Passport Photo FAQs

A passport photo is required by His Majesty's Passport Office as your official biometric identification within your passport. HMPO uses your photo for identity verification, security purposes, and facial recognition. The strict requirements exist because passport photos are used to verify your identity at borders, airports, and for official document purposes. Without a compliant photo, your passport application cannot be processed.

HMPO's strict requirements exist because passport photos are used for biometric identification and facial recognition. Consistent sizing, positioning, and background colour make it easier for automated systems to identify individuals and detect fraud. If every photo is slightly different in how it's framed and sized, the facial recognition software struggles to work effectively. The strictness is intentional and designed to improve security and identity verification.

If your photo doesn't meet HMPO specifications, your application will be rejected. You'll receive a message explaining what's wrong with the photo. You then need to take a new photo that meets the requirements and resubmit. This typically causes a delay of one to two weeks. For online applications, the rejection happens through the automated checker before you've finished submitting. For postal applications, it may take longer to receive the rejection feedback.

For online applications, no. The automated checker that reviews digital photos is strict and has no discretion. If your photo falls outside the specifications, it gets rejected automatically. For postal applications, there's slightly more human judgment involved, but HMPO still strictly enforces the requirements. It's not worth betting on them overlooking something — get your photo right the first time.

Yes, you can absolutely take your own passport photo at home. Many people do this successfully. You need a decent camera (smartphone is fine), a plain white background, good lighting (natural window light works well), and ideally someone to help hold the camera steady. The actual camera quality matters less than you might think — smartphones today have cameras good enough for this purpose. See our guide on how to take a passport photo at home for step-by-step advice.

Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera — the rear camera typically takes higher quality photos. Position yourself about two metres from the camera if possible (not too close). Ask someone else to hold the phone or use a tripod. Make sure your head is level, you're facing directly at the camera, and your expression is neutral. Use natural window light from the side or front — not from behind you. Position yourself so the light is even across your face without harsh shadows. Leave plenty of space around your head so the photo can be properly cropped.

Use a plain, light-coloured background — white, light grey, or cream are all acceptable. Your background must be completely plain with no patterns, textures, or visible objects. If you use an actual white wall, watch for shadows cast by lighting. You cannot use a coloured or patterned background.

Position your light source to the side and slightly in front of you rather than directly behind you, which casts shadows on the background. Use multiple light sources if possible, such as window light plus an additional light from another direction. Some people use reflectors (even white poster board) to bounce light and fill in shadows. If shadows are unavoidable, you can use photo editing to fix the background only — be careful not to edit your face or head area.

No. A smartphone camera is genuinely sufficient. The three things that matter are: proper positioning (head in the right place in the frame), correct background (plain light-coloured), and adequate lighting (even, not harsh). All of these can be achieved with a phone and natural light — no DSLR, professional lighting, or special equipment needed.

Someone else can absolutely take your photo for you. In fact, having someone else hold the camera is often easier than setting up a selfie or timer. You can't take a selfie-style photo (with the phone held at arm's length) because you end up too close to the camera and your head appears too large. Having someone take the photo from a couple of metres away works much better.

No. HMPO requires a neutral expression. Your mouth should be closed and your face should have a neutral, natural expression — no smiling, no frowning, no extreme expressions. Think "driver's licence photo" rather than "social media photo". A neutral expression is standard for identity documents because it makes facial recognition more consistent and reliable.

For printed photos, the size is exactly 35 mm wide by 45 mm tall. For digital photos submitted online, the minimum is 600 pixels wide by 750 pixels tall (maximum 1200×1500 pixels). The aspect ratio must be 3:4 in portrait orientation (taller than wide). For full details, see our UK passport photo size guide.

35 millimetres is the width (left to right), and 45 millimetres is the height (top to bottom). The photo is portrait orientation — taller than it is wide. If you reverse those dimensions and create a photo that's 45 mm wide and 35 mm tall (landscape), it will be rejected. In imperial measurements, 35×45 mm is roughly 1.4 by 1.77 inches.

A minimum of 600 pixels wide by 750 pixels tall. You can go larger, up to 1200 by 1500 pixels, as long as the aspect ratio stays at the correct 35:45 mm proportion. Larger files with the correct aspect ratio are preferable because they preserve more detail. Don't submit anything smaller than 600×750, as it will be automatically rejected.

