Woman stopped from entering country because she looked nothing like her passport photo without makeup
AN ACTRESS has revealed how she was stopped from entering a country because her face looked so different to her passport photo without makeup.
The traveller was in Malaysia with her boyfriend for a holiday when she was stopped at customs because of the mix-up.
Tatiana Lin shared a picture of herself without make-up on her Instagram story, explaining what had happened.
In traditional Chinese characters, she wrote: “I just arrived in Malaysia. Customs didn’t let me in – they said I look different from my passport.”
Tatiana joked that she could see the customs officer’s point of view, conceding, “It is a little different.”
Fortunately for Tatiana she was eventually permitted to enter the country, where she later shared more pictures from her holiday.
The actress, who lives in Taiwan, isn’t the only person to have had passport issues because of her makeup.
Passport applications can be rejected because of how much makeup people decide to wear in their photos.
For example, dark winged eyeliner could see an application rejected because it changes the shape of a person’s eyes.
Glittery eyeliner should be avoided as well because it can hamper an application’s chance of being accepted.
Experts at passport-photo.online state: “The reason being that not only will it distort how your eyes look, but it will cause glare in the photo itself, which will render it unreadable to the AI.”
There are other ways in which trying to look good can also prevent your passport from getting accepted.
Facial piercings can affect the AI reading your passport, so should be left out, if possible.
The Passport Office accepts some piercings like nose and lip rigs, but they will need to be small.
Any large piercings will cover the face and cause shadows, meaning it affects the biometrics at the airport border.
Fake tan can also put your passport at risk of rejection, especially if the tone is far from your natural colour.
An important guideline for passport photo makeup is to pick products for your complexion that will closely resemble your skin – so make sure you get the right fake tan colour.
Meanwhile, this is how long it takes to renew a passport, as well as how much it costs.
However, Brits have been warned to allow more time for their passport applications this year because of increased demand.