United States US passport & visa photo Photo Size

Specifications

U.S. 2×2 photo key numbers in inches, millimetres and pixels

U.S. forms, DS numbers and MRV application fees

U.S. Department of State acceptance rules and filing locations

U.S. Department of State — Bureau of Consular Affairs (travel.state.gov) sets the rules.

U.S. passports are issued exclusively by the Department of State: the Bureau of Consular Affairs sets photo policy, the National Passport Center in Portsmouth and passport agencies across the country print and issue books, and acceptance facilities at post offices and clerks of court verify identity documents for first-time DS-11 applicants. Eligible adults renew by mail with Form DS-82 or through the MyTravelGov online renewal upload. Visas follow a separate consular process overseas using the DS-160 nonimmigrant form and the DS-260 immigrant form; the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery is a State Department digital-only entry.

You do not need a government office just for the photo: any vendor that produces a compliant 2x2 inch print works, and the State Department explicitly accepts a photo a friend or family member takes and you print yourself on matte or glossy photo-quality paper.

• USPS passport acceptance facilities (post offices) — A clerk verifies your DS-11 identity documents and citizenship evidence; many locations also take the photo for $15, and the separate $35 acceptance fee is paid to the Postmaster.
• Walgreens pharmacy photo counters — Two government-compliant 2x2 prints for about $16.99, typically ready within an hour, with a digital copy sent by email at no extra charge.
• CVS Pharmacy photo departments — Same-day 2x2 prints at thousands of pharmacy locations; no appointment required at most stores.
• Walmart Photo Centers and Sam's Club Photo — Among the cheapest in-store 2x2 options; upload your home-cropped JPEG or have a photo taken at the counter.
• The UPS Store and FedEx Office — Passport photo plus overnight shipping, useful when an expedited DS-11 package must reach the State Department quickly.
• County and municipal clerks of court, public libraries and state offices — Many act as passport acceptance facilities and can take the photo or accept one you bring; appointment rules vary.
• AAA and membership travel offices — Auto clubs and similar member organizations offer passport photos, sometimes as a free member benefit.
• Do it yourself at home — Shoot with a phone against a white wall, crop the image to 600x600 pixels in the PixlReady cropper, and print on photo-quality paper or through a same-day photo service.
• Rite Aid, Bartell Drugs and regional pharmacies — Selected pharmacy counters in the Northeast, Midwest and Pacific Northwest print same-day 2x2 photos from a counter capture or uploaded file.
• Costco and membership-club photo centers — Warehouse-club photo counters print 2x2 sets; AAA and similar clubs sometimes offer the photo as a member benefit.
• Independent photo studios and local print shops — Independent photographers and neighbourhood print shops produce 2x2 prints and accept a home-cropped JPEG on photo paper.
• Target Photo, Staples and Office Depot print counters — Big-box and office-supply photo centres print same-day 2x2 sets from a digital upload in most mainland states.
• Postal processing centres (where the book is actually printed) — Routine DS-82 renewals are adjudicated at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and at the Arkansas Passport Center in Hot Springs, the Charleston Passport Center in South Carolina, the Minneapolis Passport Center in Minnesota, the New Orleans Passport Center in Louisiana and the Tucson Passport Center in Arizona; urgent agencies in the same cities issue over-the-counter books.

Digital-only channels never use a paper print: the DS-160 and DS-260 visa forms, the Diversity Visa Lottery and the MyTravelGov online renewal each require a square JPEG upload (600x600 to 1200x1200 pixels; exactly 600x600 and no more than 240 KB for the DV Lottery).

DS-11 and DS-82 filings: fees, counters and 6–8 week turnaround

The photo is only one stage of a longer State Department workflow: first-time applicants, minors and 16-17 year olds attend an acceptance facility, eligible adults renew by mail or online, and visa and DV Lottery applicants use entirely separate consular portals. The forms, fees and processing times below are the ones travellers most often confuse.

