Digital photo for US online passport renewal

Updated September 25, 2026 · Rules checked September 25, 2026 against travel.state.gov (last updated May 4, 2026)

Check that you can renew online first

The State Department decides who can renew online, and the conditions depend on your current passport and your situation. Read the current conditions on travel.state.gov before you start. If you can't renew online, you'll apply on a paper form with a printed 2×2 photo, which you can make with the US passport photo maker.

Digital photo rules for online renewal

These rules come from the State Department's Upload a Digital Photo page, last updated May 4, 2026.

The page adds: "We check all photos to ensure you are not using artificial intelligence tools."

What "bottom of the frame at the edge of the shoulders" means

The upload page describes the framing by where the photo ends: at the edge of your shoulders, near where they connect to your arms. In practice, the photo shows your whole head, your neck and the top of your shoulders, not your chest or a wide view of the room. If you're not sure, the page says to leave a little extra room around your face, because you can crop the photo when you upload it.

File types and this tool

The application accepts JPG, PNG, HEIC and HEIF files. This tool opens HEIC photos in Safari, and in other browsers you can choose a JPG or PNG instead. Whichever you start with, the file you save from the tool is a JPG, one of the accepted types.

How the photo is reviewed

You upload the photo inside the renewal application, and you can reposition and crop it there. The application's photo tool checks the basic requirements and tells you what to change if the photo isn't acceptable. After your application arrives, an employee reviews the photo. Getting past the upload step doesn't mean the photo has been approved.

If there's a problem, the State Department sends you a letter or email. Its page on responding to a letter or email says it needs the additional information within 90 days of the date shown on your letter. See why passport photos get rejected, and how to fix them for the usual causes.

Don't confuse the application's photo tool with the State Department's separate Photo Tool at tsg.phototool.state.gov. That tool only crops a photo to 600×600 pixels and doesn't check its quality, and its own page says not to use it for online renewal.

Make the file with this tool

1. Check that the document above the buttons says US passport online renewal. It's already selected on this page.
2. Take the photo with a helper about 4 feet away and the phone at your eye level, or choose one you've just taken. Stand several feet in front of a plain white or off-white wall, facing a window or two evenly placed lamps.
3. Let the tool crop the photo. The square crop keeps the top of your shoulders in the frame. If you want more room, use the head-size slider and the arrows.
4. Look at the checks and fix anything that failed, usually by tapping Retake. For phone photos, the usual trouble spots are uneven light and a background that looks gray.
5. Read the reminder next to the save button: no glasses or hat, a recent photo, and no filters or edits.
6. Save the JPG with the main button. It's sized to fit the 54 KB to 10 MB range. Upload it in your renewal application, then adjust the position there if the application asks you to.

What not to do with a digital photo

Online renewal is strict about changes to the image, and phones make changes without asking. Watch for these:

• Portrait mode. It blurs the background with software, so switch to the regular photo mode.
• Beauty and skin-smoothing settings. Some front cameras turn them on by default. Turn them off before you shoot.
• "Enhance" and AI tools in gallery apps. Auto-enhance, relighting, background removal and AI touch-ups are edits. Use the photo as the camera took it.
• A replaced background. That's an edit too, so this tool doesn't offer background changes for US documents. Cover a non-white wall with a plain white sheet or poster board instead.
• Fixing red eye. The State Department asks for a retake instead. Avoid the flash and use daylight.
• A photo of a print. Don't scan or photograph a printed photo to make the file. Start from an original digital photo.
• Text messages, screenshots and forwarded copies. They reduce quality, and the State Department says not to send the image by text message. Use the original file.
• ID badges and lanyards. Take them off for the photo.
• Cropping yourself out of a group photo. These crops are usually small, the light is rarely right, and part of another person often stays in the frame.
• An old favorite. Check the date in the photo's details. If it's older than 6 months, take a new one.
• A big smile. A natural smile is allowed, but the page asks you to avoid showing your teeth.

How the digital rules differ from the printed photo

Printed and digital photos share the same basics: a white or off-white background, no glasses, a recent unedited picture and both eyes open. What differs is how they're checked. For a printed photo, you're responsible for the exact 2×2 size and the head and eye measurements. For online renewal, you upload a file, place the crop inside the application, and an employee reviews the result. The US passport photo requirements guide compares the two side by side.

Questions