How to take a passport photo at home with an iPhone — no app required
iPhone camera settings that pass the State Department checker
Open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose 'Most Compatible' (JPEG) rather than HEIF. The State Department's MyTravelGov upload rejects HEIF outright, so saving as JPEG from the start avoids a lossy conversion later.
In the Camera app, swipe up (or tap the chevron) to expose the controls and disable Smart HDR for the shot, and turn off Photographic Styles. These features apply on-device generative cleanup that the 2026 AI-detection checker can flag as digital alteration.
Use the rear camera (the higher-resolution one), not the selfie camera. The selfie camera's lens distortion enlarges noses and shortens chins — small distortions the biometric check is sensitive to. Either hand the phone to someone else, prop it on a tripod, or use the timer with the rear camera facing you against the wall.
Lighting and background — what actually works
Stand 50–80 cm in front of a plain white wall, ideally a few feet of clearance behind you so any soft shadow falls onto the floor rather than the wall. The single biggest rejection cause for at-home iPhone photos is a shadow behind the head.
Use diffused natural light from a window to one side at face level. Direct sunlight is too harsh; overhead room lights produce raccoon-eye shadows. Two windows (or a window plus a desk lamp with a paper diffuser) give the even, shadow-free lighting the biometric check expects.
Wear a top with moderate contrast against the wall — navy, black, dark green, dark red. Avoid white shirts on a white wall (blurs your shoulder outline) and avoid bright patterns (the biometric check treats high-frequency patterns as edges).
Framing — head size and position
Hold the camera at eye level. Camera above eye level shortens the chin and creates an under-chin shadow; camera below eye level over-emphasizes the chin. Eye-level captures the most natural proportions.
Stand close enough that your head fills 50–69% of the vertical frame. On an iPhone's standard 4:3 aspect ratio, that's roughly the top half of the frame with a small margin above the crown.
Look directly at the lens, not at your own face in the preview. Neutral expression, mouth closed, eyes open. No glasses (the State Department removed the medical exception in 2016).
From iPhone photo to State-Department-ready JPEG
You cannot upload the raw iPhone JPEG to MyTravelGov — it's too large (typically 3–5 MB at 3024×4032 px) and not cropped to 2×2 inches. The portal needs 600×600 to 1200×1200 px square JPEG under 240 KB.
Option A — manual crop. Open the photo in iPhone Photos, tap Edit → Crop, set the aspect ratio to Square, frame your face with the head taking up ~60% of the height. Use a free tool like Photopea (web-based) to resize to 600×600 and export as JPEG quality 85.
Option B — complypic. Open complypic.com in Safari, tap upload, select the iPhone photo. The tool crops to exact 2×2 inches, normalizes background uniformity (without altering your face), and exports the JPEG at the State Department's spec. Delivered in your browser in under 60 seconds for US$4.99. No app install.
When the iPhone-at-home approach fails
If you have only one light source (a ceiling light), the under-chin shadow is hard to eliminate without bouncing light back with a piece of white poster board placed at chest level. Without that bounce, the State Department's checker rejects the photo for 'background not uniform.'
If you wear prescription glasses with thick frames, you may struggle to look natural without them; switching to contacts for the shoot is faster than fighting the no-glasses rule in post-processing.
If you've been rejected once and your second attempt still fails, the issue is usually camera processing rather than framing. Try switching the iPhone to ProRAW (Pro models) or use someone else's phone with a different camera processing pipeline.
FAQ
Is an iPhone passport photo accepted by the State Department?
+
Can I take a passport selfie with the front camera?
+
Do I need to install a passport photo app?
+
Will my photo pass the State Department's 2026 AI-edit checker?
+
What if my iPhone is older — say an iPhone 8?
+
US Passport
Exactly 2x2 inches, plain white background, head 1 to 1⅜ inches. Validated against State Department specs before you pay. Works for new passport, renewal, and minors.
Generate my photo now →