1. Effective November 1, 2016 Consular Affairs (CA) will no longer accept photographs of visa and passport applicants wearing eyeglasses, except in rare, medically-documented circumstances. CA will implement this policy with a soft one-month enforcement period from November 1 to November 30, 2016, after which accept photographs with eyeglasses will not be accepted.
2. CA decided to prohibit photographs of applicants wearing eyeglasses to enhance the performance of CA’s facial recognition (FR). This prohibition increases the overall accuracy of the FR software and decreases the likelihood of misidentifying an applicant.
3. Under the “No Eyeglasses Policy” , an applicant may wear eyeglasses in a visa or passport application photograph in rare circumstances of medical necessity, for example, when an applicant has had recent ocular surgery and eyeglasses are necessary to protect his/her eyes during urgent travel. Applicants must provide a medical statement signed by a medical professional/health practitioner in these cases. Posts must issue a limited one-year validity passport (using endorsement code 46 or endorsement code 109 for EPDPs) when the medical condition is temporary and travel is imminent.
4. The U.S. State Department published 7 FAM 1300 Appendix E “Passport Photographs” and 9 FAM 303.6-2(A)(1) “Photo Standards” on September 20, 2016 to add the key revisions to prohibit the wearing of eyeglasses in visa photographs except in rare, urgent medical circumstances.
5. During the November 1 – November 30, 2016 implementation phase of this new policy, posts will not refuse a photograph of a passport or visa applicant wearing eyeglasses. Starting December 1, 2016, applicants must submit photographs without eyeglasses for all new visa and passport applications, or provide a medical statement
