Passport photo requirements: India, the United States and the United Kingdom compared

All three countries want a recent colour photo of your full face, looking straight at the camera, evenly lit, on a plain light background, with nothing edited. The measurements differ. India’s Passport Seva guideline asks for 630 × 810 pixels on white, with the face taking up 80–85% of the photograph. The United States asks for 2 × 2 inches with the head 1 to 1 3/8 inches tall, taken within six months. The United Kingdom asks for 45 × 35 mm prints with the head 29 to 34 mm tall, or a digital photo of at least 600 × 750 pixels, taken in the last month. Every figure below is from the official pages in the sources, read on 13 October 2026.

The three sets of rules side by side

	India (Passport Seva)	United States	United Kingdom
Printed size	4.5 cm × 3.5 cm (manual submission; 45 mm × 35 mm for children under 4)	2 × 2 inches (about 5 cm × 5 cm)	45 mm high × 35 mm wide; 2 identical photos
Digital size	630 × 810 pixels	Not given in 8 FAM 402.1	At least 600 pixels wide and 750 tall; at least 50 KB, no more than 10 MB
Head or face size	Face takes up 80–85% of the photograph	1 inch to 1 3/8 inches (about 2.54 cm to 3.5 cm), top of head to bottom of chin	29 mm to 34 mm, crown of head to chin (printed)
Background	White	Plain, white, off-white or light-coloured, with no large dark shadows, reflections or objects	Printed: plain cream or light grey. Digital: plain light-coloured
Expression	Natural; mouth not open; eyes open	Natural; a normal, unexaggerated smile is acceptable; no squinting	Plain expression, mouth closed, eyes open
Glasses	No reflections; the guideline says to take glasses off to avoid them	Not acceptable unless they cannot be removed for medical reasons	Do not wear them unless you have to; never sunglasses or tinted lenses
Head coverings	Only for religious reasons; chin to forehead and both edges of the face must show	Only for medical or religious purposes; must not obscure the face	Only for religious or medical reasons
How recent	“Recent” (no number of months given)	Within six months of applying	In the last month
Editing	Unaltered by computer software	No digital manipulation or retouching of the facial image; no beauty or social-media filters	Unaltered by computer software

One consequence is easy to miss. As a share of the photo’s height, the head is 64% to 76% in a UK print (29 to 34 mm of 45 mm) and 50% to 69% in a US photo. Reading India’s “80–85% of the photograph” as a share of the height is tighter still. One crop cannot serve all three.

What each country adds

India. If you apply at a Passport Seva Kendra, the Ministry of External Affairs advisory says “Photograph is not required”: the photograph and biometrics are taken there. A printed photo matters for manual submission at a Passport Office, where the advisory asks for a recent colour photograph of 4.5 cm × 3.5 cm with a white background. A separate guideline for children under four asks for a 45 mm × 35 mm colour photo on white. The ICAO guideline adds practical points: take the photo from 1.5 metres, keep the head centred and not tilted, show the full head from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, and avoid red eye and flash reflections.

United States. The head is measured from the top of the head, “not the hairline”, to the bottom of the chin. Eyeglasses are no longer acceptable; the only exception is a medical one, backed by a signed statement. Military uniforms and camouflage-style clothing are generally not accepted for regular passports, and headphones must come off. The photo should be printed on photo-quality paper. These rules are in 8 FAM 402.1, the State Department manual its passport staff work from. It gives no pixel or file-size rules for uploads, so check the department’s applicant pages at travel.state.gov for those.

United Kingdom. The rules split by how you apply. For an online application you need a digital photo. If you take it on your own device, GOV.UK says to include your head, shoulders and upper body and adds: “Do not crop your photo - it will be done for you.” For a paper form you need two identical prints, which must not be “a cut down version of a larger picture” and must be on plain white photographic paper with no border. You need a new photo for each new passport, even if your appearance has not changed.

Babies and children. In the UK, children under 6 need not look at the camera or keep a plain expression, and children under one need not have their eyes open. Babies must not hold toys or use dummies, and a supporting hand must not show. The US manual accepts an infant’s closed eyes and a discreetly supported head, but not a parent’s face in the picture.

Why photos get rejected, according to the official pages

The US manual is the most explicit, because it tells staff when to ask for a new photo:

• the photo is the wrong overall size, or the head is too small or too large for the frame;
• the face is off-centre, tilted or not facing forward;
• the image is over-exposed, under-exposed, grainy or shows visible pixels;
• there are shadows or objects in the background;
• eyeglasses are worn, hair covers the eyes, or a head covering hides part of the face;
• the facial image has been retouched or filtered;
• there is red eye, or the print is creased across the face.

