🇬🇧 United Kingdom Passport Photo Requirements (2026 Guide)

Photo Dimensions

UK passport photos must be 35 mm wide x 45 mm tall (1.38 x 1.77 inches). This is the standard European rectangular format, significantly smaller and narrower than the US 2x2 inch square. For digital applications, the resolution should be 413 x 531 pixels at 300 DPI.

Background Requirements

The background must be light grey or white, plain and uniform. Unlike the US (which accepts only white/off-white), the UK specifically allows light grey. No shadows, patterns, or other people should appear in the background.

Face and Expression

Your face must be clearly visible with both eyes fully open and looking directly at the camera. A neutral expression with mouth closed is required. No smiling. The head height (chin to crown) must be 29-34 mm, equivalent to roughly 64-76% of the 45mm photo height — this is the metric HMPO uses to assess whether the face occupies the correct share of the frame.

Glasses

HMPO's rule is "do not wear glasses in your photo unless you have to do so." If you must wear them, they cannot be sunglasses or tinted, your eyes must not be covered by the frames, and there must be no glare, reflection, or shadow on the lenses. In practice, removing your glasses for the photo is the safest option because glare flags are one of the most common rejection reasons.

Head Coverings

Head coverings are not allowed unless worn for religious or medical reasons. If worn, the covering must not obscure any part of the face from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, and it must not cast any shadow on the face.

Photo Recency

Photos must be taken within the last month for online applications, or within 6 months for postal applications. The photo must reflect your current appearance.

UK Passport Fee Schedule

HM Passport Office (HMPO) charges different fees depending on whether you apply online or by paper, your age, and whether you need the passport urgently. Online applications are £13.50 cheaper than paper applications. Premium and Fast Track urgent services are available only at the seven HMPO Passport Customer Service Centres.

Fees last verified May 2026. There is no separate surcharge for replacing a lost or stolen passport — you pay the standard application fee, but you must report the loss first so the old passport is cancelled. Always confirm current rates at gov.uk/get-a-passport before paying. Fees are non-refundable.

Where to Apply in the UK

The fastest and cheapest route is the online application at gov.uk, which guides you through identity verification, payment, and digital photo upload. This is the primary route HMPO encourages for most applicants.

Alternative routes:

• Post Office Check & Send service: A paid in-branch service where Post Office staff review your form, take a compliant digital photo, and forward everything to HMPO. Useful if you do not have a suitable photo or want a second pair of eyes on the form.
• Paper application form: Picked up from a Post Office and posted to HMPO. This route is £13.50 more expensive than applying online.
• HM Passport Office Customer Service Centres (7 locations): In-person appointments are required for the Premium 1-Day and Fast Track 1-week services. The seven centres are London, Liverpool, Newport, Peterborough, Durham, Glasgow, and Belfast. Appointments can be booked up to three weeks in advance and last around 10 minutes.

When you upload a digital photo through the online application, HMPO's automated image-checking system (informally referred to as the Digital Image Validation Service, or DIVS) runs it through a facial-recognition pipeline before any human examiner sees it. If something looks off — head outline unclear, background too similar to your skin tone, possible smartphone "beauty" smoothing — the system returns a "Checks Advised" warning rather than an outright fail, and an HMPO examiner makes the final call.

Applying at UK Embassies Abroad

Since the Foreign and Commonwealth Office completed the transfer of overseas passport processing to HM Passport Office in March 2014, all British passports for citizens living abroad have been issued centrally from the UK. British consulates and high commissions are no longer passport-issuing authorities — they now act primarily as document-acceptance and verification points, and as the channel for emergency travel.

If you live overseas, you apply through the same gov.uk online service and HMPO prints and dispatches the passport from the UK. High-volume British missions that handle large overseas British communities include:

• United States: British Embassy Washington, DC; Consulate-General New York
• Australia: British High Commission Canberra; Consulate-General Sydney
• Spain: British Embassy Madrid (serving the large UK expatriate community)
• United Arab Emirates: British Embassy Abu Dhabi; Consulate-General Dubai
• Hong Kong / Singapore: British Consulate-General Hong Kong; British High Commission Singapore
• South Africa: British High Commission Pretoria; Consulate-General Cape Town

If you need to travel urgently and cannot wait for a passport, British consulates can issue an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) — a single-use document valid for one journey (and a return) through up to five countries. ETDs are intended for travel within 6 weeks and are typically issued within a few working days of an in-person appointment, subject to identity verification.

Processing Times

HMPO's published target for standard online applications is 3 weeks, and recent operational reporting has been close to that figure for the majority of applications. Paper applications, child first-time applications, and overseas applications take longer because of additional document verification and courier times.

Peak season runs April through August, when the combined surge of summer-holiday travel, school-break renewals, and post-Easter activity stretches HMPO's timelines. If your travel falls in this window, apply at least 10 weeks ahead and avoid relying on the standard timeline. Applications requiring extra documentation (first-time adults, name changes, lost-passport replacements) can also push beyond 3 weeks at any time of year.

