Baby and child passport photos: what each country relaxes

Babies do not hold a neutral expression, keep their eyes open on command or look at a lens, and most authorities know it. What they waive, and at what age, differs by country, and a few countries publish no relaxation at all. This guide collects the child rules from the specs in our dataset so you know which rules still apply before you start, and gives a setup for photographing a baby who cannot sit up.

Smiling woman holding a baby up to her face in a white room

The rules that are usually waived

Three rules are relaxed most often: the neutral expression, eyes open and looking at the camera. The size rules, the plain background and the ban on other people in the frame almost never are. The United States says for the US passport that infants and young children do not need a neutral expression or open eyes, but the child must be alone in the photo with no hands or objects visible. Its own wording is that it is okay if a baby's eyes are not entirely open, while all other children must have their eyes open.

The United Kingdom relaxes expression and gaze under six and eyes open under one for the UK digital passport photo: children under 6 do not have to be looking directly at the camera or have a plain expression, and children under one do not have to have their eyes open. A hand may support the head but must not be visible.

Canada lets infants have the mouth open and eyes closed on the Canadian passport photo, but nobody else may appear in the photo, and the photo still has to be taken by a commercial photographer. The Netherlands waives posture and expression under six for the Dutch passport and allows a head as small as 19 mm up to age 10, yet still refuses closed eyes. Poland accepts closed eyes, an open mouth or a non-neutral expression up to the fifth year of life on the online child passport; from 5 to 11 the adult rules apply even though the application is online.

Man sitting on a bed cradling a newborn, in black and white

Countries that relax nothing

Do not assume a baby exemption exists. The US Diversity Visa photo rules give a baby or toddler no expression exemption and state no age: for the DV lottery photo the child should be looking at the camera with eyes open and no other person in the photo. Despite what some apps claim, there is no 'under 6 may smile' rule for DV entries; the DV child photo guide covers the entry rules in full.

Ireland publishes no expression waiver at any age for Passport Online; the page asks guardians to make every effort to ensure that the child's expression is natural. Finland says the same requirements apply to subjects of all ages for the Finnish passport, with the only relaxation that a very young baby's mouth can be slightly open. Belgium's Kids-ID imports the adult eID photo rules unchanged for the Kids-ID, including the 31 to 36 mm head.

Documents that exist only for children

Some documents switch rules by age. Malaysia photographs everyone aged four and over at the counter, so the only Malaysian passport photo you can make yourself is the under-4 print: one 35 x 50 mm photo with a shadowless white background and a face filling 50 to 60 percent of the frame, smaller than the adult 70 to 80 percent. India's Passport Seva captures adults at the counter; children under 4 are the main group that needs a print for the Indian passport, looking directly at the camera with eyes open on a white background.

Man in grey holding a baby outdoors in soft light

Photographing a baby who cannot sit

The method several authorities describe is the same: lay the baby on a plain white or light sheet and shoot from directly above. Japan's guidance for infants says a baby who cannot sit may be photographed lying on a white sheet from directly above, and that a helper's body in frame or closed eyes make the photo unacceptable. Ireland says babies who cannot sit should be photographed lying on a plain white surface with no supporting hands visible and no soother.

1.Spread a plain white sheet on the floor near a window, with no pattern, creases or toys in view.
2.Lay the baby on their back and wait for a calm moment with the eyes open if the country requires it.
3.Hold the phone directly above the face, level with the floor, far enough back to show the head and the top of the shoulders.
4.Take several frames and pick the one where the head is straight and nothing but the sheet surrounds the child.
5.Do not retouch the result; a hand showing at the edge means a new photo, not an edit.

Why over-editing fails for infants

Parents often try to fix a baby photo in software. HM Passport Office requires a photo that is unaltered by computer software, and one review describes an urgent infant passport rejected because the photo was over-edited, with the message that it did not look like a digital photo. For the UK digital photo upload the camera file as it is. Canada's altered-photo list includes changing the background and removing shadows, so the same applies to the Canadian passport. Our tool offers a keep-original-background option for exactly these cases.

What the portal may ask for a baby

Ireland's portal may open a cropping tool for children from newborn to 36 months and ask you to place the face in an oval; the Passport Service says the face does not need to sit perfectly within the lines.