Passport Photo Requirements

Where can I take passport photos?

In order to have your passport photo taken and printed professionally, meeting the government requirement for the country you’re applying for its passport or visa, we recommend that you schedule an appointment at Pix Plaza studio. Our professional photographers have a great experience in taking ID and passport photos and are guaranteed to meet all ID/passport/visa photo requirements for any country, including the United States and Canada permanent residence and naturalization photo requirements.

We have never had a photo rejected by any immigration authority world-wide.

Can I DIY my passport photos?

This depends on each country’s regulations.

If you need a US passport photo, and are not within a driving distance from our studios, you can take a photo using your phone, or camera, setting up a timer or asking a helper for assistance, and send the photo to us to review. If your photo meets the requirements, we can print the photo to the required side and mail it to you. If it doesn’t, we will let you know how to take it correctly.

Many other countries do not allow DIY passport photos. Canadian passport photos, for example, must be taken by a commercial photographer and be printed in studio, with the studio’s name and address included on the back of the physical picture print.

What are the standard passport photo requirements?

The photo requirement for passport photos of country and visa photos to a country and almost always the same. Each country, however, has its own requirements for passport and visa photos. Nevertheless, there are common requirements that all passport/visa photos must meet. These are:

• Front Facing: the subject in the photo must look straight in the lens of the camera, perpendicular to the camera, without head tilting
• Full Face must be visible. Hair or clothes must not cover any part of the face.
• Glasses must be removed. Medical prescription glasses can be worn as long as the eyes can be centralized behind the lens (thick frames may be considered unacceptable)
• Facial expression must be neutral
• No shadows and no highlights on the face from strong light sources
• The background must be plain, seamless, evenly lit and rather bright, with no shadows or gradients. Background color requirements vary.
• The picture must be sharp and printed on photo quality paper
• The picture can be used within six months of the date it was taken
• Head coverings are generally only allowed for religious purposes. Some countries require showing the fall face edge to edge, others require showing the ears as well. Forehead and chin must be visible.

What are each country’s specific passport photo requirements?

The main differences in passport photo requirements between countries are print size, the percentage of the photo that the head/face occupies, and background color.

Our standard professional profile photos already meet all the technical requirements listed above, and our system is setup to print passport photos for any country.

At Pix Plaza Studio, we have designed our own templates for passport photos for most popular work and vacation destination countries around the globe. Our passport photo service in the city is quick and easy, and the photos are ready for pick up within 10 to 30 minutes in most cases. You can wait an hour reception area, or return at your convenience to pick up the photos.

United States Passport Photo Requirements

U.S. passport, visa and immigration forms applications requires submission of pictures taken within the last six months and meet specific pose, lighting, size and photo paper requirements.

United States Passport Photo Requirements:

In addition to the standard requirements, US passport photo requirements include:

• Clean, clear and color- correct photos without digital editing or added filters
• Must be front facing without any face coverings, including eyeglasses
• Must use plain white or off white background
• must not be a selfie
• Photo paper in his must be of high resolution and be printed on matte or glossy photo paper  
• Print dimensions must be 2”X2” and have the right image proportions (Head must be 25 – 35 mm)
• Must have Poker face or natural smile. Eyes must be visible.
• Attire: wearing daily casuals, or suits, for passport photos is recommended. Avoid white and off-white colors so that your clothes don’t blend with the background—no uniform, face covering, or head covering without signed statement or doctor’s note. See travel.state.gov for more info.
• Red-eye flashlight effect would render the photo unusable. You must take and submit a different photo.
• Photos of Babies and toddlers must not include any other person’s image. Photos with eyes closed are only acceptable if taken of infants.

Our photographer will provide guidance during the session to make sure the photo meets all US passport photo requirements.

Canadian Passport Photo Requirements:

Canadian Passport Photos must be taken by a commercial photographer or studio. Our studio staff are quite familiar with Canadian passport photo requirements, some of which are listed below for reference¹.

They must

• be clear, sharp and in focus
• have uniform lighting and no shadows, glare or flash reflections
• show a clear difference between your face and the background
• show your natural skin tone
• be taken in person by a commercial photographer or studio
• be taken against a white or light colored backdrop.
• be professionally printed on high-quality photographic paper. Photos that you print at home are not accepted.
• have the name and address of the studio, and the date the photo is taken written or stamped on the back of each photo.
• have guarantor’s signature on the back of a child passport photo.
• not be older than 6 month at the time of your application.

Our photographer will provide guidance during the session to make sure the photo meets all Canadian passport photo requirements

Other countries passport and visa application photos

We take passport and visa application photos for all countries around the world. There are shared requirements for all passport photos that are related to quality and technique, and other unique requirements that vary between countries. Please call us or make sure you choose the correct country when booking your session online. Choose Other Countries if yours is not listed.

Please note that all European Union (EU) countries share the same EU passport photo requirements. The UK has a different set of requirements than the EU.

1. Canadian Passport photo requirement information is taken form the Canadian Government official website ↩︎