UK Passport Photo Requirements 2026

1. Two paths: digital upload vs printed photo

Since 2020 the UK has supported two ways of providing the passport photo:

• Digital upload via GOV.UK. Take a photo on your phone or have one taken professionally with a Q-code service. Upload to the application. HM Passport Office validates pixel dimensions, biometric quality, and content; you get a Q code that ties the photo to the application. This is the path 70% of applicants now use.
• Printed 35×45 mm photo for paper applications, child passport applications where a digital upload is not available, or first-time adult applications that have not been digitised. The printed photo must be countersigned by a recognised professional (doctor, teacher, accountant) on the back of one of the two prints.

Both paths use the same dimensional spec (35×45 mm). Only the delivery differs.

2. Exact dimensions

• Photo size: 35 × 45 mm.
• Head height (chin to crown): 29 – 34 mm.
• Digital file: minimum 600 × 750 pixels, JPEG, between 50 KB and 10 MB.
• Print resolution: 600 DPI for the 35×45 mm physical print.
• Two physical prints required for paper applications; one is countersigned on the back.

3. Background

HM Passport Office prefers plain light grey or cream over pure white. Pure white is accepted in practice but the automated upload checker flags it as “too close to head/clothing” about 15% of the time when the applicant is wearing a light shirt.

Two practical recommendations:

• If your wall is plain magnolia, off-white, or light grey, shoot against it as-is.
• If your wall is patterned or off-colour, use the AI background-removal toggle in our passport photo maker and pick light grey (#e8e8e8) as the replacement.

4. Glasses rule

HM Passport Office banned glasses in 2018, three years after the US. The ban applies to all glasses including prescription. The only exception is medical, requiring written evidence from a GP. Tinted lenses, photochromic lenses that appear clear, and fashion frames are all not accepted.

5. The AI-edit prohibition (added 2024)

In March 2024 HM Passport Office updated the photo guidelines page on GOV.UK to explicitly call out AI-enhanced and beauty-filtered photos as not suitable. The text now reads:

“The photo must not have been digitally manipulated, edited with AI tools, or otherwise altered to change your appearance.”

What this means for our tool: the maker resizes, crops, and optionally replaces the background. It does not touch your face. That is compliant. What is not compliant: smoothing your skin, removing blemishes, brightening teeth, changing eye colour, or running the photo through any “AI portrait enhancer.” Several apps marketed as “passport photo” tools include face-smoothing by default; ours does not.

6. Expression, posing, and clothing

• Neutral expression. Mouth closed, eyes open, looking directly at the camera.
• No smile. A neutral expression in the UK is interpreted strictly — even a slight upturn at the mouth corner is flagged.
• No head coverings except religious. Hijab, turban, kippah, and similar are accepted; the full face from chin to forehead must be visible.
• Plain clothing, not a uniform unless worn daily. Avoid solid-white shirts against a near-white background — the automated checker confuses the boundary.
• Head straight, shoulders square to camera.

7. Children and infants

UK photo rules for children are slightly relaxed:

• Children under 6 do not need to look directly at the camera.
• Children under 1 do not need a neutral expression and can have eyes closed.
• Newborns can be photographed lying on a plain light-grey or cream sheet.
• No parent visible. No dummy/pacifier, bottle, toy, or hand in frame.
• Dimensions (35×45 mm) and head height proportions still apply.

8. The Q code digital upload flow

For adult renewals applied for at GOV.UK:

1. Start your application at gov.uk/apply-renew-passport.
2. When prompted for a photo, you can either: (a) take a fresh photo from your phone (the GOV.UK site asks permission to use your camera) or (b) upload an existing JPEG.
3. The site runs an automated quality check covering dimensions, head-position, background, and a face-match against your previous passport photo.
4. If accepted, you receive a Q code displayed on screen and emailed to you. The Q code is part of your application record — you do not need to save it separately.
5. If rejected, the site gives a specific reason: “face too close to camera,” “background not plain enough,” “eyes not open,” etc. Fix the specific issue and re-upload.

Pro tip: many users find phone-camera uploads via the GOV.UK page fail the automated check the first time because of background or lighting issues that are obvious on a full-size laptop preview but not on a phone screen. Take the photo first, process it through the passport photo maker on a laptop or larger screen so you can verify quality, then upload the prepared JPEG.

9. Common UK rejection reasons

1. Background not plain enough. Often a tinted wall the applicant reads as white but the checker reads as light blue or pink. Use background removal.
2. Glasses left on. Same issue as elsewhere — prescription users forget.
3. Shadow on background. Common when applicant stood close to the wall with side-lit lighting.
4. Head too small. Face fills less than the 29 mm minimum chin-to-crown. Re-crop tighter.
5. Hair across forehead or eyes.
6. Mouth slightly open / slight smile.
7. Photo too old. For UK digital upload, “recent” means within 1 month, stricter than most countries.
8. Face partially in shadow. Side lighting only, no fill.
9. Photo edited. Beauty filter still on in phone camera.

10. Fees and timelines (2026)

• Studio photo at Boots, Snappy Snaps, Timpson, Max Spielmann: £9.99–14.99 for four prints with a Q code if requested.
• Self-printed at home using this maker: about £0.30 to print a 6×4 inch sheet at any pharmacy.
• HMPO fees (May 2026): £94.50 adult passport (online), £107 by paper. Child passport £61.50 online.
• Standard processing: 3 weeks. Premium 1-day service: £207.50.

Create your UK passport photo

Open the Free Passport Photo Maker and pick “United Kingdom.” The crop frame and head-height guides snap to the HMPO spec. Background removal, light-grey replacement, sharpness, and contrast adjustments are all available, and the JPEG output is ready for the GOV.UK digital upload.