Passport photo rejected? Here's why, and how to fix it

A rejected photo puts your whole passport application on hold until a new one arrives. Most rejections come down to a handful of fixable problems. Find yours below, then make a replacement that's checked before you send it.

The 10 most common reasons

1. Head too small or too large. The head must be 1 to 1 3/8 inches from chin to the top of the hair. Phone photos cropped by eye usually miss this.
2. Shadows on the face or background. Side light from a lamp or window casts a shadow across the face or behind the head.
3. Background not plain white. Grey walls, patterns, door frames or furniture in the frame.
4. Glasses. Not allowed since 2016 without a doctor's note.
5. Blurry or pixelated. Low light, digital zoom or a photo of a photo.
6. Selfie distortion. Arm's-length shots make the nose look larger and the face less like you.
7. Head tilted or turned. The face must look straight at the camera.
8. Expression. Wide smiles showing teeth, or mouth open.
9. Filters or beauty mode. Smoothing, colour filters or edited backgrounds that change the face.
10. Hair or hat covering the face. Eyebrows and the full face outline should be visible.

Make a replacement that's checked first

Take a new photo facing a window, with someone else holding the phone about 4 feet away. Add it below: the maker sizes the head to the official range, replaces the background with white, and flags shadows, blur, tilt, closed eyes and expression before you print.

For the full list of rules, see the passport photo requirements.