Passport-size photos must fit government guidelines in order to be valid for use in passports, visas and permanent residency cards.
It is recommended, though not required, that your official passport photos be taken by a professional photographer or professional passport photo-printing service as they are aware of all of the rules and regulations. However, if you adhere to the specifications and rules you can take your own passport photos. Each rule must be followed precisely as there are no exceptions; if your photo is thought to not fit the guidelines it will be rejected.
Instructions
1. Set up a white background. Passport photos must be taken against a white to off-white background. The background must be plain without any pattern or texture. Use a clean white wall, a flat hanging white sheet or a piece of white foam core.
2. Position a tripod or ask a friend to take your photograph. If you are taking the photograph of yourself, position the camera on a tripod and zoom the lens to capture you from the chest up. You must set the timer on the camera when taking it yourself. If having a friend take the photo for you, instruct them to zoom in to take your body from just under the shoulders and up.
3. Dress in the appropriate attire. You must wear appropriate items in your passport photo. Uniforms such as police, fire or military outfits are not allowed. Dress casually. Do not dress in any head gear; hats, scarves, head bands, large hair clips and sunglasses are not permitted. Only prescription eyeglasses are permitted as well as headgear for religious purposes as long as no part of the face is covered. Nothing can cover the face, there are no exceptions.
4. Compose the photograph according to the U.S. Department of State guidelines. You must look directly at the camera with both eyes and head forward. Your eyes must be open and you can smile or keep a straight face. There is no rule against smiling in your photo, however, the U.S. State Department does recommend the subject to keep "a natural expression." There can be no shadows in the background, so the photographer must review the test shots and position extra lights to counter the shadows if necessary. Once the scene is composed, shoot the photos.
5. Measure and crop the photograph in a photo-editing program. The actual printed photo must fit exact measurement guidelines. Scale the photo so that the head, from the crown to the bottom of the chin, measures between 1 and 1 3/8 inches. After scaling the head, center the head and use a square selection tool to make a perfect 2-inch-by-2-inch square around the head with the eyes positioned between 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 inch from the bottom of the photograph and crop.
6. Copy and past the measured square photograph onto a document containing a colored background that is 3 inches tall and 6 inches wide. Paste the square photograph on top of the color and move to the side. Paste an identical copy of the square photograph and position it to the side of the first leaving a small amount of colored space in between. Each square should be surrounded on all sides by the color background to make printing and cutting easier.
7. Print the photographs on quality photo paper using color and high resolution printing. Since the photographs are already measured to the appropriate size, all you have to do is print them in their actual size. Set the printer settings to glossy printer paper with color ink and high photo resolution. Print and allow the ink to fully dry. Cut the printed photos carefully along the colored lines making sure to cut off all of the colored part. The result is two identical passport photos.
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