Interesting, we had the same problem when we got our passports. Ironically, our passport photo's were taken by the DMV and were rejected also. So we went to a photo studio who specialized in passport photo's, he charged us 35 bucks each and guaranteed they would be accepted. They were.
I don't remember what our passports cost, but Debi just now had to redo her's since she is going on the cruise. She never mentioned what it cost though. But it might explain why we've been having things from the freezer, hi hi.
B D Presents
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Any topic is acceptable, and topic drift is permissible.
Re: B D Presents
The first passport, which this one replaces, was handled through the local post office. Back then, about ten years ago, I believe the fee was something like $65. The post office might have charged us for their trouble, I honestly do not recall. But, the picture they took passed and we didn't have to mail the forms ourselves. They took care of it all. But that was ten years ago. The O'Fallon post office will take your picture but I don't know how much else they do now and days. The lines are always very long at the post office which was another reason why I tried to do it myself.
One of the odd comments on the Passport Service website had to do with how the picture was taken. They said explicitly to have somebody take the picture and not to do a selfie. At first I could not understand why they made that comment so explicitly, but then I thought about it and have an inkling why. Most selfies I've seen are pictures where the subject's arm is extended and the view is typically elevated from above the head. The passport people don't want contorted arms and they insist on a straight on mug shot. My Pixel has a bit of an oddity about it, and perhaps Google realized how gnarly those selfies are when taken from an elevated position. I did do a selfie and held the camera just below eye level. It looked as if it were taken straight on. My arms were not visible at all, but they also were not extended like the typical self shooter. So, anyway, I sent them a picture without shadows. If they can tell it's a selfie, then they are better than I am. I'll be disappointed if they reject it again because I'm certain they still won't say why.
One of the odd comments on the Passport Service website had to do with how the picture was taken. They said explicitly to have somebody take the picture and not to do a selfie. At first I could not understand why they made that comment so explicitly, but then I thought about it and have an inkling why. Most selfies I've seen are pictures where the subject's arm is extended and the view is typically elevated from above the head. The passport people don't want contorted arms and they insist on a straight on mug shot. My Pixel has a bit of an oddity about it, and perhaps Google realized how gnarly those selfies are when taken from an elevated position. I did do a selfie and held the camera just below eye level. It looked as if it were taken straight on. My arms were not visible at all, but they also were not extended like the typical self shooter. So, anyway, I sent them a picture without shadows. If they can tell it's a selfie, then they are better than I am. I'll be disappointed if they reject it again because I'm certain they still won't say why.
Re: B D Presents
I remember that back in 2003 I had the same issue for my firs passport. I went to the municipal SRE office with an studio photo I got for the purpose, only to have it rejected. The idea was that they had to take the photo and bill for it, so my first passport had and upset mug of me. The second one didn't caught me off guard, and I went directly to the same SRE office for they to take the photo and avoid the double expense. No issues and a better photo for that one. I postponed the third passport when it expired 3 years ago. At that moment I didn't have the need for it so that was not a real issue.
In my opinion the issue you comment can be because the people at your "local" passport office has to justify their positions and increase their revenue, so that they demand to bill the full service, photo and paperwork included. Over here, due to the current restrictions, passport expedition procedures are under appointment, so if the need arises, I'll have to ask for time for the paperwork.
In my opinion the issue you comment can be because the people at your "local" passport office has to justify their positions and increase their revenue, so that they demand to bill the full service, photo and paperwork included. Over here, due to the current restrictions, passport expedition procedures are under appointment, so if the need arises, I'll have to ask for time for the paperwork.
Re: B D Presents
I don't do a lot of traveling and it's even more rare that I go where a passport is required. However, flying to anywhere these days, be it domestic or international, requires proof of identity. A passport is an acceptable proof. The last state I lived in, Illinois, issued drivers licenses that could also be used to prove residency and identity in that the first one required a birth certificate. The renewals after that did not. Here in Missouri, apparently, a birth certificate was never required to get a drivers license so that it could not be used to identify yourself at the airport. Fortunately, about two or three years ago they invented a gold star license that did require proof of residency. I got one of those but my wife did not. Thus she wanted to have a passport just in case we ever got on an airplane again.
There seems to be only two passport processing centers in the United States. Only a few states deal with one out west but the rest of us deal with the office in Pennsylvania. That means those folks process about 80% of all the passport applications. I can't say for sure but it looks like the passport itself is automated. To do that you need to have the proper forms to feed into their machine so that it can properly scan the information. Likewise with the photograph. Not only does it have to be the correct dimensions, but it also has to be in an exact spot stapled to the application in four specified locations. They are pretty strict about that which is why I think the whole process is automated. My guess is that a lot of people do as I did and take their own pictures, but manage to not get it right. Thus the inspector sees a lot of bad pictures on any given day and it's understandable why s/he might not be inclined to go into any details. While that could be true, the letter I got was a form letter printed out by a computer. It would be very easy to program the reasons for the rejection into the computer.
Then, too, we are talking about a government agency here. I guess we should not expect great service for that $110.
There seems to be only two passport processing centers in the United States. Only a few states deal with one out west but the rest of us deal with the office in Pennsylvania. That means those folks process about 80% of all the passport applications. I can't say for sure but it looks like the passport itself is automated. To do that you need to have the proper forms to feed into their machine so that it can properly scan the information. Likewise with the photograph. Not only does it have to be the correct dimensions, but it also has to be in an exact spot stapled to the application in four specified locations. They are pretty strict about that which is why I think the whole process is automated. My guess is that a lot of people do as I did and take their own pictures, but manage to not get it right. Thus the inspector sees a lot of bad pictures on any given day and it's understandable why s/he might not be inclined to go into any details. While that could be true, the letter I got was a form letter printed out by a computer. It would be very easy to program the reasons for the rejection into the computer.
Then, too, we are talking about a government agency here. I guess we should not expect great service for that $110.
Re: B D Presents
We are from the Government, and we are here to help, hi hi.
One cannot excel at a government job, because it makes everyone else look overly lazy, hi hi.
One cannot excel at a government job, because it makes everyone else look overly lazy, hi hi.