Infant Passport Photo: Newborn Rules for the US, UK and Canada

An infant passport photo follows the same size rules as an adult’s, but the US, UK and Canada all relax a few things for babies. Eyes can be closed and nobody expects a newborn to hold a neutral face. What they don’t relax is the hand rule: if a parent’s fingers show anywhere in the frame, the photo gets rejected. Whether you can take it yourself depends on the country.

Quick answer: A baby’s passport photo is the same size as an adult’s: 2 x 2 inches in the US, 35 x 45 mm printed or at least 600 x 750 px digital in the UK, and 50 x 70 mm in Canada. Eyes may be closed (US, and UK under one), but no hands, pacifiers or toys can show. Home photos work for the US and UK online, not for Canada.

Every rule below links to its government page, checked on 3 November 2026. For adult rules and other countries, see passport photo size by country.

Newborn passport photo rules compared

Sources: US State Department, GOV.UK printed photos, GOV.UK digital photos, UK passport service photo rules and Canada.ca.

United States: one 2 x 2 inch print

A child under 16 can’t renew online. The online renewal service is only for people who were at least 16 when their last passport was issued, and the under-16 page says a child must apply in person every time. So for a baby you need one printed photo, handed in with the paper form. The acceptance agent checks it and staples it for you.

The State Department’s photo page suggests two setups: lay the baby on a plain white or off-white sheet, or cover a car seat with one and photograph the baby in the seat. It’s fine if an infant’s eyes aren’t entirely open. Older children must have them open. No one else can appear in the photo, so the arm steadying the car seat has to stay out of shot.

Print it at 2 x 2 inches on matte or glossy photo-quality paper. Blurry, grainy or pixelated prints are refused, and so is a photo of a printed photo. So are edited, filtered or AI-altered photos.

United Kingdom: online is easiest

The UK is the easiest for a home photo, as long as you apply online. GOV.UK says babies should lie on a plain light-coloured sheet. Under-ones don’t need their eyes open, and children under six don’t have to look straight at the camera or keep a plain expression. A hand supporting the head must not be visible, and dummies and toys are out.

The digital file must be at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, between 50 KB and 10 MB. Any recent phone photo clears that easily. GOV.UK also asks for the head, shoulders and upper body in shot, and says not to crop the photo, because the service crops it for you. Most of the time, then, you upload the phone photo as it is.

Paper applications are stricter. The two printed photos must be 45 x 35 mm, taken in the last month, and printed to a professional standard. GOV.UK warns that photos printed at home are unlikely to be good enough, so for the paper form, use a shop or booth.

Canada: a studio, even for a newborn

Canada.ca wants two identical 50 x 70 mm photos taken by a commercial photographer and printed on photo paper. Home prints aren’t accepted. The studio writes or stamps its name, address and the date on the back of one photo (stickers don’t count), and your guarantor signs one of them.

The baby rules are gentle. Officials accept that newborns rarely hold a neutral expression. A car seat covered with a white blanket behind the head is allowed, and only the head and shoulders should show, with no hands. If you ever renew online, the digital photo also has to come from a commercial photographer. A scan of a print won’t do.

So the home method below doesn’t apply to Canada. If you have the studio’s digital file and need it at the printed size, the Canada passport photo preset sets 50 x 70 mm at 300 DPI.

How to take a baby passport photo at home

This works for a US print or a UK online application.

1. Pick a calm moment after a feed. Two adults help: one settles the baby, one shoots.
2. Lay the baby on their back on a plain white sheet (light grey or cream also works for the UK), with no pattern, creases or toys nearby. A car seat covered with a white sheet works for the US.
3. Light it evenly. A bright window to the side, with no direct sun, is better than a ceiling light. Shooting straight down from above is where shadows creep in, so check your own shadow isn’t falling on the baby.
4. Hold the phone directly above the face, parallel to the baby, not at an angle. Take lots of shots and keep a sharp, straight-on one with nothing covering the face.
5. For the UK, stop here and upload it uncropped. For the US, carry on below.

Resize a baby photo to 2 x 2 inches

1. Open the 2 x 2 inch preset and add your photo. iPhone HEIC files work, since ResizeAny converts them in the browser (more on HEIC).
2. Type 300 in the DPI field. Without it, inches convert at 96 DPI and you get a small 192 x 192 px file. At 300 DPI it’s 600 x 600 px.
3. Open Crop, choose 1:1, and size the box so the head, chin to crown, takes up about half to two thirds of the square. That’s the 1 to 1 3/8 inch range.
4. Download the JPG and print at actual size. A 4 x 6 inch sheet holds six 2 x 2 inch photos, two across and three down, with no margin to spare.

The photo is processed in your browser and never uploaded to a server, which matters when it’s your child’s face. If you only need a 600 x 600 px digital copy for something else, use the 600 x 600 px preset.

Common reasons baby photos get rejected

Hands top the list. A thumb at the edge of the frame, a forearm behind the head, a sleeve: all of them fail, because all three countries ban hands in the frame.

Shadows come second, especially the photographer’s own shadow when shooting from above. Then come pacifiers, patterned blankets and car seat straps across the chin. Don’t try to fix any of it in an editing app: all three countries ban altered photos, so reshoot instead.

If a UK upload is rejected for file size, it’s usually the 50 KB minimum, not the maximum. How to increase photo size in KB covers that case. For other passport and ID photo tools, browse ID and document presets.