New service offers passport pictures online

An online service (paspic.com), which lets people take their own passport pictures at home, is making it far easier for travellers to get their pictures approved by the Passport Agency. Currently, 14% of all passport applications are rejected because the accompanying photos don’t meet the stringent biometric standards required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). But having a passport photo rejected can result in frustration and costly delays, particularly for travellers who have to cancel a trip because of a late passport.

Paspic.com users take their own photograph using a digital camera, which they then upload to the site. Paspic formats the image into passport photos and rigorously checks – both with technology and manually - that the picture meets the 20 different biometric requirements as stated by the Passport Agency.

If they meet the standards, the images are printed out and mailed to the applicant within 48 hours. If they don’t, the applicant is alerted and they can try again until they get it right. In the highly unlikely event that a Paspic photo isn’t accepted, a new set of pictures will be done free of charge or the money fully refunded, not something you’d get with a photo booth.

The site is so effective that the UK’s largest chain of independent newsagents, Martin McColl, is now promoting it to all passport applicants at its 400 post office branches. “We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to get passport pictures that are accepted. Paspic’s guaranteed results cuts out customer frustration, saving time and money. We now steer all our passport and driving license applicants their way,” says Kevan Hughes, Post Office Operations Manager at Martin McColl.

Paspic.com has also proven extremely popular with families as it can be difficult to get a photo of a baby or young child that meets all the requirements. For example, the child’s head must be in the middle of the frame and the parents’ hands are not allowed to be seen in the picture.

“Instead of trying to squeeze themselves and their child into a photo booth or disrupting their baby’s routine to get out to a photo studio, parents can simply take a picture of their child while they’re relaxed and happy at home,” explains Yehuda Hecht, founder of Paspic.com and the original inventor of the photo booth. “Taking a picture for Paspic is easy. You simply need to take your photo with your face in the middle of the picture, on a plain off-white, cream or light grey background. We’ll will take care of the rest!”

Easy to follow instructions and video tutorials are provided on the site to ensure that customers don’t go wrong. The site also links to online passport applications so that the entire process can be done with a click of a mouse.

Paspic’s photographs are suitable for the UK, EU, AU and US Passport Office Authorities’ regulations and can also be used for drivers’ licenses, identity cards or Oyster cards. A set of four passport pictures costs £3.95 for UK, AU and/or EU style photos including free postage, while a set of three US style photos including free postage costs £5.00. Paspic photographs are printed on low-gloss, plain-white photo-quality paper.