There Vill Be No Smiling!

No smiling allowed in German passport photos! It screws with the biometric sensors, so put on your most solemn face come picture day.

www.usatoday.com...

Germans were ordered Thursday to stay serious when having their photographs taken for new passports, wiping away any grins, smirks or smiles so that biometric scanners can pick up their facial features.

Interior Minister Otto Schily ordered passport authorities to only accept pictures taken from the front showing the "most neutral facial expression possible," starting Nov. 1.

Facial recognition systems match key features on the holder's face and work best when the face has a neutral expression with the mouth closed.

Du muss das nicht! If you smile you might be mistaken for a terrorist trying to defeat the security measures. Be sure to keep your spine hunched so as not to convey a possible threat. Treat your eyes with makeup to make them appear sallow and sunken, if you appear alert and thinking you may be subjected to retraining.

All praise safety! There are enemies everywhere!



I'm sorry, but this nonsense is terribly funny to me. No pun intended, but how can they request this with a straight face?

My first passport had the same instructions!

(I'm English)

Thus the standing joke... "If you actually resemble your passport picture, you're probably dead".

Ever tried not to smile when someone tells you not to smile?

It's nigh on impossible. Like laughing at a funeral or something. Some things, you just can't help.