UK Passport Photo Rules: Size, Pixels and Digital Codes

UK passport photo rules come in two sets, and it’s easy to follow the wrong one. If you apply online you need a digital photo that’s at least 600 x 750 pixels. If you apply on paper you need two printed photos at exactly 45 x 35 mm, which is a different job. Below is what HM Passport Office asks for in each case, and when you need to resize anything (often you don’t).

Quick answer: For an online UK passport application, the digital photo must be at least 600 x 750 pixels, between 50 KB and 10 MB, uncropped, and taken in the last month. For a paper form, send two identical prints, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, with the head 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown, on a plain cream or light grey background.

Each rule links to its GOV.UK page, checked on 10 November 2026.

UK passport photo size: digital and printed

Sources: GOV.UK digital photos, GOV.UK printed photos and the Passport Office photo rules.

In pixels, 35 x 45 mm is 413 x 531 at 300 DPI. That’s my arithmetic, not a GOV.UK figure: the Passport Office only sets a physical size for prints.

Digital photo rules for online applications

The online service sets a floor, not an exact size. GOV.UK asks for at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, and a file of at least 50 KB and no more than 10 MB. A normal phone photo is several times bigger, so the pixel minimum rarely bites. The 50 KB minimum does: a JPG squeezed to 30 KB for some other form gets refused here.

GOV.UK also wants your head, shoulders and upper body in the photo, and says not to crop it, because the service does that. Leave space around you.

The photo rules page lists the rest:

• in colour, with no filters or effects, and not edited
• a plain expression, mouth closed, eyes open and visible
• nothing covering your face, and no hair across your eyes
• a plain, light-coloured background with no texture or pattern
• no shadows on your face or behind you

You can take the photo at home. The Passport Office’s guide to taking a digital photo suggests the person holding the camera stands about 1.5 metres away, and that you stand about 50 cm in front of the wall so you don’t cast a shadow on it.

Before you submit, you confirm the photo meets the rules. If it doesn’t, the Passport Office’s photo standards for staff say you have to explain why you still want to use it, for example a medical reason. Expect a delay if you go that way.

What a passport photo code is

At a photo booth or shop, you can choose the digital option and get a code with your photos. During the online application you type in the code and the photo is added for you. No file to upload, no resizing.

GOV.UK says booth and shop photos are more likely to be approved than ones taken on your own device, and the photo still has to be from the last month. The Passport Office’s guidance for photo code suppliers asks for a JPEG between 50 KB and 10 MB and calls 3 MB the ideal size, a handy target for your own file too.

Printed photo rules for paper forms

Paper is stricter. GOV.UK wants two identical photos, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, the standard size in UK photo booths. Your head must measure 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown. The background is plain cream or light grey, and the photo can’t be cut down from a larger picture.

They must be printed to a professional standard, and GOV.UK warns that home prints are unlikely to be good enough. So for paper, use a booth or a shop rather than an inkjet.

Some paper applications also need a countersignatory, for example a first adult passport or a renewal where you no longer look like your old photo. That person writes “I certify that this is a true likeness of” followed by your full name on the back of one photo, then signs and dates it. GOV.UK’s countersigning page lists who can do it.

Glasses and head coverings

Take your glasses off if you can. If you keep them on, the photo rules say your eyes must be fully visible, the frames can’t cover them, and there can’t be glare on the lenses. Sunglasses and tinted lenses aren’t allowed.

Head coverings are only accepted for religious or medical reasons, and your whole face must still show. The same staff standards say a hat worn for cultural reasons, such as a fez or a cowboy hat, gets refused.

Children and babies

Children get some slack. Under-sixes don’t need a plain expression or to look straight at the camera, and babies under one don’t need their eyes open. No hand holding the head can show, and dummies and toys are out. For the full set, including how to photograph a newborn lying on a sheet, see infant passport photo rules.

When to resize a UK passport photo

Usually you don’t. Upload the original from your phone, unless one of these applies.

The file is over 10 MB. Open the 3 MB preset and add the photo. With the dimensions on Auto, ResizeAny keeps the full pixel size if it can reach 3 MB at good JPG quality, and only scales down if it can’t. 3 MB matches the figure the Passport Office calls ideal.

The file is under 50 KB. It’s been compressed too hard somewhere, so go back to the original. If you can’t, how to increase photo size in KB explains what helps and what doesn’t.

It’s an iPhone HEIC file the upload won’t take. ResizeAny converts HEIC to JPG in your browser.

If another form asks for exactly 600 x 750 pixels, use the UK passport photo preset. It starts on Stretch, which squashes a 3:4 phone photo slightly to fit the 4:5 box. Switch Ratio & fit to Crop and it trims about 3% from the top and bottom instead. The resize runs in your browser, so your photo isn’t uploaded anywhere (how we test explains how we check output sizes).

Applying for a passport somewhere else as well? Passport photo size by country covers the US, Schengen, Canada, India and more, and the ID and document presets have the matching tools.