If you ask people about the reasons why their passport application is rejected, some of them may give you the same answer: the passport photo. Actually, taking a qualified passport photo is challenging. As the core part of the whole picture, your face can influence your first impression and determine whether your identity recognition will succeed or fail. Therefore, in order to help more people smoothly get a passport, here we sort out some requirements on the face for passport photo shooting.
Facial expression
Standing in front of the camera with the light on, people may naturally feel nervous and behave stiffly. However, some other people may behave emotively. As a matter of fact, when taking a passport picture, you’d better maintain a neutral facial expression and avoid doing following expressions:
Avoid making a funny face
A passport photo is used for a relatively formal occasion. Making a funny face will distort your face, then your identity can’t be recognized. So making a funny face means your application is doomed to failure.
Do not frown the brows
You just need to relax your face and muscles and look directly into the lens with a neutral facial expression. Frowning brows make people feel you are in anger or anxiety. Taking the United States as an example, the passport guideline stipulates that “the expression should be neutral and harmless”. Therefore, frowning the brows should be avoided.
Avoid smiling extremely
As a matter of fact, there is no official rule that denies people to smile in a passport photo. However, a large smile should never appear in a passport picture. Unnatural or exaggerated grins should be avoided. That is because your passport picture is used to recognize your identity in the world. Too extreme a smile or other expressions may easily prevent you from being identified. The core principle is that your expression should be neutral and an emotive expression (such as an overly excited face) is forbidden. Keeping a universally accepted facial expression on your face in a passport photo is the safest choice.
Try not to close or cover your eyes
Your eyes obviously play a key role in photo identification and they must be clearly visible in passport pictures. When taking a passport photo, your eyes should be open and look directly at the camera. Apart from that, if you wear glasses, you must take them off for the photo as they may produce glare or cast shadows on your face. Your eyes should not be too bright or too dark in the whole picture.
Other things
Tilting your head forward or backward, looking down or up or showing your teeth will result in a non-standard passport photo. If you blink or wink, you have to take another shot.
To Wear Makeup or Not
A group of people, especially females, may consider one question: Can I wear makeup for a passport photo? what kind of makeup is acceptable? The answer to the former question is yes. People are allowed to wear makeup for the passport picture. However, there are some invisible requirements on makeup for passport photos. So what kind of makeup is recommended? The fundamental principle is that your makeup should be natural and ensure your daily look is compliant with the makeup in the passport picture. Here are some tips for you.
Choose a natural look
A natural look is the best choice for you. So when you put on makeup, you need to pay attention to the color of the liquid foundation, which can’t change your skin color too much. Therefore, we don’t recommend using a foundation that is too light or too dark for your skin tone. Some people possibly are fans of tanning. Nevertheless, using self-tanner or skin-lightening products right before taking the photo is not advised. The skin after makeup should be natural and be as close to the real skin tone as possible so that your face can be recognizable.
Don’t apply fake lashes
You can use mascara for your natural eyelashes, but please don’t use fake lashes for your passport photo.
Put on light lipstick
Too bright lipstick can result in your mouth being overly visible in the whole picture: using flaming red lipstick is not a good idea when it comes to passport photos. Instead, you’d better choose a lip balm or stick of a less pronounced shade.
Don’t be too white or bright
High SPF products, such as sunscreen or primer, can cause a white cast on your face when a flash is used. We recommend using no- or low-SPF base products to avoid looking too pale or shiny when wearing makeup for a passport photo.
Other Useful Tips
Do I need to change the passport photo when I have tattoos added to my face?
Yes. when you’ve added large face tattoos, you are required to change the passport photo. These added features on your face can influence identity recognition.
Do I need to change the passport photo after having plastic surgery?
The answer is yes. When you have significant facial surgery or trauma, you have to change the passport picture to ensure the photo on the passport is the same as your real look. Otherwise, it can result in facial recognition failure.
Can I have a beard for a passport photo?
Yes. if you regularly wear a beard, there is no need to shave it to take a new photo for your passport.
Conclusion
As the core part of the whole picture, we need to pay attention to our faces when taking a passport photo. You are advised to keep a neutral, harmless and natural expression in front of the camera. Frowning brows, making funny faces, too emotive expressions or too extreme a smile should be avoided. Except for that, attention should be paid to your makeup. You should observe the principle that your whole look should be natural and recognizable. Too heavy makeup is not appropriate for passport photos. Based on the above-mentioned face guidelines for passport photos, I believe you can easily get a perfect picture.
Dolores Xiao