UK Passport Photo

A UK passport photo is 45mm tall and 35mm wide, and your head, from the crown to the bottom of your chin, has to measure between 29mm and 34mm within that frame. That's the bit people trip over, because a photo can look perfectly fine to the eye and still be a couple of millimetres out. If you're applying online the rules shift again, so it's worth reading our breakdown of every measurement before you crop anything by hand.

You can. Nothing in the official rules bans a selfie, but arm's length is a problem: the lens sits too close, your face stretches at the edges and you end up with a shadow you didn't notice. Ask someone to take a UK passport photo of you from a couple of metres away against a plain wall, in even daylight, and you'll be much closer to a pass. We've written up why selfies fail and what to do instead.

The official line is not to wear them unless you really have to, so if you can take them off for the shot, do. If you need them, the frames mustn't cover your eyes and there can't be any glare on the lenses, and that second part is what catches most people out in a UK passport photo. Tinted or sunglass-style lenses are out either way. There's a longer walkthrough for glasses wearers if you'd like the detail.

Plain and light, with no patterns, shadows or other people creeping in. For a printed photo the guidance is cream or light grey, and for a digital one any plain, light colour works. Pure white looks like the safe choice but is often what gets a UK passport photo bounced, because it can read as blown-out against pale skin or a pale top. This article explains the colour rules properly.

Best not to. A UK passport photo asks for a neutral expression with your mouth closed and your eyes open and looking at the camera. In practice a soft, relaxed face with a hint of teeth can slip through, but a proper grin is one of the quickest ways to get sent back. If you want to know exactly where the line sits, here's what actually gets flagged.

Usually for small, fixable things: a shadow across the face, a background that isn't plain, glasses glare, a head that's too big or too small in the frame, or a blurry file. Almost none of it is about how you look. A rejected UK passport photo holds up your application rather than cancelling it, and the ten most common reasons are worth a skim so you know what to check before you submit.

The photo needs to have been taken within the last month when you send in your application, so don't get it done too early and let it sit. Once it's with the Passport Office it's kept on file for a while, which is a separate clock. If you want to see how the two differ, our explainer on photo validity lays it out.