Check your passport photo for free

Choose the document first

The U.S. Department of State publishes separate photo rules for the paper form and for online renewal. The check uses the rules of the document you choose.

What the free check covers

The same check runs on every upload, as often as you like.

• The file. Format, file size, pixel dimensions and whether the picture can be opened. If we cannot open a file, the report says so.
• The picture. Colour, exposure, lost detail in the brightest and darkest areas, sharpness, and three measurements of the background: how even, how plain and what colour it is.
• File information. The capture date, when the file still carries one, against the six-month limit. Any editing software named in the file. Photos sent through a messaging app often carry neither.
• Face rules. The number of faces. On the finished photo: head tilt, centring, eye position, head height and, for a digital photo, the pixels between the eyes, by the authority’s own number or, where it publishes none, by a named standard the report cites. If no photo can be framed, the report says why and payment is blocked. If a rule could not be measured, the report says so.
• Answered by an image model. Open eyes, a closed mouth and glasses, on the finished photo. Closed eyes or an open mouth block payment, a smile is only pointed out, and glasses fail only where the document bans them or when they are tinted. With no answer from the model the row says not checked. Head covering, clothing and the age of a photo without a capture date you confirm with a checkbox before you pay.

Every value we check and its source are listed in the standards we check against.

The four results

• Looks right The rule was measured and the photo meets it.
• Needs fixing The rule was measured and the photo does not meet it. Retake the photo. This result blocks payment, and so does a confirmation we asked you for that is still missing.
• Needs a closer look The measurement is close to the limit or unclear. Look at the photo yourself.
• Not checked We did not measure this rule, because the measurement was not possible on this photo or nothing gave an answer. The report gives the reason. It never counts as passed.

The whole check is automatic. No person looks at your photo unless you ask our support to, and any such view is logged.

What a report without failures means

Every rule we measured matched the published requirements for the document you chose. It does not guarantee acceptance. The issuing authority decides.

Official rules for the paper form: U.S. Department of State, Passport Photos(opens in a new tab).

Official rules for online renewal: U.S. Department of State, Uploading a Digital Photo(opens in a new tab).

What is free and what payment adds

The check and the preview with a watermark are free. One payment of $9.90 covers one person and one document. For the paper form you get your original file, the photo cropped to 2 x 2 in and print sheets in 4 x 6 in and 10 x 15 cm. We crop and resize. We replace the background or correct the brightness or contrast only if you ask for it in the report. For online renewal you get your original file unchanged, the report and a walkthrough of the upload. After payment you can retake the photo for free under the same order. What is in the price.

Price in US dollars. Before you pay, the checkout page shows the amount in the currency of your billing country where Dodo Payments supports it, plus any tax due.

Payments are in test mode today, so an order cannot be paid for yet. The free check works now.