1. First-time applicants, minors and applicants aged 16-17 complete Form DS-11 and print it unsigned, then appear in person at a post office, courthouse, library or other acceptance facility with citizenship evidence (birth certificate or naturalization certificate), a photo ID and the $35 acceptance fee.
2. Adults renewing a passport issued within the last 15 years, when they were at least 16 and the book is not lost or damaged, can skip the acceptance facility and file Form DS-82 by mail with the $130 fee, or renew online through MyTravelGov when the pilot is open.
3. A lost or stolen passport is reported on Form DS-64 and replaced with DS-11; a name change that cannot be documented with a marriage certificate or court order needs DS-11 together with Form DS-60.
4. The adult passport book costs $130 (under 16: $100) plus the $35 execution fee at an acceptance facility; the optional passport card is $30 for adults and $15 for children; expedited service adds $60 and 1-2 day delivery adds about $20.
5. Routine service runs about 6-8 weeks door to door and expedited service about 2-3 weeks; Urgent Travel Service appointments at the National Passport Information Center, 1-877-487-2778, cover travel within 14 days or a foreign visa needed within four weeks.
6. Visa applicants instead complete the DS-160 at ceac.state.gov, pay the MRV fee to the embassy's local contractor such as CGI, AIS or ustraveldocs, and carry the printed 2x2 photo; the Diversity Visa Lottery runs each October-November at dvprogram.state.gov with a 600x600 pixel JPEG of no more than 240 KB.
7. Track the book live at passportstatus.state.gov, sign for the USPS Priority Mail delivery when it arrives, and keep the cancelled old passport because the State Department returns it in a separate mailing.
8. Acceptance facilities operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, plus Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands; citizens abroad instead attend the nearest embassy or consulate.

Shooting a 2×2 that passes the State Department biometric check

1. Stand roughly 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 7 ft) from the phone or camera and about 1.2 m (4 ft) from a plain white or off-white wall so the flash and room lights do not cast a shadow behind your head.
2. Put the camera at eye level, face it square-on with shoulders level, and leave enough space above the hair so the chin-to-crown head will measure 25-35 mm (1 to 1 3/8 in), about 50-69% of the final 2x2 frame height.
3. Keep both eyes open, mouth closed and a neutral or natural expression; smiling is allowed but exaggerated grins that change the face geometry are not.
4. Remove eyeglasses, sunglasses, tinted lenses, hats, headphones, wireless earbuds and face masks; religious headwear stays only with a signed statement and medical headwear with a doctor's note.
5. Light the face with soft, even daylight from a window in front of you; avoid single overhead bulbs and strong side light that throw shadows across the face or white wall.
6. Take several frames, then open the sharpest one in the PixlReady passport cropper and choose the United States 2x2 preset, which builds the 600x600 pixel, 300 DPI square.
7. For digital submission export a square JPEG between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels; for the DV Lottery export exactly 600x600 pixels and compress to 240 KB or less.
8. For paper applications print the 2x2 square on matte or glossy photo-quality paper and submit a single untrimmed or neatly cut print attached to the DS-11 as instructed.

Use the passport cropper with the United States preset.

DS-160, DV lottery and green-card uploads: 600–1200 px and 240 KB

The same 2x2 square geometry powers every U.S. digital channel: the DS-160 nonimmigrant visa form, the DS-260 immigrant form, MyTravelGov online renewal and the Diversity Visa Lottery. The State Department accepts a square JPEG from 600x600 up to 1200x1200 pixels, with the head filling 50-69% of frame height and the eyes positioned within the lower two-thirds of the image.

• File format: JPEG (.jpg) only; the portals reject PNG, HEIC, GIF, BMP and PDF uploads.
• Pixel dimensions: square aspect ratio, 600x600 minimum and 1200x1200 maximum; the DV Lottery requires exactly 600x600 pixels.
• File size: the DV Lottery rejects files above 240 KB; DS-160 resizes images server-side but rejects corrupt, truncated or heavily compressed uploads.
• Colour: 24-bit true colour in sRGB; black-and-white or colourised photos are not accepted.
• No digital alteration: no filters, beauty-mode smoothing, background replacement, AI generation, red-eye removal or any computer software changes.
• Compress before upload if needed, but never resample below 600 pixels on a side; the PixlReady compressor holds the pixel dimensions while dropping the JPEG weight below 240 KB.

