Passport photos?
 

The guidelines for British passport photos clearly state they must be exactly 45 mm x 35 mm and must not be cut down to size. They also acknowledge it is not a standard size outside the UK and provide no further guidance. Everyone who contacts the passport office is simply told to follow the guidelines without any further clarification. I've spent the last couple hours reading every thread I could find on the forum, and I still have no idea what I should actually send.

It seems most people either send larger uncut photos or just have them cut and hope for the best. What do I ask for if I go somewhere like Shoppers Drug Mart? I had Canadian passport photos taken there recently, and they were cut to size by hand from larger prints. Do I just ask them to give me the uncut print and hope the passport office will crop an appropriate 45 x 35 image from it?

It's truly amazing how many questions these vague guidelines have generated over the years without any clear answer.

Re: Passport photos?
 

Shoppers is recommended highly on here for UK passport photos, and Costco will apparently do British passport photos as well.

Re: Passport photos?
 

I'm planning to get photos from Shoppers, but I really want to be certain I ask for and receive the correct thing. Most people just say they sent in whatever the store gave them without specifically stating whether they were cut or left with a large border.

Re: Passport photos?
 

Yup. That's what happens. When you go in, bring a printout of the UK passport photo requirements, and specify that you need British passport photos, not Canadian ones. They offer a guarantee I believe, if the photos are rejected then they will take new ones for free.

Re: Passport photos?
 

I had some photos taken at Shoppers. Their passport photo manual has the printed acetate sheet for UK passport photos and instructs the photographer to cut out the photos with their hand trimmer. They are not identical since they're hand cut. I am anticipating my application being returned in a few weeks :rolleyes:

The photo guidelines are pretty ridiculous. There is no way I could have a photo prepared exactly as instructed unless I imported equipment from the UK.

Re: Passport photos?
 

Print out the spec and take it with you. Got mine done at Japan camera and they Photoshopped the background colour in and made them the correct size and they were accepted no problem.

The trick is to find a place that does this sort of thing routinely.

Re: Passport photos?
 

I struggled with this recently in Calgary. Tried Blacks, AMA, London Drugs, Walmart, Shoppers and all said they couldn't do it. Ended up using Magenta

Re: Passport photos?
 

I had the spec sheet with me. They had the spec sheet in their instructions book along with the Passport Office clear acetate template and a list of instructions that included cutting to size. All their passport photos are cut to size because they print a much larger photo than required. It's likely anywhere else producing photos of the exact required size is also cutting them in-store.

It also looks like the background is too bright. Somehow people are having these photos accepted by the Passport Office? I feel like I threw $14 and a few weeks of waiting and postage down the drain.

Re: Passport photos?
 

Yes. Apparently they cut a little slack to international applicants since most photo places don't have that sort of background. There are people on here who have done a whole family of UK passports with bright photos. Not one have reported failure.

Re: Passport photos?
 

I got mine done at wallmart last year and they cut them down. The pictures passed and passport was approved. Since returned to uk

Re: Passport photos?
 

Just got wife's passport back and had pics done at Blacks, no problem they said as they do UK passport pics all the time.

Re: Passport photos?
 

Yep. 5 passports, soon to be 7, all done at Shoppers, all fine so far, using their standard background. If anyone says they can't do it, ask to compare your photo spec sheet to the one they will likely have for a temporary resident visa photo on their file. They are very similar, just a couple of mm difference in the top of head to bottom of chin allowance. Since they have outlines appear on the screen of the camera to show the tolerances, they can get close enough.

Re: Passport photos?
 

I've had British passport photos variously produced in Blacks, Shoppers, and Walmart. All of them had a bunch of different specifications and just looked through for the UK ones. All of them also printed on larger (4x6?) paper and trimmed to size against a template. All were taken against a white background. None were rejected by the passport office. One was done when the passports were sent via Ottawa, one when it was centralised in Washington, one more recently when everything goes to the UK.

It's a particularly stupid regulation that they "must not be cut down from a larger photograph." If the extra bits have been cut off and what remains meets the specifications for overall size, chin-to-crown dimension, etc, how could the Passport Office possibly know that there used to be some extra background in frame?

Re: Passport photos?
 

I suspect what it really means (rather than what it really says) is dont clip your passport photos out of some left over copies of some other photos...

Re: Passport photos?
 

I didn't post my application yet because I was worried about the Shoppers photos being rejected for the uneven hand cutting. I tried Blacks today since they seem to have a fairly good reputation for non-Canadian passport photos. I asked for British passport photos and paid their crazy fee ($26!). They gave me untrimmed 53 mm square photos with the stamp on the back that's not allowed in the photo specifications. So much for that.

Should I send both sets of photos and hope they choose whichever one they prefer, or what? I can't believe it's so hard to get photos that match the specifications.