Passport robot rejects Asian man's passport for not opening his eyes

New Zealander Richard Lee was applying for a passport online when the system objected to the image he uploaded. According to the passport robot,

"The photo you want to upload does not meet our criteria because: subject eyes are closed."

But Lee, who is of Asian descent, had his eyes open.

"I fell off my chair laughing," he told CNN. "Like, I know I have small eyes and I have no problem with it. But the fact that a computer can notice as well, that's just hilarious."
After trying three more images, he phoned the passport office to ask for help.

"They said it was the shadow in my eyes and the uneven lighting on the face makes it
hard for the software to process," he said.

Lee -- currently attending university in Melbourne, Australia -- eventually gave up and went to a local post office to get some passport photos taken.
"Fortunately one of those worked," he said.