I had my new biometric passport made before I went to Greece last summer. My first passport photo was sent back as my fringe just put my right eye in shadow, so it had to be re-taken, which was no problem as we simply dealt with it, not leaving it to this last available minute like this family. I thought everyone knew you weren't supposed to smile on passports aswell.

I think it's great that passport laws are getting stricter, this way we can keep out more immigrants and catch more criminals trying to escape/ get into the country. People moan that they look horrible due to the new photograph rules, but, um, it's there to get you from A to B, unless you feel the need to show it to everyone you meet.