Photo requirements
Passport Photo Head Size: How Big Your Head Must Be
Short answer
On a 2 x 2 inch U.S. passport photo, your head must measure 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head. That is about 50 to 69 percent of the photo height, or roughly 300 to 412 pixels on a 600 x 600 digital file.
On this page
Head size is one of the easiest rules to get wrong and one of the most common reasons a passport photo is sent back. The rule itself is simple. What trips people up is measuring it, converting it to pixels for an online renewal, and understanding why a phone photo that looks fine can still fail.
The official head size rule
The State Department's photo page and the Form DS-82 instructions (edition 04-2025) both say your head must be 1 to 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head on the 2 x 2 inch photo. In metric, the State Department rounds this to 25 to 35 mm.
The internal guidance passport specialists use, the Foreign Affairs Manual at 8 FAM 402.1, adds context. It says a face that is too small can make identification difficult, while a face that is too large may be impossible to crop to the size printed in the passport book, and can come with fish-eye distortion that enlarges the nose. It also says the photo should be a clear close-up of the head and neck, which may include part of the shoulders, and that the ears do not have to be visible.
Where exactly is the top of the head?
The public rule says top of the head. The State Department's photo composition template for visa photos, which uses the same 1 to 1 3/8 inch range, measures from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin. The Foreign Affairs Manual measures to the top of the head rather than the hairline, and says facial hair does not count toward the chin. For most people the difference is a few millimeters. If you have tall or voluminous hair, aim for the middle of the range so the photo passes however it is measured.
-
CorrectCentred, neutral, even light
-
Too closeHead fills the frame
-
Too farHead is too small in the frame
Head size in inches, millimeters and pixels
For an online renewal, you upload a square digital file instead of a print. The proportions stay the same, so the head should fill the same share of the image height. Here is the range converted for the two most common file sizes.
| On a 2 x 2 in print | Millimeters | Share of height | Pixels at 600 x 600 | Pixels at 1200 x 1200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in (minimum) | 25 mm | 50% | 300 px | 600 px |
| 1 1/8 in | 29 mm | 56% | 338 px | 675 px |
| 1 3/16 in (middle) | 30 mm | 59% | 356 px | 713 px |
| 1 1/4 in | 32 mm | 63% | 375 px | 750 px |
| 1 3/8 in (maximum) | 35 mm | 69% | 412 px | 825 px |
Pixel values are rounded. Aim for the middle rows rather than the edges, because a few pixels of hair or a slight chin tilt can push a borderline photo out of range.
Eye position
The passport photo page does not publish a separate eye-height rule. The State Department's composition template for visa photos does: the eyes should sit 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of a 2 x 2 photo, which for digital images is 56 to 69 percent of the image height measured from the bottom. On a 600 pixel square, that puts the eye line about 336 to 414 pixels above the bottom edge. It is not an official passport rule, but it is a useful framing guide: if your head is the right size and your eyes land in that band, your head is also correctly placed vertically.
How to measure your head size
On a printed photo
- Lay the photo flat and place a ruler with inch or millimeter marks vertically over your face.
- Put zero at the bottom of the chin, not the bottom of a beard.
- Read the mark at the top of the head. It should be between 1 and 1 3/8 inches (25 and 35 mm).
- Check the photo itself measures 2 x 2 inches. A print that is scaled wrong will throw off the head size too.
On a digital file
- Open the file in any editor that shows the cursor position in pixels, such as Paint on Windows or Preview on Mac.
- Note the vertical pixel position of the bottom of the chin and the top of the head.
- Subtract to get the head height, then divide by the image height. The result should be between 0.50 and 0.69.
The quicker route is our free passport photo checker, which finds your face and measures the head ratio for you.
On photos from a store or kiosk
Do not assume a store photo is correct just because it was taken at a passport photo counter. Measure it before you leave. Check that each photo is exactly 2 inches square, that your head falls within the range above, and that the cut edges are straight. If you printed a sheet of photos at home, measure one cut photo the same way, because printer scaling settings such as "fit to page" quietly shrink or enlarge the whole image and the head with it.
Too close vs too far
Head size problems almost always come from the distance between the camera and your face, not from the crop.
| Problem | What it looks like | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head too large | Chin or hair touching the edges, no shoulders | Camera too close or cropped too tight | Step back, then crop leaving space above the hair |
| Head too small | Lots of background, upper body visible | Camera too far, wide crop | Crop tighter from a sharp original, or move closer |
| Distorted face | Large nose, narrow face, ears shrinking | Phone held at arm's length | Have someone shoot from about 4 feet away |
| Head off-center | Face drifting to one side or low in the frame | Careless crop | Center the face horizontally and use the eye band as a guide |
A good practical setup is to have someone else stand about four feet away with the phone at your eye level, using the main lens with no zoom, and then crop the photo to a square. Shooting from farther away and cropping keeps your features in natural proportion, which is why arm's-length selfies so often fail. See how to take a passport photo at home for the full setup.
Head size for babies and children
The same 1 to 1 3/8 inch rule applies to every age. With a baby lying on a sheet, the most common mistake is shooting too close and cutting off the top of the head. Stand over the baby, keep the whole head and the top of the shoulders in frame, and crop afterward. The baby passport photo guide has more tips.
For the full list of rules beyond head size, see the U.S. passport photo requirements, and for the file limits that apply to online renewal, read our digital passport photo size guide.
Frequently asked questions
How big should my head be in a passport photo?
On a 2 x 2 inch U.S. passport photo, your head must measure 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head. That is roughly half to just over two thirds of the photo height.
Is hair included in passport photo head size?
The public rule measures to the top of the head. The State Department visa template measures to the top of the hair, while its internal manual measures to the top of the head. Aim for the middle of the range so small differences in hair do not matter.
How many pixels should my head be on a 600x600 photo?
About 300 to 412 pixels from chin to top of head, which is 50 to 69 percent of the image height. On a 1200 x 1200 file, that becomes roughly 600 to 825 pixels.
Why was my passport photo rejected for head size?
Usually the camera was too far away, making the head too small, or the photo was cropped too tightly, making it too large. Retake the photo from about four feet away and crop so the head lands in the middle of the allowed range.
Does the beard count toward head size?
No. The State Department manual measures to the bottom of the chin, not including facial hair. If you have a long beard, measure from where your chin is under the beard, not from the end of the beard.
Sources
- U.S. Passport Photos (State Department)
- Form DS-82 and instructions, edition 04-2025 (State Department)
- 8 FAM 402.1 Passport Photographs (Foreign Affairs Manual)
- Photo Composition Template (State Department)
Rules change. Always confirm on travel.state.gov before you submit. See our editorial policy.