Compress an oversized JPEG with the image compressor.

Printing 2×2 tiles and 4×6 sheets at 300 DPI

U.S. photo services commonly lay two 2x2 inch squares onto one 4x6 inch (10x15 cm) sheet because that is the cheapest same-day photo-finish format. Two 2x2 tiles cover a 4x4 inch block, leaving a 2-inch gutter on the 6-inch side that must be cut away before you attach a single tile to the DS-11.

• Print at exactly 300 DPI so the square renders at 600x600 pixels; disable 'fit to page' and 'shrink to printable area' or the print will measure slightly under 2 inches.
• Use matte or glossy photo-quality paper; the State Department rejects plain-paper inkjet output, photocopies and scanned photos.
• Cut along the crop lines with a rotary trimmer or sharp scissors; acceptance agents measure the outer 2x2 edge, so do not cut into the photo.
• Only one 2x2 print is required with the DS-11, but printing two tiles on a 4x6 sheet leaves a spare for a visa packet or an ID card.

Print-dialog settings: 300 DPI guide · 200 KB upload guide.

Why the National Passport Center turns down 2×2 photos

• Eyeglasses left on — even clear prescription lenses cause reflections and are the single most frequent rejection at State Department acceptance counters.
• Selfies or arm-length photos with the wrong perspective, distorted shoulders or a visible hand.
• Background failures: off-white walls that read as grey, patterned wallpaper, door frames, furniture, plants, shadows, texture and visible lines.
• Head size out of range: chin to crown under 25 mm or over 35 mm, or the eyes set too high or too low in the frame.
• Digital manipulation: phone-app filters, skin smoothing, AI generation, retouching, background removal or black-and-white conversion.
• Paper or image quality: blurry, grainy, pixelated, overexposed, underexposed, photocopied, scanned, hole-punched, creased or smudged prints.
• An outdated photo — older than 6 months — or one that no longer matches a significantly changed appearance such as major facial surgery or weight change.

Infants and children: the 8 FAM 402.1 eye-open rule

Minors under 16 always apply in person on Form DS-11 with both parents present, or one parent with a notarized DS-3053 statement of consent, and each child needs a separate 2x2 photo. The State Department relaxes the expression rule for infants: it is acceptable if a baby's eyes, particularly a newborn's, are not entirely open, while children from 12 months onward must have both eyes open like adults.

• Lay the baby on a plain white or off-white sheet, or drape the same sheet over an infant car seat, and shoot from directly above with the phone at eye level over the baby.
• No pacifiers, bottles, toys, hats, blankets or adult hands may appear; a parent's hand supporting the head or neck must be cropped completely out of the frame.
• No shadows across the baby's face; an open-shade doorway or a north-facing window gives softer light than direct sunlight.
• Children 12 months and older must keep both eyes open and look at the camera, though the neutral expression rule is relaxed for infants.
• A sleeping newborn with closed eyes is acceptable if the face is uncovered, centered and lit evenly, but pick the frame in which the full face is clearest.

U.S. visa and travel-document photos beyond the passport

American visas and travel documents reuse the same 2x2 inch, 600x600 pixel photograph but are processed outside the passport system: the DS-160 handles nonimmigrant visas, the DS-260 handles immigrant visas, and domestic documents such as Real ID and the passport card follow their own rules.

