HM Passport Office publishes the photo standards its examiners follow. The current version, 51.0, was published on 19 January 2026 (HM Passport Office: Photo standards, version 51.0 (19 January 2026), listed on GOV.UK: Photographic standards (examiner guidance)). Two points in it matter if you make the photo at home.
Examiners must reject a photo if the face has been digitally enhanced, for example a changed hairline, removed blemishes, or features made larger or smaller. Filters that only change brightness or contrast are accepted, but not ones that add textures or effects or make you look younger or older. A background edited to remove shadows or marks is accepted, as long as your own image isn't changed (HM Passport Office: Photo standards, version 51.0 (19 January 2026)).
A digital photo can show a white, grey or black bar along its top, side or bottom edge, usually where a photo was too small for the frame and the gap was filled in. Until 8 December 2025 examiners could accept a white bar across the bottom of a child's photo if it didn't cover the face. From 8 December 2025 they no longer accept these photos (HM Passport Office: Photo standards, version 51.0 (19 January 2026)).
| What to do | |
|---|---|
| Retouching apps and beauty modes | Leave them off. Use the photo as the camera took it. |
| Brightness and contrast | Fine to adjust. |
| A plain light background | Best taken against a plain wall; GOV.UK accepts a background edited to remove shadows if you are unchanged. |
| A child's or baby's photo | Take it with the head and shoulders well inside the frame, so nothing has to be filled in at the bottom. |
Picproved never retouches the face. On UK passport photos it now fails the check, rather than warning, if a plain band would fill the bottom of the photo, and asks for a photo that shows the shoulders. Replace background starts off for the UK online passport, because GOV.UK asks for an unaltered photo (GOV.UK: Get a passport photo). No face retouching. Pay once. 90-day redo and refund, no letter needed.
Rules checked 3 November 2026. Examiner guidance can change; the office decides.
