Why are we not allowed to smile in passport photos?

They have recently found that smiling distorts the face when using facial recognition software when looking for people. Indiana has banned smiling in driver license photos for this very reason and looks like something that is going to be banned very quickly all over.

Aren't we???? I need to get a passport. And if I ever do I will have to remember to ask that question and get back to you.

Good question, I've wondered that myself. Seems like seeing teeth would just be one more identifiable characteristic. Why hide them? Makes no sense to me.

We do smile - Hungarians

I used to take passport photos, and in the U.S., you are allowed to smile. The only stipulation is that your head needs to be from one inch to 1 and 1/4 inches. You cannot wear a hat nor glasses, your eyes must be open, and you must face forward.

so it'll be accurate. when you get arrested, you arent going to be smiling.

I've always wondered that too. My passport photo makes me look very serious and suspicious. Maybe it levels the playing field?

I smile in my US passport but some countries do not allowed to smile in passport photos that I have seen it.

My mom is smiling in hers.

I'm smiling in mine.

Aren't you! We always have to say cheeeeessssseeeee.... ;)

Because you wouldn't look natural when you go through customs. Going through sure isn't a smiling procedure.

Just kidding.

However, the person with the answer listing the face recognition software has a very good reason.

1) "Smiling "distorts other facial features, for example your eyes, so you're supposed to have a neutral expression. ... The most neutral face is the most desirable standard for any type of identification," said Angela Aggeler, spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which handles travel-document guidelines.

A photograph of a person's face is considered the international standard for a "biometric" or physical identifier by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that sets international aviation safety standards. Last year, the organization announced standards for machine-readable passports which would include physical characteristics that computers could use to confirm people's identities.

"To allow for best possible comparison, if you smile or blink your eyes or turn your head, there would be fewer comparison points. So when you go to the counter, you will look at the camera in neutral face to offer the best comparison to the matching points on the picture in the passport," said Denis Chagnon, a spokesman for the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal."
Source and further information:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-11-29-visa-smile_x.htm


2) "The rules for young children's passport photographs have been relaxed, so that babies under a year old do not need to have their eyes open - and may even be pictured smiling.
Thousands of applications have been rejected in recent months because the attached photographs did not meet the strict rules laid down by the UK Passport Office."
Source and further information:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1507615/Passport-change-puts-a-smile-on-baby's-face.html

I took my own passport photo. And I did so, following guidelines found on several websites. Those sites specified not to smile. Granted, there are those people who say "well, I smiled in mine" but that's not to say you were supposed to. These websites tell us not to.

In a related note, I thought there used to be something about showing one ear. Seriously. And it makes sense. Ears can't be altered very easily with surgery. Sure, earlobes can but the rest of the ear can't. (Plus, I find ears are really sexy - women's that is!)