jspmike

Where is a good place to get my passport photographs taken in the USA so that I can apply for my UK passport renewal? I'm in Portland, Oregon and not too tech-savvy so a little bit concerned with taking the photos myself.

tom169

You can probably get a photo taken and printed at a pharmacy. If you take the photo yourself then the online form will tell you if the photo is acceptable.

Nutmegger

It really is easy to DIY -- stand against a light-colored wall and snap away with a phone. As tom169 said, the online application site will let you know if you need to re-shoot.

jspmike

Thank you both very much! I had no idea that the online application would let you know if it was not acceptable so this is really great news! Thank you for putting my mind at rest!

imacd

I just completed my online passport application this week. My first uploaded photo passed the initial inspection, but a couple of days later I received an email saying that it was too dark. No worries, I just took a few more inside my home, where there was more light, uploaded the best and heard back almost immediately that my passport application had now been approved and sent to print. Five hours later, another email saying that it is now on its way.

So even though the process had a hiccup and was a little bit scary, it was not too bad in review. Not sure how many photo uploads or how long you get to upload your photos?

jspmike

WOW! That was quick! Had they even had time to receive your old passport? Thanks so much for the information!

Lorna at Vicenza

Top tip. Wear something coloured. My son's initial DIY photo was rejected by the online checker because it "looks like it is black and white and must be in colour." He was standing against a white door wearing a black and white tee.shirt.

imacd

You make your online application, they give you code, tell you what needs to be sent in to them, in my case ; my old passport and color copies of all pages from my US passport. It took exactly 2 weeks for them to acknowledge they had received my passport package via standard USPS mail from here in Utah. A week later they asked for a new photo to be uploaded, which I did the same day, the following day it was approved, passport sent to print and also on it's way. I expect it to arrive in about 2=3 weeks.

imacd

Update: Passport has arrived! Printed and then on it's way last Thursday 0th Feb, arrived by DHL today Monday 14th Feb, much quicker than the 2-3 weeks their email said it would be. So that was 3 weeks 5 days from application to receiving passport in hand, including having to upload a second photo during the process. For once, I am pretty impressed with a UK bureaucratic process!

tht

It sounds like it was slower because you
used USPS mail. If you send by UPS/FedEx it’s a lot faster (but more expensive). I would not trust regular mail for a passport.