United Kingdom Passport photo requirements
The exact size, ratio, file-size window and head tolerance set by HM Passport Office — and a free tool below that frames your photo to match, in your own browser.
- Ratio
- 4:5
- Print size
- 35 × 45 mm
- Pixels
- 600×750 – 1500×1875
- File size
- 50 KB – 10.00 MB
- Head height
- 64–76%
Read this before you rely on an edited photo
Many immigration and passport authorities require a photograph that has not been digitally altered. Replacing a background, smoothing skin, enhancing with AI, or applying a camera filter can all be treated as manipulation and can get an application refused or disqualified — regardless of whether the file passes an automated size check. Reframing, rotating and resizing are not alteration; changing the content of the picture is.
Background replacement is switched onhere so the result is usable straight away, and you can turn it off in Auto-fix if your authority requires an unaltered photograph — for a US passport, DS-160, DS-260 or DV entry, we would. Lighting correction is on too — it lifts an under-exposed face and evens out a shadow across one side of it, and it has its own switch. Whatever you choose, look at your own photo for filters or “portrait” beautification your phone may have applied on its own — the safest fix for a bad background or bad lighting is always to retake it.
Your photo is reframed to the document’s tolerances, then audited.
Add your photoDrop your photo here
Take one now, or pick an existing photo. Any framing works — a full-length shot is fine, the face is found and cropped for you. Nothing is uploaded.JPG or PNG, any size or framing — a full-length shot is fine, the face is found and cropped for you. Nothing is uploaded.
Upload or capture a photo and every published tolerance for this document gets checked and reported here.
Before you submit
What catches people out on a United Kingdom Passport photo
- Only a minimum pixel size is officially published. The upper bound we use (1500×1875) is our own sensible cap.
- GOV.UK requires the photo be unaltered by computer software. Resizing and reframing is not alteration; retouching a face or rebuilding a background is.
Why this photo is not interchangeable
Where United Kingdom departs from the standard passport photo
A photo accepted for one country is regularly refused for another. These are the specific rules HM Passport Office sets that differ from the ICAO 35 × 45 mm default most passports follow.
4:5, not 35 × 45 mm
Most countries use the ICAO 35 × 45 mm portrait shape. United Kingdom uses 4:5 (35 × 45 mm), so a photo cropped for another country will not fit this frame without re-cropping.
Head must be 64%–76% of the frame
The ICAO default is 71%–80%. HM Passport Office requires 64%–76%, measured chin to crown including hair — a tighter crop than a standard passport photo.
There is a minimum file size, not only a maximum
The file must be at least 50 KB. Over-compressing to make an upload smaller is a common way to fail this check.
Source: GOV.UK photo guidance: at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, at least 50 KB and no more than 10 MB, in colour, clear and in focus, and unaltered by computer software.
United Kingdom Passport photo questions
What size photo is needed for a United Kingdom Passport?+
A United Kingdom Passport photo is 4:5, printed at 35 × 45 mm. Digitally it must be between 600×750 and 1500×1875 pixels, in JPEG format, between 50 KB and 10.00 MB.
How large should the head be in a United Kingdom Passport photo?+
The head must measure 64% to 76% of the total image height, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head including hair. The background must be plain light grey or cream.
Where do these United Kingdom Passport figures come from?+
GOV.UK photo guidance: at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, at least 50 KB and no more than 10 MB, in colour, clear and in focus, and unaltered by computer software.