• B-1 and B-2 visitor visas for business and tourism (MRV fee $185), plus C-1 transit and C-1/D crewmember visas, all use the DS-160 with a 2x2 photo at the consular interview.
• F-1 and M-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visitor visas use the DS-160 together with SEVIS (the I-20 or DS-2019 form); the SEVIS I-901 fee is paid separately and the photograph is uploaded at the embassy.
• H-1B, L-1, O-1, P-1 and E-2 work visas use the DS-160 after a USCIS petition is approved; K-1 fiance and K-3 spouse visas move through their own consular packets.
• The Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2026) needs an exact 600x600 pixel JPEG of 240 KB or less, entered each October-November at dvprogram.state.gov.
• Immigrant visas such as IR-1 and CR-1 spouses, F-2A and F-2B family categories and EB-5 investors use the DS-260 at ceac.state.gov after the National Visa Center opens the case.
• ESTA under the Visa Waiver Program does not require a photo upload, but the CBP officer at the airport compares the traveller against the passport book photograph.
• Real ID driver licences and state-issued IDs do not use the 2x2 print; the DMV takes a face-on, hat-off photograph during enrolment, and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck centres take their own enrolment picture.
• The U.S. passport card ($30 adult, $15 child) is a WHTI-compliant wallet card for land and sea crossings with Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean, never for international flights.
• F-1 and M-1 students pay the SEVIS I-901 fee of $350 and J-1 exchange visitors $220 before the consular interview; they carry the I-20 or DS-2019 and the DS-160 2x2 photograph.
• ESTA enrolment costs $21 for Visa Waiver travellers and ESTA does not need a photo; Chinese nationals with a 10-year B visa must enrol in EVUS at no charge.
• Form I-90 replaces a green card, I-131 issues a re-entry permit or refugee travel document, and I-765 issues the employment authorization document; USCIS photographs are captured at the Application Support Center biometrics appointment, not as a 2x2 print.
• Family categories IR-1, IR-2, CR-1 and F-1 through F-4, and employment categories EB-1 through EB-5, all end in the DS-260 consular interview or the I-485 adjustment; the photograph remains the 2x2 inch, 600x600 pixel standard.
• The DS-160 nonimmigrant family covers B-1 business and B-2 tourism, C-1 transit and C-1/D crew, E-1 treaty traders, E-2 investors and E-3 Australian professionals, F-1 and F-2 students plus M-1 vocational students, J-1 and J-2 exchange visitors, H-1B specialty occupations, H-2A agricultural and H-2B seasonal workers, H-3 trainees, L-1A and L-1B intracompany transferees, O-1 extraordinary ability, P-1 through P-3 athletes and performers, Q-1 cultural exchange, R-1 religious workers, TN for Canadian and Mexican professionals under USMCA, and K-1 and K-3 fiance and spouse classes.
• The State Department also issues maroon official and black diplomatic passports plus no-fee regular passports for military and government personnel; these use the same 2x2 photograph but are printed through the Special Issuance Agency in Washington DC rather than the National Passport Center.
• Frequent travellers can request a second valid passport, limited to two years, by Form DS-82 when itineraries conflict (for example entering countries that bar an Israeli stamp); the second book needs its own 2x2 photo.
• Real ID enforcement for domestic flights began on 7 May 2025; a Real ID-compliant driver licence or a passport book is required at airport security, and the DMV takes its own separate photograph.
• Trusted-traveller cards NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST, together with Global Entry, are WHTI land and sea documents that also carry a facial photograph and are issued by CBP after an enrolment interview.
• U.S. territories use the same 2x2 photograph: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan) and American Samoa. People born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas are U.S. citizens, whereas those born in American Samoa are U.S. nationals rather than citizens; applications in San Juan, Hagatna, Pago Pago and Charlotte Amalie go through local acceptance facilities.

Gotchas

• Photo must have been taken within the last 6 months and match your current appearance.
• No filters, phone-app edits, retouching or artificial-intelligence alteration are allowed; the State Department explicitly bans software changes.
• Background must be pure white or off-white with no shadows, texture, gradients or objects.
• Glasses must come off — even clear-lens glasses cause reflections and are commonly rejected.
• DV Lottery photo must be exactly 600×600 px and ≤ 240 KB; an outdated or reused photo disqualifies the entire entry.
• Do not wear a uniform, camouflage or headphones/earbuds; religious head coverings require a signed statement.