Comment by protocolture
12 hours ago
Fake Passport photo service? I dunno hey. I feel like there's a government department somewhere that just sat bolt upright.
12 hours ago
Fake Passport photo service? I dunno hey. I feel like there's a government department somewhere that just sat bolt upright.
Yup. There have been weekly “headshot AI” generator Show HNs for practically a year at this point.
A non‑insignificant portion of them claim to be suitable for passport photos. Touching up a passport photo in any way (Photoshop or AI) is a brilliant way to get yourself denied a U.S. passport.
From the travel.state.gov [1] rules:
- Submit the original, unedited photo without filters or digital changes.
[1] - https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/apply/help/photos.html
You're right, and appreciate you flagging it. The photo is AI-regenerated, not a crop of the original, not something to submit for an actual passport. Just shipped a disclaimer on that format saying exactly that. Thank you!
I don't know what the policies are around faking/'shopping/enhancing photos for US Passport use, but I do know that there is no "official Passport Photo" service. Generally they will expect you to take and print your own snaps, and attach them on your application. There are a lot of rules around the type and format of photographs that are accepted for this purpose. However, the US Postal Service will take photographs, as an additional service for in-store passport applicants.
I had a strange case for my passport renewal, where they were asking for an updated photo, and I got nicely dressed for my photo and the USPS clerk took it for me, but for some reason the Passport Office rejected it, on quite vague criteria. Then I resubmitted the whole thing verbatim, and it was accepted on the second go. I feel like they just wanted to add some friction to the process.