Can I use my selfie as a passport photo? Someone lives alone and asks this question. According to the passport photo guidelines of the official Department of State, there is a strict rule stating: “Has someone else taken your photo? No selfies.” When most people see this rule, they will strictly follow it and take your passport photo of a photographer or friend.
That doesn’t mean you can’t really take a picture yourself. If you take the correct passport photo yourself and the photo conforms to the official passport guidelines, your selfie photo can be accepted by the officials. In this article, we will guide you on how to take a passport photo yourself.
How to Take A Selfie Passport Photo That Gets Approved
First of all, you need to be clear about the detailed passport photo rules before you take a selfie passport photo at home.
Passport Photo Requirements
According to the U.S. Department of State, there are some strict requirements for passport photos. If you do not comply, your passport photo will be rejected. So read carefully the technical rules below and keep them in mind.
- The correct passport photo size is 2 x 2 inches. And there is a specific rule that the distance from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head must be between 1″ and 1 3/8″ (2.5 to 3.5 cm).
- The background of the photo must be white.
- There is no shadow allowed in the photo.
- The photo light taken should be even and smooth.
- All your facial features need to be shown in the photo.
- You need to face the camera straight ahead.
- You are not allowed to have any head covering unless for religious or medical reasons.
Therefore, selfie photos are not acceptable in the passport photo rule, which makes sense. You can’t take your passport photo holding your phone as usual from the length of your arm. This way, you will tilt your head and somehow cover your shoulders. Or arm-held selfies can cause one shoulder to be higher than the other. And the distance between your face and the camera is not far enough, which causes distorted features. If you cannot be shown in the photo, the photo will definitely be refused, causing the passport application to be delayed.
Steps to Take A Selfie Photo With A Tripod
Instead of holding your phone by yourself, you can use a tripod to take a selfie remotely. A tripod is like a friend helping you take a photo. As you master the basic techniques, you can get an acceptable selfie passport photo. Here we will show you how to make it.
- You need to find a white wall with enough light. A white wall facing a window is the best. And it ‘s best to take your passport photo during the day, when the sun is the most effective source of light. Otherwise, you need to use a lamp to make up for the light.
- Place your tripod at least 4 feet away from you and keep the camera right in front of you at your eye level. Let the camera capture your face and upper body. It’s up to you to sit down or stand up for your photo. You can find a comfortable and relaxing way.
- You must wear appropriate clothing for your passport photo. You can wear everyday clothes as usual, but you should avoid wearing white and grey colored clothes. Because you need to stand out from the white background when you take a picture.
- You should avoid anything that casts shadows on your face, such as head coverings, glasses, unless you have religious or medical reasons. But you must submit a signed statement saying that you wear them for religious or medical purposes. Make sure you can show every aspect of your face completely.
- Don’t wear heavy makeup in your passport photo. Although it is allowed to wear makeup in the official guidelines, and you want to show a beautiful image in a photo, you can’t let makeup cover your basic facial features, which makes it difficult to recognize your identity.
- When you take a passport photo, try to maintain a neutral facial expression. No laughing or making faces. Just look at the camera calmly and naturally. You can’t tilt your head.
After you follow the above steps one by one, press the remote control and get your selfie passport photo easily, which perfectly fits the required rules. And if you are not happy with the result, you can take as many photos as you want to choose the one you like. Although you won’t find it as convenient as taking a photo in a photo studio, it can help you save money and give you many attempts to get photos.
When you pick up a satisfying photo, upload it to AiPassportPhotos, an online professional passport photo editor, to help you crop the correct size and check if it is compliant or not. Once done, you will get the templates and download them to your device. Then you can print passport photos at the nearby photo shop.
Can A Selfie Be A Passport Photo?
Your selfie can not be a passport photo, if you take this from your arm’s length. However, if you use a selfie stick or tripod to take the photo and upload it to passport photo editor-AiPassportPhotos to convert your image into a passport-compliant photo, your selfie photo can be accepted in your passport application.
If I don’t Have A Tripod, how to Take A Photo at Home?
Since official guidelines don’t allow you to use a selfie for your passport photo, you can ask a family member or friend to take a photo for you if you don’t have a tripod or selfie stick at home. And get an acceptable passport photo through the reliable passport photo tool-AiPassportPhoto. But you also need to follow the above steps to take photos at home.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shown you how to take your photo and turn your selfie into a passport-compliant photo. Make sure the selfie you take meets all the requirements in passport photo guidelines. If you do so, your selfie passport photo will be accepted by the U.S. Department of State, because they won’t tell the difference whether your photo was taken by you or someone else.
Erin Lo