I was expecting some kind of article about an issue with passport photos or some kind of exploit, maybe photoshopping so it looks like the person but fools automatic facial recognition...
but was pleasantly surprised instead.
> Yes. Make sure your eyes are open and your mouth is closed in your photo.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-app...
> Pose and Expression: Have a neutral facial expression with both eyes open and mouth closed.
In my view, neutral and smiling are incompatible, but I guess that is up to interpretation.
But I was told they wouldn't be accepted because I had long hair and a beard in them, but short hair and no beard now. That's absurd, because it's the same photo used in both of my passports, and there's no requirement that you don't alter your appearance from your passport photo. Somehow border guards can crack the code.
Amusingly, my California driver's license shows short hair and no beard, but the AAA person wasn't even looking at my CA license at the time. What happens if I grow long hair and a beard before I travel? Was he just trying to upsell me on a $9.99 photo?
We had a hell of a time getting the UK passport authorities to accept the photos we sent in for her passport; they recommend getting your photos taken at an "official" UK location where the digital photos are identified by a code you send in. Well, we happened to be traveling through Australia during this timeframe, so we were able to stop at an Australian Post Office, which supposedly had the same "digital" system, but instead of a code to send to the UK authorities, they handed us printed photos and a web link. Thankfully I was able to use the web link to download the photo and upload it to the UK site, where it was approved almost immediately, and the new passport arrived back at our home before we returned from our trip. But there's no user-obvious criteria that was being used to reject the SEVERAL rounds of photos we had sent to the UK earlier.
yeah, and I would have expected nothing less. from my personal experience, the photos were required to be recent. just based on your having visited a barber would signal to me that the photos were not recent. even if you visited the barber while you waited for the 1-Hour Photo guy to finish, a logical person would realize this was not going to work out well
Huh. Last time I got an IDP from AAA, I don't think the lady behind the desk even really looked at the photo. She just took my $20, copied the info from my app to my permit, stapled one of the photos to the permit, and handed it to me. It was like less than three minutes total.
Regardless, the photos are recent (<1yr) and my driver's license has a 5 year validity and passports 10 year validity. As an illogical person, I sometimes change my appearance over a given 10 year span.
When I renew my US passport by mail, they don't actually know what I look like at the time of the renewal.
What does 'recent' mean, since you have already acknowledged that temporal recency is irrelevant? When am I traveling? What's accurate to my current appearance? What if I started a cancer treatment that renders me unable to grow a beard?
Your flippant reply ignores reality, and these aren't even edge cases.
Can see how it would be annoying if they don't explain which criteria is being violated though
Tell them your religion doesn't permit beardless photos, so you grew one for the photo.
When they ask what religion, pick one with beards.
It's AAA, not the police -- the person behind the desk will shrug, now with a reason not to care, and create your IDP.
The frequency of your grooming habits AFTER receiving a passport are irrelevant to the actual approval of a passport. This doesn't need to be hard.
you're applying for a new passport. to be shocked that at a minimum the pictures would look like you at the time of the application is pretty...I don't even know what word to use here. there's a way to make dealing with gov't agencies simple and as painless as possible, and then there's this.
I wrote this: https://github.com/jftuga/photo_id_resizer
This program is used to resize large photo ID images. When image resizing occurs, a content aware image resizing library is used with its face detection algorithm to avoid face deformation.If you'll re-read more closely, you'll see that I was not applying for a new passport. I also wasn't working with a government agency.
By the way, it was simple and painless. I was told to bring photos if I had them; otherwise they could be done on-site for $9.99. I opened up my desk drawer on my way out of the house, and I happened to have photos. So I brought photos. I was told they were not acceptable, so I accepted the offer of an on-site photo, which took about 90 seconds, paid my fee, and went on my way. There was nothing difficult about it. I would not have saved myself any hassle had I left the photos in my drawer.
It's unclear to me why you have gone out of your way to misunderstand or misinterpret the situation, other than in a misguided attempt to be antagonistic, but it's not working.
I had a similar experience with getting UK photos at a chemist, they said they could do digital photos and didn’t. So I went to the Photo Warehouse and it was smooth sailing. I guess the specialist photo outfits are more likely to know what they’re doing.
In my case, whatever detection software they used seemed to think my eyes were closed, which they were not.
I just used a normal picture taken on a phone, against a plain white wall, accepted with no issues.
I think it cost something like $0.68 for 2 photos, each of which had all four of our photos plus 2 extra spots.
On the original pic you could somehow see that it was a towel and not a white wall but some photoshopping took care of that.
Why a shirt while in underwear? A shirt looks "serious". And real people like that. They like a shirt, it looks serious. As to why the boxer underwear: for the same reason as in TFA.