HMPO requires 600×750 pixels minimum — larger than a straightforward mm-to-pixel conversion — because larger files preserve more detail and sharpness. Their automated systems need sufficient detail to process and print images clearly. A larger file gives them flexibility in how they process and store the image.

1200×1500 pixels is within the acceptable range. You can submit photos up to this size and the system handles files this large without issue. Don't go significantly larger than this, but 1200×1500 provides excellent detail and is a good target.

Technically you're below the 600 pixel minimum width, so there is a risk. Most systems have some small tolerance, but officially you're outside the specification. To be safe, resize to at least 600×750 pixels — it's an easy fix that eliminates the rejection risk.

You can upscale technically, but it's not recommended. Upscaling a small photo reduces image quality and can make your face appear pixelated or blurry. HMPO's quality checker can detect upscaled images, and poor quality often leads to rejection anyway. If your original photo is too small, it's better to retake it at higher resolution.

No. HMPO specifies the background must be plain and light-coloured — white, light grey, or cream. Blue, green, or any other colour is not acceptable. Consistent light backgrounds allow facial recognition software to separate your face from the background more reliably.

Minor imperfections are sometimes acceptable, but significant shadows or visible patterns risk rejection. The background needs to be as plain and uniform as possible. If you're taking photos at home and shadows appear, try adjusting your lighting to eliminate them. If unavoidable, you can use photo editing to fix the background only — do not edit your face itself.

No, not unless medically necessary. Since 2016, HMPO has not allowed glasses in passport photos, with very limited exceptions. If you must wear glasses due to a medical condition, they need to meet specific requirements: no glare or reflections obscuring your eyes, frames cannot obscure your eye area, and you need a letter from your optician explaining the medical necessity.

Yes. Religious head coverings including hijabs, turbans, and kippots are allowed. Your full face from the bottom of your chin to the top of your forehead, and both edges of your face, must be clearly visible without any covering or shadow. The covering cannot cast shadows on your face. Casual hats or fashion headwear are not permitted — only genuine religious head coverings.

Your face needs to be sharp and clear — no motion blur, pixelation, or graininess. The details of your face need to be visible enough for facial recognition software to work. If you use filters, heavy editing, or take the photo in poor lighting that results in a grainy image, it will be rejected for quality issues.

No. Filters of any kind are not permitted — including beauty filters, skin smoothing, brightening, or any other alterations. The photo must be unedited. HMPO's system can detect when filters have been applied, and filtered photos are rejected. Your face must look as you actually do, without enhancement or editing.

The most common rejection reasons are: photo taken more than one month ago (the #1 reason), head size outside the 29–34 mm range, head not centred in the frame, background not plain and light-coloured, expression not neutral, glasses worn when not medically necessary, shadows on face or background, image quality poor or blurry, overall photo too small, or aspect ratio incorrect. Check the rejection message from HMPO, as it often identifies the specific issue. Our guide on common passport photo mistakes covers all of these in detail.

No. HMPO explicitly requires your photo to have been taken within one month of your application. If your photo was rejected for being old, you need to take a new photo. This is a hard requirement with no exceptions — even if the new photo is identical in appearance to the old one, the old one will be rejected if it was taken too long ago.

For online applications, you typically get a rejection notification within a few days and can upload a new photo and resubmit straight away. For postal applications, it can take one to three weeks to find out your photo was rejected, then another week or two to receive the application back and resubmit. Overall, a rejection typically adds one to two weeks to your application timeline — which is why getting it right first time matters.

The photo being older than one month is the single most common rejection reason. If you have any doubt about when your photo was taken, retake it. The second most common reason is head size outside the acceptable range (too small or too large). The third is background issues — not plain, not light-coloured, or containing shadows.

Not through a formal appeals process. If you believe your photo actually meets the requirements, you can resubmit a new photo. If it gets rejected again, contact HMPO customer service to explain your situation. The automated system that rejects online photos has no appeals process — your only option is to resubmit with a compliant photo.

It depends on your confidence level. If you've carefully followed all the specifications and are confident your photo meets requirements, you can submit directly. If you've had rejections before, or you're unsure about head sizing or other requirements, a verification service eliminates the guesswork. For around £10, you get confirmation that your photo will pass the automated checker before you officially submit to HMPO — preventing the one to two week delay of a rejection cycle.

