Passport Photo

[bjarvis]

I finally found a place in the greater DC area which will do photos in a format suitable for Canadian passports. With nothing else planned for this morning, I dashed out to University Blvd & Colesville Rd (about three miles from home) to get the photos while Kent was still getting dressed.



For what it's worth, I hate the new photo requirements. The specification that the picture be taken with a "neutral" (read: blank and/or stoned) expression is utterly unflattering, especially for an official document which has a lifetime of 5 years. What a great way to make a good first impression when visiting a foreign country. :-^ The part that irks me is that the requirement is essentially a concession to automated facial recognition systems and their inability to deal with three-quarter profiles, expressions of happiness/sadness/whatever and the inability of bureaucrats to consider more secure alternatives for official documents.



Now I just have to find a window of opportunity to get downtown to have my would-be guarantor can sign & initial on the dotted lines so I can drop my renewal in the mail.

Comments

[faghatesgods.livejournal.com]

oh thats not bad at all

i should post my license picture

you'd feel much better about this one!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Well, here's my green card photo (which I like), and my old passport photo (which didn't suck):

[gingy.livejournal.com]

Both much, much better than either of mine. My Visa photo is awesome, and it's only a page away from the original.

I need to get my passport renewed soon. I believe it expires early next year.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

My passport expires in April. We're planning a trip to Vancouver in May so I really want to have the paperwork done before having to cross the border.

[urbear]

But you don't need a valid passport to cross the US/Canada border, assuming that you're a citizen of one of the two countries. All you need is proof of citizenship. A voter's registration card, birth certificate, even an expired passport are all perfectly OK.

That's supposed to change soon... starting at the the end of 2006 they're going to require a passport or certain other (as yet undefined) "secure documents"

Speaking of green cards, I was tempted to post my GC photo but decided against it. Trust me, you're all better off as a result.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I don't need it for travel per se between Canada and the US, but having the additional border security scribble in my passport which corresponds to my green card tremendously simplifies life. Since my old passport is about to expire, I want to have the new one on hand to obtain the new scribbling as soon as possible. If there's issues with my border documents, I want to know about it during a casual social trip rather than a must-do business trip.

BTW, how's your passport renewal going?

[urbear]

Makes a certain amount of sense...

I noticed that Le Gouvernement charged my card for the birth certificate last week, so I eagerly anticipate receiving it shortly... whereupon I can start the actual renewal process.

In other news, my current passport expired at midnight.

[ebearboston.livejournal.com]

One thing is true of all the photos - you always look so pink and healthy! Well, on the greencard photo it's a bit more salmon, but I'm assuming the photo has yellowed.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

The green card and old passport photos are both on laminated documents; the green card photo also has hologram-ish images printed overtop. I'm sure my scanner has skewed the colour pallette as well. The new passport photo definitely doesn't have good colouring but the image above is a fairly good scan of the photo. Ew.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

bjarvis does look pink and healthy, or at least he did the last time I saw him.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It's winter so now I'm more fish-belly white than pink. Can't tan or hold colour to save my life. *sigh*

[rsc.livejournal.com]

You and me both. These days I try to avoid getting too pink.

[pectopah.livejournal.com]

My US passport is good for 10 years and I am reaching year 8 with it. I don't look like me anymore and the US Border Protection Agency has told me so--the glasses and beard are a big change.

It is funny how the system "works". I have a Canadian friend in VT who goes back and forth all of the time with his expired for-2-years passport. He's even renewed his visa using it--if he flew, he couldn't get on the plane with an expired passport, but with driving the rules are different.

I don't have my Permanent Resident card yet (any day, I hope), but I was told in no uncertain terms Not To Smile. On the other hand, I was encouraged to smile for my Quebec drivers license.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Both Ontario and Maryland have allowed me to smile for my photo... it seems only federal documentation forbids expressions of happiness and/or joy, which they reinforce with stupid pseud-security tricks when travelling. Apparently, if people smiled for their photos, the terrorists win. :-^

[travelingcub.livejournal.com]

Oh that's a good photo.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

You're *much* too kind.

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

All that photo is missing is the numbers underneath... and an accompanying full-profile photo. I'm just saying. ;-)

At least your photos will be all ready when you're tagged as a terrorist!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yay, I think...

