United Kingdom Standard Visitor
photo.
GOV.UK’s digital upload runs a biometric contrast check that pure-white backgrounds sometimes fail. Light grey / cream pass reliably — we render that by default.
- 35×45 mm
- Plain light-coloured — light grey or cream recommended
- JPEG · 50–10000 KB
Photos deleted within 24 hours · Full refund if your photo is rejected · No training on your photo.
Illustrative model, not a real applicant — this photo is not tied to United Kingdom and is shown only to preview the frame and background. Your compliant render will follow United Kingdom Standard Visitor specs exactly.
A photo, not a selfie. We handle the rest.
Framing, cropping, and background are automatic. But arm’s-length selfies distort your face — most authorities reject them. Take a few steps back instead.
- Ask someone to take the photo from about 1.5–2 m away — or prop your phone and use the timer
- Use the rear camera, not the front / selfie camera — the wider front lens distorts your face
- Face a window for soft, even light; no harsh shadows on you or the wall behind
- Head and shoulders in frame, eyes looking straight at the lens
- Plain-ish background is fine — we replace it with the exact required colour
- Arm's-length selfie — the close focal length stretches your nose and chin
- Wide smile or visible teeth
- Glasses (prescription included — remove for this spec)
- Hats or sunglasses
- Head coverings unless worn for religious reasons
- Another person in the frame — only the applicant
- Photos older than the recency window below
Four steps. Under two minutes.
End-to-end, from picking a photo to downloading the final compliant JPEG.
- № 01Upload your photo
Your browser loads a face-check model (once, ~3 MB) and runs the compliance rules locally. The photo never leaves your device at this step.
- № 02Free compliance check
We verify face position, expression, eyes, centering, and head-height against the United Kingdom Standard Visitor spec. If something fails, we tell you exactly what to fix.
- № 03Spec-compliant render
Once it passes, we auto-crop to 35×45 mm, replace the background with plain light-coloured — light grey or cream recommended, and compress the JPEG to 50–10000 KB.
- № 04Preview, then pay $9
Watermarked preview first — you only pay if you're happy. Download link works for 24 hours, emailed to you as a receipt.
Exact specification
Drawn from gov.uk (Her Majesty's Passport Office).
- Dimensions
- 35×45 mm (1.38″ × 1.77″)
- Pixels
- 600×750 px @ 600 dpi
- Head height
- 29–34 mm (70–80% frame)
- Background
- Plain light-coloured — light grey or cream recommended#EEEEEE
- File
- JPEG 50–10000 KB
- Use
- Digital upload
- Recency
- Taken within 1 month
What reviewers check
The common rejection reasons, ranked by frequency.
- No eyeglasses — frames or lenses
- Neutral expression, mouth closed — no smile
- Ears optional
- No head covering unless religious (face fully visible)
- Taken within the last 1 month
Country-specific notes
Notes- 01HMPO’s digital upload rejects photos under 50 KB or over 10 MB.
- 02GOV.UK accepts any plain light-coloured background — light grey / cream pass the biometric contrast check more reliably than pure white.
- 03Digital upload only; photo must be taken in the last month.
- 04No glasses unless required for medical reasons (signed note).
The measurement diagram, annotated.
Beside every sample output we publish the compliance diagram — frame ratio, head-height window, background colour swatch — drawn from the issuing authority. No guesswork before you pay.
Official source · www.gov.uk/photos-for-passports
Common questions
- What makes this photo compliant?
- Every output is rendered to exactly 35×45 mm (600×750 px at 600 DPI) with the #EEEEEE background required by gov.uk (Her Majesty's Passport Office). The JPEG is compressed to fit the 50–10000 KB cap.
- What if my photo is rejected?
- If the issuing authority rejects your photo because it doesn’t match the spec on this page, we refund you in full within 30 days. We can’t refund rejections for reasons unrelated to the photo (application errors, document issues, clerk discretion).
- Is my photo stored?
- Your uploaded photo and the rendered output are both deleted within 24 hours. We store only a SHA-256 hash and order metadata (for your receipt and chargeback defense). We never train models on your photo.