Passport Photo Rules by Country: Can You Take It at Home?

By Ismail Farooq · 30 October 2026 · 8 min read

You can take your own passport photo at home for the US, for UK and Irish online applications, and for Polish ID cards and passports. Canada, Germany, France and Sweden do not accept home photos: they want a professional photographer, a registered studio, an approved booth or a photo taken at the office. The details below come from each government's own website.

At a glance

United States

The US accepts a photo taken at home and lets you replace the background with white. A visa or DV lottery photo is a square JPEG of 600 × 600 px, 240 kB or less, with the head 50% to 69% of the height; prints are 2 × 2 inches. Glasses are not allowed. The US visa and DV lottery photo guide has the full rules and shows how to check the head size at home.

United Kingdom

For an online application, take the photo with your phone, but have someone else take it, against a plain light wall. It must be at least 600 × 750 px and 50 KB to 10 MB, show your head, shoulders and upper body, and not be cropped or edited, not even the background. Paper forms need two identical 45 × 35 mm prints made to a professional standard. The UK passport photo guide covers both step by step.

Ireland

Passport Online accepts a photo you take at home. The rules from ireland.ie:

• JPEG, at least 715 px wide and 951 px high, under 9 MB, in colour.
• Head to mid torso. The service crops it to the passport shape, so do not crop it yourself.
• No selfies and no digital zoom. Have someone else take it from a normal distance.
• Not enhanced or changed, not scanned, and with no compression artefacts. Upload the original from the camera.
• Taken in the last six months.

A phone photo is far above the pixel minimum. If an iPhone saved it as HEIC, the HEIC to JPG converter changes only the file type. Do not use background or enhance tools: changing the photo is against the rules.

Poland

Poland accepts photos you take yourself, and the mObywatel app even helps you take one. An official checks it against the rules on gov.pl:

• 35 × 45 mm for a print, or the same proportions for an online application.
• Online ID card (dowód osobisty): at least 492 × 633 px, no more than 2.5 MB. Online passport for a child under 12: at least 768 × 1004 px, up to 2.5 MB.
• Plain white background, evenly lit, nobody else in the photo.
• Face 70% to 80% of the photo, the whole head and the top of the shoulders, looking straight at the lens, mouth closed, eyes open.
• Glasses are allowed if the eyes are clearly visible, the frames do not cover the eyebrows and the lenses do not reflect light. Taken within six months.

To make the file, open the Passport Photo Maker, set Background to White and Photo size to 35×45 mm, high resolution (827×1063 px). That is above both online minimums, and the JPEG is usually well under 2.5 MB; if it is not, the Image Compressor at 2 MB keeps the pixel size. The tool frames your head and shoulders but does not measure the face, so check that your face fills about three quarters of the height before you send it. For a print, place copies on a 6 × 4 inch canvas with the Photo Collage Maker and print at actual size.

Canada

Canada does not accept a home photo for a passport. The photos must be taken in person by a commercial photographer or photo studio, and the studio writes or stamps its name, full address and the date on the back.

• Prints: two identical photos, 50 mm wide × 70 mm high, face 31 mm to 36 mm from chin to crown, plain white or light background, taken in the last six months.
• Online renewal: a JPEG in portrait, 3:2, from 1200 × 1800 up to 3000 × 4500 px, 200 KB to 5 MB, with chin to crown 45% to 50% of the height, saved straight from the camera file. You give the studio's name and address and the date it was taken.
• Glasses are allowed with no glare, but tinted lenses are refused, prescription or not. Any altered photo is rejected.

Germany

Since 1 May 2025 photos for German passports and ID cards (Personalausweis) reach the office digitally. A registered photo studio or drugstore studio sends the photo over a secure connection and gives you a QR code to take to the office, or you use a photo terminal at the Bürgeramt where there is one. Printed photos, self-made photos and photos from passport photo apps are no longer accepted. City offices differ in whether they have a terminal, so check your own office's page before you go.

France

For a French passport or ID card, service-public.fr says the photo must be taken by a professional photographer or in a booth approved by the Ministry of the Interior. In mainland France it cannot be taken at the counter. The rules: 35 × 45 mm, face 32 mm to 36 mm from chin to the top of the head (not counting hair), a plain light background that is not white, a neutral expression with the mouth closed, and taken within six months. Glasses are optional; if worn, no tinted lenses and no thick frames.

Sweden

For a Swedish passport or national ID card, the Swedish Police take your photo at the passport office when you apply, so you do not bring one. Applying abroad at an embassy or consulate can be different; check that mission's page.

Tips that work in every country

• Start with a plain light wall, half a metre behind you. Where editing is not allowed, the wall is the only background you get.
• Face a window for even light, and turn off the flash, portrait mode and beauty filters.
• Someone else takes it from 1 to 1.5 metres. Several countries refuse selfies.
• Upload the original, not a copy sent through a messaging app, which shrinks and recompresses it.
• Read your government's page last, on the day you apply. These rules change, as Germany's did in 2025.

Frequently asked questions

Sources, read on 30 October 2026: GOV.UK "Photos for passports"; ireland.ie "Photo guidelines for passports"; canada.ca "Passport photos"; gov.pl "Zdjęcie do dowodu lub paszportu"; service-public.fr F10619 and F1357; polisen.se "Passport and national ID card"; German city office notices on the 1 May 2025 photo rules (Wiesbaden, Cologne) and the Verbraucherzentrale; travel.state.gov "Photo Requirements". Italy, Spain and the Netherlands are not covered because we could not confirm their rules from an official page. Each government decides what it accepts; check its page before you apply. ImgVX is not connected to any passport office.