[Reader-list] Canada gets serious on passport photos

[Taha Mehmood]

*Dear All

In continuation of posts on various aspects of MNIC in general and
photographs in particular here is one more. Below is a BBC news report of
2003. Back in the day the Canadian government seemed to have regularized the
'neutral pose'. I wonder what is that? Certainly because that is also a pose
and one is definitely showing some emotion. Hence the use of the word
-neutral- interesting.

An excerpt-

Posing for your passport is no laughing matter in Canada where the foreign
ministry has introduced a ban on people smiling in their passport
photographs.

Please read the news below for more.

Regards

Taha

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3185641.stm

Canada gets serious on passport photos

Posing for your passport is no laughing matter in Canada where the foreign
ministry has introduced a ban on people smiling in their passport
photographs.

>From now on Canadians have been instructed to adopt a "neutral expression"
for their picture, which according to ministry officials "means no laughing,
smiles or frowning".

The ban officially came into effect on 15 August, but the decision could not
be announced nationwide because of the huge power blackout that hit Ontario
province at the time.

Suzanne Meunier, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Passport Office said the
government was clamping down in accordance with a series of recommendations
from the International Civil Aviation Organisation designed to make it
easier for security personnel to identify passport holders.

Other restrictions include:

    * Hairpieces that are normally worn are permitted as long as they do not
alter the person's appearance substantially

    * Although turbans and head scarves worn for religious reasons are
permitted, veils which cover the face are not

    * Tinted prescription glasses are allowed as long as the eyes remain
visible.

The crackdown on smiling in the photographs means that a grin or flash of
teeth is certainly out of the question. "The mouth must be closed," Ms
Meunier said.

But for those who like to show a little personality in their travel
documents there is a small window of opportunity - passport applicants have
been granted a smile amnesty that will run until 3 November.

"We have already received photos with a small smile that we are ready to
accept," she said.

But from the November deadline only serious photos will be allowed.


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