US passport photo maker

The specification, in full

The US requirement is unusual: a square photo, where most of the world uses a rectangle. Mixing the two up is the single most common reason a photo is rejected.

Head height is the measurement people ignore, and it fails more applications than anything except background problems. It is not measured to the top of your hair as styled — it is chin to the crown of the head. If you fill the frame with your face, the head is too large; if you look like a distant portrait, too small. Roughly, your head should occupy between half and two thirds of the frame height.

The same 2 × 2 inch photo is used for US visas and green cards, so one correctly made photo covers all three.

The rules about your face

• Neutral expression or a natural smile. Both eyes open and clearly visible. An exaggerated grin that closes the eyes gets rejected.
• No glasses. This changed in November 2016 and still catches people out — glasses have not been permitted since. The only exception is a documented medical reason with a signed statement from a doctor.
• Nothing covering the face. Hair should not fall across the eyes. Hats and head coverings are only allowed for religious or medical reasons, and require a signed statement.
• No headphones or wireless devices. Hearing aids and similar permanent devices are fine.
• No uniforms or clothing resembling one, and no camouflage.
• Everyday clothing. Avoid white tops, which blend into a white background and make the outline hard to read.

Taking it at home

You do not need a photo booth. Most rejections come from light and framing, not camera quality.

1. Find a plain wall. White or off-white, with nothing on it. Stand about 50 cm away from the wall, not against it — that gap prevents your shadow landing on it.
2. Face a window. Soft, indirect daylight from the front. Overcast is ideal. Never use flash, and never have the window behind you.
3. Have someone else take it. Selfies at arm's length distort facial proportions through the wide lens, and that distortion is a genuine rejection reason. Use the rear camera from about 1.5 metres, or set a timer.
4. Camera at eye level. Not above, not below. Look straight into the lens with your shoulders square.
5. Take twenty. Expressions that feel neutral often are not. Choose afterwards.

Then crop to the exact square using the resizer, which opens preset to 600 × 600 so you can position the head correctly within the frame rather than guessing.

Why photos get rejected

In rough order of frequency:

• Shadow on the background. Standing too close to the wall. Step forward.
• Head too large or too small within the frame.
• Wrong shape — a rectangular photo submitted for a US application.
• Glasses, still worn out of habit.
• Shadow across the face from overhead lighting.
• Too old, or an obvious crop from a group photo or holiday snap.
• Filters or retouching. Any beautification, skin smoothing or digital alteration. Phone cameras sometimes apply this automatically — turn it off.
• Low resolution, usually from enlarging a small crop.

Photos of babies and young children

Children need their own passports in the US, including newborns, and their photos follow the same 2 × 2 inch specification. The composition rules are relaxed in one important way: infants do not need a neutral expression, and their eyes do not have to be open. That single allowance removes most of the difficulty.

Everything else still applies, which is where parents run into trouble:

• Nobody else in the frame. No hands supporting the head, no arm at the edge. This is the most common rejection for infant photos.
• Plain white background, still required.
• No pacifier or toys.
• Face visible and unobstructed, no blanket across the chin.

The technique that works: lay the baby on their back on a plain white sheet, with the sheet smooth and no shadows or creases, and photograph from directly above. Gravity keeps the head straight, and there are no supporting hands in the frame. Do it in daylight near a window rather than under a ceiling light.

For a toddler who will not sit still, an alternative is a white sheet draped over a car seat, with the child in it and the photo cropped tightly enough that the seat is out of frame.

Renewals and repeat applications

A passport photo must have been taken within the last six months, and it must not look like the one already on file. Submitting the same photo you used last time — even a spare print from the same session — is grounds for rejection, because the point is to show your current appearance.

Significant changes in appearance are worth a fresh photo regardless: substantial weight change, new facial hair, gender transition, or facial surgery. If your appearance no longer matches the photo in your existing passport, take a new one rather than reusing an old file.

Printing versus uploading

For an online application, you submit the digital file directly — 600 × 600 or larger, JPEG, and check the current file size limit on the application form itself.

For a paper application you need a physical 2 × 2 inch print on photo-quality paper. Most print services offer 4 × 6 inch prints cheaply, and a 4 × 6 fits six 2 × 2 photos — so arranging copies in a grid before printing gives you spares for future applications at the price of one print.

Before you submit

Requirements do change, and the authoritative source is the US Department of State's own photo guidance. Check it against your photo before submitting — it takes two minutes and a rejected application costs weeks. This tool sets the correct dimensions; the composition and lighting rules are yours to satisfy.