How to take a US passport photo at home
You don't need a CVS run or a $17 booth. The State Department's photo requirements are clear, the cropping is mechanical, and a phone camera in good light is more than enough resolution. Five minutes, two attempts, done.
The exact requirements
These are the State Department's published specs (travel.state.gov). The two that trip people up are head size and background.
- Size: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm)
- Head height: 1 to 1⅜ inches (25–35 mm) from chin to top of hair
- Eye height: 1⅛ to 1⅜ inches (28–35 mm) from the bottom of the photo
- Background: plain white or off-white. No patterns, no shadows.
- Expression: neutral, eyes open, mouth closed, both ears visible if possible
- No glasses (banned since 2016, even non-tinted)
- No headwear unless religious — and even then, the face must be fully visible
- Recent: taken within the last six months
Setup — the part most people get wrong
The photo itself is easy. The room is where it falls apart. Three quick checks before you press the shutter:
- Wall. Plain, light-colored, no patterns. White or off-white. A blank interior wall, a closed plain door, or even a hung white sheet works. Avoid textured paint where shadows catch on it.
- Light. Face a window during the day, or stand under even ceiling light. Hard sun on one side casts a shadow on the wall behind you — that's the most common rejection reason.
- Distance. Stand at least 3 feet away from the wall so your shadow doesn't fall on it. Have whoever's holding the phone stand 4–6 feet from you.
Take the shot
Use the rear camera (not selfie — selfies distort facial proportions and State will reject them). Frame head-and-shoulders, looking straight at the lens, neutral expression. Take three; pick the best.
Don't worry about perfect framing or whether the white wall behind you is truly white. We crop to the millimeter, and the studio replaces the background with State-compliant pure white.
How to submit it
You have two paths once you have a compliant photo:
- Online (Form DS-11 with online photo upload): upload the digital JPEG. Must be under 240 KB and meet the spec — our studio sizes it for you automatically.
- In person at an acceptance facility: bring a printed 2×2 photo. Add the print-ready PDF when you check out (+$1) and print it at a CVS or any drugstore on standard 4×6 photo paper.
Run it through the studio
Open the studio, drop your photo in, and pick "USA Passport" from the country list. The system handles the cropping, background replacement, and compliance checks (head size, eye line, eyes-open, expression-neutral, glasses detection). You'll see a live preview before you pay anything.
For the full US passport spec page, see USA passport photo requirements.
Cost
$7.90 for the digital photo (correctly sized for the State Department upload), or +$1 for the bundle that adds a print-ready 4×6 sheet. No subscription. Pay only when you're happy with the preview.