Rules & Advice

General Rules First:

Since most countries specify white backgrounds, do not wear a WHITE shirt, blouse, or white jacket, to allow for sufficient contrast with the background. 

Do NOT apply shiny skin moisturizer or shiny make-up to your face the day of the photo session, as your face will look very shiny, which will cause photograph rejection by authorities.  Not even 'just a little'.

Do not wear turtlenecks, bulky jackets, or tops that cover the neck, because these may obscure the outline of your face, and your neck must be visible for biometric data scanning. 

Ladies: Cover your shoulders, avoid spaghetti straps, and avoid low cut blouses so you look dressed when the photographs are cut to size.

We recommend that you remove any facial jewelry, particularly around the mouth, nose and eyes, to ensure a clear and compliant photo. Avoid wearing earrings and facial piercing jewelry because government inspectors' biometric scans may fail your photographs. For Philippines passport and USA Green Card, wearing earrings is forbidden.  We will not guarantee photos with facial jewelry. 

It’s smart to remove eyeglasses because glare will cause photo rejection. Glasses with tinted lenses are prohibited. For the USA, France visa and the Mexico passport, eyeglass removal is mandated. 

Head coverings are usually prohibited unless you have a religious exemption granted by government authorities.  An exception: Iranian women’s passports.

Hair styles:  Some High Top haircuts, and other hair styles, made it very difficult to determine where the crown of the skull is for proper placement within photo templates. If chin-to-crown sizing guesswork is required, we will not guarantee sizing as an official government inspector may not agree. 

Hair must be off your face so that the edges of your face are visible.   Hair styles with long bangs on your forehead will provoke photo rejection because bangs will impede the bio-metric scanning process.

Uniforms, clothing that resembles uniforms, and camouflage attire are forbidden by most countries. 

Do not wear color or pupil distorting contact lenses to avoid photo rejection.

If you ignore the above recommendations, Timothy Raab will not guarantee acceptance of your photos.

Being Prepared For Better Passport Photographs:

Your passport photographs may be with you for a long time [10 years?], so let’s be prepared for a better passport photo.

Wear simple and basic clothing with solid colors, avoiding loud, busy, or new trendy patterns, as well as name brand logos.  Many people opt for blues and medium tone grays.

Avoid fluorescent/neon colors because they reproduce poorly and detract from the face.

Please do not wear white shirts (without a dark jacket or sweater) when photographed with standard white backgrounds. It’s smart to dress conservatively for required government photographs.

Take heed to avoid getting sunburned before your photo session.

Get your hair done if you like, but nothing flamboyant.  You may wear long hair down, but it must not cover the face. Be aware that hair styles with long bangs on your forehead will provoke photo rejection because bangs may impede the bio-metric scanning process. Best to pin back bangs with bobby pins.  Some High Top haircuts make it very difficult to determine where the crown of the skull is for proper placement within photo templates. If chin-to-crown sizing guesswork is required, we not not guarantee sizing as an official government inspector may not agree.  

Make-up: Keep it minimal and matte toned.  Avoid shiny lip gloss.

Please do NOT apply shiny facial moisturizer or makeup.  Shiny faces may cause photo rejection.

Remove facial jewelry: big hanging earrings, facial piercing jewelry, and chunky or shiny/sparkly jewelry will impede facial biometric scanning.

Aim for looking like you’re ready for a job interview, not a party.

Finally, neutral and pleasant expressions are better than “not smiling”.  

Thank-you for reading all the rules and advice!