MelaniJG

I'm about ready to renew my British passport (I live in New Jersey) but can not seem to find a photographer to do the right size pictures. Does anyone have any ideas? I even called the British Embassy and was told that they were strict and would not accept the 2"X2" US standard

chicagojlo

Would the embassy not give you a list of places to get them done?

MelaniJG

No, Just told me to find a photographer. Embassy website not much help either.

Longy

Surely you can just get a US one done and cut it down to size. Although I would just go to somewhere like Sears - I am sure they could do it for you.

MelaniJG

I'm thinking sears should be able to do it because the passport size has to meet strict criteria including how big your head should be! I read somewhere I think a link from the Embassy website, told me they would not accept photos that were cut to size. So maybe I'll print out the criteria and take to sears.

Longy

I am not sure how they would know it had been cut to size as there is no border on them.

But Sears do the US passport ones which has similar restrictions regarding size of the head and distance from top, so I would imagine if you gave them the dimensions you wanted they would cut them to that size. Wouldn't be surprised if they tried to charge you more though, and if I recall the US size ones weren't cheap.

MelaniJG

I appreciate it. I'm sure everyone would agree I'm thinking too much into this!
God forbid there would be some standardization on the size of passport photos

chicagojlo

Have you tried googling because I know that when I needed my US size photos in Amsterdam that's how I found mine. There were a couple of places in the cities where the US consulates were located so you might have to go to someplace where there is a UK consulate.

chicagojlo

OK I just googled it for you and there is a place in Manhattan called DOI camera or something that does 2 for $15.95. They can do any country's size apparently. But if I recall it was more a matter of which tool they used to cut them out from the sheet that mattered than the photo itself when I got my US ones done (apart from not smiling of course!)

MelaniJG

Cool! Manhatten is only about 80 miles from me and I always love excuse to go to NYC!

ian-mstm

When I renewed my UK passport in August, I used digital photos from my home camera... and they were accepted with no problems. As long as they conform to the size standard and image quality stuff, you don't need a professional photographer to do them... and all good imaging software will allow you to alter the size before printing.

Ian

MsElui

i actually used british passport sized photos for me (and my whole families) american visas. The head dimensions and ratios are the same - just less background on either side.

pejpm1

When my girlfriend needed a UK passport photo while in the US for her IGS Visa, we just went to a pharmacy in Milwaukee, got the standard photo and then cut it down to size....they are fairly strict on dimensions but I dont think its that hard to work out...

britchick95

I got mine done in Walmart not two months ago, and they were accepted. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

newXgate

I had my passport renewed last year and just got standard US passport size photos done and cut them to size myself. All you need is a ruler and pair of scissors since the UK size is less than the US one. They accepted them with no problems. I did not see anything on the UK embassy website about not accepting 'cut-to-size' photos, if you cut carefully I'm sure you will have no problem.

For what its worth I think it is pathetic that the British embassy cannot accept US size photos given that they are charging almost $300 for the passport.