The rules that matter
These come from the US Department of State's passport photo page. Rules can change, so read it before you submit.
- Size: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm).
- Head size: 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25–35 mm), measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.
- Background: white or off-white, plain, with no shadows, texture, objects or lines.
- Recent: taken within the last 6 months.
- No glasses: take off eyeglasses, sunglasses and tinted glasses.
- Expression: neutral or a smile, with both eyes open and your mouth closed.
- No edits: submit the original photo, with no filters, retouching or digital changes.
- Paper: matte or glossy photo-quality paper, with no visible printer dots. Photocopies and scanned photos aren't accepted.
The State Department says a friend or family member can take the photo, so you don't need a studio.
Take the photo
- Stand in front of a plain white or off-white wall, with light falling evenly on your face. Daylight from a window in front of you works well. Avoid lights that throw your shadow onto the wall.
- Have someone else take the photo from a few feet away, at eye level, with the camera straight on.
- Leave plenty of space around your head and shoulders. The photo tool crops it to size, so don't zoom in tight.
- Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression or a smile, both eyes open and your mouth closed. Take several shots and pick the sharpest.
- Don't use beauty modes, filters or portrait effects, and don't retouch the photo afterwards.
Crop it to 2 × 2 inches
- Open the passport and visa photo maker and choose United States passport (printed, 2 × 2 in).
- Drag the red line to the top of your head, the blue line to the bottom of your chin, and the yellow line to the middle of your face.
- The tool sets the head size inside the official range. Press Make printable photo and download the 4 × 6 inch print sheet.
The tool only crops and resizes. It never retouches, smooths or replaces the background, because the State Department checks photos for digital changes. Whether a photo is accepted is always their decision.
Print it at the right size
A 4 × 6 inch print is the standard size at pharmacy and supermarket photo kiosks. The print sheet fits several 2 × 2 inch copies on it.
- Order it as a 4 × 6 print on photo-quality paper. A print from a home printer on plain paper won't do, and visible printer dots get photos rejected.
- Turn off any "fit", "fill" or "crop" option and borders. If the kiosk resizes the sheet, every photo on it ends up the wrong size.
- Measure one copy with a ruler before you cut: the photo should be exactly 2 inches wide, and the head between 1 and 1 3/8 inches.
- Cut along the gray lines with scissors or a paper trimmer.
Renewing online instead?
If you renew online, you upload a digital photo instead of mailing a print. The State Department's online renewal photo page asks for a JPEG of at least 54 KB and no more than 10 MB and at least 600 × 600 pixels, and says its own tool crops the photo to the right dimensions. It also asks you not to edit the photo with software or an app, so upload the original JPEG from your camera.
Not sure the file meets the limits? Choose United States passport online renewal (digital upload) in the photo maker. If your original already passes, it tells you to upload it unchanged. It only makes a copy when the file is the wrong format or too large.
Last checked against the official pages on 2026-10-23.