To panic about my passport photo

[ThisIsStartingToBoreMe]

It's 7 years old and ive put on 3 stone and my hair is short and grey and before it was shoulder length and brown. I'm panicking a bit coz I need it for Saturday

Don't panic it'll be fine. Let's be honest a British passport is rarely checked, you'd be lucky if they even really glance at your photo.

The only issue you might have is with the automatic gates and the face recognition. You’ll be fine when you go to the gate - people change over the years.

I'm sure you look absolutely fine. However, having a bad passport photo is a great British tradition, surely?

Don't worry. My DD has a passport that she went to Portugal with in August, and it only had 5 months left on it. It was nearly 10 years old.

On the pic on this 10 year old passport, she was 2 and a half stone heavier, and had long mid-brown hair with a fringe. She was also just 18, and looked 14.

She used this passport in August at the age of 28, and 2 and a half stone lighter, and with a choppy blonde bob and no fringe. No-one batted an eyelid.

That reminds me, I need to remind her that her passport needs renewing after Christmas!

Hahaha, the passport photo is great - it's now I look like shit. I've had cancer and everything went to pot

Ok tks everyone I'm not gonna worry it's pointless

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe

Hahaha, the passport photo is great - it's now I look like shit. I've had cancer and everything went to pot

No you don't look like shit.

A friend used to check them and she says they are trained on facial points that dont change (eyes/nose/lips etc) - lets face it children change a lot over the 5 years.

They will recognise it as you

Thanks @PinkAndPurpleClouds

It'll be fine. Plenty of kids get passport photos done at a couple of weeks old that they then use age 5.

Human, or machine don’t look at the overall thing. The focus is on the length/shape of nose, mouth, eye brow bone, eyes and eye colour of course. It’ll be fine

@WomanStanleyWoman

“The only issue you might have is with the automatic gates and the face recognition. You’ll be fine when you go to the gate - people change over the years.”

Actually it’s the opposite! The e-gates use a v sophisticated algorithm that looks at the relative distances between all of your facial features eg height of ears, distance between eyes etc. Things that never change. People are actually pretty useless! If the Border Force staff are ever unsure about an identity then they will actually resend the person back through the e-Gates as they are so much better.

The e-gates almost always fail to recognise me, so maybe I’m biased

I literally used mine to go abroad today.
In my photo I am 17, skinny, straight dark brown hair.
I am now 26, very obese, with wild curly bright blue hair.

It'll be fine OP.

Tks @CatRamsey just out of interest did you go through the face recognition thingy?

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe yes I was actually surprised it recognised me tbh! I have had trouble with them in the past though! But even if you do, you just go to a person and they'll probably just glance up at you and wave you through!

You'll be fine.

A few years ago I, pale skinned dark haired, decided to go blonde. It was not my best idea. Unfortunately this coincided with a passport photo.
It looked nothing like me at all. Even the light changed the shape of my nose.
On landing in chigaco I was ribbed mercilessly by a couple of border guys because of how much it didn't resemble me. We ended the exchange with one of them telling me to stick to brunette.

Never been so glad to see a passport expire.

You were right, it was fine 😀