Why is 600 × 600 the size everyone quotes?

Because two inches at 300 dots per inch is exactly 600 dots. The State Department accepts a range of pixel dimensions for digital submission, but 600 square is the one that matches the printed 2 × 2 photograph exactly, so it is the safe answer for both.

Can I wear my glasses if I have a medical reason?

Only with a signed note from a doctor, and even then the consular officer may still ask for a photograph without them. In practice it is far quicker to remove them for thirty seconds than to carry documentation about it.

Does the same photograph work for a US visa application?

Yes. DS-160 and the immigrant visa forms use the same 2 × 2 specification with the same white background. The digital upload has its own file-size ceiling, so compress the result if the form refuses it.

My photograph came from my phone. Is that acceptable?

A modern phone camera easily exceeds the resolution required. What matters more is the lens: hold the phone at arm's length or further and zoom slightly, because a phone held close distorts the nose and widens the face in a way officers are trained to notice.

US Passport & Visa Photo — 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)

2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm) at 300 dpi (600 × 600 px), white or off-white.

Everything runs inside your browser. Your files never leave your device.

Drop your files here

.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .heic, .avif · they stay on this device

Options

Country and document

Sets the millimetre size, the head-height range and the background colour.

Background

Anything but 'keep' cuts you out with a model that runs on this device and puts you on a plain colour. 'Keep' skips the model entirely, so it is instant.

Cutout tightness0%

Only used when the background is being replaced. Raise it to trim a halo, lower it to rescue hair that was cut into.

Print sheet

A sheet tiles as many copies as the paper takes, with a cut line around each. Any print shop can run it.

Also save a framing guide

A second file with the crown and chin bands drawn on, so you can check the head is the right size. Never submit that one.

Show exact numbers

Frame measured in

The frame is written as a percentage so it means the same thing whatever the photograph's resolution.

Frame from the left

Frame from the top

Frame width

Frame height

Your files are read by this tab and never uploaded. Closing the page discards them.

Ask about US Passport & Visa Photo — 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)

Questions about what this tool does, which option to pick, or what it can and cannot handle.

The question you type here is sent to an AI provider to be answered — your files and whatever you put in the tool above are not, and the assistant cannot see them. Answers are generated and can be wrong. The tool itself is not guessing: it runs deterministic code on your device.

About the US Passport & Visa Photo — 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)

Two inches square is where most American passport photographs go wrong, because two inches is not fifty-one millimetres. It is 50.8, and at 300 dpi that difference is the gap between an image 600 pixels across and one 602 pixels across. The State Department's online submission checks for the former. A file built from the rounded figure looks correct in every way a person can see and is refused by software that never explains itself.

Head height is given as a range: between one inch and one and three-eighths from the chin to the top of the hair, which is 25 to 35 mm. That is a wide tolerance compared with most countries and it is the reason American photographs look less tightly cropped than European ones. The eyes should sit somewhere between 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 inches up from the bottom edge.

Glasses have been banned outright since November 2016. This catches people every year, because the rule changed after decades of the opposite, and a photograph taken in good faith with the spectacles the applicant wears daily is rejected on sight. Take them off.

The background must be white or off-white, evenly lit, with no shadow falling behind the head — which is what makes a photograph taken against a bedroom wall fail even when the wall is white. If the wall behind you is the problem rather than the crop, the background option here replaces it outright, using a model that runs in this tab.

Confirm the current rule at travel.state.gov before you submit; this page describes the requirement as published, not as it may later change.

How to use it

1Add a photograph taken straight on, in even light, with your glasses off and a neutral expression.
2Leave the country set to the United States unless you are making this photograph for somewhere else.
3Pick a background: keep what is behind you if the wall is already plain white, or have it replaced if it is not.
4Open the file marked do-not-submit and check the top of your hair and your chin each fall inside a blue band.
5Download the plain file — 600 × 600 pixels — or choose a print sheet if you need paper copies.

Questions

Why is 600 × 600 the size everyone quotes?: Because two inches at 300 dots per inch is exactly 600 dots. The State Department accepts a range of pixel dimensions for digital submission, but 600 square is the one that matches the printed 2 × 2 photograph exactly, so it is the safe answer for both.
Can I wear my glasses if I have a medical reason?: Only with a signed note from a doctor, and even then the consular officer may still ask for a photograph without them. In practice it is far quicker to remove them for thirty seconds than to carry documentation about it.
Does the same photograph work for a US visa application?: Yes. DS-160 and the immigrant visa forms use the same 2 × 2 specification with the same white background. The digital upload has its own file-size ceiling, so compress the result if the form refuses it.
My photograph came from my phone. Is that acceptable?: A modern phone camera easily exceeds the resolution required. What matters more is the lens: hold the phone at arm's length or further and zoom slightly, because a phone held close distorts the nose and widens the face in a way officers are trained to notice.