[rsc.livejournal.com]

As far as we could tell (when we suddenly realized that our passports were due to expire before our next scheduled foreign trip), there's nothing in the US passport photo requirement that precluded our producing them at home with a digital camera and a color printer, thereby allowing us to keep trying until we got pictures we could live with (and without it costing anything¹). (I don't recall there being a "neutral expression" requirement.)

The green card photo actually looks like you!


¹Just as well, considering what they're charging for passport renewal these days.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the restrictions on photo style for Kent's US passport are significantly more lenient than the ones for my Canadian passport. Go figure.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Pity you can't send 'em a nude photo instead.

I'd make fun of your picture, but I just got back my own new passport, and the photo is truly frightening. I have absolutely NO right to talk.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Well, I think a nude photo would actually be better for identification purposes than a mere head shot.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

After years of cruising online ... I'm astonished to find that I can identify a number of men by their nude photos (which don't show their faces!). Unfortunately, I can accomplish this feat for all the wrong reasons; people keep plastering multiple sets of their photos all over the 'net. (As opposed to my having - shall we say, "personal knowledge" of their genitalia.)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Specifically, as of 12/31/06, a passport is required for re-entry by air or by sea. As of 12/31/07, a passport will also be required for re-entry by land.

Full details available online at: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

[urbear]

That just changed again (it had already changed once, as the original proposal was to have gone into effect on Dec 31 2005). See this. Basically, they intend to create yet another travel document for citizens of Canada, Mexico and the US, called PASS (People Access Security Service, a tortured reverse-engineered acronym if I've ever seen one). The intent is to make it inexpensive and more accessible than a passport. This is government we're talking about, so I give them a probability of success somewhere around 0.2.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Well, I have a renewed passport at this point, so I should be OK to go to Canada and return for another ten years. :)

I agree ... the probability of success is quite low. I'm almost willing to bet they devolve to ... driver's license and/or birth certificate with other photo ID.

Which is what we use now as the lowest common denominator for re-entry from Canada.

[urbear]

Relying on a driver's license is dangerous. A driver's license says nothing about citizenship... it just verifies your identity (and your license to operate a car, of course). A lot of border agents will allow you to use it, but they're doing you a big favor. Or maybe not, since you may get away with it on the way out but not on the way back!

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

well, I'll allow that the colouring isn't the best. However, someone was saying that you should have posed nude for it. There's NOTHING in the Canadian regulations that say you have to be wearing any clothing at all. The "neutral expression" might preclude having a hard-on, though.

(you're not allowed to be -er- Glad To See Me, as Mae would say)

the fact that they'll crop your picture at shortly below the chin takes a lot of the fun out of the passport end of things, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun in the photograpic session. As long as you don't show any teeth.

If you could't find your guarantor, mail it to me, I can countersign Canajun passport photos. Unfortunately, the documentation is very clear that I can't collect a fee for so doing (which is a bit of a disappointment, the standard fee in the UK is something like £10 from your doctor). But I could take it out in kind.

[beartalon.livejournal.com]

It's in colour... Mine HAD to be in black and white, which made no sense to me two years ago. How can you tell what shade of blue eyes or brown hair I have? I also couldn't wear my glasses while on my driver's license I had to wear them because I am illegal to drive without them on. While it's possible I may wear contacts, it makes no sense to take a picture that can't be readily identified as me.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Who is that in the picture?

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Honey, you look like you were just told you need major root canal.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Kent said I looked like my parents had just telephoned. :-^

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

same thing.

[urbear]

Could you tell me the name of that photographer? I'm not having a lot of luck finding someone who speaks Canadian in the greater Boston area, and it so happens I'll be in DC next week.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I went to Four Corners Candid Camera at 109 University Blvd West, Silver Spring, MD. Intersection of Colesville Road and University Blvd.

The Canadians-in-Baltimore mailing list also mentioned MotoPhoto on 7th Street just north of Pennsylvania Ave by Navy Archives Memorial in Washington DC.

[urbear]

That's a great help, thanks! I'll probably check out the one on 7th... I often work in or around Silver Springs, but this time I'll be in the city proper.

Nice user icon, by the way. :)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Shoot me a note when you get to town... most days & nights are pretty busy but I'd love to meet you in person if our schedules allow.

Nice user icon, by the way. :)

I'd like to thank the Dominion of Canada for the website from which it was lifted, and your prior LJ entry for the idea. :-)

[urbear]

What's your email? Mine is larry at urbear dot com.