Passport Photos

SENTRI card
Dennis Poroy/Associated Press
Guards at U.S.-Mexico border
crossings identify SENTRI cardholders
using facial-recognition technology.

 

Passport photographs must be 2 inches by 2 inches in size, identical and taken within the past six months. The image size from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head should be between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches. They may be in color or black-and-white, full face or front view, with a plain white or off-white background. (Don't worry -- professional passport photographers know these rules!) Photographs should be taken in normal street attire, without a hat or headgear that covers the hair or hairline. Uniforms should not be worn in photographs with the exception of religious attire that is worn daily. If prescription glasses, hearing aids, wigs or other such articles are normally worn, they should be worn when the picture is taken. Dark glasses or nonprescription glasses with tinted lenses are not allowed unless they are required for medical reasons. A medical certificate may be required to support the wearing of these glasses in photographs. Vending machine photos are not generally acceptable -- to be on the safe side, you'd better get a professional to take your photo and print it. (Kinko's, Eckerd's and other quick-photo places will make your photos for you while you wait. It usually costs about $15 for one shot, two prints.)

Frequent-Traveler Cards
If you use a “trusted traveler” card instead of a passport when you drive between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico, fear not -- you will still be able to use your card after the new passport rules take effect. The cards were developed in the 1990s to ease congestion at border crossings by having prescreened, low-risk cardholders use designated lanes for faster processing. The SENTRI card, which costs $129, is accepted at seven high-volume border crossings with Mexico. Frequent travelers to Canada (by land, sea or air) can use the NEXUS card, which costs $50 and is good for five years. Truckers passing through to Canada and Mexico use the FAST card.

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