Passport photos need to be a perfect shot with no hair on your face, no smiling and absolutely no blinking. However, the Government has now added one more important rule to the list that will surely affect a whole bunch of travellers.
The Australian Government has issued a statement to announce that from July 1 glasses will no longer be allowed in passport photos.
This has been issued to strengthen security and usability of passports when dealing with the facial recognition technology that makes border processing more efficient. The Government suggested in their statement that the rule change would “strengthen the integrity of the Australian passport”.
The only exception to the new rule is for people who cannot remove their glasses for medical reasons. The government will accept cases such as severe light sensitivity or recent eye surgery as reasons to keep glasses on.
However, in these cases a signed medical certificate must be officially approved. The statement clarified that vision impairment was not a valid medical reason.
While glasses will have to be removed from now on, travellers who cover their head for religious reasons and those with any facial jewellery are allowed to maintain their usual appearance as long as it does not obscure their face in any way.
Just a few of the strict rules that are enforced to achieve a passable passport photo include; a neutral expression, no hair on the face, background that contrasts with skin tone, no head tilt, uniform lighting, colour gloss print, eyes open and a closed mouth.
The Department of Home Affairs stated that the current technology SmartGate, can recognise travellers with prescription glasses as long as they are thin rimmed and they match the current passport photo.
However, the recent change in rule will help to strengthen facial recognition security and most of all avoid identity theft.
According to the Herald Sun, in 2015 tens of thousands of Australian travel documents were being reported lost or stolen. In the same reports, twenty-four passports were seized by the Australian Government for identity theft as criminals attempted to impersonate the owner.
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The Australian Government ensured the rule change was to make sure facial recognition was near perfect to avoid those circumstances.
“Research has shown that glasses adversely affect passport facial matching. Matching is more accurate without glasses,” the department said.
The rule is only enforced for new passport applicants after July 1 so there is no need to reissue passports that were authorised prior to this date.
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