Top Reasons UK Passport Photos Get Rejected

When you submit a digital photo through the gov.uk online application, HMPO runs it through an automated image-checking system — commonly referred to as the Digital Image Validation Service (DIVS). The system uses facial recognition to flag compliance issues before a human examiner reviews the application. A flagged photo will not always cause an immediate rejection (HMPO calls this "Checks Advised"), but examiners follow up on every warning, and these are the most common reasons UK passport photos fail:

1. Smiling or open mouth. The UK is among the strictest jurisdictions on facial expression — HMPO requires a "plain expression with your mouth closed." Even a slight smile or parted lips will be flagged.
2. Shadow behind the head or on the face. Side-lighting that throws a head-shaped shadow onto the wall behind you, or overhead lighting that puts shadows under the nose, chin, or eyes, is one of DIVS's most common flags.
3. Red eye. HMPO explicitly bars red-eye in submitted photos. Use natural light or a camera with red-eye reduction.
4. Glare or reflection on glasses. Glasses are allowed in UK passport photos (the rule changed in 2016 to permit them where the applicant has to wear them), but only if there is no glare, reflection, or shadow from the frames or lenses, the eyes are not covered by the frames, and the lenses are not tinted or sunglasses. Most photo rejections involving eyewear are caused by glare on the lenses.
5. Photo more than one month old. For digital online applications, HMPO requires the photo to have been taken "in the last month." Photos older than that are routinely rejected even if specifications are otherwise met.
6. Wrong background. HMPO requires a plain light-coloured background in clear contrast to your face and clothing. Light grey or cream are the safest choices; patterned, dark, or busy backgrounds will fail.
7. Head outline unclear. If your hair tone or clothing blends into the background, DIVS may return "Can't find the outline of the head." Increase contrast by changing background or wearing differently coloured clothing.
8. Headphones, earbuds, or wireless earpieces visible. Anything in or around the ears that obscures the head shape will fail the automated check. Remove all in-ear devices and over-ear headphones.
9. Jewellery glare or face-obscuring jewellery. Reflective earrings, nose studs, or facial jewellery that catches the light can trigger glare flags. Heavy jewellery that crosses the face or jawline is also a problem.
10. Digital alterations or smartphone beautification. HMPO requires the photo to be "unaltered by computer software." Modern phone cameras apply skin smoothing, sharpening, and colour correction automatically — DIVS is specifically tuned to detect these effects and flag them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are glasses allowed on UK passport photos?

Yes — but only if you have to wear them. HMPO's rule (in effect since 2016, when the previous outright ban was relaxed) is that you should not wear glasses in your photo unless you must. If you do wear them, they cannot be sunglasses or tinted, your eyes cannot be covered by the frames, and there must be no glare, reflection, or shadow on the lenses. In practice, the safest option is still to remove glasses if you can, because glare flags are one of the most common rejection reasons.

Can I use the same photo I used for my driving licence?

Technically the dimensions are similar (UK driving licences and passports both use 35 x 45 mm), but you should not reuse a driving-licence photo. HMPO requires your passport photo to have been taken within the last month for digital applications. A photo taken months or years ago for a licence will be rejected on the recency rule, even if the dimensions and background are correct.

What is the Digital Image Validation Service (DIVS) and what does it check?

DIVS is HMPO's automated photo-checking system. When you upload a digital photo to the online application, it runs facial-recognition and image-analysis checks before a human examiner sees the file. It looks at head position and size (29–34 mm from chin to crown), background uniformity, head outline against background, lighting and shadows, eye visibility, mouth closure, glasses glare, and signs of digital manipulation (including the skin-smoothing many smartphones apply by default). A flagged photo is marked "Checks Advised" rather than auto-failed — the human examiner then decides whether to accept it or request a new one.

Are children's photo rules different?

The basic photo specification (35 x 45 mm, plain light-coloured background, no shadows, eyes open, neutral expression) applies to children too, but HMPO is more lenient for babies and very young children. Children under 6 do not have to look directly at the camera, and children under 1 do not need to have their eyes open. No one else can be visible in the photo — if you are holding a baby, your hands and clothing must not appear in the frame, which is the single hardest part of taking a baby's passport photo at home.

What is the Premium 1-Day service and when can I use it?

Premium 1-Day is HMPO's fastest service: you book an in-person appointment at one of the seven Passport Customer Service Centres (London, Liverpool, Newport, Peterborough, Durham, Glasgow, Belfast), attend with your documents, and collect a printed passport about 4 hours later on the same day. It costs £239.50 (or £253.50 for the 54-page version). The catch: Premium 1-Day is only available for adult renewals — not first-time adult applications, not child passports, and not lost or stolen replacements. For those cases, the next-fastest option is the Fast Track 1-week service at £192.

Are religious head coverings (hijab, turban, kippah) permitted?

Yes. HMPO's standard rule is that head coverings are not allowed unless worn for religious or medical reasons — in which case they are explicitly permitted. The conditions are that the full face must be clearly visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead and from one ear to the other, and the covering must not cast any shadow on the face. Hijabs, turbans, kippahs, and other religious coverings are all accepted on these terms.

How the UK Compares to the US

Common Mistakes

• Glare on glasses: Glasses are permitted only if you have to wear them, and the lenses must be glare-free, untinted, and not cover the eyes. Glare on the lenses is one of the most common UK photo rejections.
• Smiling or open mouth: UK requires neutral expression with mouth closed. Even a slight smile can be rejected.
• Wrong dimensions: Using a US-sized 2x2 photo for a UK application. The UK uses the smaller 35x45mm format.
• Head too small in frame: UK requires the face to fill 70-80% of the photo. A head that appears too small will be rejected.
• Red eye: Red eye from flash is not acceptable. Use natural lighting or a camera with red-eye reduction.