Print dimensions and resolution
A US passport photo is a square 2 by 2 inch print, equivalent to 51 by 51 millimetres. For online submission with a paper renewal or a passport card, the State Department accepts a JPEG file sized at exactly 600 by 600 pixels, sRGB colour, with a file size between roughly 54 KB and 10 MB. The accepted file extension is .jpg or .jpeg, no other formats. Resolution below the 600 by 600 floor is rejected even when the image looks acceptable to a human.
Head sizing and positioning
Head height - measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, including hair within the frame - must occupy between 1 and 1 3/8 inches of the 2 inch frame. In pixels, that is roughly 300 to 412 pixels of head height within the 600 pixel image. The eye line sits between 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of the photo, which keeps the eyes in the upper third of the frame. The head must be centred horizontally and facing the camera directly with no tilt.
Background and lighting
The background must be a plain white or off-white surface with no pattern, shadow, or object. Pure white is acceptable; light grey shadows from off-axis lighting are not. The State Department specifically calls out the shadow under the chin and on the wall behind the subject as common rejection causes. Lighting on the face must be even, with no harsh highlights and no dark side. Avoid lighting from below, which casts the upper face into shadow.
Expression, eyes, and mouth
Expression must be neutral or a natural smile with the mouth closed. Open-mouth smiles, exaggerated expressions, raised eyebrows, and pursed lips are all rejected. Both eyes must be open and looking at the camera. Hair must not cover the eyes or the eyebrows. Children are held to the same rule, which is why infant passport photos are notoriously hard to capture; the agency accepts a closed-mouth neutral expression with eyes open as the only valid state.
Clothing, headwear, and accessories
Wear ordinary street clothes. Uniforms, including military and medical uniforms, are not accepted. Religious headwear is permitted if worn daily, with the full face visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead. Hats, headbands worn for fashion, and hair coverings that obscure the hairline are rejected. Glasses are not allowed at all - this rule applies to clear prescription lenses as well as sunglasses, and a medical exemption requires a signed statement.
Recency, retouching, and authenticity
The photo must have been taken within the past six months and must look like the applicant today. Significant changes in appearance - major weight change, new facial scar, gender transition - require a new photo even if an older one is still in date. Digital alterations are not allowed. The agency rejects photos with visible filters, smoothing, background replacement, or any retouch that changes the appearance. Red-eye must be absent at capture rather than corrected afterwards.
What gets rejected most often
The State Department's published rejection breakdown is dominated by four issues: shadows on the background, head not square to the camera, glare on glasses (for legacy submissions before the glasses ban took full effect), and the head being too small or too large in the frame. A pre-submission check that scores those four attributes catches the majority of preventable rejections.