Why passport photos get rejected — and how to avoid it

Background problems

The single most common rejection reason. Backgrounds with patterns, shadows, other people, furniture or the wrong colour are all grounds for rejection.

Our tool removes your original background entirely and replaces it with the exact colour required for your country — light grey for the UK, white for the US, India and Canada.

Glasses

Most countries, including the UK, US, Canada and Australia, no longer allow glasses in passport photos — even prescription glasses without glare. If glasses are detected, our compliance check flags it before you pay so you can retake the photo.

Expression and eyes

Smiling, an open mouth, or closed/squinting eyes are common rejection reasons. A neutral expression with both eyes open and visible is required almost everywhere.

Head position and size

Your head must be centred, facing forward, and take up a specific proportion of the frame — too close or too far away results in rejection. Our tool automatically detects your face and crops to the exact specification for your country.

Lighting and shadows

Shadows across the face or background, red-eye from flash, or photos that are too dark or too bright are all flagged. Take your photo near a window with even natural light for the best results.

Image quality

Blurry, pixelated or low-resolution photos are rejected, as are photos that have been digitally altered (e.g. with filters or heavy retouching). Use your phone's rear camera and keep it steady.

Country-specific rejection patterns

While the core reasons above apply almost everywhere, each country's authority tends to flag slightly different things in practice:

• UK (HMPO): glasses and background shadows are the two most common reasons for digital photo rejection on GOV.UK.
• USA (State Dept): incorrect head size (outside the 1 to 1 3/8 inch range) and off-white backgrounds are frequent issues, often triggering Form DS-5505 requests for a new photo.
• Canada (IRCC): square crops (instead of the required 50×70mm tall format) and low-resolution uploads are common causes of portal rejection.
• Australia (DFAT): insufficient DPI/resolution for the 600 DPI requirement, and backgrounds that are slightly off the required grey or white, are typical issues.
• India (Passport Seva): file size over the 250KB (passport) or 200KB (OCI/visa) limit, and using the wrong aspect ratio for the application type, are the most common upload errors.

What happens after a rejection

The consequence of a rejected photo depends on where in the process it's caught. If it's caught at the upload step (as with India's Passport Seva or Canada's IRCC portal), you'll typically just need to upload a corrected photo and can continue immediately. If it's caught later — for example, the US State Department sending a Form DS-5505 letter, or HMPO emailing about a digital photo issue — it can add days or weeks to your application while you arrange a new photo and resubmit.

This is why catching issues before submission matters: a free preview against the same checks the authority applies means problems are caught in seconds, not after a delay of days or weeks.

How to avoid a second rejection

If your photo has already been rejected once, the most common mistake is fixing only the specific issue mentioned and not re-checking everything else — for example, retaking a photo to fix lighting but keeping the same glasses or background problem. Start fresh: read through the full requirements for your country (linked from each of our country pages), take a new photo following the lighting and background guidance in our 'how to take a passport photo at home' guide, and run it through our compliance check, which covers all 9 points at once rather than just the one that was flagged.