How to take a passport photo at home, and where you can't
Have someone else take it on your phone, about 1.5 metres away at eye level, while you stand half a metre in front of a plain light wall, facing a window. The US, UK, Ireland and New Zealand accept a photo taken this way. Canada, Germany and France do not.
Can you take your own passport photo?
It depends on the passport, so check before you set anything up. We read each authority's rule on who may take the photo.
| Passport | Your own photo | What the rule says |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Yes | Lists a friend or family member as a place to get the photo |
| United Kingdom | Yes, online | Someone helps you take it on your own device during the application |
| Ireland | Yes, online | Someone else takes it on a phone, tablet or camera. No selfie, no zoom |
| New Zealand | Yes | Your own device is allowed. Selfies and scans of prints are refused |
| Australia | Not advised | Recommends a professional, and not an online service or mobile app |
| Canada | No | A commercial photographer takes, prints and stamps it |
| Germany | No | A registered service provider or the passport office makes it |
| France | No | An authorised photographer or an approved booth |
The United Kingdom and Ireland take a home photo only for an online application. GOV.UK adds that a photo from a booth or shop is more likely to be approved than one from your own device.
Australia does not forbid your own photo, but its print standard rules out most home printers. More on that below.
Each country's page has its size and the rest of its rules: US passport photo size, UK passport photo size, Irish passport photo size and New Zealand passport photo requirements.
The three that refuse one explain why on their pages: Canada passport photo size, German passport photo size and French passport photo size.
How do you set up the shot?
Ask someone else to hold the phone. Ireland and New Zealand refuse selfies outright, and the UK and US rules both assume a second person.
| Rule | Camera to you | You to the wall |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1.5 m (5 feet) | 50 cm |
| New Zealand | 1.5 m | At least half a metre |
| United States | Several feet (1.2 m) | Several feet |
The distance matters because it sets the size of your head. Too close and your head fills the frame. Too far and the head comes out too small once the photo is cropped to size.
Stand clear of the wall so your head casts no shadow on it. Use a plain light wall, or a white sheet over a coloured one, as the State Department suggests.
Face a window for soft, even light, as the UK advises. Avoid the flash, since the US refuses red eye. Keep the phone level with your eyes, and do not zoom, which Ireland forbids.
Set the camera to its highest quality. Take off your glasses unless you cannot, and keep your hair off your face.
The colour of the wall is not the same everywhere. France forbids white. The passport photo background colour post lists every rule we have read.
Should you crop the photo yourself?
For an online application, often not. The UK service tells you not to crop your photo, because it is done for you, and asks for your head, shoulders and upper body.
The US online renewal lets you crop the photo when you upload it, and suggests leaving a little extra room around your face. New Zealand is the other way round: take a wider shot, then crop it to the head size.
So read your country's page before you crop. Upload the uncropped photo where the form crops it for you.
For a printed photo, you do crop it, since the print must come out at the right size with the head inside the right range.
How big should your head be in the photo?
Each rule gives the head height from chin to crown. At 300 DPI, the usual resolution for a print, here is that range in pixels.
| Rule | Photo | Head | Frame in pixels | Head in pixels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 x 2 in | 1 to 1 3/8 in | 600 x 600 | 300 to 413 |
| Australia, France | 35 x 45 mm | 32 to 36 mm | 413 x 531 | 378 to 425 |
| United Kingdom, printed | 35 x 45 mm | 29 to 34 mm | 413 x 531 | 343 to 402 |
So in a 2 x 2 inch photo, 600 pixels a side, your head should be 300 to 413 pixels tall. Our US page makes 602 pixels a side, since the State Department also gives 51 mm.
Measure it on your crop before you print. A photo can be the right size overall with the head outside its range.
How do you print it at home?
Resize the photo on your country's page first, then make a sheet of copies. The passport photo print sheet fits six 35 x 45 mm photos on a 4 x 6 inch print, or two 2 x 2 inch photos.
Print at actual size, or 100 percent, never fit to page. The US asks for matte or glossy photo paper, and a print with no visible printer dots.
Australia goes further. It asks for dye sublimation printing on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm, not inkjet, which most home printers cannot do.
A print from a photo kiosk is often the easier route. The sheet is a 4 x 6 inch JPEG, the standard size kiosks print.
What gets a home photo refused?
The mistakes a home photo is prone to are the ones the rules name. A selfie is refused in Ireland and New Zealand.
New Zealand refuses a scan of a printed photo, and the US asks for no photocopies or scanned photos.
The US and New Zealand refuse filters and AI edits, and the UK asks for no filters or editing.
Age counts too. The US asks for a photo taken in the last 6 months. The UK service asks for one taken in the last month.
If an upload is refused for its size or file, not the photo, the post on why an online form rejected your photo covers those checks.
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