What to Wear for a Passport Photo: Clothes, Glasses, Hair

The United States is the most explicit. The State Department's photo guidance says you may not wear a uniform, clothing that looks like a uniform, or camouflage attire. Hats and head coverings are out unless you wear them every day for religious reasons, in which case you submit a signed statement confirming that, or for medical reasons, in which case a signed doctor's statement is needed. Glasses have been banned outright since November 1, 2016, after years of rejections for glare; the only exception is a medical one, again with a doctor's note. Headphones, wireless earpieces and similar devices must come off.

The UK's HM Passport Office asks for a plain expression with the mouth closed, eyes open and visible, nothing covering the face, no hair across the eyes, and no shadows on the face or behind you. Head coverings are not allowed unless worn for religious or medical reasons. There is no list of banned garments, but the requirement that the photo shows only you against a plain cream or light grey background rules out scarves pulled high, hoods and anything that obscures the outline of the head. The current checklist lives on the GOV.UK passport photo page.

Most other countries, including the Schengen states, India, Canada and Australia, build on the same source: ICAO Document 9303, the International Civil Aviation Organization's specification for machine-readable travel documents, and the ISO/IEC 19794-5 face-image standard it references. ICAO's guidance is about the face, not fashion. It asks for a frontal pose, even lighting, no shadows, eyes clearly visible and nothing that hides the face's outline. For size, head height and background color by country, see passport photo requirements by country; this article stays on what you put on your body.

Most failed photos break no clothing rule. They fail because the garment changes what the examiner or the automated checker sees. The classic case is a white or very light top in front of a white background: the shoulders disappear, the head looks like it is floating, and some background-removal and face-detection steps lose the edge of the neck. A pale grey tee against the UK's light grey background does the same. Busy patterns, large logos and printed text pull attention from the face and can confuse automatic cropping, and sequins or satin throw bright reflections into an otherwise even exposure.

The rest are about the face itself. Heavy contour, false lashes or a dramatic lip color can make the photo look unlike you at the border, and a passport is valid for ten years for most adults. Hair falling across one eye, a turtleneck or high collar that hides the jawline, and big hoop earrings or statement necklaces that sit in the frame all count against a photo because they change the outline a face-matching system relies on. A shiny forehead is the sneakiest one: under a single bright light, oil reads as a white hotspot, and a flat white patch on the face is treated like a glare or a shadow.

Think about contrast with the background you will submit, not the wall at home. Most countries want white or off-white, the UK wants cream or light grey, and a few visas ask for light blue. Against all of those, mid and dark tones are safe: navy, charcoal, dark green, burgundy, plum, chocolate brown and a medium blue. Black works too, though very dark fabric can make an automatic exposure brighten the face, so a lamp in front of you matters more.

The neckline matters almost as much as the color. A shirt collar, a crew neck or a modest V neck gives a clean line under the chin, which helps the photo read as a head-and-shoulders portrait and makes the chin easy to locate for the head-height check. Strapless and very low tops can make it look as if you are wearing nothing, which some offices reject on sight. If you change the backdrop afterward with the Background setting in the passport photo maker, pick your top after you know the target color: a light blue shirt is fine on white but poor on a light blue visa background.

Religious head coverings are accepted by the US, the UK, Canada, India, Australia and the Schengen states, provided the whole face is visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead and from one side of the face to the other, and the covering casts no shadow. The US requires a signed statement that the covering is part of recognized religious attire worn daily in public; most others accept it without paperwork. Choose a covering in a solid color that contrasts with the background, pin it so it sits flat rather than framing the face with folds, and keep it off the eyebrows.

Glasses are where countries genuinely disagree, and the safest default is simply to take them off. If you do keep them on where allowed, use clear lenses, tilt the frames down slightly or move the main light higher so the lenses do not reflect it, and make sure the rims do not cross your eyes.

Babies and young children follow the same clothing logic with a few practical twists. Put them in a plain colored onesie or top rather than white, remove hats and hair accessories, and lay them on a plain white or light sheet if they cannot sit up. No other person, hand or toy may appear in the frame. The US and the UK relax the expression and open-eye rules for the youngest children; the details, including how to hold a newborn without showing up in the shot, are in baby and infant passport photo rules.

Hearing aids and other medical devices you wear every day can stay on in the US, and the UK and most other countries accept them if they do not cover the face. Hair and facial hair have one rule everywhere: the photo must match how you look now. If you have just shaved a full beard or dyed your hair from black to platinum, you will look different from a photo taken a month earlier, which is a reason to retake it rather than reuse an old one.

Expression rules look identical until you read them closely. The US asks for a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes open. A relaxed, closed-mouth smile is accepted; a wide grin that shows teeth and narrows the eyes is a risk, because the eyes must be clearly open. The UK asks for a neutral expression with the mouth closed, which in practice means no smile at all. India, Canada, Australia and the Schengen states follow the ICAO line: neutral, mouth closed, looking straight at the camera.

The reason is the same everywhere. Automated gates compare your live face with the chip image, and a big smile changes the shape of the cheeks, eyes and mouth more than any garment can. Practical tips: breathe out just before the shot, let your jaw relax, keep your chin level rather than tilted up, and look into the lens, not at the screen. Take several shots and keep one where both eyes are equally open.

A home photo succeeds or fails on light more than on the camera. Stand facing a window on an overcast day or with daylight coming from slightly above eye level, about half a meter to a meter in front of a plain wall. Avoid an overhead ceiling light on its own: it creates shadows under the eyebrows, nose and chin, and it is the usual source of a shiny forehead. Have someone else take the photo at arm's length or more, with the phone at your eye height; a selfie distorts the nose and is refused by the US.

The wall does not need to be the exact color the country wants. A plain, evenly lit, light-colored wall gives the cleanest edge around the hair and shoulders, and the Background option can replace it with white, light grey or blue afterward. Pick the exact document under Country & document, then check the crop against the Head-size guide before you download. The photo is deleted from the server 30 minutes after processing, and nothing needs installing.

Run through this list before you sit down, not after the photo has been printed. Every item is either a written rule in at least one major country or a common reason for a photo to be sent back.