As a travel agency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I’m asked the question about passports and where to get the photo taken all the time. It’s true that a passport picture must be a specific size in order to fit on the U.S. State Department's requirements.
Instead of heading down to your post office or local drug store to get a passport picture taken, why not do it yourself? That’s right, it’s easier than you think. Here are a few guidelines to follow when taking your own passport photo:
- Make sure that you have a camera (or smart phone) that takes good color photos because the photo is required to be in color and not black and white.
- The size of a passport photo must be between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches. That’s your head a neck alone. Even though your body may be photo worthy or you hate face closeups sorry “Charlie”. A passport photo is a close-up of your face. After all, security at the borders and airports will need to see that you are who you say you are and an extreme close-up is the way they do that. Here’s a link to the U.S State Department’s website with a photo composition template for guidelines: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/photos/photo-composition-template.html
- Your passport photo must be new because they have to reflect your current appearance. If you’ve taken a passport photo with long, blond hair and then changed your look to include short, dark hair then you’ll need a new passport photo.
- Find a white wall because your passport photo must be taken in front of a white background. Stand in front of it and click away.
- Look directly at the camera. You can’t have those cute side shots with a “blue steel” type expression. The requirements are a square on look at the camera. You may hate the way it looks to look square into a camera but that’s a small price to pay for a passport that will get you to some incredible places worldwide.
- Wear regular clothing and no type of uniform. Yes, we’re proud of our military and may love the school uniform that looks fab with our skin tone. But passport pictures aren’t for a fashion statement or “God bless America” type statement.
- No hats or anything that will cover your head. The only exception to this rule is if it’s for religious purposes. Even then, your entire face must be exposed.
- No glasses. It used to be that you could wear your glasses in a passport photo but not anymore. And security will ask you to remove your glasses when checking your passport.
- No selfies. Your hands must be at your side so you’ll need to ask someone else to take your photo or use a tripod.
So there you have it. How to take your own passport photo and the guidelines necessary to do so. If you still have questions, you can easily check out the U.S. State Department's website at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/photos/photo-composition-template.html .
As a full service travel agency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we’re also here to answer any passport questions that you have. Just another benefit of using a travel agent to book your trip abroad. Are you still looking for help in booking that trip to Europe, all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean or a bucket list trip to Egypt? Please give us a call and let’s chat. We’re here to guide and book your fun getaway every step of the way.
