suitably terrible, making me look like the usual axe murderer.