Tuesday’s Travel Essentials – Passport Photos
Time for the latest Tuesday’s Travel Essentials again. Getting visas becomes a regular part of your travels and therefore a handy tip to save time, money and effort is to always carry passport photos. Personally I carry between 12 – 15 of them at any one time. They take up only a small amount of space and save you a hell of a lot of time on borders.
Filling in another application for a Chinese Visa recently – of course I already had my travel pack of passport photos on me!
I know not every country requires a passport photo for their visa application, but why take the risk? You might end up having to pay for a taxi to a photo booth near a border someday just to get into a country. Before you set off, get a set done. It’s easy in most major towns and cities to find out how to get passport photos. Here’s my tip on how to get passport photos cheaply:
– Use your own digital camera (assuming you have one!)
– Get a friend to take a few photos of your head and shoulders only against a white background
– Choose the best one on your laptop (assuming you have one!) and edit it down to the correct size (1.5 x 2 inch) – as a guide 8 of these fit onto a standard photo size (6 x 4 inch)
– Put eight of them together onto a single photo (6 x 4 inch) – see my first photo on this post for example
– Head to a print shop and print a few copies! (or if you’re lucky to have access to a printer – print them yourself on glossy print paper!)
– Get out and see the world!!
Getting my Suriname Visa in 2011 was difficult enough without the extra stress of having to find a passport photo booth in Caracas!
It’s not just for visas you will need a photo, don’t forget. Some employers need them, some flats require a residents card and even some tour groups may need them (North Korea for example). So get them done before you head on your travels and you’ll have no problems. For the record, the following countries currently require one passport photo for their visa (these are just ones I know from recent experiences, there are tons of others!!):
– Suriname
– China
– Vietnam
– Laos
– Cambodia
Safe travels!!
Tuesday’s Travel Essentials is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you want to check out my travel timeline, head here. and my inspiration on how I manage to live a lifestyle of travel.
Also worth noting that you should take glasses off for photos and move hair out of your face as much as possible. The guidelines on the UK passport website are pretty decent and seem to work for all other passport requirements. I did actually have a UK passport refused for the face being too close so you need to make sure you have a good photo.
Totally agree Forest – missed those important points off, thanks for posting. You’re also not allowed to smile! I assume that idea was implemented into the UK the day Tony Blair’s vibrant New Labour left Downing Street…