Next time I'll show up with the complete picture and cut it in front of the person asking me for the picture.
No video that I could find.
It does in mine: https://www.gov.uk/photos-for-passports
It's the internet. Even HN isn't immune to the Eternal September.
I still think Reddit is useful, sometimes, and I've got karma to burn for years, so I find it hilarious when my comments get downvoted into hell over some trivial issues. Since I don't care about imaginary internet points except to make sure that people can read what I post (I don't want to fall into the well of negativity on that), I don't delete the ones that get buried.
That poster you replied to is doing the kind of crap you see on the Reddit front page subs. They're almost all trash. You get upvoted for hivemind, you get downvoted for going against the grain. Regardless of the merit of the comment.
Hell, I've been downvoted here for my very milquetoast comment that maybe the clerk was trying to help you keep out of trouble in a country where you really need an IDP (different alphabet, e.g.). You can't downvote before you have a bunch of points here, and I almost never do - if you're wrong I'll try to help you fix it, and if it's just a disagreement then... that's life? You pretty much have to explicitly be an unprovoked major asshole or advocate straight-up genocide to make me downvote you.
The most egregious such policy that comes to mind was when Philippine Airlines refused to give me a boarding pass for a flight to China unless I filled out a health declaration form that was guaranteed to expire before my flight arrived.
There was of course no obstacle to me filling out (a new copy of) the form on arrival in China. As was necessarily the case, given that the pre-flight declaration expired during the flight.
In one case, I was walking in a shopping area, someone approached me looking to sell souvenir artwork, I explained that while I didn't need that I was looking for a haircut, and she offered to take me to a barber provided I bought a picture. Everybody wins.
I'll likely try something like this next time I renew.
It’s the lawful refugee claims they might be forced to consider/accept if a claimant can make landfall.
And their dislike of citizens using minimal ID to lawfully gain entry home.
So they extort the airlines to fulfill their wishes on foreign soil.
Tip: Swaddle the baby, lie it on top of a plain light piece of fabric (we used one of my work shirts) and click the camera 100 times.
Having said that though, I'm starting to think an 8 month old would be even harder based on the fact that they move :D
Since it is only a translation, it carries no official weight.
Many countries that use the Latin alphabet only need a translation of the drivers license (ie IDP) if the alphabet on the driver’s license is not Latin.
Check online before you travel.
This can save you a trip to the AAA, a few bucks, and an encounter with a clerk who questions the validity of your beard.
He would've likely double-checked with me if I tried to spell this out at the shop[1], but apparently I came across as someone who really knew what they want, coming in confidently with the order already precisely written in Chinese and all.
Lesson learned. I still think the idea was good, and I'd still go for giving explicit length (it's a natural fit, as it translates to cutting head numbers for the electric hair cutters). I'd just triple-check it next time, and not act like I have it all figured out.
--
[0] - Or thereabouts; I'm sure about the unit, but the exact number might've been something else between 2 and 6.
[1] - The barber didn't know English, but knew the metric system and arabic numerals, so we've confirmed the misunderstanding with pen and paper.
https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20I/Cha...
To what ridiculous extent do you take that, though? You must be wearing the same clothes? You must be made-up in the exact same way? I think it's pretty clear that the test should be "is it obvious that the person in the photo is the same as the person in front of you" and somebody with a beard does look like themself, even when they shave that beard.
Of course, this raises other interesting questions: is it OK for you to use a photo of your identical twin?
And I have a vague remembrance (take with a whole rock of salt) that foreigners from many countries technically _cannot_ legally drive there even with an IDP, because there's 2 competing IDP standards or something like that. But I'd guess you'd be fine
A lot of this comes down to people not wanting to stick their head out to change process and groupthink.
I witnessed an individual in a “worker bee” capacity trying to suggest a small-but-significant change on a client-facing first-contact form. They went through their CoC to get the message out, but got the “that’s nice, dear” treatment.
Said “worker bee” moved into a different department some time later, and all of a sudden, it was such a great idea that no one had thought about.
This shows an example of what can happen when you perform a basic resizing of faces. You will notice the distortion when this library is not used. When I had to resize 40,0000 photos, I noticed better visual outcomes when using this library for my testing set of photos.
Europe is not a single thing and that statement is not correct.
I'm in Estonia (which is in the EU) and you can either submit a picture online or take the picture on location.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/06/jan-6-footage-shows-cops-bring...
Why is your CNN not talking about that? Not fitting their narrative, mhm?
In this particular case, your claim has been promoted by conspiracy theorists, and is not true. What the video you posted does not show (because it's been carefully edited and has no audio) is that he was repeatedly asked by the police to leave. They're not giving him a "guided tour".
AP debunked it back when the Carlson broadcast that video:
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-january-6-jacob-chansl....
