New passport is strange

rockerchick

I just received my new passport today. They have made the main picture a bit blurry, is this normal? Also the main page with my pic and name etc on it is paper thin :S
I am especially worried about the blurry pic as not only did i want to use it for holiday, i wanted to use it for ID purposes and i now fear it may get rejected in pubs and suchlike.

Heliflyguy

My new UK passport arrived a couple of weeks ago and the picture sounds the same as yours though I would describe it more as washed out.
Hadnt noticed that the paper on that page was thinner than the other pages.

Thats assuming you purchased it though the proper channels of course

rockerchick

It is as thin as the other pages but my old passport that page was quite thick

nervousftb_3

In the old passport, the page with the photo was at the back and used to be laminated so it was shiny and much thicker than the other pages. Now the photo page is at the front, and is the same thickness as the other pages. When my partner's new passport arrived a couple of days ago it had a piece of paper with it saying they had changed the page but it didn't really explain why.

rockerchick

I just cant see a bar lady/man accepting it.

dzug1

I think the photo is designed to be 'viewed' electronically rather than by eye

briona

rockerchick wrote: »

I just received my new passport today. They have made the main picture a bit blurry, is this normal? Also the main page with my pic and name etc on it is paper thin :S
I am especially worried about the blurry pic as not only did i want to use it for holiday, i wanted to use it for ID purposes and i now fear it may get rejected in pubs and suchlike.

That's very strange! I too have just received my new passport (through the British Consulate in Madrid as I am based in Portugal) and mine looks nothing like the one you have described. My photo is fairly washed out looking (but it's a big improvement on my old one!). The main difference is in the page quality. Mine is a very strong plastic affair (much stronger than the one in the old passport), and unlike nervousftb's post, the photo page is still at the back of the passport...

dzug1

briona wrote: »

That's very strange! I too have just received my new passport (through the British Consulate in Madrid as I am based in Portugal) and mine looks nothing like the one you have described. My photo is fairly washed out looking (but it's a big improvement on my old one!). The main difference is in the page quality. Mine is a very strong plastic affair (much stronger than the one in the old passport), and unlike nervousftb's post, the photo page is still at the back of the passport...

Consulate issued passports have traditionally been different to 'normal' ones - presumably because they don't have all the fancy facilities to issue the latest version.

GlennTheBaker

The latest passports have a super-thin laminate on the photo page which, as has already been noted, is more difficult to tamper with.

WickedWolfie

I believe you will find that your old passport had the photo you sent in stuck in it with a layer of plastic covering it. For new passports they digitise the image (just like they do on the photo part of driving licenses) and include the digital image (which can be cross-referenced with the chip on the front) rather than the actual photo.

littlestar1981

http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/files/ips/live/assets/documents/IPS_Changes_to_passports_Leaflet.pdf

I want a new version!

Didn't they change not that long ago? Mine is only about 2 years old and was fancy at the time, with the microchip behind the photo page...