Passport, visa, or online renewal upload
Most rejections come down to light and background, not to size — and those two cannot be fixed after the fact on a US photo, because editing is not permitted. Below, the reasons are split by whether you can salvage the photo you already have or genuinely need to take another.
Check My Photo – $3.99These are measurements, not changes to your appearance. Cropping to size is something every applicant has to do.
Photo is not 2×2 inches
Cropped to 51×51 mm at 600×600 px or better
Head is the wrong size in the frame
Positioned to the 25–35 mm chin-to-crown range
Head is off-centre or tilted in frame
Re-centred against the spec
You need prints as well as a digital file
Six copies laid out on a 4×6 sheet
No tool can fix these for a US application without editing your photo, and editing is what gets it rejected. Anything promising to remove the shadow or swap the background is selling you a rejection.
Shadow across the face or on the wall
Face a window, stand further from the wall
Background is patterned, dark or textured
Retake against a plain white or off-white wall
Wearing glasses
Take them off — not allowed since Nov 2016
Smiling, mouth open, or eyes not fully open
Neutral expression, mouth closed, look at the lens
Selfie taken at arm's length
Someone else holds the camera, further back, at eye level
Photo was edited or filtered
Submit the original, unedited photo
Photo is older than 6 months
Take a new one
More on why editing backfires: are AI-edited passport photos rejected?
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