US Passport Photo
Check a photo against the State Department's online renewal rules — and only change it if it has to change.
Rule set by U.S. Department of State · source · checked 2026-08-09
Drop an image here
Or choose a file, or paste a screenshot. It is measured and re-encoded on your device and never uploaded.
Fitting on your device…
That didn't work.
Your image is opened, measured and re-encoded in this browser. It is never uploaded, and nothing about it is stored.
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About the Pathine US Passport Photo
The rules for a photo uploaded to an online passport renewal are shorter than most people expect, and they are not the same as the visa rules: the file has to be between 54 KB and 10 MB, in colour, and taken in the last six months. No pixel dimensions are specified at all, because the application crops and repositions the photo itself.
Which is why this page does as little as possible. It checks your photo against the published limits and, if it already meets them, hands it straight back untouched — because the State Department asks for the original, unedited file, and re-encoding it would be exactly what they told you not to do. Only a photo that breaks the size limits gets changed at all.
When you'd reach for it
A photo the renewal site rejected for its size
A DSLR or a high-resolution HEIC can easily clear 10 MB, and a heavily forwarded photo can fall under 54 KB.
Checking before you start the application
Unacceptable photos are the most common reason renewals go on hold. Confirming the file is within the limits first costs nothing.
Understanding which rule you actually broke
The upload tool tells you a photo is unacceptable without always saying why. The report here separates the file rules from the ones about the photograph itself.
How to use it
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Drop the image in
Drag a file onto the page, choose one, or paste a screenshot. Nothing is uploaded — the work happens on your device.
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Read the report
Every requirement is listed with a tick or a cross against what your file actually is. Anything the rule asks for that software cannot check is listed too, unticked.
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Download it
The file you get is the one that passed. If nothing could pass, you are told the closest achievable size instead of being handed something that will be rejected.
Common questions
Why did nothing happen to my photo?
Because it already met every file requirement, and the instruction is to submit the original, unedited photo. Handing back a re-encoded copy would be worse than doing nothing, so this page does nothing and tells you why. The download is your own file.
Isn't this the same as a US visa photo?
No, and assuming so is a good way to get rejected. The visa digital image specification is a square between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 at or under 240 kB. The passport renewal upload specifies no dimensions at all and allows up to 10 MB. Both are linked from their own pages here.
Should I crop it to 2 × 2 inches first?
Not for the online renewal — you reposition and crop inside the application itself, and it does a better job than guessing would. The 2 × 2 inch figure is for a printed photo submitted on paper.
Does it check my expression or the background?
No, and it says so rather than implying otherwise. Those are real requirements — plain white background, no glasses, no teeth showing — and software cannot judge them. They are listed in the report as unchecked.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. It is read and measured in your browser. Nothing is transmitted, which for a passport photograph seemed worth building rather than promising.