Your US passport renewal photo, taken at home

Before you take it

1. Someone else takes it. No selfies. Your helper stands about 1.5 m away, phone at your eye level.
2. Plain white or off-white wall, no shadows behind you. Face a window for soft, even light.
3. No glasses. Neutral face, mouth closed, both eyes open, looking straight at the camera.
4. Keep your head and shoulders in the photo, with space above your head. We crop it for you.

What we check and do

• One face, no glasses, head straight and facing the camera, eyes open, plain light background, even lighting.
• Head size: chin to top of head between 50% and 69% of the photo’s height (1 to 1⅜ inches on a 2-inch photo).
• We crop to a square and resize to 600 × 600 pixels, JPEG between 54 KB and 10 MB.
• We never edit your face or background. The State Department checks for edits and AI changes, and refuses them.

What we can't check

• Rimless glasses, glare, small shadows (we only catch a strong shadow on one side), hair covering the eyes: look at the photo yourself.
• Whether the photo is less than 6 months old, and whether it looks like you today.

Our measurements are estimates. Only the US Department of State decides whether a photo is accepted: we help you catch problems, we don't guarantee acceptance.