Passport photo at home in the United States

The United States is one of the easiest countries to photograph yourself for: the State Department says plainly to have someone else take your photo, and every major document accepts a home shot. The complication is that 'a US passport photo' is really three different artefacts — a 2 x 2 inch print, a square visa upload and a renewal upload — and the one you need depends on the form you are filling in. This guide maps them, then covers the shoot and the 40-cent print.

One face, three different files

The paper routes want a print: the US passport photo is 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) with the head measuring 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) from chin to crown, on a white or off-white background, and the green card photo uses the same 2 x 2 frame but asks for two identical prints. The digital routes want pixels instead: the DS-160 visa upload is a square JPEG between 600 x 600 and 1200 x 1200 pixels and no more than 240 KB, while the online renewal upload wants at least 600 x 600 pixels and between 54 KB and 10 MB, in colour, with generous space around the head and shoulders because the State Department's own tool does the cropping.

Taking the photo at home

The State Department's instructions are short: no selfies, so have someone else hold the camera or use a timer; take your glasses off; stand in front of a white or off-white background without shadows, texture or lines; keep a neutral expression with eyes open and mouth closed, though a closed-mouth smile is fine. Shoot from a couple of metres away rather than filling the frame — photos taken too close or too far away are a named rejection ground, and the head-size band is measured, not eyeballed. Daylight from a window beats a ceiling light; the same page warns that photos that are too bright or show shadows on your face 'will also cause you problems'.

Printing for under a dollar

There is no need to pay passport-photo counter prices for paper. Order the tiled 4 x 6 inch sheet as a plain 4 x 6 print at Walgreens, CVS or Walmart — $0.39 at Walgreens or from $0.42 at CVS (prices checked 2026-10-11); see the store prices — usually ready within the hour — and cut along the marks yourself. Some branches refuse anything described as a passport photo, so order it as a regular print; the pharmacy printing guide covers the store-by-store detail. Print on matte or glossy photo paper, which is what the State Department asks for.

The portal messages worth knowing in advance

The State Department's free photo tool sometimes shows a red icon saying 'your photo does not need cropping' on a photo that is already the right size; that is not an error, and the red-icon guide decodes it. On the renewal upload, a soft shadow behind you can trigger 'Background may not meet our requirements' — move half a metre off the wall and re-shoot rather than editing, because changing the photo with software, apps or AI is itself a rejection ground. And the CEAC visa upload can silently reject files over 240 KB in some browsers: the page just reloads, so check the file size first.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same photo for my passport and my visa application?

The same sitting, yes; the same file, no. The passport wants a 2 x 2 inch print and the DS-160 wants a square JPEG under 240 KB, so the one photo has to be produced in both forms. You can run the same shot through our tool once for each document.

Do I have to take my glasses off?

Yes. The State Department removed the glasses allowance for passports and visas; 'take off your eyeglasses for your photo' is the current instruction, with medical exceptions handled by a signed statement.

Sources

Last updated 2026-10-11

We are an independent service, not a government website. Applying for a passport or visa is done with your government; we only prepare the photo.