Photo requirements: Passport and green card, United States
The published rule for this document’s photograph — from U.S. Department of State, as it was read on 2026-09-17 — and a way to make one that meets it without sending your face to anybody.
# Photo requirements: Passport and green card, United States
The published rule for this document’s photograph — from U.S. Department of State, as it was read on 2026-09-17 — and a way to make one that meets it without sending your face to anybody.
Last updated 2026-09-17
## The figures
| What is measured | What this rule publishes |
| --- | --- |
| Print size | 51 x 51 mm at 300 dpi |
| Head, chin to crown | 49.0% to 68.6% (25–35 mm) |
| Eye line, from the bottom | 54.9% to 68.6% (28–35 mm) (guidance) |
| Background | White or off-white |
| Online photo upload | at least 600 x 600 px, JPEG, 54.0 KB to 10.00 MB |
[Make this photo](https://abox.tools/id-photo/#us-passport) Opens the photo tool with this rule already chosen. It runs in your browser: the photograph is never uploaded, and there is no account and no watermark.
## What else this rule says
- Square, and the only square passport photograph in wide use: 2 x 2 inches, which is 51 x 51 mm.
- The head may sit anywhere from 25 to 35 mm, a far wider window than the ICAO rule, and the eye line is measured from the bottom edge rather than as a proportion.
- The upload rule is a file size and nothing else now: 54 KB to 10 MB, as a JPEG, PNG or HEIC. The pixel size and the 240 KB ceiling it used to state are both gone, and so is the eye line - the square written here is the printed 2 x 2 inches at 300 dpi, and a larger square inside the band is just as acceptable.
## Where these figures come from
Transcribed from U.S. Department of State — travel.state.gov, Passport Photos / Uploading a Digital Photo. Checked 2026-09-17. Rules change; the figures above are what to check against the form in front of you.
## What the tool does with them
- Locks the crop to this document’s shape, and draws the head and eye bands inside it, so you can see the rule on your own photograph instead of reading about it.
- Finds the crown, the chin and both pupils by measuring the picture — no face model is downloaded — and says in millimetres whether the head is too large or too small for this rule.
- Reads the background colour and how evenly it is lit, and says which of the two is the problem when there is one.
- Writes the print at the exact millimetres with the resolution in the file, a sheet of them with cut marks, and the upload file at the pixel and file size this rule states.
## Other documents, United States
- [Visa](https://abox.tools/id-photo/us-visa/) — 51 x 51 mm · 600 x 600 px
- [Diversity Visa lottery entry](https://abox.tools/id-photo/us-dv/) — 51 x 51 mm · 600 x 600 px
[Every country and document in the photo tool](https://abox.tools/id-photo/)
The figures
What is measured
What this rule publishes
Print size
51 x 51 mm at 300 dpi
Head, chin to crown
49.0% to 68.6% (25–35 mm)
Eye line, from the bottom
54.9% to 68.6% (28–35 mm) (guidance)
Background
White or off-white
Online photo upload
at least 600 x 600 px, JPEG, 54.0 KB to 10.00 MB
Make this photoOpens the photo tool with this rule already chosen. It runs in your browser: the photograph is never uploaded, and there is no account and no watermark.
What else this rule says
Square, and the only square passport photograph in wide use: 2 x 2 inches, which is 51 x 51 mm.
The head may sit anywhere from 25 to 35 mm, a far wider window than the ICAO rule, and the eye line is measured from the bottom edge rather than as a proportion.
The upload rule is a file size and nothing else now: 54 KB to 10 MB, as a JPEG, PNG or HEIC. The pixel size and the 240 KB ceiling it used to state are both gone, and so is the eye line - the square written here is the printed 2 x 2 inches at 300 dpi, and a larger square inside the band is just as acceptable.
Where these figures come from
Transcribed from U.S. Department of State — travel.state.gov, Passport Photos / Uploading a Digital Photo. Checked 2026-09-17. Rules change; the figures above are what to check against the form in front of you.
What the tool does with them
Locks the crop to this document’s shape, and draws the head and eye bands inside it, so you can see the rule on your own photograph instead of reading about it.
Finds the crown, the chin and both pupils by measuring the picture — no face model is downloaded — and says in millimetres whether the head is too large or too small for this rule.
Reads the background colour and how evenly it is lit, and says which of the two is the problem when there is one.
Writes the print at the exact millimetres with the resolution in the file, a sheet of them with cut marks, and the upload file at the pixel and file size this rule states.