US passport photo requirements
The U.S. Department of State rules for prints and digital uploads. Set your route's KB cap in Sukat and it hits it exactly.
Compress a US passport photo
Crop to an exact 2 × 2 square (600–1200 px), keep the background plain white, then land under your route's KB cap — one workflow.
Upload your photo
Drop a JPG, PNG, HEIC, or WebP onto Sukat's drop zone. For a DS-160 visa or DV Lottery entry — which accept JPEG only — Sukat converts an iPhone HEIC to JPEG for you.
Crop to a 2 × 2 square
Click Crop at a 1:1 ratio and centre the head, with the crown 25–35 mm tall so the face fills 50–69% of the frame. Aim for 600–1200 px per side. For the biometric check, shoot against a real white wall — AI background swaps are banned as of January 2026 — and use Sukat to crop, size, and compress.
Export and hit the file limit
Choose JPEG and set Maximum File Size to your route's cap — 240 KB for a DS-160 or DV entry, or comfortably under 10 MB for online passport renewal. Click Convert & Download. Sukat binary-searches for the highest quality that fits.
Which US application needs which file
The 2 × 2 square is constant; the file rules are not. Here's what each route expects, and where Sukat fits.
US passport by mail (DS-82 / DS-11)
First-time and mailed renewal applications need one printed 2 × 2 photo, stapled to the form. Print a clean square and check it with a ruler before sending.
Online passport renewal (MyTravelGov)
The online system takes one digital upload — a square image, 600 × 600 to 1200 × 1200 px, 54 KB–10 MB. It accepts JPEG, PNG, HEIC, and HEIF.
US visa (DS-160) and DV Lottery
Same 2 × 2 square, but JPEG only and 240 KB maximum. An iPhone HEIC has to be converted to a true JPEG first, or the upload fails.
Green card and USCIS forms
US ID photos — green card, work authorisation, naturalisation — use the same 2 × 2 inch square specification.
Infant and child passports
Children under 16 need their own passport photo — the same 2 × 2 size, with relaxed rules on expression and eyes.
Need the square-format math, or another country that uses 2 × 2? See Passport Photo 2×2 Inch. Applying for a visa? A DS-160 or DV Lottery entry uses the same 2 × 2 square as a digital upload — see US visa photo size.
Why Sukat for US passport photos
Five things this tool gets right that most "passport photo online" sites get wrong.
Hits the exact KB cap
A DS-160 or DV Lottery photo must come in under 240 KB, and a phone photo is 3–8 MB. Generic resizers make you guess a quality percentage. Sukat reverses that — type 240 KB and the algorithm finds the highest quality that still fits, so the upload doesn't bounce.
The exact square crop
Every US digital submission must be a perfect 1:1 square between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 px — an 800 × 801 image is auto-rejected for being off-square. Sukat crops to an exact square at the right pixel size.
iPhone HEIC to JPEG where it's needed
Online passport renewal accepts HEIC and HEIF, but the DS-160 visa and DV Lottery portals take JPEG only — a renamed HEIC won't pass. Sukat exports a clean, valid JPEG so an iPhone photo is portal-ready.
White background, the safe way
Since 1 January 2026 the State Department rejects AI-edited photos, including AI background swaps and skin smoothing. Cropping, resizing, and setting a plain white background are formatting steps and stay fine — but for the passport, the safest route is a genuine white wall, with Sukat handling crop, size, and compression.
Standard sRGB output
Sukat re-encodes through the browser's canvas, which outputs a standard sRGB JPEG — sidestepping the Display P3 colour-profile rejection that catches many iPhone “Pro” shots.
Common reasons for rejection
The U.S. Department of State's automated and manual checks bounce photos for a predictable set of reasons. Clear these before you upload or print.
Incorrect dimensions
Not an exact 2 × 2 inch square. Digital uploads must be a perfect 1:1 between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 px — an 800 × 801 file is auto-rejected for being off-square.
Improper background
Anything other than plain white or off-white. Patterns, furniture, a window, or a coloured wall behind you all fail.
Shadows
Shadows on the face or the background, usually from harsh side light or overhead downlight. Prefer soft, even, front lighting.
Low image quality
Blurry, grainy, or a scan of an old print. A common hidden trap: an iPhone “Pro” shot saved in Display P3 rather than sRGB, which the validator rejects — Sukat's canvas export is sRGB.
Incorrect facial expression
Eyeglasses (banned since 2016), a wide smile that narrows the eyes, a non-neutral expression, or head tilt. Since January 2026, AI edits and filters are rejected too.