How to take a US passport photo at home (and why AI edits get it rejected)

You can take your own passport photo — no studio required, and any recent phone has enough camera for it. What trips people up is a short list of specs stricter than they look, and one rule that disqualifies almost every AI photo tool from this job. Ours included.

The official US passport photo specs, in one table

What	Requirement
Print size	2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm), square
Head size	1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm), chin to top of head
Age of the photo	Taken within the last 6 months
Background	Plain white or off-white, free of shadows, textures and objects
Expression	Face the camera directly, neutral expression, both eyes open and visible, mouth closed
Eyeglasses	Off — and not resting on your head
Color and light	One color photo, uniform lighting, accurate skin tones, no shadows
Digital version	Square, 600 x 600 px minimum, 1200 x 1200 px maximum
Editing	No computer software, phone apps, filters or artificial intelligence

One thing worth knowing before the details: the binding rule is short and it points somewhere else. The federal regulation on passport photographs, 22 CFR § 51.26, says only that an applicant "must submit with his or her application photographs as prescribed by the Department that are a good likeness of and satisfactorily identify the applicant." Everything in the table above is the Department's prescription under that sentence — which is why the Department's own photo page, not an article, is the thing to check on the day you apply, and why the specs can be tightened without a rule change.

Print size and head size

The head measurement is what people miss: chin to crown must land between 1 and 1 3/8 inches — 25 to 35 mm. Too far back and your head is a dot in a lot of wall; too close and the crown gets cut off. The Department publishes a composition template, faster than a ruler.

Background, expression, and glasses

Head straight on — not tilted, not the flattering chin-down angle you use everywhere else. Glasses come off, and not onto the top of your head either; the one exception is medical, and needs a signed note from your doctor. Hats and head coverings come off too if they cover your hair or hairline, the exception being a covering worn daily for religious reasons — and even then the whole face must be visible, with no shadow across it.

If you're uploading a digital photo

Those pixel figures come from the Department's photo requirement pages rather than one particular form, so if you are submitting through an online renewal service, open that service's own upload page first.

The rule most AI photo tools won't tell you

Here is the sentence that decides this article. The State Department's published guidance tells applicants: "Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence."

The guidance goes further: it says photos are checked to make sure applicants are not using AI tools, and that an image created with one is rejected even when it looks perfectly acceptable. A natural appearance that has been digitally changed is a listed reason for rejection.

That is the part that saves you money: the test is not "does this look edited". A photo that passes your eye can still be refused.

What "digitally altered" covers

Broader than most assume. The rule covers changing the photo with software, apps, filters or AI, and sweeps in things nobody thinks of as editing:

• Swapping the background digitally. Dropping in a white layer is a software change. If your wall is not white, find a white wall — do not manufacture one.
• Skin smoothing, blemish removal, teeth or eye work. All of it changes your natural appearance, which is what the rejection reason names.
• Beauty filters that are on by default. Many camera apps smooth without announcing it. Turn it off before you shoot.
• Generated or "enhanced" portraits. A photo the software made rather than one the camera took.

Cropping and resizing to hit 2 x 2 are different: that is how you meet the size spec, not a change to how you look. Getting the crop right is expected of you; getting your face improved is not.

What happens if your photo is rejected

You are asked for a new photo and the application waits — not a small cost with a trip on the other side.

Taking a compliant photo at home with a phone

Find a real white wall (not a digital one)

Look for a plain, unmarked, light wall with nothing on it — a door works. Stand a foot or two off it, far enough not to throw your own shadow onto it, the thing that ruins most home attempts. No white wall anywhere? Tape up a plain white sheet and pull it taut.

Light, distance, and posture

Face a window in daylight. Ceiling lights are the enemy: shadows under the eyes and nose, and a shadow behind your head. Have someone else hold the phone, because arm's length distorts the face and puts the camera above eye level. Camera at eye height, roughly four feet away, back camera, shoulders square. Take a dozen — it costs nothing.