If you are asked for a new photo and do nothing within 90 days, the manual says the application is denied and the fees are not refunded.

GOV.UK puts it more briefly: “Your application will be delayed if your photos do not meet the rules.” It also says photos from a booth or shop “are more likely to be approved” than one taken on your own device. India’s guideline lists no penalties, but targets the same faults: blur, shadows, flash reflections, red eye, hair across the eyes, an open mouth, a tilted head and software alteration.

Taking the photo at home

1. Use a real plain wall. White suits India and the US; UK prints need cream or light grey. Stand a step away so your shadow does not fall on it.
2. Light your face evenly. Face a window in daylight, and avoid a lamp to one side or direct flash.
3. Keep the camera back and level. Have someone else hold it at your eye level. India’s guideline says 1.5 metres. The US manual notes that too large a head in the frame can cause fish-eye distortion.
4. Frame loosely. Include your head, shoulders and upper chest, with clear space above your hair. You can crop later.
5. Prepare your face. Glasses off, hair off your eyes, mouth closed, eyes open, a neutral expression.
6. Switch off every enhancement. No beauty mode, portrait blur or filters. All three countries bar altered photos.
7. Take several and pick the sharpest at full size.

How the Passport Photo Maker works, and its limits

The Passport Photo Maker crops a photo to an official size and lays out a print sheet. It runs in your browser; the photo is not uploaded.

• Presets. Under Photo type there are seven: India passport (35 × 45 mm), US passport (2 × 2 in), US visa (2 × 2 in plus a 600 × 600 px file), UK passport (35 × 45 mm), Schengen visa (35 × 45 mm), Canada passport (50 × 70 mm) and Australia passport (35 × 45 mm). Each shows its rules, its official sources and the date they were last checked.
• Positioning. Drag the photo, or use Zoom (1× to 4×), Horizontal position and Vertical position. With Show face-position guides on, lines mark where the top of the hair and the chin should fall. The chin band covers a head of 25.4 to 34.9 mm for the US, 29 to 34 mm for the UK and 36 to 38.3 mm for India, the tool’s reading of 80–85% of a 45 mm photo.
• Output. One photo at 300 DPI: 413 × 531 pixels for the 35 × 45 mm sizes, 600 × 600 for the US. The India preset also saves a 630 × 810 pixel file and the UK preset a 600 × 750 one. Under Print sheet you choose a 4 × 6 inch sheet as JPEG, PDF or both. It holds 8 photos at 35 × 45 mm, or 6 at 2 × 2 inches placed edge to edge (print that one borderless), with thin grey cutting guides. Print it on photo paper at 100% (“actual size”), not “fit to page”.
• Background. The default is Keep the original. The two replace options run an AI model on your device, the same one as the Background Remover. The first use downloads the model: about 109 MB or 214 MB with WebGPU, depending on the graphics card, or about 42 MB for the CPU fallback; the page shows the size first.

The limits:

• The guides are geometry, not face detection. Nothing checks your expression, lighting, shadows, glasses or how recent the photo is.
• Background replacement is editing. India and the UK say “unaltered by computer software”, and the US bars digital manipulation of the facial image. A real plain wall is the safer choice; the replacement is a last resort, and hair edges will not be perfect.
• The UK case is narrow. Online, GOV.UK wants your uncropped photo. On paper, it wants professionally printed photos not cut down from a larger picture. A booth or shop is the route GOV.UK itself favours.
• No tool can guarantee acceptance. The decision belongs to the passport office.

How to check this yourself

• Print: measure the photo and the head, top to chin, with a ruler and compare with the table.
• Digital file: open its properties and read the pixel size. In a 600 × 600 pixel US photo at 300 DPI the head should span 300 to 412 pixels. In a 630 × 810 pixel Indian photo, 80–85% of the height is 648 to 688 pixels.
• The rule itself: open the official page before each application. India’s advisory was last updated on 16 September 2023.

Related tools

• Passport Photo Maker: official sizes and a 4 × 6 inch print sheet.
• Passport Seva Photo Resizer: make a photo exactly 630 × 810 pixels.
• Background Remover: the on-device model on its own.
• Image Cropper and Image Resizer: a 1:1 crop resized to 600 × 600 pixels gives the US shape by hand.
• Image Compressor: shrink a camera file that exceeds an upload cap (the UK’s is 10 MB).

Requirements are quoted from the official pages listed below, read on 13 October 2026. Confirm them with the issuing authority before you apply.