UK Passport Photo

GOV.UK lists two ways to get a digital photo: a photo code from a booth or shop before you apply, or a photo taken on your own device during your passport application. Booth and shop photos are more likely to be approved.

Taking it on your own device

1. Ask someone to help: you need another person to take it.
2. Stand in front of a plain light-colored wall with even light on your face.
3. Include your head, shoulders and upper body. Don't crop the photo: the service crops it for you.
4. Keep a plain expression with your mouth closed and your eyes open.
5. Take off glasses unless you have to wear them.

A digital photo must be at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, and from 50 KB to 10 MB. It must have been taken in the last month.

Practice first

Take one practice shot in the same spot and run it through the free check above with UK passport photo selected. If it passes, take the real one the same way inside the application.

A paper application needs 2 identical photos printed to a professional standard.

The printed photo rules

1. 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, the standard UK photo booth size.
2. Head 29 to 34 mm from the crown to the chin.
3. A close-up of your full head and upper shoulders.
4. Plain cream or light gray background.
5. Printed in color on plain white photo paper with no border.
6. Not cut down from a larger picture, and not altered by software.
7. Taken in the last month.

Because a printed UK photo can't be cut down from a larger picture, a print made by cropping a phone photo doesn't meet the rule. Use a photo booth or a shop that prints at 45 x 35 mm.

US photo shops print 2 x 2 inch photos, which is not the UK size. If you're applying from the US:

1. Online application: have someone take the photo with your phone during the application. This avoids the print size problem.
2. Paper form: GOV.UK says to check that a booth outside the UK can print photos 45 mm high by 35 mm wide before you use it.

Don't send a US 2 x 2 photo with a UK form: the size and head height rules are different.

GOV.UK relaxes a few rules for young children:

• Under 1: eyes don't have to be open. You can support the head with your hand if your hand doesn't show. Lay the baby on a plain light-colored sheet and take the photo from above.
• Under 6: children don't have to look straight at the camera or keep a plain expression.
• Everyone: the child must be alone in the photo, with no toys or dummies.

More tips for the lying-down setup are on the baby passport photo page.