Tucker Carlson is uses conspiracy theory and misinformation as a tool to stoke rage and undermine political enemies. He has portrayed abortion as human sacrifice, blamed hurricanes on abortion, denied man-made climate change, and is constantly caught in blatant and often ridiculous lies. Clearly his charm has worked on you, though, and I don't really know what else to say.
"Rebelse Belg trekt broek naar beneden in stemhokje"
Translation: Rebellious Belgian pulls down pants in voting booth
https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/belg-trekt-broek-uit-in-stemhok...
Some countries recognize some foreign driving licenses, at least for a while, without the need of the IDP. The USA is one of them but it has been a long time since I drove a car there so it could have changed or be regulated state by state and not at federal level. The USA is a signatory of the 1949 Geneva convention.
After that I got them done at the local framing shop.
Otherwise I've never bothered, and I've rented cars in a half dozen countries in Europe, Australia, NZ....
For my latest renewal, they've moved to an app based process which just flat out rejects any with my glasses on because the prescription is so strong it distorts the outline of my face (at least that's my best guess, as the app claims compatibility with glasses.
Anyway, since renewing the passport to one without glasses in my passport photo, I've found I much more frequently get rejected at automated passport gates, often needing to take my glasses off so I match the passport photo better.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023924/London-riot...
Interestingly, the article complains about the looters using BBM to communicate, which is a bit of a blast from the past.
How do you think that could create a policy of "before boarding the plane, you must fill out some invalid paperwork which will be available, and valid, after you disembark"? There is literally zero consequence for not doing it, and also literally zero benefit for doing it.
(T.J. Miller driver's license photo routine)
After we had a particularly bad fight, after things cooled down and we were making up, she put a huge one on my neck. Like it looked like someone wrenched me with a baseball bat. Next day it was really bruised and looked horrible. I had to get my DL renewed and they took the pic with the bruise and all.
I got the same thing, bouncers and every time I had to present somewhere would get the "Ohhhhhhh bro, that is BAD!" which would then lead to other people clamoring to see it.
Genuinely asking, how does that qualify as "eep"? Is renewing onerous or expensive in Germany? I ask because in the US, renewing a license is usually cheap and done quickly online, except for about once a decade, they require a new photo (which itself doesn't take too long with an appointment).
We don't live in Germany so she has to get a swedish one now anyway.
Yes, it's been online since as long as I can remember. 25-ish years probably.
I‘d love to see this in a book that has simple white pages with little cutouts showing only the passport picture of the next page. Then you turn that page around and see the full picture.
They can be used for land and sea entry to the US. They serve as ID on domestic flights and for I9 employment verification.
Many countries technically require you to always travel with national ID or require it for traveling on trains (since they have national IDs, unlike the US). But passports are bulky and American travelers have been taught to leave them in safes or buried in bags where they are hard to steal. A passport card can be kept on hand 24/7 in case a national ID is needed.
In the event you lose your actual passport after traveling abroad, they would save a ton of time at the embassy since you have a form of passport already on you. Compare this to the panicked alternative of trying to get a replacement with a photocopy of your passport (which standard travel advice says you should have for this reason) and somehow getting a birth certificate.
That only confirms the person sitting at the computer is the person in the uploaded photo though.
When you first get a passport you have to have your identity confirmed by a professional person with community standing, teacher, policeman, doctor, someone like that.
They do background checks, it seems quite rigorous.
Once you have a passport/driving license they allow you to reuse a recently verified picture in your application to get the other document.
> do you have that government document/card that also works as a smartcard to create digital signatures?
> Does that get used typically in interactions with the government
Extra info:
Instead of ID cards, on a daily basis most people use SmartID (same as ID cards, but as a mobile app) or MobileID (same, but embedded to the SIM card) for auth operations.
Many computers in the government, hospitals and schools have a keyboard with an ID card slot and users can (or sometimes are required to) use their ID cards to log in.
There's also a free-software DigiDoc4 app available for Desktop and Mobile, which allows users to sign or encrypt any document or folder for free, using one of the 3 authentication methods mentioned above. You can use it to sign contracts like rent or business.
And when it comes to abortion, I do think it can be considered in some way or the other as human sacrifice, but again, that's not thanks to what you find charming in Tucker Carlson. I don't even like him too much, but he's got it right on many points. You call that a lie, fine with me. But I call it a lie that the forceful Capitol entering was a "storming", I still consider it pretty much staged by agitators, following a nice blueprint which has been played out in other countries, too.
And after all, you are boring calling those things conspiracy theories. This lolly has been eaten so many times, it's lost its taste already.
> The application enabling PKI functionalities in Estonian eID Documents is IAS-ECC, a sophisticated but standardised solution conforming to CEN TS 15480-2 (European eID) with extra features.