8 guides
Passport Photo Guides
Most passport photos are refused for one of a small number of reasons, and almost all of them are decided before the shutter goes — where you stand, what is behind you, where the light comes from. These guides cover each one, and every rule quoted is taken from the issuing authority that publishes it rather than from another website.
- Why passport photos get rejectedThe ten reasons applications get put on hold, and what each one actually looks like.Read the guide
- How to take a passport photo at home with your phoneA repeatable setup using a phone, a wall and a window — and why selfies fail.Read the guide
- Passport photo lighting: avoiding shadows on the backgroundWhy the shadow behind your head is the hardest part, and the two-metre rule that removes it.Read the guide
- Can you smile in a passport photo?Almost always no — with one significant exception, quoted from the source.Read the guide
- Glasses in passport photos: the rules by countryWho bans glasses outright, who allows them with conditions, and why the safest answer is to take them off.Read the guide
- Passport photo size chartPublished photo sizes and head-height rules for every country in this tool, with the source for each.Read the guide
- Baby and infant passport photosWhich rules are relaxed for young children, which are not, and the practical way to get the shot.Read the guide
- Printing passport photos at home vs at a pharmacyWhat actually goes wrong when printing at home, and how to check the print measures correctly.Read the guide
Looking for one country’s rules?
The guides cover the parts that are the same everywhere. The published photo size, head height and background rule differ by country, and each of the 12 countries in this tool has its own page with the authority’s own figures.
Browse requirements by countryThis site is not affiliated with any government. Always check the issuing authority’s own guidance before you apply.