Passport Photo Dress Code: Tops, Accessories, and Head Coverings

The U.S. passport photo dress code is short: wear ordinary, everyday clothing in a solid, darker color, and skip anything that covers your face or looks like a uniform. There’s no requirement to dress up, but a few specific choices will get your photo rejected, so the details are worth knowing before you sit for the shot.

Pick a Solid, Darker Top

The background of a passport photo is white or off-white, so your top needs to contrast with it. A navy, dark gray, burgundy, or similar solid color creates a clear line between your shoulders and the wall behind you.¹ White, cream, and very pale pastels tend to blend into the background and can make your head look like it’s floating.

Only the neckline and tops of the shoulders show in the frame, so a plain crew neck, collared shirt, or blouse is enough. Avoid busy patterns, large logos, and text. In a 2 x 2 inch photo, visual clutter competes with your face, which is the whole point of the picture.

One thing to keep in mind: your passport is good for ten years. Wear something you’d still recognize yourself in later. Scrubs, restaurant uniforms, and other work clothes aren’t specifically banned, but ordinary street clothes age better.

No Uniforms or Camouflage

Military uniforms, law enforcement clothing, and camouflage are not allowed in a standard passport photo. The State Department bars them because they can make the wearer a target abroad by associating them with the U.S. military or police.² The rule covers anything that reads as military-style, not just official-issue gear.

A few narrow exceptions exist. Children 15 and under have more leeway. Commercial airline pilots who travel internationally in uniform may also qualify. Small novelty patterns that clearly aren’t military, like elephants arranged in a camo-style print, are generally fine. One catch: newer passport books print photos in black and white, so a pink camo pattern that reads as obviously non-military in color may not look that way once printed.²

Take Off Glasses, Headphones, and Face Coverings

Eyeglasses have been prohibited in passport photos since November 2016. That includes prescription frames and sunglasses. If a medical condition prevents you from removing them, include a signed statement from your doctor, and even then the frames cannot cover your eyes and the photo cannot have glare, shadows, or reflections.³

Headphones, earbuds, and Bluetooth devices need to come out entirely.² Face coverings and medical masks come off too. Your full face has to be visible with nothing blocking any part of it.¹

Jewelry and Hair Accessories

Jewelry and facial piercings are allowed as long as they don’t hide any part of your face.¹ Oversized earrings and chunky necklaces can catch studio lights and create glare, so simpler pieces are the safer choice.

Small hair accessories like clips, bobby pins, and thin headbands are fine if they lie flat and don’t cover any part of your face or hairline.²

Hats and Head Coverings

Hats and head coverings are generally not allowed. The only exceptions are for coverings worn daily for religious or medical reasons.¹

For a religious head covering such as a hijab, turban, or yarmulke, you must submit a signed statement confirming it’s part of your traditional religious attire and that you wear it continuously in public. For a medical head covering, you need a signed statement from your doctor verifying daily use.⁴

Even with an approved covering, the photo still has to meet two conditions. Nothing can obscure your face from chin to forehead, and no shadows can fall across your features. The covering itself should be a single solid color, without patterns or small holes in the fabric.

Hair, Facial Hair, Makeup, and Expression

Keep a neutral expression with both eyes open and your mouth closed, facing the camera directly.¹ A slight closed-mouth smile is fine. A wide, teeth-showing grin is not.

Hair shouldn’t fall over your eyes or obscure your face. Your ears don’t have to be visible; State Department guidance says so directly.² If your hairstyle naturally covers your ears, that’s fine.

Facial hair is permitted. Beards, mustaches, and goatees don’t affect the biometric measurements used for identification, so wear the facial hair that reflects how you actually look. Growing or shaving a beard after the fact usually doesn’t require a new passport unless the change makes you unrecognizable.

Apply makeup the way you normally would. Heavy makeup that significantly alters your appearance or creates glare under studio lighting can cause problems. The photo should look like you on an ordinary day.

Babies and Young Children

Kids follow the same clothing rules, with one added constraint: the child must be alone in the frame. No parent’s hands, arms, or supporting device can appear.⁵ For infants, laying the baby on a plain white or off-white sheet works well, since it supports the head and provides the background in one step. Draping a white sheet over a car seat and photographing the baby in it is another option.

Why the Dress Code Matters

An incorrect photo is one of the most common reasons passport applications get delayed. If the State Department finds a problem, it holds the application and requests a replacement, adding weeks to a process that already runs several weeks for routine service.¹ If travel is coming up, that delay can cost you a trip.

The rejection triggers tied to what you wear are easy to avoid: glasses left on, headphones still in, a uniform or camo top, a shirt too light to contrast with the background, or a hat without the required documentation. When in doubt, take a couple of photos in different outfits and check each one against the State Department’s requirements before you submit.

1
U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. U.S. Passport Photos
2
U.S. Department of State. 8 FAM 402.1 Passport Photographs
3
U.S. Department of State. 16 STATE 106142 – No Eyeglasses Policy for Visa and Passport Photographs
4
U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. Passports and Religious Accommodations
5
U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. Photo Frequently Asked Questions