How to Take a Passport Photo with Your Phone
Use the rear camera (not the front-facing one), turn off portrait mode and any beauty filter, and shoot straight-on against a plain wall in even light - this tool handles the cropping and sizing once you upload the result.
- Use the rear camera. It's almost always higher resolution than the front-facing camera, which matters once the photo is cropped down to a small passport-photo frame.
- Turn off portrait mode and any beauty/smoothing filter. Portrait mode's background blur and any skin-smoothing or retouching filter count as digital alteration - see our AI-editing guide for why that matters for a US application specifically.
- Stand about 3-6 feet from a plain, light-colored wall, with the phone held at eye level - propped on a stand or held by someone else, since a selfie-length arm is usually too close.
- Use a timer or a second person to press the shutter so you can stand naturally with both arms relaxed instead of one arm reaching for the phone.
- Check the shot before moving on - zoom in on the preview to confirm it's in focus and no shadow falls on the wall behind you.
FAQ
Does the photo need to be a certain resolution?
Higher is better going in - this tool crops and resizes down to the exact pixel dimensions required, but it can't add detail that wasn't captured. A modern phone's default photo mode is more than enough.
Should I use flash?
Generally no - direct flash often creates a hard shadow on the wall behind you. Even room or window light usually looks better. See our lighting guide.