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United States Passport Photo Checker
Compliance for United States passport photos is unforgiving. The U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs) pushes most submissions through automated biometric matchers, and even tiny issues — a slightly off background tone, a head 2 mm too small, soft focus — are enough to send your application back to the start.
This page runs all the checks they run. Drop in your photo above and you'll get an instant compliance report listing every potential rejection reason, prioritised by severity, with a fix path for each one.
The United States requires a square 2×2 inch (51×51 mm) photo for both passports and visas, administered by the U.S. Department of State. Photos must be taken within the last 6 months and show a full frontal view of the face. The U.S. accepts only white backgrounds and does not allow glasses in passport photos since November 2016. Digital submissions through the DS-160 form require JPEG format between 600×600 and 1200×1200 pixels.
Official United States passport photo rules we check
- Required size: 51×51 mm (602×602 px at 300 DPI)
- Required background: White
- Issuing authority: U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs)
- Print dimensions: 51×51 mm (2.01×2.01 inches)
- Digital size: 602×602 px at 300 DPI
- Background: White
Common United States passport rejection reasons
- United States-specific: Submitting a 35×45 mm European-style print instead of the U.S. 2×2 inch square.
- United States-specific: Wearing prescription glasses — accepted everywhere else, banned in the U.S.
- United States-specific: Uploading a JPEG larger than 240 KB to the DS-160 portal.
- Aspect ratio drifted from 51:51 after a careless crop
- Soft focus or motion blur from a handheld phone shot in low light
- Background that looked white to your eye but reads as cream or grey to a calibrated scanner
How to pass the checker
Crop precisely to 51×51 mm
Use our free image cropper to pull the exact 51:51 ratio. Position your eyes near the upper third of the frame and leave roughly 5 mm of headroom above the hair — the proportions U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs) expects.
Re-shoot in flat, even lighting
Stand 1.5 m from a plain wall matching the required white background. Use two soft light sources (or window light through a thin curtain) on either side of your face to eliminate the shadow that triggers most United States rejections.
Replace the background if it's the wrong colour
If our checker flags the background as the wrong shade, run the image through our background remover and place it on the exact white United States requires. This single fix resolves about 30% of all rejections we see.
Verify face coverage with the checker
Re-upload the corrected photo and confirm the face coverage score lands between 60–80%. If it's still low, crop in tighter; if too high, add headroom. United States biometric matchers explicitly check this.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I wear glasses in a U.S. passport photo?
No. Since November 1, 2016, the U.S. State Department prohibits glasses in passport photos with very narrow medical exceptions that require a signed doctor's note. Remove all eyewear before taking the picture.
Where do I submit my U.S. passport photo?
First-time adult applicants submit Form DS-11 with a printed 2×2 inch photo at any USPS Passport Acceptance Facility. Renewals (Form DS-82) can be mailed in or, for eligible adults, completed online with a digital upload.
How accurate is this United States passport photo checker?
Our checker runs the same compliance tests automated systems at the U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs) use — dimensions, aspect ratio, background uniformity, sharpness, face detection (powered by Google's MediaPipe), face coverage and centering. A "compliant" verdict here is a strong indicator your photo will pass; a "fail" verdict effectively guarantees rejection. The only checks we cannot perform are colour calibration on your specific monitor and physical paper finish.
Does ImageGates upload my photo to a server?
No — every check runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your photo never leaves your device. That is unique among most online checkers and is why the tool also works offline once loaded.
What file formats does the checker accept for United States photos?
JPG, JPEG, PNG and WebP up to 20 MB. United States's U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Consular Affairs) ultimately accepts only JPEG for digital uploads, so if your file is currently PNG or WebP, use our free converter after the check passes.