Simple Steps To Ensure Your US Passport Photo Success

By David Hawkin


You may feel daunted having your passport photograph taken. Don't be! This simple guide should ensure you don't encounter any pitfalls thus enabling a seamless vacation. Different countries have different demands, here are the US State Department's specifications.

Each passport application requires two identical passport pictures.

Your Passport photos must be printed on photo-quality media.

The Passport Photos you have printed must be in colour.

Your passport photos should have been taken within the last six months.

The passport pictures must be 50mm x 50mm to qualify for a US passport application.

You should be able to see an unobstructed view of your face. It is best if you wear day to day clothing without baseball cap, hat or sunglasses. The picture must be taken against a solid white or grey background. Your pose should be neutral making sure your mouth is closed looking forward with eyes wide open. The resulting picture should be in focus or it will not be allowed.

The dimensions of your head measured between the bottom of the chin and top of the crown must be within 1"- 1 and 3/8". The position of your head must be central neither looking up, down or off to one side. Your head must cover approximately fifty percent of the photograph area.

A headdress or head-covering may be worn on religious grounds however it must not conceal, disguise, block or shade any portion of your face.

Glasses may be worn but you should be able to see your eyes in the photograph it is not acceptable to have any flash or flare from your spectacles.

If you wear sunglasses on medical grounds you will be able to leave them on in your photos. However you may be asked to send supporting evidence from your medical practitioner in the form of a letter.

Wearing a uniform in your passport picture is actively discouraged however you can for religious reasons.

Having passport pictures taken of infants and young children can be difficult. It is advised that you visit a professional photographer. Parents or guardians must not feature in the pictures neither should any mechanical device supporting their pose.

You may not copy or scan pictures from driving licenses or official ID they will be rejected. Furthermore your pictures should not be photo-shopped, retouched or airbrushed to modify or improve your appearance in any way.

Photographs copied from newspapers and magazines will not comply with the strict regulations. It is also likely that pictures from most vending booths will be rejected. Photos that are a full length body shot of the subject will also be disallowed.

If you have the technical know-how to produce your own passport pictures you can take them on a digital camera. However you must be able to take the passport photos at 1 megapixel resolution or more. When it comes to printing the pictures take them to a commercial processing lab unless you have superior printing facilities the photos will be rejected.




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