No smiling for passport photos in Germany

AP story: No Smiling for Passport Photos in Germany

Old News

See page 2:

"The photographs must show:" .. "A neutral expression with your mouth closed"

Can't smile if you're 'British' either

KT

Yes, indeed - you can't smile on a British passport, either...

But if it gives you an excuse to have an ignorant dig at the Germans, why would you let that little piece of information get in your way?

Lordy, lordy

A bit harsh, don't you think? He just posted the story - didn't even make any comments about it.

did you read the thread title?
"Germans don't smile that much anyway" - give me a break!

@IPJ

Thanks, but I did add the line; Germans don't smile that much anyway

removed by me void

Achso...missed the subtitle. But anyway, poking a bit of fun doesn't necessarily mean ignorance. How many times to people post crap like "the Americans/British/[add nationality here] are at it again"...

Just saying, cuz I learned a long time ago not to use the term "ignorance" on a forum, even if it's true...

They smile at me
Admittedly they might just be laughing at me.
EDIT Janet its funny I only here you complaining if its Americans who are "picked on"

I was thinking of my wife.

well, i don't normally think much of posts saying "the americans/british... are at it again", either

@ PES - well if you'd said it was a dig at your wife, then I would have just laughed

I thought there was a court case about this recently and the court decided that it was okay, but if something nasty happened to you on foreign soil because of it then "tough luck"?

Or have I been having more of those weird "so realistic it must be real" dreams again? I once had one in which a mate of mine told me not to call him on his phone because he thought the police were listening in. He was most confused a week or two later when I asked him if the police were still tapping his phone

I can't speak for anyone else but I never let the facts get in the way of a good ribbing.

consider it said! (today and every day).
But if I were married to me I wouldn't smile either.

Ive heard that they (whoever they are) are trying to make this a worldwide rule. No smiling, background colour must be the blue or green or sum shit.

@FFS - you know who the "they" are that Kiwistylz is talking about don't you?

Ooh, please say it's the reptilian shape-changers who rule this planet, please, please.

Article in the SZ

EU guidelines.

Get your headscarf now to beat the rush.

I took a closer look at the sample passport (at reptilian shape-changer's headquarters over lunch ) and the guy has a definate smirk on his face, not unlike the first dude in the link (with the red x). But I guess you can't really sell this with scowling faces...

What I want to know is how Tony Blair is going to have his passport photo taken then.

He only has 2 poses - grin like an idiot and tongue up Bush's bum. I assume that neither of these poses would be accepted.

Same for US passports. I barely got by with a pleasant expression on my face, much less a smile. So do I now have to look glum when I go back to the Bay Area, or can I show my happiness at getting to see my family again?

When we renewed our CDN passports last year our photos were sent back with a note saying that you are not allowed to simle . So had to rush out and get new photos, seems its for facial scanning software at airports.

Also at this point overseas embassys can not do machine readable passports at this point.

Oh.

What is the right way to phrase a resignation letter in German anyway?