Taken from anti_righty

[conuly]

Don't say cheese!

varro is right. You can't make this stuff up.

Comments

[divabat.livejournal.com]

Agh, we went to get US visas earlier this year and there were 928493285493285 guidelines just for the photos. White background, had to be a certain size (very inconvenient as it wasn't the standard passpost photo size - we had to find a specialist photo shop o get them done), etc etc. Though I did smile a bit in mine, and it was accepted, so feh :P

[readerravenclaw.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely real. It's listed in the rules and all. (http://travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotos/glossary.html)

But don't think it's just the US - Britain passed the same law. Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3541444.stm

And I'm a bit confused - why was this posted in anti_righty? It's a new technology decision, not a "righty" law, and besides, who cares? Not smiling in a picture isn't exactly a terrible hardship if it means improved face recognition capabilities, which means less error and less time lost at airports.

[conuly]

Well, I've yet to understand why people post where they do, but the idea is that a lot of people have pictures they've been using, and they don't find out that those pictures are unacceptable until they get right down to have their visa. That's why it's an annoying hardship, because you wait on line for nothing.

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Ehh, I've never been good at smiling for pictures anyway... it always looks forced.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I've always been told not to smile for passport photos anyway *shrugs*

Besides, who actually is smiling when they pass through immigration :0P

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I wasn't allowed to smile in my passport (last year, so I could go on a trip to Italy-- which rocked, except for the crazy Roman drivers. seriously.)

It makes sense. I mean, one's face is usually not smiling. Well, not my face, anyway.

[divabat.livejournal.com]

Agh, we went to get US visas earlier this year and there were 928493285493285 guidelines just for the photos. White background, had to be a certain size (very inconvenient as it wasn't the standard passpost photo size - we had to find a specialist photo shop o get them done), etc etc. Though I did smile a bit in mine, and it was accepted, so feh :P

[readerravenclaw.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely real. It's listed in the rules and all. (http://travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotos/glossary.html)

But don't think it's just the US - Britain passed the same law. Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3541444.stm

And I'm a bit confused - why was this posted in anti_righty? It's a new technology decision, not a "righty" law, and besides, who cares? Not smiling in a picture isn't exactly a terrible hardship if it means improved face recognition capabilities, which means less error and less time lost at airports.

[conuly]

Well, I've yet to understand why people post where they do, but the idea is that a lot of people have pictures they've been using, and they don't find out that those pictures are unacceptable until they get right down to have their visa. That's why it's an annoying hardship, because you wait on line for nothing.

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Ehh, I've never been good at smiling for pictures anyway... it always looks forced.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I've always been told not to smile for passport photos anyway *shrugs*

Besides, who actually is smiling when they pass through immigration :0P

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I wasn't allowed to smile in my passport (last year, so I could go on a trip to Italy-- which rocked, except for the crazy Roman drivers. seriously.)

It makes sense. I mean, one's face is usually not smiling. Well, not my face, anyway.