Visa-Picture Question

[chinadad99]

I currently have a beard, and I am pictured on my passport with the beard. However, I am planning to shave the beard, and I am also planning a trip to China. Would it be better to keep the beard until after the visa picture is made--thus matching the visa and passport photos--or to remove the beard before the visa picture is made--thus matching at least one of the photos with my actual anticipated appearance when I enter the country?

[heathfield]

If you're in any doubt, contact the embassy.

Logically, I would shave it off before you get your visa. That way it means the embassy will have approved the change and confirmed your identity by issuing the visa. But Chinese logic can be very different to ours!!

(I had a friend who had a UK passport with two photos in it, one showing him bearded, the other clean-shaven. Driving through Yugoslavia in the communist era, he spent three days in a police cell while they interrogated him as to who the other person was, and where was he hiding?) Scary!!

[JonnoGenie]

Shave it off... when is the last time you saw a Chinaman with a beard? Chinese don't do beards.