UK Passport Photo at Home: 7 Rules to Pass the Online Check First Time

The renewal is due, the booth in the supermarket is out of order, and the one in town charges about £10 for four prints you will never use because you are applying online. You have a phone with a better camera than the booth. GOV.UK says you can use a photo taken on it. Then the upload page rejects the picture with a message about the background, and you are back in the car.

A UK passport photo at home is allowed and, done in the right order, it passes first time. The rules are specific and the online service checks them automatically, so this guide puts them in the order a phone camera meets them: the room, the wall, the pose, the camera, the file, the upload. It also covers babies, the current fees, and the free way to convert a HEIC from an iPhone into a file the service accepts.

The 7 rules, in the order the camera meets them

GOV.UK's passport photo page lists what a digital photo must and must not be. These are the seven that cause almost every rejection.

1. A plain, light-coloured background with no shadows. Cream or light grey for printed photos; "plain light-coloured" for digital. A white wall or a plain sheet, and stand far enough from it that your shadow does not fall on it.
2. Even light on the face, no shadows. Face a window in daylight rather than standing under a ceiling light, which puts shadows under the eyes and nose. No flash, which causes red eye and a shadow behind you.
3. Facing forward, looking at the camera, plain expression, mouth closed. Eyes open and visible, nothing covering the face, hair not across the eyes.
4. Glasses off unless you have to wear them. GOV.UK says not to wear glasses unless necessary, and never sunglasses or tinted lenses. If you must, no glare and no frames across the eyes.
5. No head covering unless it is for religious or medical reasons, and then the face must be fully visible from chin to forehead.
6. Taken in the last month, unaltered by software. No filters, no retouching, no cropping on your side: GOV.UK says do not crop a digital photo, because the service does it for you.
7. The file: at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, between 50 KB and 10 MB. Any modern phone exceeds the pixel minimum at full resolution; the size limit catches 12 MB photos from newer phones, and the format catches HEIC files from iPhones, which some upload forms will not take.

The one that surprises people is rule 6. Do not straighten, crop or brighten the photo in an editor, however small the change. Fix the room and take it again.

Digital or printed: which do you need?

For an online application you upload one digital photo and no prints. Paper applications need two identical printed photos, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, with the head between 29 mm and 34 mm from chin to crown, and GOV.UK adds that a printed photo must not be a cut-down version of a larger picture. Since the online route is cheaper (£102 for an adult against £115.50 on paper from 8 April 2026) and the photo is simpler, this guide assumes you are applying online.

Set up the shot: a phone, a wall and a window

• Camera. The main rear camera, held by someone else or on a stand, at eye level, about 1.5 metres away. The selfie camera at arm's length distorts the face and often falls below the quality the checker wants.
• Distance from the wall. Half a metre or more, so no shadow lands on it. The service crops for you, so include the shoulders and plenty of wall around the head.
• Light. Daylight from a window in front of you, curtains open, room lights off. Overcast days are the easiest.
• Clothes. Anything that contrasts with the wall. A white top on a white wall confuses the checker.
• Settings. No portrait mode, no beauty mode, no filters, no Live Photo. These count as alterations.
• Take ten. Pick the one with the most neutral face and no stray hair.

What the online service checks

HM Passport Office's own caseworker guidance, updated in March 2026, describes an automated technical check on every uploaded photo. The service shows you the photo and the result, and lets you continue, retake, or use it anyway with a reason. Photos from a photo shop or booth come with a digital code you can enter instead of uploading, and GOV.UK says booth photos are more likely to be approved, which is true if you do not control the light at home. The staff guidance also says a photo digitally edited in a way that does not affect the image of the person, such as marks removed from the background, can be accepted, but the public rule is simpler and safer: do not edit it.

Babies and children

GOV.UK relaxes the rules by age. Children must be alone in the picture, with no toys or dummies. Children under six do not have to look at the camera or hold a plain expression. Children under one do not have to have their eyes open, and for a digital photo you can lay a baby on a plain light-coloured sheet and take the photo from above. You may support a baby's head with your hand, but the hand must not be visible. A child's online passport costs £66.50 (from 8 April 2026).

