5 ms·

The funny thing is, as I recently had to renew my ID card, I would have been happy, if the local authorities had offered to take my picture. They rejected the p

by _ph_ 6y ago

The funny thing is, as I recently had to renew my ID card, I would have been happy, if the local authorities had offered to take my picture. They rejected the picture I brought, because they claimed my head was angled not straight ahead enough and I had to run out to find someone to take a picture of me. Luckily they could refer me to a local shop nearby which was open at that time, but considering the low quality of those ID photos, having a web cam in the office would be an obvious and easy improvement both to the security and the convenience of the process. They already had a fancy tablet, where I had to provide my signature digitally.

kolinko 6y ago
Mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, I prefer not having to spend an extra hour to find a photo place each time I need new documents. On the other hand, I have a good photo on my documents :)
microtherion 6y ago
Yes, here in Switzerland all identity photos are taken in booths at the passport office, which has the advantage that any photo they take is, by definition, compliant with their requirements regarding angle, facial expression, etc.
- rciorba 6y ago
  It's the same in Romania.
- eitland 6y ago
  Same in Norway. It has been like this for a number of years already. Somewhat funny story: I and my wife renewed our passports this year and we both look a lot nicer: 10 years ago the requirement that we should not smile was enforced so strict and hamfistedly that I looked like a mugshot somewhat like the doom guy and my beautiful wife looked old and sad. I remember it taking a while before they thought I looked angry enough 10 years ago. This year they only required that we didn't actually smile so the process was a lot quicker, police will probably not harass me on border crossings and my wife doesn't look like she is 20 years older ;-)
  - PopeDotNinja 6y ago
    I wonder... could you use a mugshot?
    - 1123581321 6y ago
      I think you could except they are often not on a white or almost white background (a US requirement.)
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  In the US I had this done in the post office by an on-premise photographer. It's also where I picked up the form to fill out to get a passport in the first place, and where I was going to mail it from anyways, so it's not like the US doesn't have one-stop-shops for this.
- kalleboo 6y ago
  Same in Sweden, the passport/ID applications are done in an all-in-one booth that takes your photo, reads your fingerprint, and digitizes your signature. The downside to this is that as an expat, the only way to renew a passport is to fly across the country to visit the embassy in person. And Swedish passports only last 5 years.
thomaslord 6y ago
I suspect the fact that we do it this way in the US may be a small part of why DMV lines are legendary - that being said, Germany may be able to implement it better.
- bostonpete 6y ago
  DMV lines were at least as bad, probably worse before the days of digital photography....
odux 6y ago
> Luckily they could refer me to a local shop nearby which was open at that time Not telling that is the case but happens all the time in India. The local shop and this guy have a profit sharing deal :-)
deleted 6y ago
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by _ph_ 6y ago

kolinko 6y ago

Mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, I prefer not having to spend an extra hour to find a photo place each time I need new documents. On the other hand, I have a good photo on my documents :)

microtherion 6y ago

Yes, here in Switzerland all identity photos are taken in booths at the passport office, which has the advantage that any photo they take is, by definition, compliant with their requirements regarding angle, facial expression, etc.

rciorba 6y ago
It's the same in Romania.
eitland 6y ago
Same in Norway. It has been like this for a number of years already. Somewhat funny story: I and my wife renewed our passports this year and we both look a lot nicer: 10 years ago the requirement that we should not smile was enforced so strict and hamfistedly that I looked like a mugshot somewhat like the doom guy and my beautiful wife looked old and sad. I remember it taking a while before they thought I looked angry enough 10 years ago. This year they only required that we didn't actually smile so the process was a lot quicker, police will probably not harass me on border crossings and my wife doesn't look like she is 20 years older ;-)
- PopeDotNinja 6y ago
  I wonder... could you use a mugshot?
  - 1123581321 6y ago
    I think you could except they are often not on a white or almost white background (a US requirement.)
bobthepanda 6y ago
In the US I had this done in the post office by an on-premise photographer. It's also where I picked up the form to fill out to get a passport in the first place, and where I was going to mail it from anyways, so it's not like the US doesn't have one-stop-shops for this.
kalleboo 6y ago
Same in Sweden, the passport/ID applications are done in an all-in-one booth that takes your photo, reads your fingerprint, and digitizes your signature. The downside to this is that as an expat, the only way to renew a passport is to fly across the country to visit the embassy in person. And Swedish passports only last 5 years.

thomaslord 6y ago

I suspect the fact that we do it this way in the US may be a small part of why DMV lines are legendary - that being said, Germany may be able to implement it better.

bostonpete 6y ago
DMV lines were at least as bad, probably worse before the days of digital photography....

odux 6y ago

> Luckily they could refer me to a local shop nearby which was open at that time Not telling that is the case but happens all the time in India. The local shop and this guy have a profit sharing deal :-)

deleted 6y ago

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