Can You Take Your Own Passport Photo with Your Smartphone at Your Home?

While the U.S. State Department recommends that you use a professional passport photo service, it does not prohibit you from taking the photo yourself. Additionally, the federal agency says that hand-held self portraits are not acceptable. However, it’s doubtful that they’ll be able to check whether or not you did actually used your smartphone for taking your photo if you meet their requirements.

So what are these requirements? According to the State Department, your passport photo must be in color, printed on matte or glossy photo quality paper, 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) in size, sized such that the head is between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches (between 25 and 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, taken within the last 6 months to reflect your current appearance, taken in front of a plain white or off-white background, taken in full-face view directly facing the camera, and taken with a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, and with both eyes open.

Moreover, the passport photo must be taken  in clothing that you normally wear on a daily basis. Uniforms, clothing that looks like a uniform, and camouflage attire should not be worn in photos except in the case of religious attire that is worn daily. You may only wear a hat or head covering if you wear it daily for religious purposes. Your full face must be visible and your head covering cannot obscure your hairline or cast shadows on your face. Headphones, wireless hands-free devices or similar items are not acceptable in your photo. If you normally wear prescription glasses, a hearing device or similar articles, they may be worn for your photo. Dark glasses or non-prescription glasses with tinted lenses are not acceptable unless you need them for medical reasons, for which you may be asked to produce a medical certificate. Glare on glasses is not acceptable in your photo. Photos copied or digitally scanned from driver’s licenses or other official documents are not acceptable.

If you do decide to take the photo yourself with a digital camera (or your smartphone if want to take your chances), the state department says that the the digital image must adhere to certain given specifications. Firstly, the image dimensions must be in a square aspect ratio (the height must be equal to the width). Minimum acceptable dimensions are 600 x 600 pixels. Maximum acceptable dimensions are 1200 x 1200 pixels. And secondly, the image must be in color in ‘sRGB color space,’ which is the common output for most digital cameras.

The photo must not be digitally enhanced or altered to change your appearance in any way according to the state department. However, it will allow some editing to be done as long as you use the government’s own photo-editing tool. Once done, save the file on your computer and print on the prescribed quality of paper using your own home computer. Alternatively, have the photo printed at your nearest CVS outlet.