New photo standards for passports
Ken George has a steady stream of customers wanting passport photos. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Changes to passport photograph technology could provide would-be travellers with nasty surprises, says local photographer Ken George.
“I had no idea about the new technology,” he says. “The first I heard about it was when I started getting lots of people contacting me for passport photos because the passport office had rejected the ones they sent in. Apparently the International Civil Aviation Organisation has revised its standards regarding passport photos to accommodate what they call FRT – Facial Recognition Technology – in the new chip-enhanced passports.”
Ken explains that passport photos must now be scanned by a computer so they have to be very precise. “Because a computer can see clearly-defined dimensions and spatial layout, but it can’t interpret data the way a human can.”
The new technology has come as a blow to the pharmacies and other businesses that have traditionally supplied passport photos.
Golden Bay Pharmacy owner Gilda McCourtie says that she and her staff have no wish to waste their customers’ time and money.
“The passport office hasn’t actually told us what the requirements are,” says Gilda. “We take what looks like a perfectly good shot and it comes back rejected. All the pharmacies and most camera shops are having the same problems. I know of only one pharmacy in Auckland that’s continuing to do passport photos. We’ll look into the technology we’d need, but it all sound very expensive.”
Ken says that a passport image now has to be shadowless for the scanner to be able to read it. “Most cameras have the flash on one side, and that means there’s a shadow on the other side of the person’s face. That can be enough to have it rejected. There’s more, though. The background has to be a particular quality as well. It can’t have shadows either. They don’t like black or white or grey either. The standard is a particular shade of blue. The next thing that can lead to rejection is that the photos can’t be printed using any process that employs a dot system – like most home printers. When the scanner reads an image that’s printed with dot technology it gets a moiré effect and that’s no good.
And there’s more, Ken says. “The photo can’t be laminated, it can’t be highly glossy or matte either. Finally, you can’t have glasses on or hair across your face and you mustn’t smile. Your earlobes have to be visible too. The dimensions of the shot are very precise too. The eyes must be within a tightly-defined band.”
Ken says that the number of photos sent back as rejects by the passport office might result in some anxious moments for people planning to travel.
“Most of us pull out our passport a few weeks before we’re due to go,” he says. “If you see that it has expired and start the re-application process you can end up cutting it very fine if your photos keep getting rejected by the passport office. If you have to do a rushed job, the passport office will charge an additional $150 fee for fast-tracking your application.”
Ken has had a steady stream of customers wanting passport photos and he is set up to comply exactly with the office’s new requirements.
“I give discounts for families and I’ll bring my gear to people with disabilities,” he says. “The new regime is the standard all over the world, so people who have passports from countries other than New Zealand might want to check with their authorities as well. I can help them with their photos here, even if they’re applying to another country for their passport. The key thing is not to leave it the last minute.”
Neil Wilson
