Infant Passport Photo Requirements: The Complete Checklist

The requirements, one by one

1. Only your baby in the photo. No other people, and that includes the parent’s hands holding the baby. Hard fail if others appear.
2. Full face visible. Nothing covering the face — no pacifier, hands, clothing, or blanket. Hard fail if the face is blocked.
3. Facing the camera, head level. A strongly turned or tilted head cannot be fixed by cropping. Warning to hard fail depending on severity.
4. Natural expression. Crying or exaggerated expressions should be avoided; calm and neutral is best.
5. Eyes. Babies’ eyes do not need to be laser-focused on the camera, but fully closed eyes are a common rejection reason. Slightly closed is conditionally allowed — pick the best of several shots.
6. Plain white or off-white background. No textures, objects, or shadows. A plain sheet is the official suggestion for babies.
7. Even lighting, accurate skin tone. No over- or under-exposure, no shadows on the face.
8. Clear, high-resolution color. No visible blur, grain, or pixelation — sharpening software cannot recover missing detail.
9. Size & position. 2×2 inches on paper; head height (chin to top of crown) 1–1⅔ inches, centered, full head inside the frame.
10. Recent. Taken within the last 6 months. You confirm this yourself — file dates don’t prove it.
11. No digital changes. Submit an unaltered original. No filters, no beautification, no background replacement, no eye-opening edits.
12. Print on matte or glossy photo paper.

Each item follows the official photo requirements. Not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State.

Applying: children under 16 apply in person

Inside the US, children under 16 must apply in person with both parents or guardians — the adult online renewal route does not apply to babies. Outside the US, follow your embassy or consulate’s instructions. A digital file alone never guarantees acceptance; you are preparing a photo that follows the published standard.

Which of these can software actually check?

Honest limits: face position, framing, size ratio, sharpness, exposure, and tilt can be measured. Eyes fully open, a pacifier, a parent’s hand at the edge, expression, background cleanliness, and recency need human eyes. Our checker auto-judges the first group, scores the photo, and gives you a short manual checklist for the rest — it never pretends to be an official approval.