The State Department says your photo must not be edited or filtered, and it won't accept one that is (travel.state.gov: Passport photos). That covers beauty filters, skin smoothing, face reshaping and AI-made or AI-changed photos, and US missions repeated the warning in 2026. Online renewals check the photo you upload (travel.state.gov: Upload a digital photo (online renewal)), and visa photos follow the same rule (travel.state.gov: Photo requirements for visas).
| What the rule means | |
|---|---|
| Filters and beauty modes | Not allowed. Turn off portrait, beauty and smoothing modes before you take the photo. |
| AI-made or AI-changed photos | Not allowed. The photo has to be a real, recent photo of you. |
| A new background | Don't. Stand in front of a plain white or off-white wall instead. |
| Cropping and resizing to 2×2 inches | Fine: that is how every photo is made to size. |
| Smiling | A natural smile is fine; keep both eyes open. |
For every US document, Picproved keeps your photo as you took it: it crops and sizes it to 2×2 inches (600×600 pixels for an upload) and checks the head size, light, background, eyes and glasses, but it never replaces the background and never touches your face. Replace background isn't offered for US documents at all. No face retouching. Pay once. 90-day redo and refund, no letter needed.
Rules checked 3 November 2026. The office decides; always confirm on travel.state.gov before you apply.