Crop to 2 x 2 without editing the person

Crop square, then check the head measurement before printing. Adjusting the crop is expected; reaching for a retouch slider is where you cross the line. If no compliant frame exists in the shots you have, shoot again in better light rather than fixing it in software.

Where an AI photo tool IS the right call

None of that makes AI portrait tools useless. It means they belong to a different set of photos: the ones a human picks and a human looks at, with no federal review at the end.

LinkedIn and work headshots

Nobody checks a LinkedIn photo against a specification, and looking put together is the entire point — see turning a selfie into a professional headshot.

Employee, school, gym, and club badges

Cards issued by an employer, school, gym or club set their own house rules, usually a plain background and a recognizable face. An edited photo is normally fine — but ask whoever issues the badge, because a few apply document-style rules of their own.

Profile pictures for accounts that aren't government ID

Forums, portals, membership sites, seller profiles. If the background is the only thing wrong, that is a smaller job — see cutting a background out on your phone.

The dividing line is simple enough to carry in your head: if a government office is going to receive the photo, the camera does the work. Everywhere else, a tool can help.

Your driver's license and REAL ID are a different process

People arrive here looking for license advice, so: for a state driver's license or ID card you generally do not supply a photo at all. The agency takes it. In New York you visit a DMV office and a staff member takes the photograph there, and wanting to update your photo is itself listed as a reason to renew in person rather than online. REAL ID is stricter again — full enforcement began on May 7, 2025, and getting one means an in-person visit with original documents. Rules vary by state, so check your own state's DMV. What does not vary is the part that matters here: this is not a photo you edit at home.

How long a US passport lasts, and when to redo the photo

A passport issued at 16 or older is valid for 10 years. A child's passport, ages 0 to 15, is valid for 5 years and cannot be renewed — a new application each time. The six-month recency rule means last time's photo is never reusable, however good it was.

Passport rules in other countries are set by their own authorities and differ on nearly every line of the table above. This article covers the US only.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use an AI-generated or AI-edited passport photo?

No. The guidance tells applicants not to change a passport photo using software, phone apps, filters or artificial intelligence, and not to use a photo created or edited with AI. It also says photos are checked for AI use, and that such a photo is rejected even when it looks acceptable.

Can I wear glasses in a US passport photo?

No. Take off eyeglasses, sunglasses and tinted glasses, and do not rest them on your head. The exception is medical, with a signed note from your doctor.

Can I digitally replace the background to make it white?

No — replacing a background is a software change to the photo. Find a plain white or off-white wall, or hang a plain white sheet, and shoot against a real one.

What size is a US passport photo?

2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm), square, head 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) chin to crown, taken within the last 6 months. Digital versions are square, 600 x 600 to 1200 x 1200 pixels.

If it's not a government photo, we can help

Need a headshot for LinkedIn, a work badge or a profile picture — not a government ID? That is what our photo tools are for. You will need an account, and each generation costs credits shown on the button before you press it.

For the passport photo itself: a wall, a window, a phone and a dozen tries. Then send it exactly as the camera took it.

How this article was made

• Written — seo-content produced the en-US version of /tin-tuc/cach-tao-anh-the-bang-ai under brief I18N-11, 2026-08-29.
• Reviewed — seo-review re-ran the §G publication gate on 2026-09-06 (VIPIX session s148) on an earlier revision and returned PASS-WITH-FIXES, and the next revision fixed the issues that verdict names. Verdict on file: reviews/en-US-regate-s148-verdict.md (earlier gates, 2026-08-29: en-US-T1-regate-verdict.md, en-US-T2T4-gate-verdict.md, en-US-T3-gate-verdict.md). Since then, the article's internal links have been updated, and on 2026-09-28 this note was corrected.
• Process — content drafted by the Vipix SEO team's LLM under a reviewed brief; edited and checked by the Vipix SEO team; no native-speaker contractor was engaged.