Natasha

This may seem like an odd question but I have never had a passport before. On the application it asks for haircolor. Do I put my natural color, which is brown, or do I put my current color which is red? And does it even matter? Someone suggested I just put brunette. Someone else recommended Auburn which is sort of middle of the road red/brown. Good grief. I'm glad they don't ask for weight. That changes daily!

Tricia

I would just put red or auburn because the ticket agents at the airlines look it over, read it, look at you, make sure you match the description and then hand it back to you. If something happened to you abroad they would use it to i.d. you also.

Jane

For heaven's sake - look at the photo. What color is the hair. If this is a significant dilemma to you, you should stay home. Otherwise, you're liable to get yourself into serious trouble in foreign lands.

mark

This is the most obscure question I've seen in the departure lounge since I started surfing 2 months ago.

Joan

Natasha, just for laughs I called the Post Office where I recently got my passport with your question. (By the way, I was born with brown hair but it has been blonde from a bottle for years sh-sh-sh. I put blonde on my passport application). Anyway, accepting the chuckle that I expected from the postal employee after asking the hair color question, I was told there was no definite answer to the question. I doubt that is the truth (I am sure there is rule buried somewhere), but what the agent told me was that one should just use common sense in deciding which color of hair gives the best id. So you might now ask yourself - when you changed your hair color were those who know you still able to tell that it was you? If so, then you are probably ok with that color. Have you thought of the problems you would encounter, if you decided to grow a beard?

Ronald

With the widespread use of plastic surgery today I daresay a good percentage of applicants have similar problems in other areas. Lets not get into hair transplants!

Natasha

Thanks for the input Joan and Tricia. Gosh, some of you other guys are so uppity. This is not a "significant" problem, but I imagine some other women probably have wondered the same thing. Thanks again.

JoAnn

This is idiotic! Just put whatever color your hair is in the photo. If you can't decide on a hair color, how in the world are you going to mange a trip?

Natasha

Perhaps so, but at least I can spell. If you felt it was beneath you to answer my question, why did you bother sending it back up. And, exactly who made you the arbiter of what questions can be asked and answered at this site? Why is it such a trial to just be nice?

Audrey

Your question is not silly, especially in light of how long a passport lasts now. My hair color is nowhere near the color it was when I got my first passport at age 23--and I'm not the only woman in the world who lightens her hair and/or covers the gray more often than only when it's passport-picture-taking-time.

Peter

How interesting! My business partner just returned from Europe and said she was detained for a hour because her passport, that she got 2 years ago, says she is a brunette. Her hair is now red, and she never even considered the possibility that it would be a big deal.

james details

Yes, hair color is a very weighty. Come on, there aren't any rules or regs. Some staffer at the post office will just make it up on the spot. If this is such an important issue for you, why would you depend on the advice of the folks who deliver your mail? Consult the N Y Times - that's what my sister-in-law does, amnd she claims to know all the answers. Believe me, I too ask silly questions, so I am trying to be sympathetic to your concerns. But this has all been too unreal for words. But it does have some entertainment value. I bet it's all a ruse for attention. Have a nice trip (if you go).

P.J.

Oh for Pete's sake people, give the girl a break. She just asked a simple question. I just started surfing this forum several weeks ago and while I think it is helpful, some of you just get way too worked up about some of this stuff. Just make your best guess Natasha, and have fun on your trip!

Nina

Hi Natasha. What I think you are trying to say is that you don't want to lie on your passport application, which is what you feel you would be doing if you don't put your "Real" color. On the other hand you don't want to be mistaken for someone else if you tell the "truth" and put the color you were born with when you're not that color any more. Actually I think it is kind of an interesting question. I agree with one of the earlier posters that there probably is some miniscule reg. somewhere. Put your current color, what the heck, live on the edge.

Joan

James, interesting comments from someone who is known by his "obscure details?" To answer your question about why someone would ask a postal agent such a question as what hair color to put on your passport. The reason is because not all of postal people deliver mail, some of them "accept passport applications - d u h! - with pictures attached - d u h! Get it? Lots of exposure to passports. Also, you obviously don't understand the U.S. government or you would not suggest that there is no rule on the subject. Looks like you got yourself a little attention. Now tell the truth, did you plan it that way?

james details

Hi, Joan. I liked your response. Actually I wasn't looking for attention - just surfing. It's just that everyone else piled on about the hair color issue, and I thought I'd join in on the fun. As an aside: actually I discussed this issue with my wife last night - she's just applied for a passport renewal. Her hair is brown but she dyed it red, so she though it was a major issue. So, when I joked about it, I got into trouble. Anyway, jsut a suggestion - drop the duh - as much as I love Elaine, she's overworked that expression. And I bet you're a lot smarter than she is. About the post office and passports - they don't all carry the forms, and none asks any questions. The clerks know absolutely zero about passports - trust me, I actually do work for the US government and live in our nation's capitol. Have a nice day, over and out, and so long to the Fodor site for good. It has been fun, but other things await. Bye.

Joan

James, your information is incorrect and your reading comprehension is lacking. I didn't say that "all" post offices handle passport applications. When I was writing to Natasha, I specifically referred to the ONE where I submitted my passport application. You are incorrect that NONE of them ask questions. The one I went to looked over our applications, asked additional questions, and even rejected one of our photos (that had been taken by Kinko's) because it did not meet specifications. I'm starting to understand why they call you "obscure details." I bet you hear "duh" a lot. Huh? Maybe that's why you think it is overused. Sorry. As far as leaving this site, it is an addiction that is not easy to break.

Ronald

To paraphrase Winston Churchill: never have so many labored so long, for so few, and achieved so little. How about just asking the passport issuing authority for guidelines?

james

Gee, nice reply, Joan, especially the part about duh. Actually that type of response makes it rather easy to depart this particular posting. Conversing here has become something akin to empty calories. Take care, but sorry, there really are better things to do, and it's not addictive for some of us, as apparently it is for you. Regards.

Joan

Following Ronald's advice, I sent a message to Passport Now [www.passportnow.com.] After all with all this todo we should end up with an official answer. This is what they sent back "The State Department Regulations are silent on hair color. I would advise that the statement you sign claims that the picture is a 'true likeness'. If the picture is to be a 'true likeness' I would assume it would be of the current hair color. Thus the hair color should be consistent with the hair color on the application. I would also say that this does not solely apply to females as men gray as they age and there are also people like Dennis Rodman (what color is it today?) The color in the picture should be the color on the application. The passport agency is most concerned with the integrity of the citizenship documents and birth records and less focused on application information. Hair color is after all subjective and these clerks are looking at 2"x2" photos in which you can not tell black from brown, etc." This information was from Chris Shearon at the Passport Now organization. For anybody who wants a possible better answer and who wants to spend $.35/minute they can call the National Passport Information Center at 1-900-225-5674 and get an automated service or spend $1.05/minute for their operator service. So does this settle it?