Photos for UK ID Cards and Passes: What Each One Needs

Which photo do UK ID cards and passes need?

Almost every UK card or pass that carries your face asks for a "passport-style" photo: head and shoulders, facing the camera, plain light background, no hat, eyes visible. That phrase does most of the work. The differences are in the details around it: how old the photo can be, which file types the upload form takes, the largest file it will accept, and whether glasses or a black and white image are allowed.

A photo that meets the UK passport rules meets the stricter end of every card below, with one exception on file size that is covered further down. So if you already have a recent passport-standard photo, you can usually reuse it. If you are taking one specially, taking it to the passport standard means you only have to get it right once.

The cards compared

The table gives each card's own rule where the issuer publishes one. Where an issuer says only "passport-style", that is what the table says too.

Two patterns stand out. The file rules vary more than the photo rules: PNG is fine for a 16-25 Railcard but not listed for a 26-30 one, and CitizenCard needs a far larger image than anyone else. And the age rules are looser than a passport's. HM Passport Office wants a photo taken in the last month; most card issuers either allow longer or say nothing.

When a passport photo is stricter than you need

The UK passport standard is the strictest set of rules most people ever meet. Compared with the cards above, a passport photo is stricter on:

• Age. One month for a passport. The Freedom Pass allows 12 months, CitizenCard six.
• Glasses. A passport photo should be taken without glasses. The Senior Railcard only rules out anything covering the outline of your eyes, nose or mouth, and several councils accept clear prescription glasses without glare.
• Colour. Passports require colour. The railcard sites say colour is preferred but black and white is acceptable.

None of that makes a passport photo wrong for a card. It only means a passport-standard photo passes with room to spare, which is why it is the sensible default. The rules on expression, background and framing are close to identical across every card.

The one exception: file size and resolution

Card upload forms reject files for technical reasons more often than for anything in the picture.

• Too large. Railcards stop at 5MB and Oyster photocards at 6MB. A full-resolution photo straight from a recent phone can be bigger than that. Export or save a smaller copy rather than squeezing it through a messaging app, which lowers quality unpredictably.
• Wrong type. If the form refuses your file, check its extension. iPhones save HEIC by default, and several of these forms take only JPG (sometimes BMP, GIF or PNG). Our guide to digital passport photo file requirements covers converting and checking a file.
• Too small. CitizenCard asks for at least 1280 x 720 pixels (or 720 x 1280 for a portrait photo). That is larger than the 600 x 750 minimum for a passport or voter ID upload, so a photo sized only for a passport may be refused. Use the original photo from your camera for CitizenCard, not a cropped copy.

Cards that take the photo for you

Some applications never ask you to supply a photo at all.

• SIA licences. GOV.UK says that if the SIA asks you to show your identity documents at a Post Office or to your employer, "they will take this photo for you."
• Blue Badges. Government guidance to councils says people who cannot use a photo booth, such as wheelchair users, should be allowed a suitable photo taken another way, and some councils offer to take one. Ask yours before paying for one.
• Voter Authority Certificates. The Electoral Commission says your local council may be able to take the photo for you if you need help.

Children's cards

Zip Oyster photocards and CitizenCards for under-18s are applied for by a parent. The photo rules are the adult ones, with the same allowances passport rules make for young children: CitizenCard, for example, relaxes the expression and eye-contact rules for children aged five and under. The practical difficulty is the same as with any child's photo: a plain background, even light and a neutral face. Our child passport photo guide covers how to get that at home.

Getting one photo that works everywhere

If you are about to apply for more than one card, one well-taken photo can cover all of them.

1. Take it to the passport standard. Stand about 50 centimetres from a plain light wall, face a window, glasses off, neutral expression, with your head, shoulders and upper body in frame. The lighting guide explains how to avoid the shadow behind you that causes most failures.
2. Keep the original file. Crop and resize copies from it, never from another copy.
3. Make a copy for each form. A JPG under 5MB covers every upload form in the table apart from CitizenCard's minimum size, which the original from your camera will usually meet.
4. Don't edit it. TfL asks for an "unaltered" photo and CitizenCard rules out software and AI changes. The same goes for filters and beauty modes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my passport photo for a railcard or bus pass?

Usually, yes. A passport photo meets the stricter end of every card's rules. Check that the file type and size suit the upload form, and that the photo still looks like you.

Do UK ID cards accept selfies?

Most don't ban selfies outright, but a photo taken at arm's length tends to fail on framing and distortion. A photo taken by someone else, or with the phone propped up on a timer, works better. See can you use a selfie for a passport photo.

How old can the photo be?

It depends on the card. The Freedom Pass accepts photos up to 12 months old and CitizenCard six months. Many issuers just say "recent", and a passport needs one taken in the last month.

Are black and white photos accepted?

The railcard sites say colour is preferred but black and white is acceptable. TfL, the Freedom Pass, voter ID and CitizenCard all ask for colour, so use colour.

Sources

• 16-25 Railcard, What is an acceptable image to use for my Railcard photograph?
• 26-30 Railcard, What is an acceptable image to use for my Railcard photograph?
• Senior Railcard, Will I have to show my face in the photograph?
• Transport for London, 60+ London Oyster photocard and 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard
• London Councils, Freedom Pass: what I need to apply
• GOV.UK, Apply for or renew a Blue Badge and Blue Badge scheme local authority guidance
• Electoral Commission, Applying for a Voter Authority Certificate
• GOV.UK, Apply for an HM Armed Forces Veteran Card
• CitizenCard, Photo guidance
• GOV.UK, Apply for an SIA licence