First Passport

[catswhiskas]

My stepson is coming with us to Cyprus in September, so he applied for his first passport, and had to go for an interview today. After answering lots of questions, some of which he was not sure of , they then took his photo, nowhere on the passport site does it mention having a photo taken, and he was rather alarmed by this, is this a regular thing they do now ?

[EcclesCake]

I've never needed an interview and am unfamiliar with the process.

I'm at a loss to understand why your step-son should be alarmed at them taking his photo, given that he has to provide photos anyway, it can hardly be considered an invasion of privacy. Presumably they what photographic evidence of who attended the interview should the passport be stolen and misused in the future.

[catswhiskas]

He wasnt very alarmed , just that he wasnt expecting it and nobody else has mentioned it.

[wolf63]

It doesn't seem unreasonable for them to take your stepson's picture. Maybe they should have mentioned it in their paperwork.

The good thing is that it is done and all he has to do is enjoy his holiday.

[Brinjal]

Probably taking biometric photo for new passports. Not sure if the UK is doing that yet.

[VHG]

It is probably s they can compare the person who turned up at the interview with the photos that were sent in with the passport.

After all there have been many cases of the "wrong" person turning up to take a driving test or a driving theory test or other government test. This type of fraud is common amongst immigrants.

[mikey4444]

Not sure why either of you are in any way surprised that a photo might be required for a passport !

[munchie63]

they take a photo to confirm that the applicant they are speaking to is the one applying for the passport. purely for security / ID reasons