US passport photo maker

US passport photo requirements

What the photo must show

• Face the camera directly, with your full face in view and centred.
• The head is measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, not to the hairline.
• Keep a natural expression. The Foreign Affairs Manual says a normal, unexaggerated smile is acceptable.
• No uniforms, clothing that looks like a uniform, or camouflage.
• No headphones or wireless hands-free devices.
• Head coverings only for religious reasons, with a signed statement, or medical reasons, with a doctor's statement. The covering must not hide the face.
• No red-eye, and no grainy or pixelated print.
• For infants, the eyes may be closed and the head may be supported, but the parent's face must not appear.

First passport, child's passport or renewal

The photo rules are the same for every US passport application. The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (8 FAM 402.1) sets them for all passport photos, whichever form you use:

• Form DS-11 is for a first adult passport, every passport for a child under 16, and cases where you cannot renew by mail, such as a lost or stolen passport. You apply in person at an acceptance facility and bring one printed photo.
• Form DS-82 is for renewing by mail. You attach one printed photo to the form.

A child's photo follows the same size and head-height rule. For an infant the eyes may be closed and the head may be supported, but no other person may appear in the photo.

Can you print it yourself?

Yes, if the print is good enough. The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual says computer-generated photographs “are acceptable if the image is sharp and clear”, and neither the manual nor Form DS-82 requires a professional photographer. What matters is the result: photo-quality paper, no visible dots or grain, and the right size. A photo counter or kiosk print is usually sharper and cheaper than a home inkjet.

Printing on 4 × 6 paper

A 4 × 6 inch print is exactly two photos wide. The print sheet from this page places two photos on one 4 × 6 print with a safe margin, so a lab that trims the edges cannot cut into them. You only need one photo for a renewal, which leaves a spare. Print at 100% size and measure one photo: it should be 2 inches on each side.

Attaching the photo

Form DS-82 asks you to staple the photo to the form with four staples, placed vertically in the corners, and not to bend it.

Renewing online: the digital photo

Online renewal is a third route, with its own photo upload. The State Department's online renewal page says you can renew online if all of these apply:

• the passport you are renewing is (or was) valid for 10 years, and expires within 1 year or expired less than 5 years ago;
• you are 25 or older and are not changing your name, sex or other personal details;
• you are not travelling for at least 6 weeks, because online renewals cannot be expedited;
• you are in a U.S. state or territory when you apply, and you have the passport, undamaged and not reported lost or stolen.

For the photo, the State Department's upload instructions ask for:

• a JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC or HEIF file between 54 KB and 10 MB, in colour, taken in the last 6 months;
• the original, unedited photo with no filters or retouching, and not a photo or scan of a printed photo;
• a plain white or off-white background with no shadows, your head fully visible and centred, the bottom of the photo at the edge of your shoulders;
• both eyes open, no glasses unless for a documented religious or medical reason, and teeth not showing.

You do not crop the photo yourself first: the application lets you reposition or crop it, and its photo tool checks the basics before a passport employee reviews it. That is why this page's tool has a separate “Renewing online” mode that checks your file without changing it. The State Department also advises against sending the photo to yourself by text message, because that lowers its quality.

Why US passport photos are rejected

• The photo has been edited, retouched or filtered. The U.S. Embassy in Manila lists this first among the five most common reasons it rejects passport photos.
• The applicant is wearing glasses.
• The photo is more than six months old.
• The head is too small or too large for the 1 to 1 3/8 inch rule. The tool measures this before you print.
• The print is blurry or pixelated, or is not on photo paper.

More on this in why ID photos get rejected. The examples use an off-white wall. The background row in the table above gives the exact colour this document asks for.

How to use this tool

1. Ask someone to take the photo from about 1.5 m, at eye level, in even daylight in front of a plain wall.
2. Add the photo above. The tool finds your face and frames it to the size on this page.
3. Check the green lines: one on the top of your head, one on your chin. Drag or zoom to adjust.
4. Read the automatic checks, then download. Nothing in the photo is retouched, only cropped and resized.

Applying online? Choose the online option above the tool. It checks your photo exactly as it is and has nothing to download: you add your original file to the official application, which crops it for you.

Questions about the US passport photo

Guides for this photo

• Why passport and ID photos get rejectedThe reasons authorities list themselves, and how to avoid each
• How to take a passport photo at homeDistance, light, background and pose, step by step
• Are edited or AI passport photos allowed?What ten authorities say about retouching, filters and AI
• How to print passport photos on 4 × 6 paperHow many fit, the settings to use, and the right paper
• Can I take my own passport photo?Where a home photo is accepted, and where it is not

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