2 × 2 inch passport photo (600 × 600 px)
Two inches square, 600 pixels a side at 300 dpi. The US passport and visa standard, and the size most other countries borrow when they say “square photo”.
The spec, and why the numbers look odd
Two inches is 50.8 millimetres, which is why the metric equivalent of this spec is usually written as 51 × 51 mm. At 300 dpi that is exactly 600 × 600 pixels — a number worth remembering, because a lot of upload forms ask for it directly.
The head height rule for US passports is between 1 inch and 1⅜ inches, or 50–69% of the frame height, measured chin to top of head. That is a smaller head than most people expect: a normal portrait crop puts the head at 80% or more and gets rejected for being too large.
Leave a little space above the head and crop at the top of the shoulders. If you cannot judge it, print the sheet and hold a ruler against it — the tool gives you six copies on a 4 × 6 inch print, so a mistake costs one sheet.
Print size vs screen size
| Where it goes | What matters | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Online upload | Pixel dimensions | Portals often re-encode and add a few KB |
| Printed at a kiosk | Physical mm at 300 dpi | Choosing 'fit to page' silently rescales it |
| Home printer | Physical mm at 300 dpi | Set scaling to 100%, not 'shrink to fit' |
| Scanned and re-submitted | 300 dpi | Scanning below 300 dpi softens the face |
Questions
Can I smile?
No. US rules require a neutral expression with both eyes open and mouth closed.
What about glasses?
Remove them. Since 2016 the US does not accept glasses in passport photos at all.
Does the background have to be white?
White or off-white, plain, with no shadow. A slightly grey wall is usually fine; a coloured wall is not.
Can I print this at home?
Yes, on photo paper at 4 × 6 inches with scaling set to 100%. Cut along the gaps.