Passport Photo Checker
Passport photo checker for US, UK and India photos, free: drop your photo and the quick check finds your face and measures your head against the official rule in seconds, like a US passport photo validator. Passport Pro runs all 12 checks, makes the exact files the office asks for, and gives you your money back if the photo is rejected.
1Choose the document
US passport, paper application: what you get
- Print sheet, 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) photos on 4 x 6 in paper
- A check report (PDF) with every result and the official sources
Rules from travel.state.gov, checked 16 October 2026.
Not listed: Canada needs a photographer’s stamp on the back, Australia needs lab prints, and India and Pakistan passport offices take the photo themselves. For those, use the free passport photo maker.
2Add the photo: the free quick check
Drop a photo to check it
or paste with Ctrl+V · The camera's original photo works best · JPG PNG HEIC · max 25 MB
3Passport Pro: the full check
Loading your Passport Pro
Your photo is checked on this device and never uploaded. Passport Pro saves only the results and the files’ fingerprints.
How to
How to check a passport photo online
- 1
Choose the document
US passport or visa, UK passport online or on paper, India e-Visa or OCI. Each has its own rules, taken from the office's own page.
- 2
Drop your photo
Use the camera's original photo. The free quick check finds your face and tells you at once whether your head is the right size and in the right place.
- 3
Run the full check
Passport Pro adds the other 10 checks: eye line, pose, eyes, expression, background, shadows, light, focus, detail and four quick questions. Anything that fails comes with a plain fix.
- 4
Download the office's files
A passing photo gives you the exact digital file the online form asks for, a print sheet for any photo lab, and a report with every result.
Why this size
Why passport photos get rejected, and what the checker looks at
Most rejected passport photos fail on something small: the head a few millimetres too big, a shadow behind the ear, a slightly tilted chin, a smile with teeth, a background that is grey instead of white. Offices do not explain much; you just lose weeks and pay for new photos.
The checker measures what the officer looks at. It finds your face with an on device model, measures from your chin to the top of your hair, and compares it with the exact range the office publishes: 25 to 35 mm on a US 2 x 2 inch photo, 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown on a UK print, 50 to 69% of the height on a US visa file. It then checks that your head is level and facing the camera, that your eyes are open, your mouth is closed, the background is plain and light, the light is even, and the photo is sharp enough for the size.
It never edits your face or your background. Offices refuse retouched and AI changed photos, so the checker only crops and scales the camera's original, and tells you how to take a better one when something is off.
Compare
Free quick check or Passport Pro
| Free quick check | Passport Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| One face, the whole head in the photo | Yes | Yes |
| Head size and position for your document | Yes | Yes |
| Eye line, pose, eyes open, expression | No | Yes |
| Background, shadows, light, focus, detail | No | Yes |
| Glasses, head covering, date, original photo | No | Yes |
| The office's exact digital file and a print sheet | No | Yes |
| Check report with the official sources | No | Yes |
| Money back if the office rejects the photo | No | Yes |
| Price | Free | $5.99 per person, one time ($3.99 in South Asia) |
Requirements
Passport and visa photo rules the checker uses
Copied from each office's own page and checked on 16 October 2026. We check them again every 6 months.
| Document | What you send | Head | Background | Glasses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US passport, paper application | Prints: 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) | 25 to 35 mm (1 to 1 3/8 in) from the top of the hair to the chin | Plain white or off-white, no shadows, texture or objects | No |
| US passport, online renewal | Your original photo, uncropped, at least 600 x 600 px, 54 KB to 10 MB | Head and shoulders in the photo, the bottom edge at your shoulders; the renewal site crops it | Plain white or off-white, no shadows, texture or lines | No |
| US visa (DS-160) | Digital file, 600 x 600 px JPEG, 54 KB to 240 KB; Prints: 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) | 50% to 69% of the height, from the top of the hair to the chin | Plain white or off-white | No |
| UK passport, online application | Your original photo, uncropped, at least 600 x 750 px, 50 KB to 10 MB | Head, shoulders and upper body in the photo; GOV.UK crops it | Plain, light coloured, in clear contrast with you | Only if needed |
| UK passport, paper application | Prints: 35 x 45 mm | 29 to 34 mm from the chin to the crown | Plain cream or light grey, in clear contrast with you | Only if needed |
| India e-Visa | Digital file, 600 x 600 px JPEG, 10 KB to 1 MB | The full head from the top of the hair to the chin, centred (India's OCI layout: 25 to 35 mm on 51 mm) | Plain light coloured or white, no shadows | No |
| OCI card | Digital file, 600 x 600 px JPEG, 10 KB to 200 KB; Prints: 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) | 1 to 1 3/8 in (25 to 35 mm) from the top of the hair to the chin | Plain light coloured, no shadows | Yes, no glare |
Tips
Tips that make a difference
Face a window
Hold the camera at eye level, one big step away
Stand away from the wall
Do not use a filter or beauty mode
Avoid
Why a passport photo is rejected, and the fix
- Head too big or too smallStep back a little or come closer. The checker tells you which, and crops to the right size when there is room.
- Shadow on the face or behind the headFace a window and stand half a metre in front of the wall.
- Background not plain or not light enoughUse a plain white or light wall, with light on the wall too. The checker never paints over a background: offices refuse that.
- Head tilted or turnedLook straight into the lens with your chin level and the camera at eye level.
- Smile with teeth, or eyes half closedKeep a neutral face with the mouth closed and both eyes fully open.
- Blurry or grainyHold the camera steady, tap your face to focus, and use more light.
- GlassesTake them off. The US and the India e-Visa do not allow them; the UK only if you must wear them, and OCI only without glare.
FAQ
Passport Photo Checker: questions
Checked
How we checked this page
Checked by the SizePort team on .
We compare every size and rule on this page with the official sources below, and test the tool with sample photos before it goes live. Rules and platforms change, so if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
How the tool works
Two open models from Google's MediaPipe (Apache 2.0) run in your browser on the CPU, so a photo gets the same result on every device: Face Landmarker maps 478 points of the face, its expression and its pose, and Selfie Segmentation finds which pixels are the person. The checker measures from the chin to the top of the hair, the eye line, the head's tilt and turn, the eyes and mouth, the background's brightness, colour and evenness, the light on each side of the face and the sharpness, and compares each number with the document's official rule. It only crops and scales the original; it never changes the face or the background. Everything happens in your browser; your images are never uploaded.