Photographs and Babies
All passport applications must include two identical recent passport photographs of the baby or child taken against a white, cream or light grey plain background so that their features are clearly distinguishable against the background. The baby or child should also be on its own (no toys, dummies or other people visible). Other criteria also apply (please see UKPS guidance on passport photographs).
We appreciate you might have difficulty in meeting some of these guidelines, but you must do your best to meet them as best you can with regards to size, glasses, shadows, head coverings, and so on.
It is very important that the adult's hand cannot be seen in photos of babies and young children. To support the child's head please hold your hand behind the head in such a way that it cannot be seen in the photograph. With a young baby, you could try wearing a plain pale coloured top and rest the child on your chest or hold him/her up. This way you should not be visible in the photo. Another suggestion is to put a white towel over a child's car seat, place the child in the car seat and then take the photograph.
Unfortunately some of the guidelines cannot be waived. The UKPS must be able to see the full face and for children over six months old, we must be able to see the colour of the eyes. If you have real difficulty in meeting these requirements we suggest you visit a photographic studio rather than a photo booth as they are better suited to help.
If you can not get the eyes focused we may not accept the photo.
The UKPS can only be lenient in applying these standards to photographs of babies, young children and severely disabled adults. This is because the UK, and all other countries participating in this scheme, understand that such people will have difficulty meeting our stricter standards.
We fully appreciate that the appearance of a baby changes very rapidly, but many parents have always elected for their child to have a separate passport. These have been successfully issued to babies and young children for many years without encountering any problems about the child's identity or appearance. However, you can if you wish, change the photograph during the 5 year life of the passport, although this is not necessary.