Can I Use My Driver’s License Photo on My Passport?

QUESTION:   I have no time that I am available during the week. Can I use my driver’s license photo as my passport photo?

ANSWER:   A driver’s license photo is not valid. Furthermore, any photographs for official documents that are scan digitally or copy is not acceptable as for  passport photograph. Below are the guidelines that you must follow when taking a passport photograph.

If the applicant has an awkward facial expression or is clowning around, the photos will be invalid by the passport agency. The face of the applicant should be facing forward with a neutral facial expression.

The passport photo should be taken under the guidelines the passport agency is looking for. The guidelines that should be followed according to the passport agency are as follows: the photo needs to be a headshot of the applicant occupying about 75% of the required 2 inch by 2-inch photo. This translates to the applicant’s head size being between 1-1 ¼ inches high. Keep in mind, the photo must be clear. This require the photographer to use a high-resolution camera of 200 dpi or more. Digital cameras will have to be at least 1 megabyte or greater.

The type of clothing that should be worn is normal street clothes. Do not wear any types of costumes or funny kinds of clothing. The photos should be in color not black and white with a white wall in the background. Do not use a multi-colored background. The photos cannot be pixilated, blurred, unfocused, have printer patterns, or dots, or be in motion. Lastly, in the photo, the applicant should be directly in the middle of the photo and not leaning to one particular side. So, to answer the question again a driver’s license photo is not a good choice.