Makeup and Beards in Passport Photos

The State Department has no rule on how much makeup you can wear or whether you should shave. Its concern is that the photo is a good likeness of you and has not been altered. Within that, there are smart choices that help your photo pass and look like you at the border.

What the rules actually say

Federal regulation 22 CFR 51.26 sets the basic test: the photo must be a good likeness of you and satisfactorily identify you. The State Department's photo page asks for the original photo, without filters or digital changes. The Foreign Affairs Manual, the internal guidance passport specialists follow, adds several details that matter here:

• Digital manipulation or retouching of the face is not acceptable, and neither are beauty filters or photo filter tools from social media and camera apps.
• Lighting should be uniform, with no reflections and no shadows on the face that hide your features.
• Brightness and contrast should reproduce your natural skin tones.
• A photo showing a change in hairstyle or facial hair compared with your ID is acceptable if it is still a good likeness.
• Permanent tattoos and body modifications do not need to be covered with clothing or makeup.
• One-time facial decorations, such as a team logo painted on for a game, are not acceptable.

There is no line in the rules about makeup itself. The guidance below is practical, based on what makes a photo fail the rules above.

Makeup: what works and what to avoid

The difference between concealer and editing is important. Covering a spot with makeup before the photo is your appearance on that day. Removing the same spot with an app after the photo is retouching, which the manual says is not acceptable.

• BeardAllowed if it is your everyday look

• CorrectCentred, neutral, even light

Beards, mustaches and stubble

Facial hair is allowed in any form: full beard, goatee, mustache, stubble or clean-shaven. You do not need to trim it for the photo. A few practical points:

• Head size: the manual measures head size from the bottom of the chin, not including facial hair. A long beard does not count toward the 1 to 1 3/8 inch range, so you do not need to shrink your head in the frame to fit it.
• Visibility: make sure the beard does not hide your mouth completely, and keep the jaw area well lit so it does not turn into a dark shadow.
• Grooming: a groomed beard photographs better than one that changes length from week to week, since the photo should resemble how you usually look.

Piercings, tattoos and other facial features

Makeup questions often come with questions about piercings and tattoos. The manual says facial piercing jewelry and similar items may be worn if they do not partly or completely hide the face. Nose rings, lip rings and eyebrow piercings you wear every day can stay. Very large or shiny pieces near the eyes are worth swapping for small studs, mainly to avoid glare.

Tattoos, including facial tattoos, do not need to be covered. They are permanent and help identify you, which is the reason the manual gives for not requiring them to be hidden. The same applies to scars, birthmarks and freckles. Do not cover them with heavy makeup and do not edit them out; they are part of your likeness.

If you wear little or no makeup

You do not need makeup to get a good passport photo. Bare skin photographs well in soft, even light. The things that matter more than makeup are light and distance:

• Face a window with indirect daylight so both sides of the face are lit evenly.
• Stand a few feet from the white background so no shadow appears behind you.
• Have someone else take the photo from a few feet away at eye level, rather than taking a selfie.
• If your skin looks shiny in a test shot, blot it with a tissue and take the photo again.

No filters, no retouching

Most phones apply some processing by default. For a passport photo, turn off:

• Beauty, smoothing or "face retouch" modes.
• Portrait mode, which blurs edges and can soften the face.
• Color filters and warm or cool presets.
• Any app that slims the face, whitens teeth or enlarges eyes.

The manual specifically mentions beauty filters from social media and mobile apps as not acceptable. Our guide to editing and filters in passport photos covers what is safe, such as cropping and resizing, and what is not. For phone-specific settings, see iPhone passport photo settings.

Shine and glare

Oily or shiny skin reflects light, especially from a flash, and can create white patches on the forehead, nose or cheeks. The rules ask for no reflections on the face. A light dusting of matte powder or blotting paper before the shot helps, as does soft, indirect light instead of on-camera flash. See glare and red-eye in passport photos.

When a new beard or new look needs a new photo

A new beard, a shaved beard, a new hair color or a change in makeup style does not make your passport invalid. The manual treats changes in hairstyle or facial hair as acceptable as long as the photo is still a good likeness.

A new passport is only needed if your appearance changed significantly. The State Department's examples include significant facial surgery or trauma, significant weight loss or gain, and adding or removing many large facial piercings or tattoos. If you can still be identified from your passport photo, you do not need to apply for a new one. See the six-month and current appearance rule for more on this.

Before-the-photo checklist

1. Everyday makeup, with no shimmer or glitter.
2. Matte powder or blotting for shiny areas.
3. Beard groomed to your usual length; no need to shave.
4. No face paint or temporary decorations.
5. All camera beauty modes and filters switched off.
6. No retouching afterward, including blemish removal.

Then check the rest of the photo against the full passport photo requirements.