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Start using Mumsnet PremiumBaby Photos on Passports
(8 Posts)When we travelled into the UK from France, our border force said it didn't matter that our 3 1/2 yr old DD doesn't look anything like her photo (taken when she was a week old and doesn't even have her eyes open). The main reason for the passport is to ensure she is travelling with her parents.
We came back into the UK in December from Finland and our border force said completely the opposite! He said we need to renew early (despite having 2 years left) as she looks nothing like her photo and if we were to travel out of Europe they might not let us in to whichever country it may be. Though we did travel to Dubai in April and didn't get stopped.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I loathe renewing early as they aren't cheap and it isn't my fault the passport system allows this to happen. If this was a problem surely they would only run baby pasports for a year. They allow it to run for 5 years so it shouldn't be a problem as far as I am concerned.
Never heard this before! Of course a 3.5 year old doesn't look the same as when they were a week old. If the photo was accepted then the passport is valid.
I sometimes carry a few photos showing the progression crom baby to child just in case, but I've never been asked to see it despite both my kids having very small baby photos on their passports.
Four kids all with baby photos on five year passports and border people always just laugh at how silly it is. As you say, if the baby photo was an issue, they would have a shorter renewal period for passports at that age.
Both my dds had passports as babies and as such spent several years looking nothing like their passport photos (dd1 particularly only looked like her photo the second it was taken, it didnt resemble her much ever) and we never had an issue. Sounds like nonsense to me.
Do bear in mind that you can renew a passport up to nine months early and maintain the original renewal date (so today you could renew a passport that expires on 15 October 2017, and get a passport which expires 15 October 2022) so you only have around nine months to wait before you can renew it at no extra cost anyway.
Same as other posters, we've only had border staff laugh at the lack of resemblance between DD's passport photo (10 weeks old, bald and half asleep), and her now. I did notice last year in America they used her name and were watching for her reaction (fortunately she was in a good mood and responded!) and I wondered if that was a little test.
Why don't hey just charge 20 quid for a baby passport and have it run 1 year max? Never understand how they can do a 5yr or more passport on someone who changes so much!
DD1 had her baby photo taken at 10 days old, DD2 was about 4 months but they had no problem using their passports until they were 5
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