A photo studio charges for something your phone can do in ten minutes. The catch is that passport and visa photos follow strict rules, and small things, like a shadow on the wall or a head that is slightly too small, are enough to get a photo turned down. Here is how to set up, take the photo, and check it before you upload it.
Not every document accepts a photo taken at home. France needs a photo from an approved photographer or photo booth, and Canada's online passport renewal only takes a digital file from a commercial studio. Your country's page on SafeResize says so at the top, so check it first.
What you need
- A phone with a normal camera
- A plain wall in the colour your document asks for, usually white, off-white or light grey
- Daylight from a window, or two lamps
- Someone to take the photo for you, if possible
Step 1: find a plain wall
The background must be plain, with no pattern, visible texture, door frame or furniture at the edges. Most countries want white or a light colour, but not all of them. The India OCI photo must be light but not white, and French passport and ID photos must not have a white background either. The background colour guide lists the rules country by country.
No plain wall at home? A large sheet of white or light grey card, or a bedsheet pulled tight, works well. Creases show up as lines, so smooth it out first.
Step 2: get even light on your face
Shadows cause more trouble in home photos than anything else. To avoid them:
- Face a window so daylight falls evenly on your face. A cloudy day is ideal.
- Stand about half a metre (two feet) in front of the wall, so your shadow does not land right behind your head.
- Turn the flash off. It causes glare on skin and glasses, and red eyes.
- Avoid a single ceiling light above you. It casts shadows under the eyes and nose.
Step 3: set up the camera
Ask someone to hold the phone level with your eyes, about one to one and a half metres (three to five feet) away. A phone held very close makes the nose look bigger and the ears smaller, so the photo looks less like you. Use the main camera rather than the front camera if you can; it is sharper.
Leave space around you in the picture: your whole head, your shoulders and some of your upper body. You will crop it later, and for some documents you should not crop it at all. The UK passport service asks for your head, shoulders and upper body and tells you not to crop the photo, because it crops it itself.
Step 4: take the photo
- Look straight at the camera with your head level, not tilted or turned.
- Keep your mouth closed and both eyes open. A neutral face is accepted everywhere. A few documents, such as US passports, also allow a natural smile without teeth.
- Take your glasses off. US visa photos do not allow glasses unless you need them for medical reasons, US passport photos must be taken without them, and many other countries prefer them off because of glare.
- Remove hats and head coverings, unless you wear them for religious or medical reasons. Keep hair away from your eyes.
- Wear everyday clothes that stand out from the background. A white top against a white wall can blend in.
Take ten photos or more. They cost nothing, and you can pick the sharpest one with the best light.
Step 5: crop and size it to the rules
This is the step where most home photos go wrong, because every document has its own numbers. A few examples from the official rules:
| Document | Photo size | File size | Head height |
|---|---|---|---|
| US visa (DS-160) | Square, 600 × 600 to 1200 × 1200 pixels | Up to 240 KB | 50% to 69% of the photo |
| UK passport (online) | At least 600 × 750 pixels, not cropped | 50 KB to 10 MB | Not set; the website crops it |
| Schengen visa | 35 × 45 mm, printed | Printed photo | 70% to 80% of the photo |
| India OCI card | Square, 200 × 200 to 900 × 900 pixels | Up to 200 KB | 25 to 35 mm on a photo at least 51 mm tall |
On SafeResize, pick your document, add the photo, and move it until your face fits the oval guide: top of the head on the top line, chin on the bottom line. The tool then sets the exact pixels, file size and format, and shows each rule as passed before you download. For documents that need printed photos, it makes a 4 × 6 inch sheet you can print at any photo shop.
Step 6: check it before you upload
Look at the final photo at full size and ask yourself:
- Is the whole background plain, with no shadow behind my head?
- Are both eyes open and clearly visible, with no glare?
- Is my face sharp, not blurred or grainy?
- Is it recent? Most countries want a photo from the last six months, and the UK wants passport photos from the last month.
- Is it unedited? Filters, skin smoothing and background changes are not allowed. US passport rules also rule out AI-made or AI-edited photos.
If the answer to all five is yes, you are ready to upload. If the official website still turns it down, why photos get rejected lists the usual reasons and the fix for each one.
Rules change. Every country page on SafeResize links to its official source and shows the date we last checked it.