sunniskies

Hello,

I recently applied for my three year old daughter's UK passport via the Washington DC Embassy/processing centre (Dad is from the UK, DD and I are from the US). In reading many of the related posts on this site, it seems as if most people who've applied from the US were able to use US sized passport photos without a problem (as some posts have mentioned that the photos are scanned and not actually pasted into the passport and/or the photo would be cropped to fit ). Hoping that this was indeed the case I submitted US sized passport photos. Yesterday I received an email from the Regional Passport Processing Centre stating, in part, "In order for us to continue processing your application(s), you will need to provide the following documents and information:
Ø 2 x Passport Photographs – Your photos do not conform to the IPS standards:
o Photograph incorrect size"

Is it better to take new pictures, or would it be okay to have the original images, which are now exactly a month old (I had the photographer save the picture to a DVD) resized to UK standards and submit those instead? Which is the better option for getting the photos correctly sized: Walgreens or epassport photo (or other)? Do I need the counter signatory (my daughter's pediatrician) to certify the new picture? Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

lansbury

The better option is whichever is the easiest to do. Resize the old ones provided they then conform to all the requirements, or get new ones it doesn't matter

Whichever you do they will have to be countersigned by whoever signed the application form and original photos.

paul32x

Don't know if it helps, but there are a number of sites that show you how to take your own:

http://www.phototechnique.com/how-to...e-to-printing/

I wonder if it's selective on who received your application. I renewed mine a couple of years ago, had pictures taken in Walgreens and didn't have a problem.

fatbrit

The machine at Walgreens will do UK passport photos. You need to find a brighter-than-average assistant to work it, though. The option is available through the touch-screen menus on the machine. The two passport photos come out on a single sheet of paper. Tell the assistant not to cut them, and don't bother cutting them yourself -- the passport office will take them just as are.

sunniskies

Thank you all for your helpful replies. In the end I opted to use www.idphoto4you.com, which had an automatic face detection tool. It really took the guesswork out of having the photo resized to fit UK specifications. I ordered 4x6 prints (with 8 passport sized photos per print) from Walgreen's online and picked them up in store. I hope the glossy finish isn't an issue as a matte finish wasn't available for in store pickup.

ian-mstm

You read the photo requirements, right?

Ian

GeoffM

It doesn't say anything about glossy or matt finish.

ian-mstm

Sure it does. Matte is not "plain white photographic paper".

Ian

GeoffM

Where does it say 'Matte is not "plain white photographic paper"'? I'm not a Kodak technician so if they want it on matte or on glossy then they need to state such, not give some wishy-washy statement that I would interpret as meaning without watermarks, embosses, or any other fancy feature.

In fact, http://www.ephotozine.com/article/ho...tographs-11755 - yes I know it's not official - says medium to low gloss or matte. Yet I'm sure those passport booths churn out at least slightly glossy prints - both of which are contrary to what you appear to say.

I'm not arguing with you: I genuinely need to know as I've just started DS's renewal.

sunniskies

Yes, of course I did. "Plain paper" doesn't necessarily indicate the type of finish. To me, "plain paper" sounds as if the photo paper should be free from any pattern or design. I only wondered about this after I returned home from Walgreen's and noticed that the original passport photos had a matte finish.

sunniskies

I agree with you. This is my first time applying for a UK passport so it's hard for me not to second guess every detail when the photo I initially submitted was rejected. I'm hopeful that the finish won't end up being an issue and that my daughter's passport will be processed without further delay.

GeoffM

These Home Office guidelines for photographic studios producing photographs for United Kingdom passports says medium / low gloss or matt.