HM Passport Office runs one of the narrower head-height bands in the world and asks for a background colour that surprises people who have applied elsewhere. Both are easy to satisfy once you know, and both fail applications quietly when you do not.
The specification
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Print size | 45 × 35 mm |
| Head height | 29-34 mm, chin to crown |
| Background | Plain light grey or cream |
| Digital minimum | 600 × 750 pixels |
| Digital maximum | 10 MB |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, eyes open |
| Glasses | Only if unavoidable, with no glare |
| Age of photo | Taken within the last month |
Two numbers to sit with. Head height 29 to 34 mm is five millimetres of tolerance on a 45 mm print - narrower than the 32 to 36 mm most of Europe uses, and a photo cropped to the Schengen band will frequently be too tall for a British passport.
And the background: not white. Light grey or cream. A photograph taken against a white wall, which is correct for the United States, is the wrong colour here.
Two ways to submit
Digital. Apply online and upload a photo file, or enter the code printed by a participating photo booth. The online service runs an automated check on the upload and will tell you if it cannot use the image.
Paper. Two identical printed photos, one of which must be signed on the back by someone who confirms your identity - the countersignature. This is the route that still exists for people who cannot use the digital service, and it carries the extra requirement that the countersignatory be findable and appropriate.
The digital route is faster and is where most applications go now. It is also stricter, in the sense that the automated check catches geometry problems immediately rather than weeks later.
What fails
- Head height above 34 mm. By far the most common, especially for anyone reusing a photo cropped for a different country.
- A white background. See above.
- Shadow behind the head from standing too close to the wall.
- Glasses with any reflection. The guidance permits them only when they cannot be removed, and refuses glare - which in practice means take them off.
- Anything in the frame but you. No headrests, no toys, no hands - which makes infant photos the hard case.
- Digital alteration. Including the automatic smoothing many phone cameras apply by default.
Children
Under-ones are allowed to have their eyes closed and may have their mouth open. Children under six do not have to look directly at the camera or hold a neutral expression. Nobody else may be visible in the photo at any age, which is the part that makes photographing a baby difficult - see passport photos for babies and children.
Taking it at home
Stand a metre or so from a light grey or cream wall - or any plain wall, if the background will be replaced - facing a window. Have someone else take the photo from about a metre and a half away at your eye level. Glasses off, neutral expression, hair away from the eyes.
IDShot carries the UK passport preset with the 29 to 34 mm band and the grey background, crops to it, and checks the digital minimum of 600 by 750 pixels before you upload.
Requirements are changed by the authorities that publish them, and the official page is the only source that settles an argument. Each preset in IDShot links to that page, so you can confirm the current wording before you submit.