A verification service like PassportApp checks all the HMPO specifications: overall photo size and pixel dimensions, aspect ratio, head size (measured from chin to crown), head positioning (centred, properly spaced), background colour and uniformity, expression, eye visibility, image quality and sharpness, and file format. If anything fails, the service provides specific feedback on what needs to be adjusted.

Quality verification services are very accurate if they're specifically designed for UK passport photos. PassportApp reports a 99.8% approval rate — photos that pass verification also pass HMPO's automated checker in 99.8% of cases. The small percentage that doesn't make it through usually relates to something that changed between verification and submission (like accidentally uploading the wrong file).

At around £10, verification is typically worth it if you've struggled with photos before, if you're submitting a postal application (where rejection feedback takes longer), or if you're particularly concerned about getting it right on the first try. The cost is minimal compared to the time and frustration of dealing with a rejection and a one to two week resubmission delay.

Your photo must have been taken within one month of submitting your application. This is strictly enforced — if you took your photo on June 1st, you must submit your application by June 30th at the latest.

It doesn't matter. Even if the photo looks like it could have been taken recently, if it's more than one month old it will be rejected. HMPO can sometimes detect when a photo was taken based on metadata. Even if they can't detect it, they rely on your honesty. Submitting a photo you know is older than one month is technically dishonest and could affect your application.

Online applications are typically processed within two to four weeks. Postal applications take three to four weeks or longer. The main advantage of online is that you get feedback on your photo immediately if there's an issue, rather than waiting weeks to find out your photo was rejected.

Most verification services, including PassportApp, cost around £9–10. Compare this to photo booth costs of £7–17 where you might still get rejected, or professional studio costs of £15–40. Verification services offer good value because they specifically confirm compliance rather than just printing a photo.

Taking your own photo at home costs nothing beyond what you already have. Using a verification service costs around £10. Professional studios cost £15–40. Photo booths cost £7–17. If you're confident you can get your own photo right, free is cheapest. If you've struggled before or want confidence you won't get rejected, £10 for verification is reasonable insurance against a one to two week rejection delay.

No. The physical and digital size requirements are the same as adult photos: 35×45 mm printed or 600×750 pixels digital, with head height 29–34 mm. What differs is that babies have more flexibility on expression and head positioning — you can't reasonably ask a baby to sit perfectly still. But the size itself is identical.

Not really. Young children smiling or with a natural expression is fine. HMPO doesn't require the strict neutral expression for children that they do for adults. The key is that the face is clearly visible and the background and sizing meet requirements.

For very young children, it's genuinely difficult. Some options: try multiple times and choose the best one, get professional help from a photographer experienced with children, ask another adult to help distract the child while you take the photo, or use a video to take stills from. If the child is under three, a little motion is acceptable as long as the face is clearly visible.

US passport photos are 2×2 inches in a square format (50.8×50.8 mm). UK photos are 35×45 mm in portrait format. They're different sizes and aspect ratios, so a US photo won't work for a UK application. If you need both, you need separate photos.

Most Commonwealth countries use or accept the same 35×45 mm format: Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand. Many EU countries also use 35×45 mm. The US is the major exception with 2×2 inches. If you're applying for multiple passports, check each country's specific requirements, but many will accept a photo taken to UK specifications.

JPEG only. PNG, WebP, TIFF, or any other format won't be accepted by HMPO's online system. Always save your photo as a JPEG file.

Minimum 50 kilobytes, maximum 10 megabytes. Most photos fall naturally into this range. If you're having trouble with file size, you're either compressing excessively (too small) or using an unusually large file (too large). Standard JPEG compression at reasonable quality will land you in the acceptable range.

Head size. More photos fail on head size being outside the 29–34 mm range than any other single factor. If you get nothing else perfect but get head size right, you're probably fine. Too small (head looks tiny in the frame) or too large (head fills the frame right to the edges) are both automatic rejections.

Take a photo at home with proper positioning and background, use an online tool to resize it correctly, then either submit directly to HMPO if confident, or use a verification service first to be sure. This combination is fast, low cost, and reliable.