APPLYING FOR A PASSPORT FOR A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY
We recently applied for new passports for Hubby and the kids. You’d imagine applying for a passport would be a fairly straight forward process. Take proof of identity, fill out the forms and that’s that. Although Hubby and AJ’s passports were simple enough, BJ’s took three trips to the post office to get to the point of submitting the application. We thought we’d share our experience in the hope of saving others this exasperating and time-wasting process. Here’s a few tips for applying for a passport for a person with a disability.
The Australian Passport Office (and I’m sure it will be similar the world over) have quite specific requirements when it comes to a passport photo due to the facial recognition technology. In Australia the regulations state the photo must be –
- Good quality, colour gloss prints, less than six months old
- Clear, focused image with no marks or ‘red eye’
- Plain white or light grey background that contrasts with your face
- Uniform lighting (no shadows or reflections) with appropriate brightness and contrast to show natural skin tone
- Face looking directly at the camera and not tilted in any direction
- Hair off the face so that the edges of the face are visible
- Eyes open, mouth closed
- Neutral expression (not smiling, laughing or frowning), which is the easiest way for border systems to match you to your image.
