How to Solve the Problem That Passport Photos Are Rejected

Have your passport rejected because of the ineligible passport photo? Passport photos rejected are a major factor in passport denials. Even though you firmly believe that your passport photo is perfect, most of you encounter the problem of having it refused for a variety of reasons. Before you take new photos, it's a wise choice to follow us to learn the reasons and how to make the correct passport photos.

Part 1. Reasons That Passport Photos are Rejected

The reasons for passport photos being rejected concern many different aspects. Here are the possible reasons.

• The photos do not meet the requirements: the background color is not correct, the size and proportion of the photo do not meet the requirements of the issuing authority, dress problems, etc.

• The quality of the passport photo is bad. The photo is blurry, low resolution, or insufficient to clearly show the applicant's facial features. Too dark or too bright, uneven light, etc., will affect the quality of the photo.

• Other reasons: The photo is too different from the applicant's appearance. Some technical problems such as incorrect photo format, etc.

Part 2. Requirements for Acceptable Passport Photos

Now, after having an understanding of why passport photos are rejected, how to solve these problems? Let's look at the detailed requirements for acceptable passport photos, and then, follow them to get qualified passport photos.

Basic Requirements

• Passport photos must be the ones taken within the past 6 months to ensure that the photo matches the current appearance.

• Passport photos usually require a white background to ensure clarity and legibility of photos.

Note: You can use transparent background remover to help make your photo background white.

• The photos must be in color and must be developed by a photo studio or printed on professional photo printing paper to ensure the quality of the photos.

• The passport photo content must include the entire face and head of the applicant, with no shadow on the face or background. Do not perform technical manipulations on human features, such as scars, moles, hairstyles, etc.

Face, Clothing, and Headwear Requirements

• The expression is natural; the eyes are open, the mouth is naturally closed, the hair must not cover the eyes, and all facial features are clearly visible.

• You can wear glasses, but the lenses must not be colored, and the outline of the glasses must not be blurred by flashes, shadows, or frames.

• Accessories such as hats or headscarves must not be worn, except for religious reasons, and must ensure that they do not cover the entire face of the applicant.

• Dress appropriately and formally and avoid complicated clothes.

Photo Size and Specifications

• The size is usually 48 * 33 mm, which is the international standard. However, the exact sizes of paper photos and electronic photos may vary slightly by region or agency requirements.

• Let's take the American passport photo size as an example. The American passport photo should measure 2 inches by 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) with the head centered and sized between 1 inch and 1.4 inches (25 and 35 mm). And the image must be less than or equal to 240 kB.

Note: Please confirm the specific requirements before taking the passport photo.

Other Requirements

• The glossy paper must be used to develop the photo, not cloth paper, to ensure that the overall effect of the photo is neither dark nor light.

Be sure to carefully check that the photo meets all the requirements before submitting it to avoid passport photos being rejected.

Part 3. Tips on How to Avoid a Passport Photo Rejected

After understanding the reasons passport photos are rejected and the requirements of a qualified passport picture, we believe you can better prepare the passport photo. But we still want to share more tips to help you avoid the rejection of passport pictures.

Tip 1.

The background color of a passport photo does not have to be black, sky blue, or multicolored. The background is just a basic white color with no stains or wrinkles. Avoid anything in the backdrop that can cast shadows on your passport photo and make the background blank.

To prevent reflections or shadows in your passport photo, use a large poster board or plain white sheet.

Tip 2.

Excessive or poor lighting is the main cause of the shadows. Remember that any shadows in your passport photo could result in your application being rejected outright.

Uniform lighting with natural saturation and no need for additional image filters to make your passport photos look super professional.

Also, the final product or photo print is required on matte or glossy paper.

Tip 3.

No head tilt, no hunched shoulders, and unfocused eyes.

Your head should be at a 90-degree angle, your shoulders should be straight, and your eyes should be squarely focused on the lens. This applies to both standing and seated poses.

Do not need to smile. Just relax and make your expression natural.

Tip 4.

Avoid oversized passport photos. Sometimes it's inevitable to get large photos.

To meet electronic passport photo size requirements, you can use image compression tools to reduce the image file size. We just know a tool that can help compress images without compromising image quality to help avoid the photo being oversized.

Picwand Online Image Compressor is a free online photo size reducer that can help you compress your passport photo to an acceptable size. Besides, it can maintain the image quality while compressing passport photos. Let's learn the steps for using it to compress images.

Step 1. Open the Picwand Online Image Compressor website on the browser.

Step 2. Click Upload Image(s) to import one or more passport oversized images. Uploaded images will be compressed immediately.

Step 3. After completing compression, click Download All to export all compressed photos that meet the size requirements of the passport pictures, or Download to save one image.

Picwand Online Image Compressor is a good choice to compress photos if you don't want your passport photo rejected because of the oversized photo. Moreover, you can download compressed photos for free. The only drawback is that the compression ratio is not manually confirmed.

Part 4. FAQs

How long can I reapply for a passport again after my passport photo was rejected?

You have the following ninety days to resubmit new passport photos to apply for a passport if your application was denied due to noncompliance with government standards on passport images.

Can you wear false eyelashes for a passport photo?

No, you can't. Because passport photos are very strict in terms of vetting, passport photos need to clearly show the applicant's facial features so that they can be authenticated if needed. False eyelashes would change the appearance and accuracy of the photo.

What if my Walgreens passport photos get rejected?

Walgreens offers a full refund or a second set of photos free of charge.

Summary

In this article, we list the reasons passport photos are rejected and introduce the methods to get qualified passport pictures, namely the official passport photo requirements. In addition to the human factor, we also introduce a useful tool, Picwand Online Image Compressor, to help compress image size to get an acceptable passport photo size.

Hope this article is comprehensive enough to help you get your passport. Welcome to comment in the comments section about the unexpected reasons your passport was rejected to help avoid similar situations.