How much trouble does it cause when you look different than your passport picture?

If he keeps his beard short and well groomed, he should not have any problems.

Okay, so.. I had this horrendous photo of me in my last passport. I know everyone says that, but please trust me on this.. Not only that, but it really stopped resembling me about 8 years ago. I was very heavy, had different glasses, my hair looked horrible, etc. I lived with this photo for 10 years and, unfortunately, got a lot of use out of it. Despite the fact that the person pictured in that passport looks more like a pasty Shrek than it resembles me, the actual person.. despite the fact that it and I got many double-takes from border officials over the years, I never once had a problem using it.

My guess here is that if he looks normal and unassuming, like I do, he should be just fine. If he looks or acts shady, they may have cause to be more suspicious and give him trouble, but from my experiences, I don’t think the beard will matter.

Shouldn’t be a problem; my hair is quite different now. They just peer a little longer.

When I was taking the train from Dresden to Prague they questioned my passport. 10 plus guys with machine guns surrounding me. One of the scariest moments of my life. I whispered to the girl I was with, “Goto the embassy when you get off the train.” Luckily after about 30 minutes they let me go.

First things first: If I looked like my passport photo I think I’d be dead. I’ll take my chances with the difference in appearance.

Immigration inspectors are going to be looking at a lot more than facial hair. Because if they don’t, then it’s a lot more likely that someone can wear fake hairpieces and facial hair to resemble a hirsute photo of ‘someone else’ and slip into the country that way. So they’re looking at a lot more ‘structural’ resemblance to facial features than hair, tattoos, birthmarks, etc.

@all – Thank you! This is kind of what we figured, but I thought t was worth asking the collective.

@Not_the_CIA – Good gravy! All that because of the picture?

@tedibear – Yup, my point was that it is terrifying if they question it. I wouldn’t roll dice on this.

It doesnt really matter. What matters is that you have all the proof you need about your identity in your passport, and that its not expired.