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Smiling On Passport Photos
Now Barred In Canada
By Shawn McCarthy
The Globe and Mail
8-29-3


The Government of Canada says passport photos are no laughing matter: In fact, you're not even supposed to crack a smile.
 
In a news release yesterday, the Canada Passport Office issued new specifications for passport photos and wants serious faces only. But not too serious. Not actually frowning or scowling or glaring or grimacing.
 
To get a valid passport, Canadians must now send in two photos with "neutral expressions." That means a closed-mouth, straight-ahead gaze into the camera.
 
Suzanne Meunier, a spokeswoman with the passport office, said the government is complying with recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for aviation issues, aimed at making it easier for security personnel to recognize the passport holder.
 
The new measure took effect on Aug. 15, but there is a smile amnesty for the next two months to accommodate those who have already filed happy-looking photos or have not heard of the ban on grins.
 
"We have already received photos with small smiles that we are ready to accept," Ms. Meunier said.
 
The specifications outline some other dos and don'ts.
 
Don't wear shades that hide your eyes. (Does anyone really have to be told that?) But you can wear tinted prescription glasses, so long as your eyeballs are showing.
 
Hairpieces are acceptable, we're told, so long it's not some sort of Halloween thing that alters your appearance. It has to be a hairpiece that is worn regularly.
 
As a general rule, hats are out.
 
"A photo in which the applicant is wearing a hat or head covering or anything that interferes with the photo's value in providing a means of identifying the issuee for the benefit of border control is not acceptable for a Canadian passport or travel document."
 
Turbans are fine, as are the head scarves worn by Muslim women. But not veils that hide the face, favoured by the most conservative Muslims.
 
"While allowances may be made for practitioners of religious faiths that prohibit the removal of the head covering, photos in which the full facial features of the subject are not visible are not acceptable," the rules say.
 
Ms. Meunier said that so far, the passport office has had no complaint about religious discrimination resulting from that prohibition.
 
The Civil Aviation Organization is pushing for standardized photo specifications around the world to facilitate the introduction of biometric security devices, Ms. Meunier said.
 
The organization's goal is to have face-recognition scanners in airports around the world in the not too distant future. Some security experts are arguing for fingerprinting or iris-scanning, but the ICAO believes those are too intrusive.
 
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