Thread: Does your passport photo look like you now?

Here is an article I found online I thought all cruisers would find interesting. It is about some international travelers looking so different from how they did 10 years ago they might worry about being rejected in the security line. Would pictures like these scare you?

Does your passport photo still look like you? | Gadling.com

Another question about passport pictures:
Did your passport picture look like you then?

The examples shown were quite striking! Most of them were a lot younger when the original photo was taken and there is a big change between the youthful photo and the more mature photo.

Since I'm "older" there hasn't been much of a change other than hair style.

Why is only one other person interested in the subject? There are so many ways you can look different above the shoulders - makeup, tan, Botox, surgery, new glasses or contacts, more or less hair, skin conditions, and major weight loss or gain. Growing up and getting old are just two of many ways people can look unrecognizable. Imagine taking a Caribbean or South Pacific cruise with long straight hair, getting a short perm onboard, getting a tan on beaches and the ship, and trying to return home looking unlike when you embarked.

I hope the agents checking passports are trained in facial recognition where they look at key features of the face, and not the overall picture.

There have been some advancements in the software for facial recognition...Hopefully agents can utilize that too.

I'm just as beautiful as I was then.

Ten years is the extreem since that is the time they need to be renewed. I do not look too much different than my passport. My photo is about 6 years old.

In the course of ten years, your basic facial structure is going to stay the same. There may be some sagging or minor surgeries that won't drastically change most people's appearance to the point that a security person would be concerned. Same thing with driver's licenses. Mine was just renewed with the photo taken the last time I came in to the DMV. Rarely do I have to actually get a new photo taken -- as long as I stay out of trouble with the traffic cops. If the authorities thought one's looks (other than hair) would change that much, you would be required to come in to the DMV every time your license gets renewed.

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

In the course of ten years, your basic facial structure is going to stay the same. There may be some sagging or minor surgeries that won't drastically change most people's appearance to the point that a security person would be concerned. Same thing with driver's licenses. Mine was just renewed with the photo taken the last time I came in to the DMV. Rarely do I have to actually get a new photo taken -- as long as I stay out of trouble with the traffic cops. If the authorities thought one's looks (other than hair) would change that much, you would be required to come in to the DMV every time your license gets renewed.

I don't understand your post. They have to take a picture every time my mom gets her DL renewed. Also, driver's liscenses are for only four years, not 10, so fewer changes above the shxoulders can be expected.

Conversely, I wonder what authorities do with identical twins when one is a criminal and the other is innocent.

Different states have different expiration times for their driver's licenses. My last 2 renewals were done online and I have the same picture that was taken 15 years ago! My next license will require that I go in and go through the formalities and get another picture taken. Our state has instituted new rules and folks renewing now have to take several pieces of identification and a utility bill verifying the address.

My drivers license picture is at least 12 yrs old. And it's good for another 2 yrs, and unless I screw up big time, they will just mail another renewal with the same old picture.