Convert, check and prepare the file on Jobbit

The common blockers at the upload step are a HEIC file from an iPhone, a 14 MB image from a new phone, and a photo you are not sure about. The Jobbit image tool handles all three from one form: attach the photo, choose "UK passport photo", and the page shows the message it will send. The agent converts the file to JPG, brings an oversized file under 10 MB without dropping below the 600 by 750 pixel minimum, and checks the photo against the GOV.UK rules: background, shadows, expression, glasses, head position and whether anything looks edited.

The tool's own "UK passport photo" option also produces a 35 by 45 mm print layout. Use that version for a paper application or for a visa that needs prints; for the online passport application upload the unedited full photo and let the service crop it, because GOV.UK asks you not to crop it yourself.

Fees, timing and the fast options in 2026

HM Passport Office says to allow 3 weeks for a standard application; do not book travel on a shorter timeline without Fast Track.

How an AI agent helps beyond the photo

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Manus and Meta's Muse can all recite the passport rules. On Jobbit the same chat works on the actual file and the paperwork around it, with the results back as downloads.

• Converts HEIC to JPG and sizes the file to the 50 KB to 10 MB window, as in the image conversion guide.
• Checks the photo against the rules and tells you which to fix before the service rejects it.
• Makes the print sheet for paper applications and visas: 35 by 45 mm photos laid out on a 6 by 4 inch print for the chemist.
• Compresses the supporting documents, such as a scanned birth certificate or marriage certificate, to a portal's limit with the PDF compressor.
• Drafts the countersignatory email when a first passport or a changed appearance needs one.
• Builds a checklist for a family application: who needs what, which fee, and the dates.

The free plan gives 100 credits a day with no card, which covers the photo check and the documents for a family.

A 10-minute plan

• Minutes 0 to 3. Find a plain light wall with daylight from a window in front of it. Remove glasses, tie hair back, put on a top that contrasts with the wall.
• Minutes 3 to 6. Someone else takes ten photos on the rear camera from 1.5 metres, no portrait mode, no flash, shoulders in the frame.
• Minutes 6 to 8. Open the image tool, attach the best one, choose "UK passport photo", read the agent's check.
• Minutes 8 to 10. Upload the converted, unedited photo to the online application and read the automatic check. If it flags the background, move further from the wall and retake rather than editing.

Read next

• How to resize and convert images for free: HEIC to JPG, under 200 KB, 14 sizes.
• How to compress a PDF for free: supporting documents under a portal's limit.
• Jobbit's four free tools in one place: QR codes, PDF compressor, image resizer and invoice generator.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take my own passport photo at home in the UK?

Yes. GOV.UK allows a digital photo taken on a phone for an online application as long as it meets the rules: plain light background, no shadows, facing forward with a plain expression, taken in the last month, unaltered, at least 600 by 750 pixels and between 50 KB and 10 MB. The service crops it for you.

What size does a UK passport photo need to be?

A digital photo must be at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall and between 50 KB and 10 MB. A printed photo for a paper application must be 45 mm high by 35 mm wide with the head between 29 mm and 34 mm from chin to crown. Online applications need only the digital photo.

Can I wear glasses in a UK passport photo?

GOV.UK says not to wear glasses unless you have to, and never sunglasses or tinted glasses. If you must wear them, there must be no glare and the frames must not cover your eyes. Taking them off is the safe choice.

Can I edit or crop my passport photo?

No. The photo must be unaltered by computer software, and GOV.UK asks you not to crop a digital photo because the online service crops it. Fix the lighting or background and retake instead. Converting the file format or reducing its file size does not change the image, which is what the Jobbit image tool does.

Why was my passport photo rejected?

The usual reasons are shadows on the face or the wall, a background that is not plain or light, glasses glare, hair across the eyes, a smile, a filter or portrait mode, or a file outside the size rules. The online service runs an automatic check and shows you the reason. A free check on the image tool before you upload catches most of them.

How much does a UK passport cost in 2026?

From 8 April 2026, an adult passport costs £102 online or £115.50 by paper form, and a child's costs £66.50 online. The 1 week Fast Track service is £192 for an adult, and the 1 day Premium service is £239.50. Standard applications usually take up to 3 weeks.

What are the passport photo rules for babies?

Babies must be alone in the photo with no toys or dummies. Under ones do not need their eyes open and can be photographed from above lying on a plain light sheet; under sixes need not look at the camera or keep a plain expression. You can support the head with a hand as long as the hand is not visible, and the image tool converts and checks the file the same way.